Surface – Installing Ubuntu on Surface Pro 3 or Any Linux Distribution

surface

What I found out for now is that I can use ubuntu 15.04 touch but no scrolling.

I opened:

/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf

And added:

Section "InputClass"  
    Identifier "Surface Pro 3 cover"
    MatchIsPointer "on"
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Driver "evdev"
    Option "vendor" "045e"
    Option "product" "07dc"
    Option "IgnoreAbsoluteAxes" "True"
EndSection

I did it restarted and wolla the touch pad is working! 😀 happy!

now im stuck with the rest of theese things can someone help me?

power button + volume button
close lid
scroll with 2 fingers
scroll on touch

Best Answer

I have a Surface pro 3 running ubuntu and archlinux.
Everything works fine, but for the things you want you have to compile your own Kernel, which sounds harder than it is.

Download 4.0.1 Kernel sources from here and the patches from here.
Extract both files to a new directory.

tar xvf archive.tar.gz /folder

Install tools with

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev kernel-package`

Apply all the patches with

patch -p1 -i xxx.patch

Copy the current config with:

cp /boot/config-`uname -r` .config

Run:

make menuconfig

then press ESCESC to save and exit.

Start the compiling with:

make-kpkg clean
fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd --append-to-version=-surface-pro-3 kernel_image kernel_headers

Compiling can take 1-2 hours, depending on your pc. If you have a dualcore you can add -j 2 after make-kpkg, -j 4 if you have a quadcore.
Make will then use the number of cores you specify.

Once it is done you will have two .deb files.
Install them with sudo dpkg -i linux-image*.deb linux-headers*.deb

Reboot your system and select the newly compiled Kernel while booting.

The Rundown

What works:

wifi/bluetooth
multi-touch
pen
trackpad on the typing cover

What works somewhat:

hibernate - after resume there is no touch or pen

What doesn't:

suspend (see the note on power saving below)
freeze (the more battery draining version of suspend/sleep that doesn't reliably work)
the typing cover

What I haven't tried:

the cameras

General idea

The general idea behind this kernel is to take the changes done by Hyungwoo Yang at https://github.com/ipts-linux-org/ipts-linux-new/wiki and apply them to the Ubuntu 4.9rc3 kernel. Here are the steps to get the kernel in order. The compilation process takes about 45 minutes using all the cores of the Surface 4. Cloning the kernel repositories requires about 1.5 gigs of disk space.

Steps to produce the kernel

install Ubuntu 16.10 yakkety. to accomplish this you will need a USB hub that can handle both the ubuntu live-USB and the keyboard/mouse.
boot linux with a USB keyboard.
prepare the Ubuntu 4.9rc3 kernel.
- clone the Ubuntu 4.9rc3 kernel (requires ~1.5gig of space):
  
  git clone git://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-kernel-test/ubuntu/+source/linux/+git/mainline-crack v4.9-rc3
- download 6 patches: Patch1 Patch2 Patch3 Patch4 Patch5 Patch6
- apply the patches to the kernel in order: do
  
  git am /path/to/THEPATCH.patch
  
  for each of the patches.
create a patch with touch/pen support from the ipts-linux-new kernel.
- clone the kernel (requires ~1.5gig of space) in another directory:
  
  git clone https://github.com/ipts-linux-org/ipts-linux-new.git
- create the patch:
  
  git diff 0c183d92b20b5c84ca655b45ef57b3318b83eb9e > /path/to/ipts-linux-new_patch.txt

apply the ipts-linux-new patch to v4.9rc3

`cd /path/to/v4.9rc3`
`patch -p1 < /path/to/ipts-linux-new_patch.txt`
`git add .`
`git commit -m 'Patch for Surface Pro 4 taken from ipts-linux-new.'`

compile the kernel and make ubuntu .deb packages (copied from Ubuntu Kernel Compilation)

cd /path/to/v4.9rc3
- initialize the debian files:
  
  fakeroot debian/rules clean
- configure the kernel you will build:
  
  fakeroot debian/rules editconfigs
  - Say yes only to the amd64 question. This will show the "menuconfig" curses interface. activate the following two options:
    - Device Drivers -> NVM express lock device (y)
    - Device Drivers -> Misc devices -> Intel Precise Touch & Stylus (m)
- comment or remove "do_zfs = true" in "/path/to/v4.9rc3/debian.master/rules.d/amd64.mk"
- rename the kernel by editing "/path/to/v4.9rc3/debian.master/changelog"

compile the kernel (use more threads than processors to make it faster)

`fakeroot debian/rules clean` #necessary, but I don't know why
`DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=parallel=5 fakeroot debian/rules binary-headers binary-generic binary-perarch`

four new .debs should be created in the directory next to v4.9rc3. Install the .debs with the following command:
```
`sudo dpkg -i linux-image-* linux-headers-4.9.0-040900rc3*`
```
copy driver files from windows to linux:
- copy driver files from "\Windows\INF\PreciseTouch\Intel" to the linux directory "/lib/firmware/intel/ipts". There should be at least 4 files with names similar to these:
  - iaPreciseTouchDescriptor.bin
  - SurfaceTouchServicingSFTConfigMSHW0078.bin
  - SurfaceTouchServicingDescriptorMSHW0078.bin
  - SurfaceTouchServicingKernelSKLMSHW0078.bin
- Make symbolic links to these files:
  
  cd /lib/firmware/intel/ipts
  
  ln -s iaPreciseTouchDescriptor.bin intel_desc.bin
  
  ln -s SurfaceTouchServicingSFTConfigMSHW0078.bin config.bin
  
  ln -s SurfaceTouchServicingDescriptorMSHW0078.bin vendor_desc.bin
  
  ln -s SurfaceTouchServicingKernelSKLMSHW0078.bin vendor_kernel.bin

You should be able to boot the new kernel now. If the links are in the right place then touch and pen will work nicely.

Note on power saving

The missing suspend functionality is a major drawback. This is a due to the Microsoft "connected standby" fiasco: https://lwn.net/Articles/580451/. Freeze uses more battery (drains the battery maybe half as fast as if you had left the computer on), and doesn't seem to be reliable. With hibernate the state is successfully kept, but unfortunately, the touch and stylus functionalities do not work after resume.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Ubuntu for Surface Pro 4

Ubuntu – Installing Ubuntu on Surface pro 4

The Rundown

General idea

Steps to produce the kernel

Note on power saving

Related Question