I salvaged a Microsoft Surface Go gen 1 from the scrap pile and installed Linux on it. Most stuff seems to work ok but I can’t get screen rotation working in Gnome. I know its not a sensor issue because it works under plasma-mobile, and if I run monitor-sensor I can see its detecting mottion even under Gnome.

I tried installing the older version of iio-sensor-proxy-git suggested here but that made no difference: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/issues/689

I also tried the screen rotate extension, however the AUR version made no difference and when I tried downloading it from the web it just said it was incompatible. I don’t think it would solve the problem anyway because Gnome realises its in tablet mode and has the option for auto-rotate, it just doesn’t do anything. I’ve also tried the Fedora live iso and its the same there.

Alternatively can anyone suggest a good on screen keyboard for KDE? I’ve tried maliit and plasma-keyboard but they’re missing keys like ctrl and tab etc which makes using the terminal horrible. Thats the main reason I’m even using Gnome because the on screen keyboard is great.

Edit: Turns out I just had to go back to the extension web page and enable it.

  • wltr
    2·
    21 hours ago

    I wonder how these laptops behave with Linux. I checked the prices for used ones, they’re quite good in my area. I don’t know about their repairability, but the rest look quite good.

    • Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      19 hours ago

      Not sure if you’ve seen but there is a custom kernel for surfaces that you can install which should get most stuff working: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface?tab=readme-ov-file

      They have a feature matrix so you can see which features should work depending on the model. However I haven’t tried installing it yet because the surface go is so old everything except the camera seems to work with the standard kernel.

      • wltr
        2·
        14 hours ago

        Thanks! I’ve heard of the kernel, yet never had any chance at testing. It’s great to know the old devices are upstreamed, as I might want price over everything else. I’m looking for a laptop that I’d be able to do some tasks, but not everything. I have no idea whether it’s a good idea to get Surface, but it looks quite good.

        • Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
          2·
          13 hours ago

          Yeah Linux is great at resurrecting obsolete devices! This one was in the trash pile because it can’t run Windows 11. I can’t really comment on whether it’s a good idea to buy one though since I got this one free and I’ve not done much with it yet. It’s missing the keyboard cover and pen as well so I’m using it as more of an iPad/Android tablet alternative than a laptop.

          • wltr
            2·
            9 hours ago

            I understand, I’d see if I can get one for cheap, I’m not hurrying. I’d love to learn whether it’s good as a tablet, would be pretty great to have a tablet running Linux!

            • Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              2·
              8 hours ago

              Feel free to ask me in a few weeks and I’ll let you know! I’m going to try Waydroid as well, then it’s basically an Android and Linux tablet in one