The Surface Pro 3 is an amazing tablet-laptop hybrid and it’s definitely the best one Microsft has put on the market so far. But, as it always happens quickly after a release, there are many problems that affect the new owners.

Erik Dunbar user has reported problems with his input pen on the Surface Pro 3, and his initial post has quickly become popular. He said the following:

“When I try to pair the new pen with my Surface 3, it says connected for a second or two, then it says not connected. Pen doesn’t work at all except the purple button on the top will launch OneNote. Any ideas? I’ve paired it manually several times and it’s always the same. I paired a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard without issue.”

A Microsoft representative has reached out and provided a quick fix for the problem which was apparently caused by backwards placement of the batteries in then pen. Also, you need to make sure that all the latest Windows updates have been installed and that the Surface Pen only shows as connected to Bluetooth when the top button is pressed.

The original poster has update the thread himself, adding the following:

“This is really embarrassing, but I hope it at least helps someone else out there. I just got off of a chat with MS support…the battery was installed backwards. I can’t believe how much time I wasted on this today just because of a backwards battery. LOL, what a moron. Definitely can’t tell the wife about this one…it would certainly be used against me at some future point.”

“In case anyone is wondering how the little light even comes on when the battery is backwards, there are actually 3 batteries in the pen. Two up in the top part that unscrews (like watch batteries) and then a third in the lower portion (the AAAA). The two up top come installed and there is nothing for the end user to do, but the AAAA in the lower portion is user installed. That’s the one I put in backwards.”

So, if you will experience similar problems, now you know how easy it easy to solve them. Let us know by leaving your comment if this doesn’t do it for you.