Unable to recover a Surface Hub 2s IoT enterprise running MTR using 24H2 recovery drive

Question

Unable to recover a Surface Hub 2s IoT enterprise running MTR using 24H2 recovery drive

Rahul Joshi 60

Created a recovery drive using the [Surface Hub 2S - Windows 11 IoT Enterprise with the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience Version 24H2] image extracted the BMR zip file, then uploaded into the recovery drive.

The drive used is a 3.0 128 GB Sandisk USB. When booting holding the power button and the volume down on the Hub it does not recognise the USB drive for 24h2 however, using the 22h2 version recovery drive on an identical USB drive gets recognised.

While downloading the image from MS support, it was about 10 GB which is half the size than 22H2 or 23H2 recovery images for Surface Hub 2S.

Jeremy 0 Reputation points

2026-04-07T17:50:05.83+00:00

I am also having the same issue with the 24H2 recovery image.
As of today (4/7/26), it is still half the size of the 23H2 image, and will not boot into recovery.
I've repeated the process a few times now, to ensure I've followed the directions precisely.
It appears to me that the 24H2 recovery image is invalid.

2 answers

Your answer

Jeremy 0 Reputation points

2026-04-07T17:50:05.83+00:00

I am also having the same issue with the 24H2 recovery image.
As of today (4/7/26), it is still half the size of the 23H2 image, and will not boot into recovery.
I've repeated the process a few times now, to ensure I've followed the directions precisely.
It appears to me that the 24H2 recovery image is invalid.

Answer 1

S.Sengupta 30,026 MVP Volunteer Moderator

Your 22H2 USB already works.

The 24H2 image is likely incomplete / not USB-bootable.

Insert your working 22H2 recovery USB (the one already recognized).

Make sure: USB is at least 32 GB

Insert 22H2 recovery USB

Boot with Volume Down + Power

Select Recover from drive → Fully clean

Wait for installation to complete.

After setup:

Go to Settings → Windows Update

Click Check for updates

Install all updates

Rahul Joshi 60 Reputation points

2026-03-19T22:42:15.22+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion but the question I had was related to the Surface Hub 2S - Windows 11 IoT Enterprise with the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience Version 24H2 recovery image which has been released by MS Support and is recommended/supported.

But while the recovery image size is half the image size of 22H2 and not being able to boot holding the volume down + power button, would you be able to assist?
S.Sengupta 30,026 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-20T00:46:53.1533333+00:00

Based on your symptoms:

22H2 USB → Detected & boots

24H2 USB (~10 GB) → Not detected at all

This strongly indicates:

The 24H2 package is NOT a full bare-metal (BMR) USB recovery image.

Open your 24H2 USB and check: A proper bootable recovery USB MUST have:

/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi

/sources/boot.wim

If you instead see:

Only a large .wim or .ffu

Or just extracted folders without EFI

Then it will never be detected by Surface Hub bootloader

Surface Hub 2S firmware:

Does not show non-bootable USB devices at all

Requires:

#Valid UEFI bootloader

#Correct partition structure

#Proper signed boot files

If any of these are missing → USB is invisible, not just failing.

Paste or screenshot what you see inside the USB
Rahul Joshi 60 Reputation points

2026-03-20T00:52:32.4733333+00:00

Hi Sengupta, the recovery image does contain the /EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi, /sources/boot.wim and install swm files. I have uploaded some of the images.
S.Sengupta 30,026 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-20T01:54:05.75+00:00

Your USB contains:

boot.wim

install.swm, install2.swm, etc.

Scripts (StartPostDeploy.ps1, etc.)

bootmgr.efi (loose file)

BUT MISSING: Proper boot folder structure

EFI/ > Boot/ > bootx64.efi

This folder/file is missing. Without it, UEFI systems won't be able to boot from this media, because UEFI firmware looks specifically for EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi as the default boot entry.

Surface Hub firmware only detects USB if:

Proper UEFI bootloader exists

Correct EFI folder structure is present

The 24H2 image provided by Microsoft Support is valid,

but it is NOT a direct bootable recovery image.

Use 22H2 recovery USB (bootable)

→ Then update to 24H2
Rahul Joshi 60 Reputation points

2026-03-20T02:01:51.68+00:00

The images which I had attached were from their respective folder structure a in EFI/Boot/Bootx64.efi. To make it easier, I had only uploaded the files and not the whole folder structure. But I can assure you that all the config and image files you have mentioned are available in their folder structure.

I had also created a 23H2 recovery driver using the same method, which has no issues with recovering the Surface Hub. Until the issue is resolved or I can find a solution to 24H2, will stick to 23H2 on Surface Hub 2s.
S.Sengupta 30,026 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-20T02:18:18.29+00:00

“Will stick to 23H2”

That is absolutely the right and practical call.

The failure is almost certainly:

A compatibility or packaging issue with the 24H2 recovery image itself rather than anything wrong with your process — since the exact same method works for 23H2.

It's worth keeping an eye on:

Microsoft Surface recovery image updates at aka.ms/SurfaceRecoveryImage — they sometimes silently push corrected packages

Answer 2

The behavior indicates an issue with the 24H2 recovery USB itself rather than with the Hub, since the same device boots correctly from a 22H2 recovery USB.

For Surface Hub 2S running the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience, only the “Windows 11 IoT Enterprise with the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience” recovery image is supported. The USB must also meet strict formatting and content requirements for the Hub to recognize it.

Use these checks and remediation steps for the 24H2 USB:

Verify the correct image
- Confirm that the downloaded image is specifically the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise with the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience recovery image for Surface Hub 2S / Hub 3.
- If the device has a Hub 3 Compute Cartridge, only this image is supported; using any other image may cause harm or void the warranty.
Recreate the USB with the required format
- Use a USB 3.0 drive formatted as FAT32.
- For Windows 11 IoT with Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows, the USB must have at least 32 GB of storage. A 128 GB drive is fine, but it still must be FAT32.
- When creating the recovery drive on a separate PC:
  1. Search for “recovery drive” and run Create a recovery drive.
  2. In the wizard, clear the checkbox Back up system files to the recovery drive.
  3. Select the USB drive and complete creation.
Copy the BMR image correctly
- Open the downloaded recovery image .zip file.
- Extract all files from the ZIP.
- Copy all extracted files to the root (top level) of the USB drive.
- If prompted, choose Replace the files in the destination.
- Safely eject the USB drive.
Boot the Hub correctly from USB
- Connect the USB drive directly to a USB-C or USB-A port on the Surface Hub (preferably directly into the compute cartridge USB port, without extension cables).
- If the Hub was unplugged or had a power interruption, wait at least 15 seconds before attempting to boot.
- To boot from USB:
  1. While pressing the Volume down button, press the Power button.
  2. Keep pressing both buttons until the Windows logo appears.
  3. Release the Power button but continue to hold Volume down until the Install UI begins.
If the 24H2 USB is still not recognized
- Follow the documented USB troubleshooting steps:
  - Check image: Confirm all recovery image files are fully extracted and in the root of the USB.
  - Check USB format: Confirm FAT32 and that the BMR image is present.
  - Try a different USB brand or a USB-C flash drive, then recreate the 24H2 USB from scratch.
  - Try other USB ports on the Hub.
- If a recreated 24H2 USB (on a different brand drive, correctly formatted and copied) still is not recognized while a 22H2 USB works, this may indicate a problem specific to that 24H2 image or a device-specific issue. In that case, open a support request with Surface Support for Business and Education and reference the recovery steps already taken.

References:

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Unable to recover a Surface Hub 2s IoT enterprise running MTR using 24H2 recovery drive

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