Thank you for watching! What I have found after using this: Pros: Battery Life has been increased by a lot (especially in power saving mode) Increase of speed (a lot) Does not take long to boot Linux
The boot sequence is tedious I have yet to find out how to not select the kernal each time the computer is booted. (kind of annoying) grub has a timeout usually- by default i think its 30 seconds. you can tune that to choose the option you want and autoboot into it
For anyone who has trouble after the blue screen: If you press "Continue Boot" and it does not show the "View Key 0" and "Continue" screen directly after, do not panic, you can fix this easily. 1. On the black screen, select "Advanced Options for Ubuntu" 2. Select "Ubuntu With Linux generic" (the first option with that name is usually the right one). 3. Once on your desktop, open terminal and type "sudo apt remove linux-surface-secureboot-mok" (this will reset the blue screen basically) 4. Then reinstall it again (no need to restart your PC): sudo apt install linux-surface-secureboot-mok 5. Now restart your PC (you can type "reboot" in the terminal) 6. After the blue screen reappears, select "Enroll MOK" 7. Select "Continue" 8. Select "Yes" 9. Type the password "surface" 10. Select "Reboot" 11. Follow the rest of the video's tutorial from 11:04 onward Note: If you install the Surface Kernel on any Surface Books, it will require extra work to get the dedicated GPU working. With regular Ubuntu, it works perfectly fine, even the detatch feature works, but it does not support touch or pen. After installing the kernel, touch and pen work now, but only the Intel Integrated Graphics are detected. (I'm currently finding out how to get the dedicated GPU in the base detected, and I'll try to update this comment when I find a solution. From my research, it is entirely possible to get the Surface Book 3 working completely, besides the cameras) I hope people benefit from this
@@kbinaction7281 Sorry to hear about that. I can't really help unfortunately, since my computer is currently broken (unrelated issue. lol), but maybe you can try moving your data to a thumb drive, and reinstall Linux. Also, I highly recommend reading through the github info from the links in the video; they were a massive help in helping me figure out a few issues I was having. I hope everything goes well with figuring out the issue.
@@kbinaction7281 Hi, after a lot of trial and error i found out that the new surface firmware version is making your surface boot from any usb besides Linux. The only solution was using Ventoy tool to boot the linux usb key . And it gives you the option to Enroll MOK where you can find the Entry you just added there just enter the password "surface" and done.
Hi @WarriorAlexOG, Thanks for your help, this worked to be able to get access again to the blue screen and this time select "enroll mok"... and later access to the password panel where suddenly my keyboard doesn't write anything even though the enter key (or ctrl+Alt+Del to get out of that) is working. I even tried the virtual keyboard without any success (at this point touch screen is working, I guess boot operations are managed by windows) Any Idea of a work around? Thanks🙂 By the way it was on a SP5 ,
This guide was been very helpful, as the official guide assumes you know how and when to proceed with installing the kernel. This is also going to be a very important project going forward, as millions of these devices would be headed for the landfill, as they can't be upgraded to Windows 11.
Just used this guide today on my Surface Pro 5 and it worked great, thanks! The Ubuntu install process itself has changed over time (as it tends to do), and I needed to select "Enroll MOK" otherwise I got signature errors and couldn't boot to the surface kernel, but outside of that this is perfect. Thanks for the video!
Oh yes! Finally! I've had this problem for so long and I've tried many ways to get the touch function to work on my Surface 2. I am so happy that I stumbled upon your video, very helpful and super easy to follow steps! I can now finally use the laptop properly! Thanks a BUNCH! 🙏
This tutorial worked for me! I just ran into a couple of small issues. Like another user stated, simply clicking "Continue boot" at the MOK step did not work for me, even on Ubuntu, and I had to try again, and this time selected "Enroll MOK" and only then was asked to confirm and enter the password. This time it worked fine, but then, once in OS, I still had no touch controls or rotation, and though I had failed, but after a brief reserach, saw a comment on reddit about them not working with a keyboard attached. I don't have a surface keyboard, but I was using an external Asus keyboard through a dock. Disconnected it and they started working as intended. I don't usually use a keyboard or mouse with my Surface anyway, so it's not an issue, but also, just to confirm, I reconnected the keyboard and the touch continues to work normally, so probably just the first time thing.
My Camera often wont work. Restarting is the only way then. Also got the screen flickering sometimes, but it will disappear after some time. Its the 7 pro
Thanks for the video. I've got a PS5, tried Zorin OS with a bootable USB, the OS seemed fine. Screen wasn't working so this video will help me get the right kernel. I'm just amazed how fast yours went into USB boot mode. Mine after trying the OS has not been able to boot from USB any more. No matter if I factory reset, try other USB drives, secure boot on/off. USB is the top priority when booting, etc. it won't pass the black screen anymore. At least windows is booting fine 😂
Hello. I have a problem. The first time I booted from USB, Ubuntu installed very well. After kernel update I had an error. Couldn't boot, neither Ubuntu nor Windows. Then I reinstalled W11 with USB. The only system I can install is Windows. Ubuntu, Fedora, all not bootable from USB. I tried with a third party and also without secure boot. The interface gets stuck at the Windows logo when I try to install third-party software via USB. On another PC the USB installation works, only the interface refuses to load the installation
for anyone having problem with registering secureboot key, press enter on the MOK prompt, and next the bluescreen appears, click on ENROLL MOK not CONTINUE TO BOOT like the video said, and click continue and then type in SURFACE as password
Not sure if it's different because I'm installing Fedora, but at 10:48, selecting continue to boot didn't work or give me a password screen and gave me errors when trying to boot using the surface kernel. I had to boot into the regular kernel, uninstall & reinstall the linux surface kernel via terminal to get the blue option boot screen again and select "Enroll MOK" first.
Installed Zorin OS on a Surface Pro 7 and then realized touchscreen, camera and the screen rotation doesn't work. Then I installed linux surface kernal and everything works except for the cameras. For me thats the only con. Its a night and day difference between bloated windows 11 and Zorin. Also tried linux mint and i fell in love with linux. 🐧 However I had some failed attempts while installing the surface kernal. But it was well worth the shot! GG Linux
No matter what I do, I cant get the imaged USB to launch after setting the USB option. Always comes up saying there's no bootable device and then throws me back into the UEFI menu.
Turn off secure boot and make sure usb is highest priority in boot configuration and untuck windows boot manager (if it’s there). It could also mean that the iso is corrupted or your usb isn’t meant for booting.
Is there anyway to do this linux install on a surface if you don’t have the surface keyboard? I just bought a surface 7 that will not come with the keyboard…?
Hi Bradley. I tryed to probe before to install Ubuntu without a fisical keyboard and I fault. The multitouch function not working. Could you comment what's the keyboard model that you used on the video. Thks!
Thanks for tutorial, man. I tried running Linux on my otherwise pretty useless (slow and hot with Windows 11) Surface 6 a few months ago, and failed miserably. I mean, the OS installed fine, but I just couldn't figure out the Surface Kernel part of the process (a total noob in Linux). Now with this step-by-step tutorial, I feel like I can give it another shot. Will let you know how it plays out:) Also, subscribed!
@@BradleyDAllen Ok, it works. Touch, pen and rotation all work great now! Didn't get a chance to test a camera, but I assume it will be fine too. Thank you so much, once again! I did run into a couple of small issues, so I'll make another comment individually, in case anyone else is looking for that info.
Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it, but if Bitlocker is turned on and your drive encrypted, it has to be turned off AND you have to decrypt your drive, which can be lengthy.
Kinda run to a problem. My surface pro 9 doesn’t reboot at all. Wether on windows or Linux. Even after trying different boot configurations . What went wrong and how to fix this ????
Great video! Installed Ubuntu on my surface pro 7.. there is a problem with the display resolution.. it says 2736x1824 in the display settings but there is a gap horizontally on both sides.. any ideas how to fix this?
I did it! I followed your instrcuctions, tried to make sense of the ones online at github, but it did ultimately work. Not bad for an olde person like me, wot?
Alright, I did this twice. everything works fine, yet the screen will not flip and touch does not work. I have a surface pro 8 Can someone please tell me which part I missed up on. Thank you
I think it works better on older surface pros. The newer devices has more proprietary drivers and components than older ones. One thing you could try is installing Linux surface kernel, and see if that helps out
I first installed Ubuntu correctely but failed installing the linux kernel. Then I installed windows again on my surface but now I can´t even install the ubuntu. It just get stucked at a black screen with the windows logo. Anyone knows how to get rid of this bug? Thanks, great video
Hello, when i change the security boot as th point 11:10 i get a problem when it reboot. Jut show me the login screen and after became all black. If i change the security boot to none, it works good and i have the touch screen working as well. What can i do?
@@BradleyDAllen Thank you so much for this video. I was really minutes away from throwing out the surface book one. I had held onto it a bit longer than I would have in the past, because it has the intel i7 chip, 512 meg disc. This was a commercial unit I had gotten from a business that upgraded their equipment. It was acting really funky since win11, so it was basically useless. The only thing that does not work is the camera since I converted to Ubuntu; which I may eventually find a workaround, down the road. But I barely ever used it with windows, so not such a terrible trade off. I find myself using this Ubuntu box almost as often as I use my newest macbook pro. Again, thanks a million for your video it encouraged me to do this, which I would have never done, unless I knew someone else had tried it before.
PLEASE HELP I got to the set where you reboot in Terminal @10:30. Now my computer is frozen at the screen with the windows icon and lock icon. After 5 minutes I turned it off and on again using the power button, but no change. Please, anybody know what could have happened?
Hi Bradley, First of all, thank you for this outstanding work. I thoroughly followed all your explanations and tried again and again but I always got the same error right after the final reboot : "error : bad shim signature. error : you need to load the kernel first. Press any key to continue ..." Please, let me know what is going wrong. Best Regards ... Christian Aussourd
After a few failed attempts, I found you that you have to run this command "sudo apt install linux-surface-secureboot-mok". If not, this exact error will occur. Hope this helps, even if it's 5 months late.
It boots and works great, video was awesome thankyou. Only question is every time a turn on my surface now i get an open padlock in a red box on the start up. is their a way to get rid of this?
I'm super confused. After an install on a Surface Pro 4, it prompts to remove usb and then press enter. No matter what it will not start. It shows the window screen start up with a red line across with an unlocked lock and that's it. I've tried different versions of Mint. I can't figure out how to get past this. What can possibly be wrong? Secure boot is off. The install is fine and then nothing. Please help.
I don't need to install surface-linux-kernel to make touch screen work. Does this mean I don't have to go through linux serface kernal set up from 7:40?
Hello, I have a Surface Pro 5 and installing Ubuntu 22.04, i installed surface Linux but once i hit reboot after installing secure boot i get stuck on the Microsoft logo. I reinstalled the software and redid everything in your video with the exact same result of just being stuck at the microsoft logo. any help with this?
Hey awesome video! After installing Ubuntu (v24.04.1) on my Surface Book (gen. 1) and rebooting I cannot connect to any wifi. Any idea how I could fix that?
It's easier to just install different distros and/or different versions until you find one where the wifi works out of the box. Try older Ubuntu versions for now.
good video, thanks for posting; just curious if you have experience with the following; i want to follow your video and then be able to RDP from my (now) Ubuntu Surface to a Windows 11 desktop - any tips for that please?
I had Ubunto installed on my Surface Pro 8. But I couldn't get the keyboard and trackpad working, so I deleted it. There was also an entry in the UEFI that said "ubuntu" and I deleted that. My plan was to try to reinstall, because I had (by then) learned that there were other drivers you needed from Github (like your video shows). But now when I put the ubuntu USB in the USB-C port and try to book, it locks up on the screen that shows the unlocked lock (because I disabled Secure Boot, as required), and the Surface logo below that. It just stays there all day, if you don't do a hard reset. USB is set to be the initial boot disk. If you remove the USB and restart, it will boot into Windows 11 Home, which is the second choice in the UEFI. I have been trying to get past this for more than a week now. Any advice?
Thanks Bradley, great video. I just want to confirm that I can install Ubuntu in dual boot mode with Windows? It looked like that's what you did. I have an old Surface Pro 2 running Windows 10.
Thx again Bradley. After a few problems I am making progress. Turns out on the ancient Surface Pro 2 I press and hold the volume DOWN button then tap the ON button. This boots right to my Ubuntu 16 flash drive that I just created with Rufus. After a very quick install I am dual booting. I may upgrade Ubuntu next.
Nice Video. Thank you lot. Someone knows if you need the Keyboard for the installation? My Surface 4 Pro do not recognize a Typecover anymore (tested with a working one...).
I'm having issues booting from USB this are the steps I have done so far: I have disabled secure boot set USB as first boot device I have made two sticks, Ubuntu & Linux Mint Both OS boot fine on my PC Dualboot (Win-Linux) none of them boots on Surface Pretty sure both were formatted FAT32 and done in Linux using native USB writer Also done another stick, today using Rufus on Windows formatted NTFS, again it boots fine and is usable while live, on my PC, but comes with error while booting on Surface. I have made a post on GitHub and Linux Mint forum, but so far no answer. Also got in contact with Microsoft today , but obviously after having chatted with 4 different people, they told me to go and check Linux help... Any advice would be really appreciated. Cheers
it says for me "couldnt find bootable OS" Edit: nvm I disable secure boot and it worked but I am getting black screen after i press install or try ubuntu
Install the secure boot MOK, then reboot (without updating Grub?), cause my Surface Pro 5 doesnt reboot again... I get the microsoft logo... I managed to get around that by NOT installing the secure boot, then it DOES reboot, I'd like secure boot if I can get it, but part of me now things "Its working, screw secure boot"
Thanks so much for this video! Have a question - what if we choose "Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security" at 6:13? Is there a patch for entering the LUKS password using the onscreen touch keyboard for a Surface Pro device? I know there's a wiki page for this on the github, but it only talks about Surface Laptops and Book models via Surface Aggregator Module. If anyone knows whether the above can be done on a SP4/5/6+ device, please let me know. Many thanks in advance!
I want to buy surface pro 7 I5 1035g4 8/128 I'm a pentester and im not sure if the cpu can handle this: Multi Tabs in firefox Burpsuite Brute force...?
I did follow the steps in the video to the second and a few times (installed Linux more than once) but I always end up with the same result: The surface (pro 4) boots into ubuntu 22.04 linux, but after about 5 seconds the device goes crazy. It continuously switches focus, so I cannot even enter a command in the terminal. So, although it seems like the touch and pen are working, there is no way it is useable.
I got stuck after the kernel update and did not get prompted to insert the surface password. And did not manage to make it boot again so i ended upp rolling back to Windows :( Will try again when there is a nativ client for GeforceNow for LInux :)
Same issue as you. It booted the usb and rebooted and then just hung on the windows logo. I ended up having to revert back to Windows and now it won't boot ubuntu from the USB. I have a surface pro 5.
Thank you for watching! What I have found after using this:
Pros:
Battery Life has been increased by a lot (especially in power saving mode)
Increase of speed (a lot)
Does not take long to boot
Linux
is this possible on a surface duo ?
Check the link to the github tutorial. There may be a Surface duo walkthrough.@@mrcencei727
The boot sequence is tedious I have yet to find out how to not select the kernal each time the computer is booted. (kind of annoying)
grub has a timeout usually- by default i think its 30 seconds.
you can tune that to choose the option you want and autoboot into it
which surface do you have?
I have the surface pro 6!
For anyone who has trouble after the blue screen:
If you press "Continue Boot" and it does not show the "View Key 0" and "Continue" screen directly after, do not panic, you can fix this easily.
1. On the black screen, select "Advanced Options for Ubuntu"
2. Select "Ubuntu With Linux generic" (the first option with that name is usually the right one).
3. Once on your desktop, open terminal and type "sudo apt remove linux-surface-secureboot-mok" (this will reset the blue screen basically)
4. Then reinstall it again (no need to restart your PC): sudo apt install linux-surface-secureboot-mok
5. Now restart your PC (you can type "reboot" in the terminal)
6. After the blue screen reappears, select "Enroll MOK"
7. Select "Continue"
8. Select "Yes"
9. Type the password "surface"
10. Select "Reboot"
11. Follow the rest of the video's tutorial from 11:04 onward
Note: If you install the Surface Kernel on any Surface Books, it will require extra work to get the dedicated GPU working.
With regular Ubuntu, it works perfectly fine, even the detatch feature works, but it does not support touch or pen. After installing the kernel, touch and pen work now, but only the Intel Integrated Graphics are detected.
(I'm currently finding out how to get the dedicated GPU in the base detected, and I'll try to update this comment when I find a solution. From my research, it is entirely possible to get the Surface Book 3 working completely, besides the cameras)
I hope people benefit from this
Thankyou !!!!!!!
this didnt work for me. Uninstall and re install. Got the blue screen the first time... havent gotten it since.
@@kbinaction7281 Sorry to hear about that. I can't really help unfortunately, since my computer is currently broken (unrelated issue. lol), but maybe you can try moving your data to a thumb drive, and reinstall Linux. Also, I highly recommend reading through the github info from the links in the video; they were a massive help in helping me figure out a few issues I was having. I hope everything goes well with figuring out the issue.
@@kbinaction7281 Hi, after a lot of trial and error i found out that the new surface firmware version is making your surface boot from any usb besides Linux. The only solution was using Ventoy tool to boot the linux usb key . And it gives you the option to Enroll MOK where you can find the Entry you just added there just enter the password "surface" and done.
Hi @WarriorAlexOG, Thanks for your help, this worked to be able to get access again to the blue screen and this time select "enroll mok"... and later access to the password panel where suddenly my keyboard doesn't write anything even though the enter key (or ctrl+Alt+Del to get out of that) is working. I even tried the virtual keyboard without any success (at this point touch screen is working, I guess boot operations are managed by windows) Any Idea of a work around?
Thanks🙂
By the way it was on a SP5
,
This guide was been very helpful, as the official guide assumes you know how and when to proceed with installing the kernel. This is also going to be a very important project going forward, as millions of these devices would be headed for the landfill, as they can't be upgraded to Windows 11.
Just used this guide today on my Surface Pro 5 and it worked great, thanks! The Ubuntu install process itself has changed over time (as it tends to do), and I needed to select "Enroll MOK" otherwise I got signature errors and couldn't boot to the surface kernel, but outside of that this is perfect. Thanks for the video!
Oh yes! Finally! I've had this problem for so long and I've tried many ways to get the touch function to work on my Surface 2. I am so happy that I stumbled upon your video, very helpful and super easy to follow steps! I can now finally use the laptop properly! Thanks a BUNCH! 🙏
This tutorial worked for me! I just ran into a couple of small issues. Like another user stated, simply clicking "Continue boot" at the MOK step did not work for me, even on Ubuntu, and I had to try again, and this time selected "Enroll MOK" and only then was asked to confirm and enter the password. This time it worked fine, but then, once in OS, I still had no touch controls or rotation, and though I had failed, but after a brief reserach, saw a comment on reddit about them not working with a keyboard attached. I don't have a surface keyboard, but I was using an external Asus keyboard through a dock. Disconnected it and they started working as intended. I don't usually use a keyboard or mouse with my Surface anyway, so it's not an issue, but also, just to confirm, I reconnected the keyboard and the touch continues to work normally, so probably just the first time thing.
That was the most ghetto yet one of the most useful tutorials for that :D
Thanks Bradley.
Great video, so simple, I got my Surface Pro 4 128GB up and running Ubuntu with wifi touchscreen ..... Just great and straightforward
Hi, how do you find the pro 4 I was looking on Ebay for a used one, but apparently are prone to screen flickering when getting hot. Any issues? cheers
your cameras work? mine aint..
My Camera often wont work. Restarting is the only way then. Also got the screen flickering sometimes, but it will disappear after some time. Its the 7 pro
I have just installed Fedora 38 on Surface pro 4. Although I have not tested everything, so far it works. Thanks for the video!
awesome video, makes me want to try this myself and tinker more with random fun stuff like this
Thanks for the video. I've got a PS5, tried Zorin OS with a bootable USB, the OS seemed fine. Screen wasn't working so this video will help me get the right kernel.
I'm just amazed how fast yours went into USB boot mode. Mine after trying the OS has not been able to boot from USB any more. No matter if I factory reset, try other USB drives, secure boot on/off. USB is the top priority when booting, etc. it won't pass the black screen anymore.
At least windows is booting fine 😂
Hello. I have a problem. The first time I booted from USB, Ubuntu installed very well. After kernel update I had an error. Couldn't boot, neither Ubuntu nor Windows. Then I reinstalled W11 with USB. The only system I can install is Windows. Ubuntu, Fedora, all not bootable from USB. I tried with a third party and also without secure boot. The interface gets stuck at the Windows logo when I try to install third-party software via USB. On another PC the USB installation works, only the interface refuses to load the installation
Were you able to solve it? I have the same problem
Were you able to solve it? I have the same problem
@@luyiangelsantiago1943 sorry, no solution yet
have the same problem on SP 8, were you able to solve it or no solution? I cant find anywhere
@@mapcekno solution yet
Thank you so much! This worked for me after I used ventoy and followed every step
for anyone having problem with registering secureboot key, press enter on the MOK prompt, and next the bluescreen appears, click on ENROLL MOK not CONTINUE TO BOOT like the video said, and click continue and then type in SURFACE as password
Just converted my surface pro 5 (2017). Thank for the tutorial!
Not sure if it's different because I'm installing Fedora, but at 10:48, selecting continue to boot didn't work or give me a password screen and gave me errors when trying to boot using the surface kernel. I had to boot into the regular kernel, uninstall & reinstall the linux surface kernel via terminal to get the blue option boot screen again and select "Enroll MOK" first.
Same thing happened to me, but with Ubuntu. Had to try again and do the Enroll MOK this time, and now everything works.
Guys you have no fucking idea how you helped me here haha thanks I just did this but it was my like 4th attempt
Very helpful thanks Bradley. Lookin' handsome in the reflection.
Bookmarking this video to upgrade from W10 to Ubuntu any time soon!
Thank you for sharing! Very useful info!
Installed Zorin OS on a Surface Pro 7 and then realized touchscreen, camera and the screen rotation doesn't work. Then I installed linux surface kernal and everything works except for the cameras. For me thats the only con.
Its a night and day difference between bloated windows 11 and Zorin. Also tried linux mint and i fell in love with linux. 🐧
However I had some failed attempts while installing the surface kernal. But it was well worth the shot!
GG Linux
Thank you so much for this video. I have a surface PC to repair in my work. You has safed my ass dude. Greetings from Germany
No matter what I do, I cant get the imaged USB to launch after setting the USB option. Always comes up saying there's no bootable device and then throws me back into the UEFI menu.
how did you solve it?
Turn off secure boot and make sure usb is highest priority in boot configuration and untuck windows boot manager (if it’s there). It could also mean that the iso is corrupted or your usb isn’t meant for booting.
Is there anyway to do this linux install on a surface if you don’t have the surface keyboard? I just bought a surface 7 that will not come with the keyboard…?
Solid video, appreciate it guy.
Thanks for this helpful video! very important, simple and easy to understand, +1 subscriber!
Thx for the tuto, Please can you make a tuto for surface pro 9. I tried several methods but still can't start with Bootable USB. thnx
10:36 when I reboot here I get stuck on the surface logo. Any fixes?
Did you fix it?
@saadmac523 Yup! I dont remember what the solution was, but when i installed linux using ventoy, it worked perfectly fine. give that a try.
Hi Bradley. I tryed to probe before to install Ubuntu without a fisical keyboard and I fault. The multitouch function not working. Could you comment what's the keyboard model that you used on the video. Thks!
I used the default detachable keyboard. It is the one from windows.
Thanks for tutorial, man. I tried running Linux on my otherwise pretty useless (slow and hot with Windows 11) Surface 6 a few months ago, and failed miserably. I mean, the OS installed fine, but I just couldn't figure out the Surface Kernel part of the process (a total noob in Linux). Now with this step-by-step tutorial, I feel like I can give it another shot. Will let you know how it plays out:) Also, subscribed!
Awesome! I’m sure others would like to hear how it goes and how you fixed/setup bugs. Thanks for watching!
@@BradleyDAllen Ok, it works. Touch, pen and rotation all work great now! Didn't get a chance to test a camera, but I assume it will be fine too. Thank you so much, once again! I did run into a couple of small issues, so I'll make another comment individually, in case anyone else is looking for that info.
Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it, but if Bitlocker is turned on and your drive encrypted, it has to be turned off AND you have to decrypt your drive, which can be lengthy.
Kinda run to a problem. My surface pro 9 doesn’t reboot at all. Wether on windows or Linux. Even after trying different boot configurations . What went wrong and how to fix this ????
Problem now fixed. But Windows now not booting up ? Any ideas why ?
Great video! Installed Ubuntu on my surface pro 7.. there is a problem with the display resolution.. it says 2736x1824 in the display settings but there is a gap horizontally on both sides.. any ideas how to fix this?
I did it! I followed your instrcuctions, tried to make sense of the ones online at github, but it did ultimately work. Not bad for an olde person like me, wot?
I installed surface kernel on my surface 3, but still the cameras don't work. I'm running elementary OS 7.1
Alright, I did this twice. everything works fine, yet the screen will not flip and touch does not work. I have a surface pro 8 Can someone please tell me which part I missed up on. Thank you
I think it works better on older surface pros. The newer devices has more proprietary drivers and components than older ones. One thing you could try is installing Linux surface kernel, and see if that helps out
Who maintains the kernel ? Is it an official release for ubuntu? Also were you able to use the surface pen with some apps?
I first installed Ubuntu correctely but failed installing the linux kernel. Then I installed windows again on my surface but now I can´t even install the ubuntu. It just get stucked at a black screen with the windows logo. Anyone knows how to get rid of this bug? Thanks, great video
exact same issue, please help!!
did you also do [sudo update-grub] before rebooting? could that be the issue? idk but I am still stuck in black screen with windows logo
Hello, when i change the security boot as th point 11:10 i get a problem when it reboot. Jut show me the login screen and after became all black.
If i change the security boot to none, it works good and i have the touch screen working as well.
What can i do?
Hello Bradley, I have a surface book 1 that is quirky, do you think that I could install ubuntu on it? Also, what model surface did you do this on?
Check the GitHub link, it gives a guide for your specific surface . I used surface pro 7
@@BradleyDAllen Thanks
@@unboundpromethius9032 np lmk how it goes if you install it. Good Luck ! 😀
@@BradleyDAllen Thank you so much for this video. I was really minutes away from throwing out the surface book one. I had held onto it a bit longer than I would have in the past, because it has the intel i7 chip, 512 meg disc. This was a commercial unit I had gotten from a business that upgraded their equipment. It was acting really funky since win11, so it was basically useless. The only thing that does not work is the camera since I converted to Ubuntu; which I may eventually find a workaround, down the road. But I barely ever used it with windows, so not such a terrible trade off. I find myself using this Ubuntu box almost as often as I use my newest macbook pro. Again, thanks a million for your video it encouraged me to do this, which I would have never done, unless I knew someone else had tried it before.
PLEASE HELP I got to the set where you reboot in Terminal @10:30. Now my computer is frozen at the screen with the windows icon and lock icon. After 5 minutes I turned it off and on again using the power button, but no change. Please, anybody know what could have happened?
did you find the solution??
Same problem. If you change the secure boot to none you can enter in ubunto again. But i m looking the solution as well. Did you found it?
@sergiomantonio no eventually I have up and switched back to Windows
What if you missed the timing to enroll and no there is an error telling you that you have to load the kernel first before each reboot?
Hi Bradley,
First of all, thank you for this outstanding work.
I thoroughly followed all your explanations and tried again and again but I always got the same error right after the final reboot :
"error : bad shim signature.
error : you need to load the kernel first.
Press any key to continue ..."
Please, let me know what is going wrong.
Best Regards ...
Christian Aussourd
After a few failed attempts, I found you that you have to run this command "sudo apt install linux-surface-secureboot-mok". If not, this exact error will occur. Hope this helps, even if it's 5 months late.
Thank you 🙏 Surface 7 revived
It boots and works great, video was awesome thankyou. Only question is every time a turn on my surface now i get an open padlock in a red box on the start up. is their a way to get rid of this?
God, you have done a really great job !!!
Do you know if surface slim pen2 would work?
I'm super confused. After an install on a Surface Pro 4, it prompts to remove usb and then press enter. No matter what it will not start. It shows the window screen start up with a red line across with an unlocked lock and that's it. I've tried different versions of Mint. I can't figure out how to get past this. What can possibly be wrong? Secure boot is off. The install is fine and then nothing. Please help.
I have a Dell Latitude 5290 2in1 laptop, do you think the same method would work for the touch screen?
I don't need to install surface-linux-kernel to make touch screen work. Does this mean I don't have to go through linux serface kernal set up from 7:40?
For me there isn't an option to select usb, i only can order it by number, it looks the same but i cant disable the things
Mine is error bad shim signature, prohibited by secure boot policy and you need to the kernel first
Does this work on Microsoft Surface RT with ARM CPU?
Thanks
How can i put the cameras working in Surface Pro 5? Its the only thing that is not working...
Can someone help me please?
I have a Surface Pro 1, do you know if this will work on this device?
Hello, I have a Surface Pro 5 and installing Ubuntu 22.04, i installed surface Linux but once i hit reboot after installing secure boot i get stuck on the Microsoft logo. I reinstalled the software and redid everything in your video with the exact same result of just being stuck at the microsoft logo. any help with this?
did you find a solution??? I am facing same issue
Hey awesome video! After installing Ubuntu (v24.04.1) on my Surface Book (gen. 1) and rebooting I cannot connect to any wifi. Any idea how I could fix that?
It's easier to just install different distros and/or different versions until you find one where the wifi works out of the box.
Try older Ubuntu versions for now.
how long did you have to wait on the screen at 5:13? feels like mines been idling there forever
good video, thanks for posting; just curious if you have experience with the following; i want to follow your video and then be able to RDP from my (now) Ubuntu Surface to a Windows 11 desktop - any tips for that please?
Which ver. Surface Pro on video?
Surface pro 6
I had Ubunto installed on my Surface Pro 8. But I couldn't get the keyboard and trackpad working, so I deleted it. There was also an entry in the UEFI that said "ubuntu" and I deleted that. My plan was to try to reinstall, because I had (by then) learned that there were other drivers you needed from Github (like your video shows). But now when I put the ubuntu USB in the USB-C port and try to book, it locks up on the screen that shows the unlocked lock (because I disabled Secure Boot, as required), and the Surface logo below that. It just stays there all day, if you don't do a hard reset. USB is set to be the initial boot disk. If you remove the USB and restart, it will boot into Windows 11 Home, which is the second choice in the UEFI. I have been trying to get past this for more than a week now. Any advice?
tried it but got grub command loading? due to two operating systems trying to boot at the same time
Thanks Bradley, great video. I just want to confirm that I can install Ubuntu in dual boot mode with Windows? It looked like that's what you did. I have an old Surface Pro 2 running Windows 10.
In this video I replaced windows with Ubuntu. I did not dual boot.
Thx again Bradley. After a few problems I am making progress. Turns out on the ancient Surface Pro 2 I press and hold the volume DOWN button then tap the ON button. This boots right to my Ubuntu 16 flash drive that I just created with Rufus. After a very quick install I am dual booting. I may upgrade Ubuntu next.
Nice! Thanks for leaving an update for others that may be dual booting. Enjoy your "new" surface!
Nice Video. Thank you lot. Someone knows if you need the Keyboard for the installation? My Surface 4 Pro do not recognize a Typecover anymore (tested with a working one...).
Does Face login (Window Hello) and fingerprint sensor work?
Does this supposed to work camera after install of kernel?
Can somebody confirm if the surface 3 Pro Dock still works with this Ubuntu/Linux install?
I'm having issues booting from USB this are the steps I have done so far:
I have disabled secure boot
set USB as first boot device
I have made two sticks, Ubuntu & Linux Mint
Both OS boot fine on my PC Dualboot (Win-Linux)
none of them boots on Surface
Pretty sure both were formatted FAT32 and done in Linux using native USB writer
Also done another stick, today using Rufus on Windows formatted NTFS, again it boots fine and is usable while live, on my PC, but comes with error while booting on Surface.
I have made a post on GitHub and Linux Mint forum, but so far no answer. Also got in contact with Microsoft today , but obviously after having chatted with 4 different people, they told me to go and check Linux help...
Any advice would be really appreciated. Cheers
Hello, a question, what surface model is it? and what components does it have?
Surface Pro 6
it says for me "couldnt find bootable OS"
Edit: nvm I disable secure boot and it worked but I am getting black screen after i press install or try ubuntu
I get the same "Couldn't find bootable OS" error even with secure boot off, And I can't fix it. (Surface Pro 7)
@@sticktwig make sure you are using a bootable usb stick
@@crew_dev I used two different usbs, I tried with rufus and balena etcher. Still nothing
@@sticktwig format the usb as fat32 on windows
@@crew_dev I've formatted it, So do I just reflash it again?
Great tutorial!
One question: does touchscreen also work with other desktop environments like Mate or Cinnamon?
I do not know, but there is installation and details on the GitHub link. Lmk if you try it! Thanks for watching
can i do the same thing with a dual boot system (Windows 11 & Ubuntu)?
Couple of questions
1. what to do if we see the red lock
2. does the pen works?
1. Red lock means secure boot is turned off.
2. Been a while since I did this. I do not know, but touchscreen does work.
Install the secure boot MOK, then reboot (without updating Grub?), cause my Surface Pro 5 doesnt reboot again... I get the microsoft logo... I managed to get around that by NOT installing the secure boot, then it DOES reboot, I'd like secure boot if I can get it, but part of me now things "Its working, screw secure boot"
can u do mintos on surface??
Thanks so much for this video! Have a question - what if we choose "Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security" at 6:13? Is there a patch for entering the LUKS password using the onscreen touch keyboard for a Surface Pro device?
I know there's a wiki page for this on the github, but it only talks about Surface Laptops and Book models via Surface Aggregator Module. If anyone knows whether the above can be done on a SP4/5/6+ device, please let me know. Many thanks in advance!
great tutorial
I want to buy surface pro 7
I5 1035g4 8/128
I'm a pentester and im not sure if the cpu can handle this:
Multi Tabs in firefox
Burpsuite
Brute force...?
hi, can i request from you to make a guide to install linux on m. surface pro using wsl?
I did follow the steps in the video to the second and a few times (installed Linux more than once) but I always end up with the same result: The surface (pro 4) boots into ubuntu 22.04 linux, but after about 5 seconds the device goes crazy. It continuously switches focus, so I cannot even enter a command in the terminal.
So, although it seems like the touch and pen are working, there is no way it is useable.
It's stuck on surface logo I didn't get the blue screen
Partition scheme is MBR or GPT ? thanks in advance
After installing the kernel and rebooting my PC is stuck on the windows logo. Does anyone know how to fix this?
I have the same problem
@theape1983 same problem here, so frustrating.
I did some research and found out at Surface Linux subreddit that the only fix of this issue is downgrading UEFI
Is secure boot required for ubuntu install?
The kernel is installed but the secure boot isn't working. I'm using Parrot which is debian I believe
I used Ubuntu, there may be different steps on the GitHub site specific to Parrot
Anyway to run linux on ARM SPX SQ2?
I was able to install debian but it was command prompt only. But this is great
Good guide
Is this Surface Pro 4 in your video ?
This is Surface pro 6
Does the camera work on your pro 6? @@BradleyDAllen
Fails to boot surface kernel, have to revert to original kernel.
Did you manage to fix it?
can I install Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS 64bit on my surface rt 32bit
Check the github. I do not know for sure.
They still haven't gotten the surface pen to work properly like it does on windows just yet.
Is I think correctly, that after this trick I'll have two OS linux and Windows?
This is not dual booting. This is replacing windows with Linux. Careful!
will it work in surface 2 ?
I wonder if anyone has tried this on a surface pro 9?
Thanks!
does installing ubuntu prevent the flickering ??
no, but its much less
I got stuck after the kernel update and did not get prompted to insert the surface password.
And did not manage to make it boot again so i ended upp rolling back to Windows :(
Will try again when there is a nativ client for GeforceNow for LInux :)
Same issue as you. It booted the usb and rebooted and then just hung on the windows logo. I ended up having to revert back to Windows and now it won't boot ubuntu from the USB. I have a surface pro 5.
@@prisonwallet Did you find a solution for this? I've run into the same with my surface pro 5. Won't boot ubuntu or from USB.
error: vmlinuz not found
for everyone having problems with turning off display: for me it was fixed by turning off TPM
This doesn’t work for me.. « couldn’t find a bootable OS »
You have to re-enable booting from internal drive