(Solved) How to break the loop “Restart Surface to modify security settings”

After getting my new Surface Pro 4, I tried to install Ubuntu on it. While trying to boot from a PE environment on my USB stick, I lost the Security menu in UEFI. Then I got stuck in the Restart to Surface UEFI loop with this message:

The security settings on Surface cannot be modified at this time. A restart is required to make changes to the security settings.

The default security settings menu no longer appeared, no matter how many times I restarted. I searched as much as I could, but I still could not find a way to fix it.

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I nearly gave up, but as a geek I had to know what was going on. It kept lingering in my mind and luring me back. Most importantly, I felt that I had lost control of my computer, which was unacceptable.

I had to know, or I could not stop thinking about it.

Last night, an idea occurred to me: try turning off Devices to trigger the firmware settings to refresh. The result was amazing. I could hardly believe it worked. The pity is that I still do not know why this happened.

Turn off the devices:

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The security settings came back:

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Then turn all the devices back on. You do not want a computer without a camera, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

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Enjoy your fully controlled computer again.

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by Chen Miao

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