Latest Surface Pro 3 firmware update finally gets a change log

By John Callaham
last updated

A couple of days ago, Microsoft released a new firmware update for the Surface Pro 3 tablet. Now the official Surface history page has published the change log for that update, showing what's new and improved with this latest firmware.

Here's the breakdown of what was included in the latest firmware download:

  • Surface Pro System Aggregator Firmware update (v3.9.650.0) improves booting time experience and enhances the system reliability while docked.
  • Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.9030.41) improves the wireless network connectivity and stability.
  • Surface Integration driver update (v2.0.1209.0) ensures when using a custom power plan that the selected plan will not revert to the default balanced power plan when installing a Windows Update.
  • Microsoft Docking Station Audio Device driver update (v1.31.35.10) improves audio experience when no external speakers are connected to a Surface Pro 3 Docking Station so that Surface Pro 3 internal speakers are used.
  • Management Engine Interface driver update (v11.0.0.1157) improves the system stability.

Microsoft does have a special note stating that after installing the firmware, the Surface Pro 3 will automatically restart. After that, the user must restart the tablet again to complete the firmware installation.

Source: Microsoft (opens in new tab); Via: WinSuperSite

John Callaham
John Callaham
37 Comments
  • Yeyyy we have a changelog .....
  • I received some update last night and it gave the the blue screen. Cant get it off. Anyone else having this issue after the update??
  • Not me but I've heard about your issue.
  • Mine too, you aren't alone.
  • Mine didn't blue screen but after the first reboot there were no network devices detected, ie no Wi-Fi. The second reboot fixed that and another Update was downloaded and installed. One other problem with the first reboot was that the permission pop up to allow Windows update to proceed was not visible, so I couldn't click on "OK" to modify the system files. It was only visible for a second when Windows closed it so that the system could shut down. It looks like a hinkey update to me. I'd advise against undertaking it at the moment. Certainly over skid be absolutely certain to do a backup before installing.
  • I had the network driver issue. All I did to fix it was re-download the drivers. From Microsoft. Initially I rang Microsoft and the guy told me to refresh my PC, deleting everything. So if you get told that and the reboot doesn't fix your issue then simply re-download your drivers.
  • Mine bluescreened too with error 0xc0000001. Were you also getting display driver crashes prior to the bluescreen? 
  • Kr0nyxx/treeflip7, check comments on the original story on Windows Central (from 9/29) regardging the firmware update.  I had exactly the same issue and posted some info on how I recovered mine.
  • Ya I faced bluescreen error... Then i restarted in safe mode with network, then i restarted in normal mode... It works fine...
  • http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro3-surfusingwin10...
  • Yes getting exactly the same problem.  The update has just hosed the SP3.  Waiting to see if anyone resolved the issue - it won't be possible for MS to fix remotely because the OS is dead....will need us to either do something from the command prompt or restore to a recovery point. Big fan of MS - but this is REALLY poor.
  • No luck with Surface 3
  • This update is for the Surface Pro 3.
  • Please see the third word in the title of the article.
  • No sh!t I'm making a point that the Surface 3 has yet to get an update.
  • Don't blame me for your lack of reading comprehension. It always amazes me that people do not read an entire article before commenting, and how people will ask questions that are clearly stated in the article. But now we have people who do not even read the title of the article, state something that is written in that article, and then complain when people point out that they didn't even read the title of the article. You are not getting this on Surface 3 because it doesn't apply to it. As for "Surface 3 has yet to get an update" you are mistaken. There has been 3 updates Surface 3 firmware updates: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-update-activate/surface-3-update-history?os=windows-10 Are you experiencing the problems from SP3 on your Surface 3? If no, then why do you want this update?
  • Nohone - I think he's simply stating that there hasn't been a firmware upgrade for the Surface 3 yet since Windows 10 was released.  There are some seperate issues on the Surface 3 (such as audio problems and battery life issues) which would likely be fixed by a firmware update.  He's just not feeling the love on the S3 line from Microsoft.
  • Does anyone else have any problems outputting via HDMI? I haven't been able to get it to work since updating to Windows 10. I have tested the cable with another computer, and it still works fine.
  • Use DVI or Displayport. Maybe you'll need to read the book "HDMI For Dummies"
  • Applied the update a couple of days ago. It rebooted itself and applied an update. Then had to do a manual reboots (as advised) but it shows as Update Failed in Windows Update. Won't even try to re-installed after I check for updates. Anyone else have this issue?
  • I had to reboot twice before the update showed up as successful. For some reason it appeared again yesterday when download the cumulative update, though.
  • I had the same problem, the firmware update downloaded then the PC restarted and went through the firmware update (black screen with progress bar). The update went through without any problems but my WiFi was not working. So I logged in and got a notification that the update failed. I restarted the PC, WiFi worked again and update history shows that it failed. My SP3 still does not try to install it again. I do have a feeling that it installed but can't verify. Does anyone know how I can check?
  • Looks like it was re-downloaded and installed just now alongside the cumulative update. All ok and showing as installed.
  • My SP3 rebooted and then blue screened after attempting this update. I talked with MS support and I'm going to have to reset it when I get home. I would be pissed but it's the first time I've had an update do this...and I've been all Windows since 95. I guess I'll see what a clean Windows 10 runs like.
  • One of the SP3's I support started BSOD after this firmware update. I did a system restore to the last restore point and installed the updates one at a time. Unit worked fine and no more BSOD. Give that a go before you just wipe your SP3.
  • Well my update failed to install. After the restart it used says failed and again checking for updated doesn't do anything. What can i do?
  • My experiences with the firmware update are the following: The windows update window (even after retries) kept showing the error message: "There were problems installing some updates, but we'll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help: System Firmware Update - ‎9/‎29/‎2015 - Error 0x800706be" Even though the update history showed it as sucessfully installed. After the update I had many problems related to wifi (seems to me). - Windows mail would not sync properly, mail I tried to send would disappear and only more than an hour later would be send and show up in Sent/inbox folder -Secure http website of Bank would load terribly slow -Youtube video's would buffer terribly slow -The windows update window would show the loader without anything happening. I decided to recover to the previous restore point, after which all problems were gone. However, the firmware update would be ready to install again and my SP3 rebooted at some point and installed the update again The problems returned. I repeated the recovery, everything is okay again, and I put my settings to not shut down, even to defer future updates. Thankfully I didn't experience the blue screen I saw mentioned, but I hope Microsoft will resolve this quickly. Never had big problems with SP3 before, and very satisfied overall. Good luck, all. 
  • I've received that same error message every time I tried installing the 9/15 and the 9/29 firmware updates. Even restarting, restoring from a backup, clearing the Windows Update cache, and redownloading did nothing. It's almost to the point I want to clean install again, but that also means I in decrypting my drive and reinstalling everything again   I've only had these firmware update failures on Windows 10. I can't say I've had the other issues you've experienced though.  
  • Marvel Driver Hardware Fault since lastnight for me. No wifi and usb ethernet dongle doesnt work either.
  • Finally, I can reboot with the keyboard folded underneath and it doesn't take several minutes.
  • This FW is turning out to be a debacle. I've had the same issues as you, perod. I did download the fw directly from ms site and manually installed the msi. But now I have issues of wifi dropping out, my micro SD port freaked out this morning and I lost owner privilege on the card. As of now in device manager I have a yellow ! Over portable devices SD say it is not working properly because windows cannot load the required drivers code 31. Insufficient system resources exist to complete the api.
  • The performance of my SP3 is better than ever. The cooler is way more silent. Especially internet applications.
  • Update appears to have killed my touchscreen, which no longer is working. Bad times..
  • I recommend defering this update until MS figures out and fixes the BSOD problems people have been having with it. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro3-surfusingwin10...  
  • After having to do a system recovery three times, I deferred this update and the cumulative update. What a mess.
  • Skype for Business will still not ring through my Surface speakers when it's docked. I was hoping that fourth bullet meant this would finally be fixed...
  • Like others, I installed and the SP3 restarted. But when it restarted my wifi was dead. So I did another restart and it worked again. I'm assuming it just rolled back to the previous firmware because Windows Update is saying the update on 9/29 failed to install and won't retrigger when I check for updates. I'm too scared of something happening to install manually via the download center website, so I guess I'll just wait. This is the first issue I've ever had with my SP3, so I'm not sweating it.