Microsoft Pulls Windows 10 Version 1903 for Some Surface Book 2 Models Following dGPU Failure

Microsoft’s Windows 10 version 1903 release is facing some critical issues on the Surface Book 2. As it turns out, on some of the models of the device, the discrete GPU randomly stops working on the update. Users have been facing the issue as early as late May, and Microsoft’s finally acknowledge the problem last week (via Reddit).

According to Microsoft, apps and games that perform graphics-intensive operation may close or fail to open due to the issue. Microsoft says the compatability issue on the devices leads to the dGPU on some Surface Book 2 models to occasionally disappear from the device manager.

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“To safeguard your update experience, we have applied a compatibility hold on Surface Book 2 devices with Nvidia dGPUs from being offered Windows 10, version 1903, until this issue is resolved,” the company said.

For those who already have Windows 10 version 1903 installed, there really isn’t a fix. Instead, Microsoft simply recommends users to restart their device if they run into the problem, or run “Scan for hardware changes” in Device Manager to help the device detect the dGPU once again. For now, Microsoft says it’s working on a fix and will provide an update on the issue in an upcoming release.

It seems like the issue affects the original Surface Book too, and some users are reporting similar issues with their GPUs. The issue is quite major as Microsoft has been very late to take actions against the problem, and many users are already possibly running Windows 10 version 1903, meaning they have no other option than to downgrade or continue to suffer from the dGPU issues. And if you are a professional that does a lot of video editing, this is obviously a massive annoyance.

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Conversation 18 comments

  • siv

    15 July, 2019 - 11:38 am

    <p>You think they would test this on their own hardware at least!?</p>

    • gregorylbrannon

      Premium Member
      15 July, 2019 - 11:59 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442748">In reply to Siv:</a></em></blockquote><p>I've often wondered this after several Windows 10 updates in the past few years that has one way or another caused issues on my original Surface Book. That was the whole reason why I bought a Surface device back in 2015 with the assumption that being a Microsoft product that any updates and performance would be better than a partner OEM device. I would argue that my work HP EliteBook seems to work better with updates than my SurfaceBook but that may be because corporate IT departments do not do the big twice a year updates immediately</p>

    • Patrick3D

      15 July, 2019 - 4:06 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442748">In reply to Siv:</a></em></blockquote><p>They laid off their entire Windows programmatic testing department several years back and decided to use the "insider" public builds as a means of testing instead. Letting people be guinea pigs for them.</p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    15 July, 2019 - 11:49 am

    <p>I had this happen (or something similar) with my original Surface Book. I opened Lightroom and it Blue Screened because of the NVidia driver crashed. Luckily it's only been the one time.</p><p><br></p><p>If you do a lot of video editing with Premiere you are probably already annoyed because Premiere nags you about the version of the driver Microsoft has issued.</p>

  • Tony Barrett

    15 July, 2019 - 11:55 am

    <p>You can pretty much say that when MS can't even get these updates working on their own kit, there must be something badly wrong somewhere. I have a feeling all the issues with Windows 10 bi-annual upgrades are still there, but MS are putting in blocks left, right and center on certain devices to prevent the flak and fallout from another high profile round of update failures. That's certainly how it's looking.</p>

    • silversee

      15 July, 2019 - 12:14 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442753">In reply to ghostrider:</a></em></blockquote><p>"<span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">You can pretty much say that when MS can't even get these updates working on their own kit, there must be something badly wrong…"</span></p><p><br></p><p>Surface is treated like any other hardware OEM within the Windows group. OEMs are responsible for driver and firmware fixes to resolve such compatibility issues. If something is wrong, it's with the Surface team for not doing adequate testing of Insider builds, not on Windows.</p>

      • skane2600

        15 July, 2019 - 12:20 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#442758">In reply to Silversee:</a></em></blockquote><p>It's a Microsoft product, so how they treat it internally doesn't really matter to the market.</p>

        • waethorn

          16 July, 2019 - 12:43 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#442760">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>If they're gonna do the Apple model, they should at least follow through with Apple-quality integration.</p>

  • silversee

    15 July, 2019 - 12:17 pm

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"It seems like the issue affects the original Surface Book too…"</span></p><p><br></p><p>Source? I've been running 1903 on my Surface Book 1 with dGPU for several months without encountering this problem, and Microsoft only mentions the Book 2 in its advisory. This seems like an assumption on your part.</p>

    • jgraebner

      Premium Member
      15 July, 2019 - 2:10 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442759">In reply to Silversee:</a></em></blockquote><p>Admittedly, I've been running it on my SB2 for several months without encountering this issue. It must be related to some specific set of conditions that not everyone will run into.</p>

  • skane2600

    15 July, 2019 - 12:25 pm

    <p>Traditionally when you find a bug after an update, you go back and look at what you changed to determine the cause and perhaps undo that change. I always wonder what features or "enhancements" are so important that you risk creating bugs to add them.</p>

  • BarryWallis

    15 July, 2019 - 12:26 pm

    <p>I'm running 19H2 on my SB2 and didn't have any problems until I downloaded Middle-EarthL Shadow of War from XBox Gamepass for PC. Now my dGPU intermittently disappears causing the game to crash. The easiest way to fix it is to disconnect the screen and reconnect it. Also, it seems to mostly happen when I run the in-game benchmark and rarely happens when I am playing the game. </p>

    • gregorylbrannon

      Premium Member
      15 July, 2019 - 3:10 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442762">In reply to BarryWallis:</a></em></blockquote><p>Funny you should say to disconnect the screen and reconnect it. That's the solution that I've been using for years on my SB1 when my cursor randomly disappears or I lose audio. That usually fixes my problem. I shouldn't have to do that but I've learned to live with it. Along with the sleep/hibernation hot bag battery draining issue when I close the laptop lid. Other than that; I still like my SB1 but come on Microsoft I expect a better marriage between your own hardware and software.</p>

  • onlywhatsappstatus

    16 July, 2019 - 2:43 am

    <p>Funny you should say to disconnect the screen and reconnect it. That's the solution that I've been using for years on my SB1 when my cursor randomly disappears or I lose audio. That usually fixes my problem. I shouldn't have to do that but I've learned to live with it. Along with the sleep/hibernation hot bag battery draining issue when I close the laptop lid. Other than that; I still like my SB1 but come on Microsoft I expect a better marriage between your own hardware and software.<a href="https://www.onlywhatsappstatus.com/2018/12/whatsapp-status.html&quot; target="_blank">Whatsapp Status</a></p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    16 July, 2019 - 4:48 am

    <p>A bit of a sensationalist headline. The dGPU doesn't fail, it is just not recognized properly. If it failed, the only solution would be a hardware swap-out.</p>

  • Vladimir Carli

    Premium Member
    17 July, 2019 - 2:54 pm

    <p>is it known which devices and what percentage is affected? I have my surface book 2 13inch on 1903 and the gpu works perfectly. </p>

  • soulskillet

    08 August, 2019 - 4:36 pm

    <p>Have there been any updates from Microsoft about this issue?</p><p><br></p><p>– Sad in SB2ville</p>

  • adambtolbert

    31 December, 2019 - 8:01 am

    <p>I know windows updates are essential for the system to prevent problems and errors. It bring new features, bug fixes, and security patches that safeguard against various threats and vulnerabilities. But personally I faced 0x800705b4 error after updates. Suddenly data loss due to instant restart pc. I searched on internet and found useful blog “How to Fix 0x800705b4 Error in Windows 10”. I solved my problem.</p>

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