i have some surfaces at work, does everything work on it?
i was looking at the special linux for them
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There are surfaces and there are surface RTs. The RTs have ARM processors, the surfaces have intel.
I have a literal pile of Surface tablets that have been converted to Ubuntu 24.04, and “mostly work”.
I had a bad experience with Surface RT, so I’m also watching details about the RTs.
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Raspberry OS works, threw on Trixie as well…
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You will be assimilated!
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Any idea how I get the battery level to show correctly? The instructions said I could add a working battery monitor to the taskbar, but that doesn’t seem to work with Trixie… and the are hundreds of them that I could install…
No clues wrt to Surfaces… especially RT. I’ve never had one.
I’ve put Raspberry Pi OS on Pi’s of course… but haven’t recently and didn’t realize that Rasberry Pi OS is now based on Debian 13 “trixie”. Interesting! And it also works on Surface RT? I see that there is an Open Surface RT project… neat!
I have Debian “trixie” on my main Acer laptop and one of the miniPC devices that didn’t like the LMDE installer for some reason… and I really like it. Most all the machines I’ve got – except for the RPi’s – are Intel-based.
When I asked Gemini, “Can Debian 13 “trixie” be installed on Surface laptops?”… it pointed me to the Linux-Surface project which I’d never heard of.
============ Gemini speaks… ===============
Yes, Debian 13 (Trixie) can be installed and made to work on Microsoft Surface laptops, but it’s often not a plug-and-play experience and usually requires extra steps to achieve full functionality.
The primary solution for robust hardware support is installing a custom kernel specifically patched for Surface devices, often referred to as the Linux-Surface kernel.
Key Considerations for Installation
Hardware Support Challenges
Microsoft Surface devices frequently use non-standard hardware components (like custom embedded controllers for keyboards/touchpads, and specific camera/touch-and-pen input systems) that aren’t fully supported by the standard, “mainline” Linux kernel.
| Feature | Standard Kernel (May Require Configuration) | Linux-Surface Kernel (Recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Installation | Possible, but touchpad/keyboard may not work during setup (requiring external USB peripherals). | Makes installation smoother by providing necessary drivers. |
| Touchpad & Keyboard | Often non-functional or partially working out-of-the-box. | Works by including patches for the Surface Aggregator Module (SAM). |
| Touchscreen & Pen | Hit-or-miss and often requires manual configuration or has limited functionality. | Improved support, including better multitouch and pen input. |
| Wi-Fi | Some Marvell Wi-Fi chips may require non-free firmware to work correctly. | Generally addressed, but can still be a slight hassle depending on the chip. |
| Cameras | Usually non-functional or requires complex user-space processing setup. | Improved support, though not all devices are fully supported yet. |
| Suspend/Hibernation | Can be sketchy and unreliable, often leading to hard resets. | Improved, but results can still vary by specific Surface model. |
| Battery Life | May be worse than on Windows due to suboptimal power management drivers. | Includes power management tweaks for better battery life. |
Export to Sheets
The Linux-Surface Project
The Linux-Surface project maintains and provides a specialized kernel and utilities that incorporate the necessary patches for better Surface hardware compatibility.
To get Debian 13 working well, you’ll likely need to:
- Install Debian 13 (Trixie) using an external keyboard/mouse if the built-in ones don’t work during the installer.
- Add the Linux-Surface repositories after installation.
- Install the patched Linux-Surface kernel package for your Debian version.
- Install necessary firmware packages (e.g., non-free firmware for Wi-Fi).
This process generally results in a fully functional, stable system, although the exact performance and functionality can depend on your specific Surface model.
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I have used that on my stack of surface tablets. It works. Mostly. Including touch input stuff.
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I’ve never had a Surface… but this all makes me wish I had one to play with. Can you recommend a particular model good for conversion… out on the used/refurb scene?
Not sure I could recommend you spend more than a couple of dollars on one :-).
Mine are mostly surface Pro 3 or Surface pro 4.
Key things to know: If you don’t set the UEFI to limit battery charging, eventually they will turn into a football as the battry swells up. I’ve repaired two and scrapped two for this symptom.
You also have to 'unlock’ the UEFI to allow a non-windows OS to load, which means you boot up with an anoying red unlock button and warning on boot.
I have multiple extra surface docks (which provide more USB ports, wired Ethernet ports, and multiple display outputs.
If you do find surplus Surface tablet, let me know and I’ll send you a dock and an extra charger.
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The guide from the Open Surface RT project works 100% except for the battery. 
I have Wifi, the keyboard is working, I installed touch for the OS with a few commands… Pretty neat. I am fighting with VLC at the moment to play my videos, but besides that it’s working great. 
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I have one of these pro 4’s. The screen bulges 1/8 to 1/4" from the frame in places and is cracked but still surprisingly works with touch. I bought a new battery an tried to replace it but destroyed the screen beyond repair, though apparently still not beyond function. And so it sits. It serves as the projector feed for outdoor movie viewing a couple times a year. If i find a new screen for it and can get the old battery out, It will get linux… On the list of things.
Looks like the original listing sold out all of the PCs.
There is another listing with what looks like the same machine but listing Windows 10. Since I don’t plan to leave Windows on them, I’d consider this.
Except, they don’t have an Ethernet connection and… I’d really like wired ethernet if I stick a sender in the beam.
Decisions, decisions…
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Interesting. Yeah, these are so tiny there’s only so many connectors you can realistically put on them. If you cable up everything on it, you either need to clamp it to the table or provide some strain relief. Thankfully, the way I’m using them – headless – I have only the power and one USB cable connected.
Warning! I cannot recommend what I list below. Connecting the “wall wart” to the power pass-through port on the hub does not allow the computer to come on. I suggest looking at a hub with a USB A connector rather than the USB C I call out below.
I went with this one (ABLEWE ABLEWE USB C Hub Ethernet, 8 in 1 Multiport … from Amazon) with ethernet, 3 more USB ports, an additional HDMI port, and one each TF and SD slots. Just arrived today, so haven’t had a chance to try them yet. I’m trying to get through my Klipper transformation on 2 printers first, then I’ll be putting Linux on 2 of the LarkBox pros.
That’s a dead link for me.
The hub didn’t work. Updated my earlier post (again).
How’s that going?
Two steps forward, one step back it seems. Nothing wrong with Klipper, just lots to wrap my head around, and some “physical layer” troubles. The new control board I bought for one printer needs different connectors, the DuPont ones from my old ramps setup keep popping out so it doesn’t move reliably. The new connectors ones arrived today, but I spent the evening getting the firmware on the second printer, and that took several tries with a few different tools to get it to flash but it did finally update. For a little while I was afraid I’d bricked that controller, but the screen just didn’t show anything until the kipper host could connect to it. Then I tried setting up two cameras (side view and nozzle cam) which was another config file to wrap my brain around. Again, eventually got it going but took longer than I expected. I think the second printer is ready to go through config tuning, which is another process that always seems to take more iterations than I expect it to, but I know the effort pays off in the end.
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so as I am writing this, I may have finally converted to linux! I am on a Microsoft surface, a very old surface. I found a youtube to help me get it running. I think this is the very first surface we bought, I bought it for myself. I recently found it when I was recycling a TON of stuff at work. This thing is fantastic. I was having a hard time until i just found the chrome install for Ubuntu! it got me rolling! Now I am there. this is fun again!
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