this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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Hey everyone!

As described in the title, I have a Surface Go 1 happily running Fedora 39. The only downsides are that the cameras aren't working and that my mouse (Modern Mobile from Microsoft) sometimes doesn't connect or disconnects.

I don't really care about the cameras, as I can use my phone for anything requiring it, but I get really irritated when my Surface Modern mouse doesn't connect for a 30 seconds when I launch the OS and then connects after moving it a few times unsuccesfuly. Also, sometime without any reason or sometimes after 5 minutes of inactivity, it disconnects.

I've used the same mouse on my wife's MacBook Pro running Fedora and I don't remember having these problems.

I was looking at installing the Surface Kernel but I'm not so experienced I would be scared to damage my installation. I have a Clonezilla backup just in case but I'd want to avoid the useless hassle.

Has anyone experienced that issue and do you think the Surface Kernel could help?

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[–] rizoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not familiar with any differences the surface go might have from other surfaces I have used but the surface kernel has always fixed every issue I have had with them. I currently use a surface laptop 4 and I can't even use Bluetooth without the surface kernel. As far as breaking the install goes, the instructions for installation and switching are truly as simple as copy and pasting 5 or 6 terminal commands. I really would recommend the surface kernel before any other fixes.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Okay thanks for the answer. I guess I’ll try it and come back here if it doesn’t work.

Just a question, is the surface kernel auto updating?

[–] rizoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It should update whenever you run a dnf update in the terminal

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sorry to annoy you but it means it’s not gonna update when I update the distro via the graphical interface?

[–] rizoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not to my knowledge but every desktop environment has a different software diwnloader. For me it doesnt update through Discover on KDE.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Thanks a lot. I've now installed the surface kernel. Sadly it still takes a long time for my mouse to be recognized.

That's not necessarly a problem if it got rid of the disconnection problem at least.

[–] throwawayish@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

My two cents; install uBlue's Microsoft Surface Images. Here you can find the (WIP) documentation on how it differs from other uBlue images. I'm sure the following lines should pique your interest:

For installation, either refer to the dedicated page on installation (from ISO) or follow instructions on how to rebase (from an existing Fedora Atomic installation).

My personal take on what uBlue is, would be that it's how Fedora would love to ship their Atomic variants if they could ship everything without worrying about those things they can't (like hardware acceleration, codecs etc). Furthermore, uBlue even has device-specific images; which is just fantastic if you happen to own such a device.

Last, but definitely not least; it's the best platform in which the transition to Ostree Native Container has been realized. As such, this allows some very unique ways to maintain a distro. For example; if something broke (for whatever reason) on vanilla Fedora Atomic, then... well, you (the uBlue-user) wouldn't even have noticed it. Because that breakage simply never hit your device. Instead, uBlue's maintainers noticed the issue -> somehow applied changes to the image so that the image doesn't ship the issue (by either not shipping the breakage inducing update of the specific package or by shipping the workaround/fix with the image) -> the very next time you update your system (which happens automatically in the background by default) you just go on with your life as if nothing had happened in the first place 😅. So, in a sense, your system is managed such that breaking changes/updates don't hit you; while they do hit non-uBlue users.

And I haven't even touched upon how uBlue enhances tinkering or how it allows one to manage (a fleet of) self-customized images etc.

In case you're still not sure if you'd like to use a derivative rather than the original, then it's at least worth noting that uBlue is mentioned in Fedora's documentation.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the thorough answer. I’ll probably just try the surface kernel but I’ll look more into what ublue is.

[–] throwawayish@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

Thanks for the thorough answer.

It has been my pleasure. Though, most of it was part of the suggestion to use uBlue 😅. I hope you'll manage regardless of how you go about it 😊!

I’ll probably just try the surface kernel

Fair.

but I’ll look more into what ublue is.

I'm eager to help out if required 😜.