Problem

If I close the type cover and then re-open it, the screen is black, and I cannot wake up the computer. The only way that I can again use the Surface is via the two-button restart technique. See also microsoft.com’s Surface won’t turn on or wake from sleep.

Final Resolution

• Open a command prompt.
• Run sfc /scannow.
• This finds corrupt files and fixes most of them.
• It won’t fix them all, and that is fine.
• Restart the computer.
• For us, this resolved the display problem. Hooray!

Contacting MSFT support

• Register the Surface Pro 4. I was unable to register it online, because I have the extended warranty. Instead, I needed to contact MSFT.
• Contact the MSFT Answer Desk. This is a hit-and-miss resource. Keep calling back until reaching someone with a fair amount of experience. The best thing is to request a callback. https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-ca/support/contact-us. Give each representative about five minutes. If you don’t have good rapport, politely end the call and request another callback. (reference # 132-890-8214)

The two-button restart technique

This was the fix that I used to use each time the screen died.

• Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds, then release it.
• Press and hold the volume-up button and the power button at the same time for at least 15 seconds, then release both.
• Wait 10 seconds.
• Press and release the power button to turn the Surface back on.

Some actions that did not help

Change the power settings

Control Panel > Power Options > System Settings

Check Windows Update

Other options that we did not require

• Reset the device.

• Refresh the device.

It is a relief to have fixed this.