I wanted a convertible with good Linux support. After some toying with the T100TA (with like 85% of support) who is quite good but as the touchpad and touch in gerneal was flunky(2017). I could not see myself work with that. Long Term.
So here is to new beginnings with the Microsoft Surface 3 Pro. I will use the Gnome desktop for best touch support.
*1 Resoning: Besides other things: They deleted drag and drop from the filemanager. !!
128GB SSD
Intel i5 1.9-2.9 Ghz
4 GB RAM
HiDPI Display
USBB 3.0
Mini HDMI
Specs can be looked up with the ean: EAN / ISBN-13: 0885370757934
To get a keyboard in Grub2,you have to set it in the uefi bios to always show itself. Then it will show, when the keyboard is NOT attached and you boot the surface fresh up. Its a little small but it gets the job done to select what you want to boot.
If you use any other setting than "always" in the UEFI it will not show up! It also does not show, when it detects a keyboard on the surface wich is acutally a good thing i think.
pacman -Syu powertop laptop-detect pacaur pavucontrol
(uses too much valuable ram and can NOT build kernel in it!)
systemctl mask tmp.mount
reboot.
It is flagged outdated for some reason but it is still developed. :-)
-> https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/laptop-mode-tools/
with makepkg then install the pakage makepkg --install
NOTE: The 4.18 kernel in the arch repo seems to support most stuff right now, maybe not needed anymore... NOTE2: The Kernel 4.19 does not support TOUCH anymore. Stick with 4.18 it supports everything.
pacaur -S linux-surfacepro3-git
This downloades the new 4.15 kernel with surface 3 pro patches. You can still make adjustments to the config.
Make a grub.cfg
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Change the kernel line to the surface kernel ones
initramfs-linux.img to initramfs-linux-surfacepro3-git.img
vmlinux to vmlinux-surfacepro3-git in the grub.cfg
After that reboot the System.
Make sure you use 5 Ghz Wifi as the USB 3.0 can interfere with 2.4Ghz stability!
Put the following in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf to make it permanent. This will disable both power management and MAC randomization:
[connection]
wifi.powersave=2 # 2=disable
wifi.mac-address-randomization=1 # 1=disable
wifi.cloned-mac-address=permanent
[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=noDownload the block_bl.sh.
It will deactivate your bluetooth when you boot up. You can activate it later again. Then put it into the Autostart. As Gnome does not have a good autostart you need some ugly workaround:
Put it here ~/.config/autostart/
Give execution rights: chmod +x ~/.config/autostart/block_bl.sh
Create this file:
.config/autostart/script_bl.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/home/user/.config/autostart/block_bl.sh
Hidden=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Name=ScriptAutostartBL
Comment=Silly Gnome way to do itAfter some testing it seems that hibernate and secureboot do not work well togehter. For that reason i will not go into detail about hibernation here.
After all it boots fast with SSD and with Hibernate there are different issues with wifi and touchscreen not coming up again.
systemctl mask hibernate.target
systemctl mask suspend.target
Also edit /default/grub and remove the resume line in the DEFAULTS section.
Edit /etc/systemd/logind.conf
Change that line to:
HandleLidSwitch=poweroff
So you can power down the Tablet with the Type Cover closeing.
GDM has better touch support than lightdm greeters, so you can boot the in Tablet mode and still log in.
pacman -Syu gdm
To start GDM at boot time enable gdm.service
systemctl enable gdm.service
Gnome will start in a wayland session first. Make sure you use Xorg for best experience.
Make sure /boot/efi/ is mounted (EFI Folder inside)
bootctl --path=/boot/efi install
Install the signed gummiboot loader.
pacaur -S preloader-signed systemd-boot-pacman-hook
Then copy it to the right places.
cp /usr/share/preloader-signed/{PreLoader,HashTool}.efi /boot/efi/EFI/systemd
Now copy over the boot loader binary and rename it to loader.efi; for systemd-boot use:
cp /boot/efi/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootx64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/systemd/loader.efi
Finally, create a new NVRAM entry to boot PreLoader.efi:
efibootmgr --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --create --label "PreLoader" --loader /EFI/systemd/PreLoader.efi
This entry should be added to the list as the first to boot; check with the efibootmgr command and adjust the boot-order if necessary.
If there are problems booting the custom NVRAM entry, copy HashTool.efi and loader.efi to the default loader location booted automatically by UEFI systems:
cp /usr/share/preloader-signed/HashTool.efi /boot/efi/EFI/Boot
cp /boot/efi/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootx64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/loader.efi
Copy over PreLoader.efi and rename it:
cp /usr/share/preloader-signed/PreLoader.efi /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi
For particularly intransigent UEFI implementations, copy PreLoader.efi to the default loader location used by Windows systems:
mkdir -p /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot
cp /usr/share/preloader-signed/PreLoader.efi /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
When the system starts with Secure Boot enabled, follow the steps above to enroll loader.efi.
At this stage Secureboot will load the systemd loader binary wich will give us a selection menu to choose from what to boot.
You can direcly boot a kernel (secure method, but you need to hash the kernel!) or boot into normal Grub2.
To chainload Grub2 create:
/boot/efi/loader.conf with
default arch and safe the file.
Then create /boot/efi/entries/arch.conf with this in it:
title Arch Linux
efi EFI/antergos_grub/grubx64.efiThen update the boot entries:
bootctl update
When you reboot you will have to activate secureboot hash the grubx64.efi binary with the hash tool. After that you can boot grub with secureboot active.
Install the pacman -S xf86-input-wacom package and make these files:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-wacom.conf:
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Surface Wacom"
MatchProduct "1B96:1B05 Pen"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "wacom"`
Option "RandRRotation" "on"
Option "Button2" "3"
Option "Button3" "2"
EndSection/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/52-wacom-options.conf:
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "NTRG0001:01 1B96:1B05 Pen stylus"
Option "TPCButton" "on"
EndSection It seems Mypaint does handle the scaleing of the desktop with xrandr much better than krita does.
Krita will not allow you to use the full screen (1.25*) of the scaled down version and you only can und 1.0 wich means not all areas in your canvas will be reachable (no --panning support in xsetwacom or whatever). In short Krita can not be used if you plan on useing a scaled desktop.
If you are like me an Krita is your new favourite Art tool we have to do the following:
Create usr/share/xsessions/krita.desktop:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Krita Session on Xorg
Comment=Joh Doe
Exec=env KRITAS=yes gnome-session
TryExec=gnome-session
Icon=
Type=Application
DesktopNames=GNOMEThis will let us know that this desktop is a krita session then.
Modify /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service, changing the Exec line to this:
ExecStart=/usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd --experimental
Adding the "experimental" line will let things like Bose products work with bluetooth, also it will rediscover the pen after a reboot, so you dont have to pait it again.
MyPaint has an option to turn the touchscreen off or use it just with features you want.
However if you put your palm onto someting that is not canvas a touch is triggerd. So be careful how you daw or use the palmreject script from here.
This script was modified to work with the pens that come with the SP3.
Use the pen_click.sh script from here to make this work. You need a SUDO rule for btmon (see sudo rules)
Start the sript like this:
sudo btmon | ./pen_click.sh &
Just install iio-sensor-proxy-git from AUR to get the rotation and the backlight light sensor up and running.
pacaur -S iio-sensor-proxy-git
To match the screen rotation with the sytlus execute the rotate_stylus.sh script from here.
Put it in Gnome Autosttart if you want.
NOTE: Be aware that the xrandr scaling does NOT work correctly when you rotate the screen! It will leave you with a scaling factor of 2 and when you return back, the orginal orientation will be too small. For now i don't know how to get this fixed.
I opented to deactivate rotation of the Desktop, as I rarely use it:
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.orientation active false
You need to download the script and make some custom Keyboard shortcuts with Gnome to make it work with the Buttons.
Sadly you can not use the F1 or F2 Buttons because they will not send and event to the Kernel and are most likely internally managed. Thanks Microsoft....
This scripts needs some improvement! Volunteers ?
Make a monitor config:
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-monitor.conf
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "<default monitor>"
DisplaySize 253 169 # In millimeters
EndSectionand create an autostart script:
~./config/autostart/hidpi
#!/bin/bash
if [ -z "$KRITAS" ]; then
# env does not exist - normal scaled session
sleep 4
xrandr --dpi 192
xrandr --output eDP-1 --scale 1.25x1.25 &
sleep 1
xrandr --output eDP-1 --scale 1.25x1.25 --panning 2160x1440
sleep 1
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons false
export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1
else
# env exist krita session
# noscaling stylus gets messed up
sleep 3
gtkwrapper krita --fullscreen &
fiMake it executeable:
chmod +x ~./config/autostart/hidpi
NOTE: Be aware that the xrandr scaling does NOT work correctly when you rotate the screen! It will leave you with a scaling factor of 2 and when you return back, the orginal orientation will be too small. For now i don't know how to get this fixed.
I opented to deactivate rotation of the Desktop, as I rarely use it:
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.orientation active false
To get bigger icons in xournal and other GTK2 apps.
This will only work in a non-scaled version of the Desktop!
Add this stuff to ~.gtkrc-2.0:
gtk-icon-sizes = "panel-menu=32,32:panel=32,32:gtk-menu=32,32\
:gtk-large-toolbar=32,32:gtk-small-toolbar=32,32:gtk-button=32,32"Next copy the gtkwrapper from here to /usr/local/bin/
sudo cp gtkwrapper /usr/local/bin
As Gnome does not support to start a bash script at login we have to do some trickery:
Create: ~./config/autostart/script.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/home/user/.config/autostart/hidpi
Hidden=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Name=ScriptAutostart
Comment=Silly Gnome way to do itNow when this is done, you can check with the Gnome Tweak tool if it should start on login.
If it is listed, we are nearly there. As Gnome tries to mimic Windows we need to trust the application once so it will be exectured.
To do that, just go with Nautlius in the autostart folder and execute the .desktop file once.
To get a bigger font in the TTYs change /etc/vconsole.conf:
/etc/vconsole.conf
FONT=sun12x22
KEYMAP=deTo use the specified font in early userspace, use the consolefont hook in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf.
And rebuild the init: pacman -S linux
As Caribou the OSK of Gnome has some uggly bugs who make it appear virtually everywhere. Its best to replace it:
pacman -Syu onboard
Also you need these extensions:
-> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1326/block-caribou/
-> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/992/onboard-integration/?c=35203
Make sure you also activate the "Onboard Indicator" extension from the default install. Now you should get onboard or you can activate it with the buttin in the shell.
Best options in the onboard-settings:
To get longer battery life we need to make the screen turn off when wen want to. My battery went up from 3 hours to 7 hours :-)
An active Bluethooth chip can shorten your Batter live up to 40 % so make sure it is OFF if you dont need it!
When Gnome is on battery, it gives you the choice to hibernate or suspend the laptop aftetr some time of inactivity. As both are no options for us, we need to tinker with the Gnome registry:
Use dconf-editor to navigate to: org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power
Here go into: sleep-inactive-battery-type
In Custom Value, set shutdown
If you want you can set the timeout also, standard is 15 minutes (900 seconds)
Also make sure to set sleep-inactive-ac-type to blank and the timeout for AC action to 300.
For some reason, this does also work when on battery and will blank the screen after some time..
Edit the sudoers file with this (very end of the file!):
user ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/powertop, /bin/btmon
Now powertop and btmon should function without password required.
Laptop mode tools handels the activation of powertop. No need to do it by hand.
Just add this to /etc/rc.local:
powertop --auto-tune
echo 'on' > '/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-3/power/control';
For some reason some settings from powertop will not be set when you use the autotune feature.
Create this file: /etc/sysctl.d/vm.conf with
vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 6000
vm.laptop_mode = 5 This will reduce disk write and save power.
Create /etc/modprobe.d/audio_powersave.conf:
options snd_hda_intel power_save=1To reduce Audio codec power consumption.
Edit the fstab and add commit=60 as a option in fstab after your filesystem mounts to match with the writebacks from above.
Add nmi_watchdog=0 to the DEFAULT kernel line in /etc/default/grub to disable it completely from boot. Then rebuild Grub.cfg with grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
If you don't want to use the webcams, turn them off in the UEFI Bios.
To accomplish this feat you have to do some tinkering as the GNOME Devs think the user is a child who should not do some stuff with its power button behaviour....
Install the acpid to run powertop when you disconnect the AC Power, together with the systemd service this should cover most use cases.
pacman -S acpi
Enable the acpid.servive
systemctl enable acpid.servive
In /etc/systemd/logind.conf set
HandlePowerKey=ignore
Next make Gnome do nothing with the button.
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power power-button-action 'nothing'
Then create this file:
/etc/acpi/screenoff.sh
#!/bin/bash
#Script to simulate normal power button actions with gnome
#Case 1 is launched from a startup script, to save the session info
#Case 2 loads the session info to prompt the user for powering down
case $1 in
1)
echo DISPLAY=$DISPLAY > /tmp/gnome-session
echo SESSION_MANAGER=$SESSION_MANAGER >> /tmp/gnome-session
echo XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR >> /tmp/gnome-session
;;
2)
gnome_session_user=$(ps -o command,user -u gdm,root -N | grep gnome-session | awk '{print $2}')
export $(cat /tmp/gnome-session)
sudo -E -u $gnome_session_user /home/user/.scripts/screenoff.sh
esacMake it executable chmod +x /etc/acpi/screenoff.sh
Newt make the capture of the ENV vars:
~/.config/autostart/screen.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=SessionSaver
GenericName=Session Startup Saver
Exec=/etc/acpi/screenoff.sh 1
Terminal=false
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=trueDon't forget to start it once by hand.
Now edit /etc/acpi/handler.sh
Search for the Line Power Button stuff in the script. Beneath the logger line add: logger 'Powerbutton.....` /etc/acpi/screenoff.sh 2
Save and you are set:-)
To make this work, restart the acpi deamon and gather the ENV vars:
sudo systemctl restart acpid
/etc/acpid/screenoff.sh 1
Download the local screenoff.sh file and put it here(also make it executeable):
.config/autostart/screenoff.sh
This will deactivate the touch and the Windows button with the screen and after some time will shutdown the device.
Some time for some optimazations :-)
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences use-experimental-views false
pacman -Syu bash-completion
Copy from this bashrc to ~ and
Download DIR_COLORS to /etc
pacman -Syu guake
After install you can change the options with guake -p
Recommends:
nano /etc/locale.gen uncomment
en_US.UTF-8 UTF8
en_DK.UTF-8 UTF8 # gives European Units and A4 Paper size
locale-gen
Change in Gnome Settings.
Saves a bit of RAM.
Just deactivate all the "Search" Options in the Gnome Settings.
Install these shell extensions:
-> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/993/slide-for-keyboard/
-> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1024/caribou-resize-workspace/
Then do this in a terminal:
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.keyboard keyboard-type tablet
If you pess F2 on the keyboard you can turn of/dimm the light of the keyboard. Make sure Fn is NOT pressed.
earlyoom checks the amount of available memory and (since version 0.5) free swap 10 times a second. If both are below 10%, it will kill the largest process. So you got a resonsive system, no matter what.
pacaur -S earlyoom
sudo systemctl enable earlyoom
sudo systemctl start earlyoom
Unload, park, suspend tabs to reduce memory footprint of chrome. Set the timer to 5 minutes and activate auto reload :-)
Gnome lets run a lot of deamons who do use RAM. If you plan to use the surface as a second pc or not use evolution and social features at all. Consider to remove some of them for more RAM and a bit longer battery life:
First, mkdir a new folder in /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/:
sudo mkdir /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/backup/
Second, mv all files you dont need into backup/ folder:
sudo mv -v /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gsd-print* /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/backup
sudo mv -v /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gsd-shar* /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/backup
Do the same for Evolution (100MB of RAM):
First, mkdir a backup directory:
sudo mkdir /usr/lib/evolution/backup/
Second, mv them all:
sudo mv /usr/lib/evolution/evolution-* /usr/lib/evolution/backup/
First, mkdir a backup directory:
sudo mkdir /usr/lib/evolution-data-server/backup/
Second, mv them all:
sudo mv /usr/lib/evolution-data-server/evolution-* /usr/lib/evolution-data-server/backup/
PS: Gnome seems to have still some memory leaks. It grows to 1.8 GB of RAM after like 5 hours of use.
Write is a better xournal :-)
Download it from here -> http://www.styluslabs.com/download/
Unpack and copy to the right place:
tar xf write*.tar.gz`
cp write209/Write/Write /usr/local/bin
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/WriteDark Theme helps reduce Battery drain and it looks good. Use Gnome-Tweaks to set it.
To get more space and a tidyer "Activities" you can disable the worspaces in Gnome-Tweaks if you not need them.
If you need them on the other hand, make sure you use: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/503/always-zoom-workspaces/
To make more room you can use this: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1267/no-title-bar/
Make Open folders easier: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/299/all-in-one-places/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/8/places-status-indicator/
Much easyer removal off drives: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/7/removable-drive-menu/
Control Applications from the side of the Desktop: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/307/dash-to-dock/
Move windows to other workspaces with keyboard: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/10/windownavigator/
Dont group windows in the window switcher: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/15/alternatetab/
Taskbar like in KDE5/4: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1160/dash-to-panel/
Flick from the right to get the Overview.: > https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1088/overview-now/
need this: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/153/nothingtodo/
The new features currently include:
A manual scan Wifi button: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/905/refresh-wifi-connections/ Its ridicoulus how much stuff how is needed is removed from Gnome...
Sensors in the dash -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/82/cpu-temperature-indicator/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/336/hardware-sensors-indicator/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/471/system-info/
Removes space between icons in the top panel: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/355/status-area-horizontal-spacing/
Dissconnect Buttoon for Wifi: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/904/disconnect-wifi/
Gmail notify in dash: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/154/gmail-notify/
KDE4 Like Menu -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/327/axe-menu/
Popups of messages: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/782/pidgin-im-integration/
If you use the new caribou :-> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1024/caribou-resize-workspace/
Taskwarrior integtation: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1052/taskwarrior-integration/
Mac like system Menu: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1204/system-menu/
Shows CPU useage in shell: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/9/systemmonitor/
Crontrols for rythmbox: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/30/music-integration/
Manange SSH Connections: https://github.com/eRadical/connectionmanager2
Change the Text of the activities button: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/77/activities-button-text/
See notifications: -> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/258/notifications-alert-on-user-menu/