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How to recover from ‘black screen after sleep’ on a Surface Pro 4
3 min. read
Published onJanuary 31, 2016
published onJanuary 31, 2016
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It’s no secret that Microsoft’sSurface Pro 4andSurface Bookdevices, while universally praised as innovative and well-designed machines, suffer from some firmware and display driver issues. The inability to enter Intel’s Skylake’s deeper sleep states, poor battery life when sleeping, display driver crashes, and other issues areconfirmed by users and Microsoft alike.
One of the most frustrating bugs suffered by Surface Pro 4 users right now is the “black screen after sleep” problem. Basically, when a Surface Pro 4 is woken from whatever sleep state it manages to enter, the screen sometimes remains off and no combination of pressing and prodding will force it to turn back on. You can tell the machine is actually awake and active because the Windows Hello infrared light turns on and starts scanning.
Fortunately,there’s an easy solution as long as you have your Type Cover handy. What seems to be happening is that the display driver forgets that it’s using the local screen and tries to project to a non-existent external display. The solution in this case is fairly simple:
If your Type Cover isn’t available, then you’ll have to force the Surface Pro 4 to shut down. A longer term solution is also available, but it’s a bit more complicated and intrusive: you can also manually install theIntel HD reference drivers from 12/22/2015and the issue shouldn’t recur (and you might get better sleep performance as well), but you’ll be out of sync with Microsoft’s official drivers and those Intel drivers cause some issues of their own.
To install the Intel drivers, you’ll need todownloadand unzip them, and then do the following (this is all easier in desktop mode than tablet mode):
Again, installing the reference Intel HD drivers overcomes some of the current issues, but causes other problems. However, until Microsoft releases new firmware and display drivers that resolve these issues, the Intel drivers do result in a slightly improved experience. As always, do this at your own risk, and if you can live with the poor sleep support and occasional black screens, then sticking with the stock Microsoft drivers isn’t a terrible idea.
Radu Tyrsina
Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).
For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.
Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.
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Radu Tyrsina
