Outdated information
This page hasn't been updated since 2017, updated information is available on the linux-surface project.
Installation
Startup Hotkeys
- Access the firmware by pressing F10 on an external keyboard, or Fn+F10 on the Cover Type keyboard
- Boot on a USB media by leaving "Volume down" pressed on boot, until the Surface logo appears on screen
Both of those can also be achieved from the Advanced startup section of the "PC Settings" in Windows 8.1.
Dual-booting
To set up a dual-boot (useful to install firmware updates!), and be able to resize the Windows partition, be sure to disable Bitlocker disk encryption.
Fedora installation
The current Fedora 26 installation images should work enough to allow you to do the installation, after disabling Secure Boot support. The latest Surface 3 specific Fedora kernels can be cloned and built from GitHub. Status below is for upstream kernel 4.13.
Hardware support on the Surface 3
Feature Status |
Markup |
not working |
<: #ff8080> not working |
needs work |
<: #ffcc50> needs work |
working |
<: #80ff80> working |
Feature |
Reference |
Notes |
EFI |
|
Working |
Secure Boot |
|
Crashed on boot, see Fedora bug |
Graphics card |
Intel HD Graphics (Cherryview) |
Working |
Graphics video decoding |
Through above graphics card |
Untested |
DisplayPort output |
|
Display only, user-space support, might not work with certain HDMI adapters |
Brightness |
|
Works with some drivers builtin, Kernel bug |
Internal MMC |
|
Working |
SD card reader |
|
Working |
Volume/Power buttons |
|
Working |
Detachable keyboard |
Type Cover |
Keyboard and touchpad (including multi-touch) working |
Sound |
Intel SoC |
Broken since 4.11, reverting patch fixes the problem |
Power Off/Reboot |
|
Works |
Suspend |
|
Working with power button, some drivers need work |
Lid switch |
|
|
Battery |
|
MSHW0011 Driver in progress, Kernel bug |
Wi-Fi |
Marvell |
"Working" with upstreamed driver and recent kernel/firmware combo, but with crashes and disconnects |
Bluetooth |
Marvell Bluetooth 4.0 |
Works with upstreamed driver |
Rear Camera |
OV8835 8MP |
Not working, (non-upstream untested driver, camera framework) |
Front camera |
Aptina AR0330 |
Not working, (non-upstream untested driver, camera framework) |
Accelerometer, ALS |
HID sensor hub |
Working |
Touchscreen |
N-Trig touchscreen |
Working |
Pen |
Surface Pen |
Working, though not the top button |
Original OS recovery
In case you wiped the whole disk, and forgot to do a recovery disk, and either want to restart using Windows 8, or want to do firmware upgrades, you can download recovery images from Microsoft directly.