The Horrifying Problem
I grabbed my Surface Pro 2, turned it on and noticed that the wireless wasn’t working. At first, I figured I would give it a minute. A minute passed and then I begun to get worried. The WiFi was not turning on and Windows was reporting to me that my system does not have a wireless device – at all. This all started happening after a windows update, this has never happened before prior to the update.
When I checked the Device Manager I saw this error:
This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
An object ID was not found in the file.
The Stupid Fix to the Stupid Problem
- Uninstall the driver and make sure to select the box that says, “Delete the driver software for this device.”
- Restart your Surface
- Cross your fingers
- The drivers should auto-magically be re-installed again?I know, it sounds impossible and ridiculous, but that is exactly what I did and it worked.
Bleh…
This was very very frustrating and troubling because who knows when it is going to happen again. It was seriously random. I blame Microsoft for this one, too many people are having this problem for it to be a coincidence. Especially after a windows update. There have been too many windows updates as of late for the Surface, which I think says something. I haven’t even heard of Marvell, why couldn’t they just stick to Realtek like everyone else?
Updates
2015.08.19 – I upgraded my Surface Pro 2 to Windows 10 and unfortunately I have encountered the same problem all over again in a different form. Right after performing the upgrade I lost all of my wireless devices, I simply restarted the surface and that fixed the problem. I put my surface into hibernation (which you have to manually enable) and I lost all of my wireless devices again. I simply restarted my surface and that fixed the problem again. So the good news is, there are less steps this time. The bad news is, the problem still persists.
Boom son. It worked for me. Thanks!
I love this!
Happends on the original Surface Pro also. Very random. Fix worked perfectly. Thx!
Thanks for this! It worked perfectly on my original Surface Pro. You made my day! : )
Thank you – it worked for me.
This is now the 3rd time this happened to me just after a microsoft 'update'. I don't usually re-start the surface just because of an update. 'But' when there is an update that blows the wifi out, one is forced to do a re-start (after deleting the Marvell driver). So what happens if I decide I don't want any more updates bloating my surface because it's running just fine? I did that on an XP machine for almost two years with no problems.
Curious ain't it?
Definitely curious – however, as annoying as those updates are, Microsoft is constantly patching vulnerabilities which is why I would recommend keeping up to date with them. It is definitely a pain, but the end definitely justify the means in this situation. If I had to guess – this is a hardware and device driver issue. It is very disappointing.
I owe you something for this. I'm gonna' get you a nice fruit basket.
Thank you. I am not big on fruit, but I do accept Tips! Check the top right of this page 😀
Thanks! It worked for me.
Invested over 90 minutes with Microsoft Surface Pro Technical Support… only to conclude you have a hardware problem (please spend $320.00). Well the recommendation to Uninstall the Marvell AVARSTAR wireless software was 100% correct. Removed driver, restarted Surface Pro 2, Re-Installed Marvell AVARSTAR driver s/w and everything worked… cleared the error and the Wireless appears. Thank you.
Wow some nerve they have saying it is hardware. I haven't had the problem since another recent windows update. Like 4-5 batches back. I strongly believe this is all driver related. To further my point, I used to be able to tether my android with my surface. Ever since a recent windows update, now I get blue screens if I even think about it. Problem with watchdog. Go figure.
several sessions with this problem the above did not fix it after several reboots.
Sorry to hear that. The next thing you can try is just using an external USB device. That's what I did when it happened at first.
Your post helped after over 2 hours of random and fruitless troubleshooting. Many thanks.
You are very welcome
Holy shit. I can't believe it worked. Thanks.
Worked a treat! Thank you very much.
WTF? It worked!!! Thanks for the AWESOME tip!!!
not for me
I'm sorry to hear that. I have completely given up on the Surface Pro 2 and I moved to Surface Pro 4. Microsoft was having a great promotion where they take your Surface Pro 2 and give you a $300 credit towards a 4. Good riddance.
This worked for me too!!