Running Linux on the Surface Pro 3

unfortunately it does not work for me! I tried with Fedora and Ubuntu but the system stay on loading for ages and nothing happened :frowning:

Hi there!
First thanks a lot Admin for this great thread, it’s been so useful.
I’ve been working with linux as a user for 12 years, not in IT but in the VFX industry. I would not concider myself as expert, but I know how to use it.

I just installed F25 on my SP3 and as you stated, installation worked flawlessely and type cover is working as expected. The HDPI is working great too which makes the experience even better! After setting up the welcoming screen with the wifi, the screen instantely freeze and looking at this, it definitely looks like a kernel panic.

I’ve restarted few times and everytime, it freezes after less than a minute after I’ve logged in. After a quick google search I’ve found this [thread] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SurfaceLinux/comments/5u6iqb/f25_on_surface_pro_3_hangs_completely_including/) that says it is a wifi issue driver.

Did anyone experienced this behavior? if yes, I have a few ideas how to fix it (I think!), but any additional suggestions are more than welcome!
Thanks a lot and have a great day!
Geoff

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Hi all!
I reinstalled the KDE version of Fedora 25 and everything works out the box that’s great!
Thank you
Geoff

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Do you experience the issues with the live installation media, or after you have installed it? Linux is nowadays quite battle proven on the Surface Pro 3, so there is something going wrong with your setup.

I got Ubuntu from Thank you for downloading Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu

then burned on a USB using Rufus. The result is that the system stay on loading but the installation doesn’t start

Rufus is a powerful tool, but can be misconfigured. Give it another try with Etcher.

https://two.tappara.co/t/how-to-flash-iso-images-using-etcher-windows-linux-mac/320

nothing mate… same result… 10 min passed and the screen is still black after I chose to install ubuntu

After a day of frustration trying to install Ubuntu (both versions 16 and 17) (I like Ubuntu because it has the broadest driver availability, etc.), I went with Fedora 26.

Fedora installed perfectly on my Surface Pro 3 (I7, 256), dual boot, etc. Really, a perfect seamless install. The Surface keyboard (surface Pro 3 version) works too.

The only negative I’d add is that the wireless connection seemed, the first day, flaky (would suddenly drop and find no signals). But since that day, all is good and stable.

It is very interesting that the Linux experience varies so much, based on comments in this thread. That would suggest that Microsoft is varying the hardware of the SP3. I have not had serious issues with mine.

i have surface pro 4, and i am facing problem in installing surface packages for updates

ashok@ashok-Surface-Pro-4:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-surface
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-surface

The Tigerite’s PPA is depreciated. Meanwhile the Linux kernel support has improved. Just use the latest Ubuntu version available (17.10 beta at the time of writing this), or try Manjaro.

https://two.tappara.co/t/running-linux-on-the-surface-pro-3/175/37?u=admin

Hey folks - Just installed Manjaro 17.0.5 on my Surface Pro 3 based on what I read here! It looks pretty promising BUT I am having trouble with the wifi card. I posted details here:
https://forum.manjaro.org/t/surface-pro-3-wifi-no-networks-detected/31784

Anybody think they have a handle on the (probably driver) issue/resolution on this one?

Update:
My bad - somehow originally posted the wrong link above. Fixed.

Which kernel version you are using? Have you tried switching to most recent, using Manjaro settings manager?

I started with 4.9.50 then updated to 4.13.3. Same behavior on both.

Hi!

I’ve been using Linux on several computers, but some years ago now and am now considering installing it on my Surface Pro 3 which should work fine now. However I’ve seen quite a few posts, though older ones, about problems getting dual booting to work. Is this still an issue with the latest versions of Fedora/Ubuntu/Manjaro?
And which would work best out of the box now? I did use Ubuntu back in the day…

Dual booting has been painless for a while now.
Any distro with an up to date kernel is very likely to work flawlessly.
I’m currently running NixOS and everything works out of the box. Had a similar experience with Fedora a while back.

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Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is just out, so that should be a solid option.

I did install it and it’s actually worked so well I’ve switched to using it on my surface on a daily basis, with Windows 10 just a backup in case.

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I would like to share this:
Pretty much everything works including pen and wireless card

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OpenSUSE Tumbleweed on Surface Pro 3

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