History

mexisme 4bbf156238 Update README		2021-02-27 22:37:38 +13:00
..
firmware/surface-go/ath10k	Move a modprobe option for Surface Go Wifi device (ath10k) into that specific derivative	2021-02-23 17:59:34 +13:00
kernel	Port of linux-surface/linux-surface Kernel patches to NixOS (#221 )	2021-01-23 06:36:37 +00:00
default.nix	Update to a clearer directory-structure	2021-02-23 12:40:08 +13:00
hardware_configuration.nix	Move a modprobe option for Surface Go Wifi device (ath10k) into that specific derivative	2021-02-23 17:59:34 +13:00
README.md	Update README	2021-02-27 22:37:38 +13:00
repos.nix	Interim version of trying to update Surface Go Wifi in-place	2021-02-07 00:55:27 +13:00
TODO.org	Update TODO.org	2021-02-09 17:19:58 +13:00

README.md

Derivatives for Microsoft Surface notebooks

These derivatives use the patches from the linux-surface repo.

Kernel

The kernel needs several patches to make it work correctly with some of the hardware on various Surface models, e.g. keyboard/trackpad, camera, wifi.

Not all hardware is fully supported, but the linux-surface feature matrix provides details on which devices are supported on which types of machine.

The kernel-specific derivations are under the kernel/ sub-directory. In order to simplify maintenance of the Nix code, only the most-recent kernel patch-set is expected to be maintained in this repo.

_NOTE:_Some built-in Kernel config items need to be set, that aren't set by default:

https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-aggregator-module/wiki/Testing-and-Installing

Firmware, Drivers and Support Tools

WiFi

For the Surface Go, please see the "Issues" sections below.

IPTS

IPTS is used on most of the Surface range, except for Surface Go and Surface Laptop 3 (AMD version).

Older kernels used specialised firmware which used a method that's no longer supported by the more-recent kernels.

Newer kernels use the kernel-space intel-precise-touch driver and user-space ipstd daemon.

The iptsd daemon works with the intel-precise-touch driver to convert raw touch data from the kernel-space driver into events for the HID / input sub-system.

https://github.com/linux-surface/iptsd
https://github.com/linux-surface/intel-precise-touch
- NOTE: The patches from this repo are included in the above kernel patches, already.

DTX, `surface-control`

TODO

ToDo's Not Done

See: TODO.org

Issues

TLP daemon

TLP is known to cause problems on Surface unless correctly configured. See: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/blob/master/README.md

Wifi Firmware for Surface Go

On the Surface Go, the standard firmware from the official Linux Firmware repo has issues with the ath10k QCA6174 Wifi device. You will see messages like "Can't ping firmware".

The most effective fix to-date is to remove the board-2.bin file or replace it with a copy of the board.bin file.

The derivative in firmware/surface-go/ath10k/ can configure this, if you set the option config.hardware.microsoft-surface.firmware.surface-go-ath10k.enable to true.

Note that this is slightly destructive, as it deletes all the board.bin and board-2.bin files for the ath10k QCA6174 device, and replaces them with KillerNetworking's version. This is the only way (currently) to force the driver to use the new firmware.

For more details, see: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Surface-Go#wifi-firmware

There was an attempt to get this firmware incorporated into the aggregate board-2.bin, but (as of this writing) the request appears to have been ignored:

https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/issues/41

References: