LinuxQuestions.org
Share your knowledge at the LQ Wiki.
Home Forums Tutorials Articles Register
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General > LinuxQuestions.org Member Success Stories
User Name
Password
LinuxQuestions.org Member Success Stories Just spent four hours configuring your favorite program? Just figured out a Linux problem that has been stumping you for months?
Post your Linux Success Stories here.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 03-06-2021, 04:27 PM   #1
TB0ne
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Distribution: SuSE, RedHat, Slack,CentOS
Posts: 26,633

Rep: Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965Reputation: 7965
openSUSE Tumbleweed Linux on Surface Pro 3


Recently acquired a Surface Pro 3 from someone who was getting rid of it. Had 8GB of RAM, decent i5 CPU, 256GB SSD, with the typecover.

I got the most current (as of this writing) version of Tumbleweed from the openSUSE site, and did the typical download/create bootable USB as you would with any installation, and performed the install.

EVERYTHING worked right out of the gate. UEFI/Secure boot was recognized and used, including importing of the certificate during initial install. Typecover mouse/keys and function keys all worked, along with wifi and bluetooth. Absolutely zero problems.

One interesting note is that during install, it couldn't find the Marvell wifi adapter, but after installation was done, it worked just fine. Just FYI in case someone is looking at one of these gadgets.

::EDIT::
And an issue cropped up, which was thankfully easy to solve. The Marvell wifi adapter will (apparently) have an issue when power save goes into effect. You'll see a line in dmesg akin to:
Code:
[32954.401211] mwifiex_pcie 0000:01:00.0: Firmware wakeup failed
And the adapter won't reset, except for reboot. If you're on AC/plugged in, you have no problems. The solution was to go into KDE power management settings, and there was a previously unchecked option for "Wireless", under the "On Battery" tab. Clicking it, and setting Wi-Fi to "Leave Unchanged" was all it took.

You can also shove something into systemd, and create a service file containing:
Code:
[Unit]
Description=Disable Wifi Power Saving Mode
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/iw dev wlp1s0 set power_save off

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
...which will disable this. Save it under /etc/systemd/system/ as <SOME NAME>.service, and enable it with ""sudo systemctl enable <WHATEVERNAME>".

Can probably disable wifi power-save under other desktop environments as well, but I use KDE...notes welcomed on other GUI's.

Last edited by TB0ne; 03-07-2021 at 09:30 AM.
 
Old 03-06-2021, 05:50 PM   #2
jefro
Moderator
 
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,976

Rep: Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623Reputation: 3623
Interesting report, good work. All that I've read is it takes a bit of effort to get a surface pro working in linux.
 
  


Reply

Tags
opensuse, surface pro 3, tumbleweed



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
LXer: Upgrading OpenSUSE Leap to OpenSUSE Tumbleweed LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 10-25-2016 10:31 AM
LXer: How to upgrade openSUSE Leap to openSUSE Tumbleweed LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 10-11-2016 08:48 AM
LXer: GCC 6 Imminent for openSUSE Tumbleweed, openSUSE Leap 42.2 Alpha 2 Coming Soon LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 06-16-2016 01:51 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General > LinuxQuestions.org Member Success Stories

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:26 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration