Surface Pro 3 Firmware Updates

[hopmedic]

I was listening to Windows Weekly on the way to work this morning, and Paul Thurrott said that essentially if you are using a SP3, you do have WiFi problems. You just may not know it. Some of the problems are the obvious, like mine, where I wake the PC and my home connection is limited until I turn WiFi off and back on. But one of the others he mentioned was throughput rates going up and down, and that this is a problem that most people wouldn't necessarily notice. He also mentioned the update coming on the 16th that realwarder mentioned above.

At this point I'm just disgusted that I can't get the firmware update. Microsoft has been doing automatic updates for more than a decade, and push updates out on far more systems than the few SP3s that are out there. Why can't they either make it available to all at once like they do other updates, or make it on-demand if a person doesn't want to wait until their turn?

 

[jonty12]

I don't have the "limited WiFi" issue, but I definitely have the crazy throughput rollercoaster issue. When I got the thing I transferred a bunch of TV shows to it for watching while traveling, and the progress charts looked like a side view of the Grand Canyon. It would drop from 7-8MB/s to 60KB/s for long periods of time.

 

[strollin]

I got the firmware update on Tuesday along with a bunch of other updates. I wasn't having problems with my wifi, but I could see that when on battery my wifi connection speed would drop to as low as 11M but would ramp up if I was transferring data. After the firmware update, whether on battery or AC, my wifi link speed shows 866M.

 

[KJones75]

I disabled the 5ghz band in my router settings so that my SP3 would be forced to use the 2.4ghz band. So far I haven't had the limited connectivity problem since. So maybe it is interference?

Obviously this isn't an ideal solution, but I will try reenabling the 5ghz band after getting the firmware updates.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I was listening to Windows Weekly on the way to work this morning, and Paul Thurrott said that essentially if you are using a SP3, you do have WiFi problems. You just may not know it. Some of the problems are the obvious, like mine, where I wake the PC and my home connection is limited until I turn WiFi off and back on. But one of the others he mentioned was throughput rates going up and down, and that this is a problem that most people wouldn't necessarily notice. He also mentioned the update coming on the 16th that realwarder mentioned above.

At this point I'm just disgusted that I can't get the firmware update. Microsoft has been doing automatic updates for more than a decade, and push updates out on far more systems than the few SP3s that are out there. Why can't they either make it available to all at once like they do other updates, or make it on-demand if a person doesn't want to wait until their turn?

Sorry to hear of the issues you're dealing with. I know first-hand how frustrating it can be... and how Microsoft's poor handling of fixes/updates is an irritant in the Surface owner experience.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I got the firmware update as well as all of the others on "Update Tuesday." Although, I had to go and reinstall several apps directly from the store because it said that they needed to be "repaired." Inconvenient, but I didn't lose anything; so, for me all is well.

 

[hopmedic]

I got the firmware update as well as all of the others on "Update Tuesday." Although, I had to go and reinstall several apps directly from the store because it said that they needed to be "repaired." Inconvenient, but I didn't lose anything; so, for me all is well.

I had a couple that needed to be repaired as well. I didn't connect that to the updates, but since it happened to you, obviously it was connected.

 

[ziggy3055#CB]

For what it's worth....Today I checked Windows Update and it said "no updates", so I just figured I'd try to check again and the second time I got a firmware update notification. Not sure if it was just coincidence or if it actually took two checks, but that's how it worked for me.

Update: Checked wireless connection on 2.4 and 5GHz and it's MUCH better. Normal connectivity rates similar to a laptop. No more of that 6mbps next to the router crap, thankfully.

 

[sahilln]

Finally got the firmware update. Hopefully WiFi works better now!

 

[hopmedic]

Just got the firmware update. And on restart, I did NOT have to turn WiFi off and back on to get it to work. WOOHOO!

 

[stephen_az]

Got a Surface Pro 3 here in Germany. Tuesday Evening i got the firmware Update, but i did a total reset yesterday and until today i have no firmware update again, too.

If t is an actual firmware update and you installed it, you may not see the update again after doing a clean reset. A real firmware update is only installed once, resides at the hardware level, and is outside the OS bits.

 

[stephen_az]

I was listening to Windows Weekly on the way to work this morning, and Paul Thurrott said that essentially if you are using a SP3, you do have WiFi problems. You just may not know it. Some of the problems are the obvious, like mine, where I wake the PC and my home connection is limited until I turn WiFi off and back on. But one of the others he mentioned was throughput rates going up and down, and that this is a problem that most people wouldn't necessarily notice. He also mentioned the update coming on the 16th that realwarder mentioned above.

At this point I'm just disgusted that I can't get the firmware update. Microsoft has been doing automatic updates for more than a decade, and push updates out on far more systems than the few SP3s that are out there. Why can't they either make it available to all at once like they do other updates, or make it on-demand if a person doesn't want to wait until their turn?

No offense but this sounds more of drama than anything else. Yes, Microsoft has been doing updates for a long time. They, however, have also rolled them out in a staggered fashion for quite some time as well. Anyone who owns an earlier Surface Pro or even Surface should know this if they have paid attention over the past few years. Even before that Service Packs for Windows did not all appear simultaneously. It is just a fact of life.

Beyond that fact, if you are concerned and want a real response, call Microsoft support. Paul Thurrott stopped being a real insider sometime ago and one of the reasons was his tendency to bias what should be informational discussion with unfounded (or at least highly biased) opinion. He lost any real access around Windows 7 but evidently can't survive without still seeing his name in print.

With respect to everyone saying this update fixes the WIFI problems, please take a look at what they have actually said. This does include some changes but a driver update will be out next week. As for the people getting an error message, based upon encountering that with previous Surface devices, it is possible that this is because the update WAS installed but did not get referenced properly in the update log. The update then fails because it can't reinstall since it is already installed.

 

[stephen_az]

Just a couple suggestions for those still waiting on the update, or who think they are waiting on the update. First, try using the "find and fix Windows Update problems" utility option. It will run basic repairs on the Windows Update database which can fix a good deal of problems, including errant messages and/or letting Windows Update see updates it thinks it already installed. A more drastic approach is to go into Services and temporarily disable Windows Update, delete everything in the Software Distribution folder under Windows, then turn the Windows Update service back on. When you next run Windows Update, it will fail but if you click on it again, it will look for updates from a completely blank state based upon file signatures, firmware dates, etc., already on the machine.

 

[rysliv]

Well after waiting nearly three days to get the update. I kept checking for updates, and it finally popped up a few minutes ago.

 

[LinT]

I just now got the firmware update as well.

 

[hopmedic]

Well, it didn't give me a problem when I was at the tech school where I was at a Microsoft User Group meeting, but when I got home, it wouldn't automatically connect to my home wifi. I restarted it, though, and hopefully that will make the difference. We'll see tomorrow evening when I use it at an EAA meeting at the Gwinnett airport.

 

[tlchiam]

Anyone had issues with the July firmware update? I got an update failed message in the update history and error code 8024CE25

 

[rysliv]

Just know that there is yet another update pending on the 16th. Hopefully then, we won't encounter these issues. (With WiFi)

 

[berfles]

How can I tell if I already have the firmware update? Mine asked me to reboot in order to complete updates but I don't know what it actually installed other than Windows updates.

 

[jrohland]

How can I tell if I already have the firmware update? Mine asked me to reboot in order to complete updates but I don't know what it actually installed other than Windows updates.

Search for Windows Update. Tap the one that says Windows Update. In the upper-left corner of the Windows Update dialog, tap View update history. That will show the most recent updates. In the lower-left corner is the option to show all updates. However, I find the layout of that list to be hard if you are looking updates on a specific date.