4 ms·

I wonder if I can get it to run Linux. That would make a pretty nice machine, if so. Edit: I'm not hating on Windows. I just don't prefer it.

sz4kerto 11y ago
Linux does not support hybrid graphics properly. (I've got a Zbook G2, dockable, Nvidia + Intel. I'm developing for Linux, so it'd be great to run Linux on it, but it's not practical at all.)
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  This saddens me.
  - pavanky 11y ago
    Don't be. You can just use the intel driver and use the NVIDIA GPU for compute purposes only. All of this can be achieved WITHOUT hybrid graphics on Linux.
- belak 11y ago
  At this point, it definitely works, but it depends on the distro and how much tweaking you're willing to do. I've got hybrid graphics working on a Dell XPS 15 with no real problems. Bumblebee works like a charm when set up correctly. The battery life isn't perfect, but it's still much better than just running the nvidia chip.
  - sz4kerto 11y ago
    It works on a per-program basis if you set it up nicely, but (afaik) it's not possible to get the docking station work nicely. The problem is that to drive external displays, you need the discrete GPU (esp. for UHD displays). Therefore whenever you dock it in, it should start driving the external display with dGPU, etc. I've not seen a single successful attempt on getting this working (this = hybrid graphics + docking).
    - belak 11y ago
      Fair point. Wayland promises to make this possible, but it's definitely not completely ready yet.
mizzao 11y ago
I run Linux on a VM inside my Surface Pro 2. Best of both worlds. All the touch and pen gestures are handled by Windows and carry over through VirtualBox. Would love to get a Surface Book as soon as possible.
- tjohns 11y ago
  The big downside to this is poor battery life. When I tried this on my Surface Pro 3, I found that running Ubuntu inside a VM was really only viable when the device was plugged into wall power. (Trying to run Ubuntu natively never worked well either, because of missing driver support for things like WiFi/Bluetooth/Keyboard/Stylus, not to mention Linux's poor support for resource scaling on high-DPI displays.)
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  Does you version Linux properly support the touch input? I'm on a Lenovo T440s, and aside from a handful of gestures to manipulate window size, all Ubuntu programs insist that my touchscreen is just another mouse input. It's a bit of a bummer that I can't use proper multi-touch for my own OpenFrameworks sketches.
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  Does you version Linux properly support the touch input? I'm on a Lenovo T440s, and aside from a handful of gestures to manipulate window size, all Ubuntu programs insist that my touchscreen is just another mouse input. It's a bit of a bummer that I can't use proper multi-touch for my own OpenFrameworks sketches.
- owenversteeg 11y ago
  Ooh, this is actually a really attractive option, thanks for the idea. How much is the speed decrease? Is it enough to be noticeable? And how much does the battery life decrease by? Thanks!
  - mizzao 11y ago
    With a SSD on the host OS, I really can't tell much of a difference. Not sure on the battery life, but I've had nothing to complain about as long as I'm careful not to have some random process hogging 100% CPU on either guest or host.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- overgryphon 11y ago
  Why? This isn't true of the current Surface.
- jeeva 11y ago
  SP3 works fine with Ubuntu[1], and even OSX¹. ¹: to a given definition of fine. [1]:http://blog.davidelner.com/dual-booting-ubuntu-14-10-on-the-surface-pro-3/ http://blog.davidelner.com/dual-booting-ubuntu-14-10-on-the-...
suvelx 11y ago
A part of me hopes (read: dreams) that the keyboard/gpu is all interfaced to-spec as Thunderbolt 3.1 (spec supports bidi power, and external GPUs). And that the TB3.1 spec is "bullshit free" (unlike DisplayLink).

sz4kerto 11y ago

Linux does not support hybrid graphics properly. (I've got a Zbook G2, dockable, Nvidia + Intel. I'm developing for Linux, so it'd be great to run Linux on it, but it's not practical at all.)

JustSomeNobody 11y ago
This saddens me.
- pavanky 11y ago
  Don't be. You can just use the intel driver and use the NVIDIA GPU for compute purposes only. All of this can be achieved WITHOUT hybrid graphics on Linux.
belak 11y ago
At this point, it definitely works, but it depends on the distro and how much tweaking you're willing to do. I've got hybrid graphics working on a Dell XPS 15 with no real problems. Bumblebee works like a charm when set up correctly. The battery life isn't perfect, but it's still much better than just running the nvidia chip.
- sz4kerto 11y ago
  It works on a per-program basis if you set it up nicely, but (afaik) it's not possible to get the docking station work nicely. The problem is that to drive external displays, you need the discrete GPU (esp. for UHD displays). Therefore whenever you dock it in, it should start driving the external display with dGPU, etc. I've not seen a single successful attempt on getting this working (this = hybrid graphics + docking).
  - belak 11y ago
    Fair point. Wayland promises to make this possible, but it's definitely not completely ready yet.

mizzao 11y ago

I run Linux on a VM inside my Surface Pro 2. Best of both worlds. All the touch and pen gestures are handled by Windows and carry over through VirtualBox. Would love to get a Surface Book as soon as possible.

tjohns 11y ago
The big downside to this is poor battery life. When I tried this on my Surface Pro 3, I found that running Ubuntu inside a VM was really only viable when the device was plugged into wall power. (Trying to run Ubuntu natively never worked well either, because of missing driver support for things like WiFi/Bluetooth/Keyboard/Stylus, not to mention Linux's poor support for resource scaling on high-DPI displays.)
vanderZwan 11y ago
Does you version Linux properly support the touch input? I'm on a Lenovo T440s, and aside from a handful of gestures to manipulate window size, all Ubuntu programs insist that my touchscreen is just another mouse input. It's a bit of a bummer that I can't use proper multi-touch for my own OpenFrameworks sketches.
vanderZwan 11y ago
Does you version Linux properly support the touch input? I'm on a Lenovo T440s, and aside from a handful of gestures to manipulate window size, all Ubuntu programs insist that my touchscreen is just another mouse input. It's a bit of a bummer that I can't use proper multi-touch for my own OpenFrameworks sketches.
owenversteeg 11y ago
Ooh, this is actually a really attractive option, thanks for the idea. How much is the speed decrease? Is it enough to be noticeable? And how much does the battery life decrease by? Thanks!
- mizzao 11y ago
  With a SSD on the host OS, I really can't tell much of a difference. Not sure on the battery life, but I've had nothing to complain about as long as I'm careful not to have some random process hogging 100% CPU on either guest or host.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

overgryphon 11y ago
Why? This isn't true of the current Surface.
jeeva 11y ago
SP3 works fine with Ubuntu[1], and even OSX¹. ¹: to a given definition of fine. [1]:http://blog.davidelner.com/dual-booting-ubuntu-14-10-on-the-surface-pro-3/ http://blog.davidelner.com/dual-booting-ubuntu-14-10-on-the-...

suvelx 11y ago

A part of me hopes (read: dreams) that the keyboard/gpu is all interfaced to-spec as Thunderbolt 3.1 (spec supports bidi power, and external GPUs). And that the TB3.1 spec is "bullshit free" (unlike DisplayLink).