Surface Pro 11 (ARM64) - Windows Hello camera only works right after restart

jun 0 Reputation points
2026-10-05T06:49:59.46+00:00

I am using a Surface Pro 11 (Snapdragon X plus / ARM64) and have been experiencing a persistent Windows Hello Facial Recognition issue for nearly a year.

Issue Summary:

  • Windows Hello facial recognition works flawlessly right after a fresh reboot/restart.

However, whenever the device wakes up from sleep (Modern Standby) or stays idle for some time, the camera stops working completely.

  • The sign-in screen displays "Couldn't turn on the camera. Please sign in with your PIN." While the white camera indicator LED turns on, the red IR sensor light never turns on.

The only way to get Windows Hello working again is a full system restart. Restarting the WbioSrvc service or reloading the drivers in Device Manager does not resolve the dead state.

Background & What I've Tried:

This problem began occurring after a specific Windows/firmware update and has remained unresolved for almost a year.

Re-registering facial recognition data and resetting the WinBioDatabase cache did not help.

Unchecking power-saving options for the IR camera did not prevent the subsystem from hanging after sleep.

All cumulative Windows updates and Surface app firmware packages are up to date.

It appears to be a power management/synchronization deadlock between Modern Standby (D3cold) and the Qualcomm Spectra ISP / camera drivers upon wake-up.

Has anyone encountered this exact behavior and found a permanent fix or viable workaround? Any insights from Microsoft engineers or fellow ARM64 users would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Surface | Surface Pro | Sound and camera
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  1. Kai-H 28,235 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-10-06T10:14:52.77+00:00

    Hi, jun

    The restart-only recovery makes a sleep/wake problem worth investigating, but it does not confirm a Qualcomm driver deadlock. I couldn’t verify a permanent fix for this exact behavior.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Test Hibernate instead of Sleep. Open Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do > Change settings that are currently unavailable. Enable Hibernate, if available, and save. Then select Start > Power > Hibernate before leaving the device. Hibernation preserves your open work, although waking takes longer. Treat this as a workaround test, not a guaranteed fix; check whether facial recognition survives several hibernate/wake cycles.

    Capture the biometric logs while the failure is present. Open Event Viewer > Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Biometrics > Operational. Note the entries around the failed wake-up and compare them with a successful sign-in. Event 1108 also identifies whether the sensor uses the isolated security environment. These details provide better diagnostic evidence than repeating enrollment or driver changes.

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