Linux for Surface gen7 (2019) (Surface Pro 7, Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro X)
Tested on Arch Linux + Surface Laptop 13" (Intel). Everything apart from Touchscreen is working.
| Feature | Status | Module |
|---|---|---|
| Intel graphics | Yes | i915 |
| Wireless networking | Yes | iwlwifi |
| Bluetooth | Yes | |
| Keyboard | Yes (also backlight and caps lock lights) | surface_sam |
| Touchpad | Yes | surface_sam |
| Touchscreen | No (IPTS needs Intel to update drivers with GuC submission) | |
| Cameras | Yes! | uvcvideo |
| Audio | Yes | |
| Microphone | Yes | |
| Suspend | Yes (s2idle/s0ix) | |
| Power button | Yes (requires 5.4+ kernel) | soc_button_array |
| Battery status | Yes | surface_sam |
| Ambient light sensor | No (some debugging required) | |
| Performance modes | ? (testing required) | surface_sam |
Installation
This guide is mostly obsolete. Please follow the following guide:
https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Installation-and-Setup
Advanced setup
Since 5.5, a custom patched kernel is mostly not required for gen7 devices (unless you want touchscreen support).
You can skip the custom kernel installation, install kernel 5.5+, and instead build and install the surface-aggregator-module via dkms.
Arch Linux:
git clone --depth 1 --branch feature/pkg-repo https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface
cd linux-surface/pkg/arch/surface-aggregator-module
makepkg -s
sudo pacman -U *.pkg.tar.*
Surface Laptop users: until the ACPI module is installed and loaded, the touchpad and keyboard won't function, so you'll need an external keyboard.