Linux for an x86 Tablet
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the host explores the feasibility of running a Linux distribution on an x86 tablet, specifically the Surface 2 Pro. Initially, they attempt to use mobile device-specific distros like Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile, but find compatibility issues with x86 architecture. They then test mainstream distros like Ubuntu, Manjaro, and Linux Mint. While facing touchscreen and on-screen keyboard challenges with Ubuntu and Manjaro, Linux Mint impresses with its pre-installed Onboard virtual keyboard, offering a smooth tablet experience. The host successfully configures Linux Mint on the tablet, achieving a functional setup without needing an external keyboard.
Takeaways
- đ The video is an experiment to determine if a Linux distro can be successfully run on an x86 tablet, specifically a Surface 2 Pro.
- đ§ The goal is not only to get the hardware like touchscreen, Wi-Fi, and audio working but also to have a good on-screen keyboard experience similar to Windows 10.
- đ The first approach tried is using dedicated mobile device Linux distros, such as Ubuntu Touch and PostmarketOS, but they only support ARM devices, not x86.
- đ The second approach explored is Plasma Mobile, a KDE desktop version for mobile devices, which has an AMD64 ISO image that might work on the tablet despite being unmaintained.
- đĄ Another distro considered is Ying OS, a future mobile OS based on Linux, which has both x86 and ARM versions, although the x86 version is in an early 0.9 stage.
- đ± Plasma Mobile was tested and found to have a working touchscreen but issues with the on-screen keyboard not appearing when needed.
- đ„ Ying OS was also tested and had a working touchscreen, but like Plasma Mobile, it struggled with providing an accessible on-screen keyboard.
- đ Mainstream Linux distros such as Ubuntu and Manjaro were then tried, with Ubuntu having a basic on-screen keyboard that didn't scroll well with text input.
- đ Linux Mint was found to have a superior on-screen keyboard experience out of the box, with the pre-installed Onboard keyboard offering various layouts and themes.
- đ ïž Despite some initial issues with positioning the Onboard keyboard in Manjaro, Linux Mint was ultimately chosen for its ease of use and better touch screen and keyboard support.
- đ The presenter dual-booted Linux Mint and Windows on the tablet, but noted a future configuration challenge due to the lack of a GRUB menu for OS selection.
Q & A
What is the main objective of the video?
-The main objective of the video is to experiment with running a Linux distribution on an x86 tablet, specifically an old Surface 2 Pro, with the goal of getting the touchscreen, Wi-Fi, audio, and on-screen keyboard to work effectively.
Why does the experimenter want to run Linux on a tablet?
-The experimenter wants to run Linux on a tablet to have a good user experience similar to Windows 10, including the ability to easily access and use an on-screen keyboard with various keys such as letters, numbers, cursor arrows, control, and tab keys.
What are the two options mentioned for running Linux on a tablet?
-The two options mentioned are: 1) installing a mainstream Linux distribution and tweaking it for tablet operation, and 2) installing a dedicated mobile device distribution.
Why couldn't the experimenter use Ubuntu Touch for the experiment?
-The experimenter couldn't use Ubuntu Touch because it only supports ARM devices, and the experimenter's tablet is x86-based.
What is Plasma Mobile and why was it considered for the experiment?
-Plasma Mobile is a version of the KDE desktop environment designed for mobile devices. It was considered for the experiment because it has an AMD64 ISO image that is said to work on non-Android Intel tablets, even though it is not actively maintained.
What issues did the experimenter encounter with Plasma Mobile?
-The experimenter encountered issues with Plasma Mobile where the on-screen keyboard could not be brought up, despite having a working touchscreen.
What is Ying OS and why was it considered in the experiment?
-Ying OS is a future mobile operating system based on Linux. It was considered in the experiment because it has both x86 and ARM versions, and the experimenter wanted to try out its x86 version despite it being in an early stage of development (version 0.9).
What problems did the experimenter face with Ying OS?
-With Ying OS, the experimenter faced problems similar to Plasma Mobile, where there was no way to access an on-screen keyboard within the Chromium web browser.
Why did the experimenter choose to try out mainstream Linux distributions after the mobile-specific distributions?
-The experimenter chose to try out mainstream Linux distributions after the mobile-specific distributions because they both had good reputations for tablet use and the experimenter wanted to see if tweaking them could provide a better on-screen keyboard and overall tablet experience.
What was the final decision of the experimenter regarding the Linux distribution for the tablet?
-The experimenter decided to install Linux Mint on the tablet because it came with a pre-installed, high-quality on-screen keyboard called Onboard, which worked well with the tablet's touchscreen and provided a good user experience.
What challenge does the experimenter face after installing Linux Mint?
-After installing Linux Mint, the experimenter faces a configuration challenge because the Surface tablet does not allow operating system selection via a GRUB menu, making it difficult to access Linux without using advanced startup options in Windows.
Outlines
đ§ Experimenting with Linux on an x86 Tablet
The video begins with the host introducing an experiment to run a Linux distribution on an x86 tablet, specifically a Surface 2 Pro. The goal is not only to get the basic functions like touchscreen, Wi-Fi, and audio working but also to achieve a good on-screen keyboard experience that mirrors the ease of use found in Windows 10. The host expresses uncertainty about the success of this endeavor but is eager to attempt it. Two primary options for running Linux on a tablet are discussed: installing a mainstream distro and customizing it for tablet use, or installing a dedicated mobile OS. The exploration starts with projects like Ubuntu Touch and PostmarketOS, which unfortunately only support ARM devices, leading the host to consider Plasma Mobile and Ying OS as potential candidates for the experiment.
đ± Testing Plasma Mobile and Ying OS on a Tablet
The host tests Plasma Mobile, a KDE desktop version for mobile devices, and Ying OS, a future mobile OS based on Linux. Despite Plasma Mobile not being actively maintained, it is chosen for its compatibility with non-Android Intel tablets. The host boots Plasma Mobile from an SSD and encounters issues with the on-screen keyboard not functioning properly. A similar problem is found with Ying OS, which has a working touchscreen but lacks a viable on-screen keyboard solution. The host then shifts focus to mainstream Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Manjaro, which have better reputations for tablet use, and notes the responsiveness of the touchscreen and the functionality of the on-screen keyboard in these distros.
đ„ïž Exploring Mainstream Linux Distros for Tablet Use
The host evaluates Ubuntu and Manjaro on the tablet, noting that while the touchscreen works well, the on-screen keyboard leaves something to be desired in terms of functionality and usability. The keyboard in Ubuntu does not scale well, and typing can be obscured by the keyboard itself, which is not ideal for tablet use. Manjaro, with its GNOME desktop, offers a slightly better on-screen keyboard experience, with scrolling that does not cover the typed text. However, the host also considers Linux Mint, which comes with a pre-installed, third-party virtual keyboard called Onboard, providing a more comprehensive and user-friendly keyboard experience out of the box.
đ Successful Linux Mint Installation on the Tablet
After testing various Linux distributions, the host finds Linux Mint to be the most successful in terms of both on-screen keyboard functionality and overall tablet compatibility. The Onboard keyboard in Linux Mint is praised for its layout, features, and theming options. The host is able to complete the entire setup and configuration of Linux Mint on the tablet without needing an external keyboard. However, the video concludes with a mention of a configuration challenge due to the Surface tablet's limitation of not allowing OS selection via a GRUB menu, leaving the host with an interesting problem to solve for future videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄLinux Distro
đĄX86 Tablet
đĄUbuntu Touch
đĄPostmarketOS
đĄPlasma Mobile
đĄYing OS
đĄOn-Screen Keyboard
đĄUbuntu
đĄManjaro
đĄLinux Mint
đĄOnboard
Highlights
Experiment to run a Linux distro on an x86 tablet, specifically the old Surface 2 Pro.
The goal is to have a good on-screen keyboard experience with full functionality, including cursor arrows and control keys.
Two options for running Linux on a tablet: installing a mainstream distro and tweaking it or installing a dedicated mobile device distro.
Ubuntu Touch is a project for mobile devices but only supports ARM architecture, not x86.
PostmarketOS is a Linux distribution for mobile devices but also only supports ARM devices.
Plasma Mobile, a KDE desktop version for mobile devices, has an AMD64 ISO image that might work on an x86 tablet.
Ying OS is a future mobile OS based on Linux with both x86 and ARM versions, though the x86 version is in an early stage.
Testing Plasma Mobile on the Surface 2 Pro reveals a working touchscreen but no on-screen keyboard functionality.
Ying OS has a professional look and touch screen functionality but lacks an accessible on-screen keyboard.
Ubuntu and Manjaro are tested next for their reputations with tablet use, showing basic touchscreen and on-screen keyboard functionality.
Ubuntu's on-screen keyboard works but is not ideal for tablet use due to typing issues.
Manjaro's on-screen keyboard performs better with scrolling, but the touch screen support is not perfect.
Linux Mint is tested and shows a very good virtual keyboard and touch screen support out of the box.
Onboard, a third-party virtual keyboard, is pre-installed in Linux Mint and offers a variety of layouts and themes.
Manjaro with GNOME desktop and Onboard keyboard is tested, but the keyboard remains at the top of the screen, not ideal for tablet use.
Linux Mint is chosen for installation on the tablet due to its superior on-screen keyboard and touch screen support.
Linux Mint allows for all setup and configuration to be done without attaching a physical keyboard.
The video concludes with a dual-boot configuration challenge due to the Surface tablet's limitations with GRUB menu.
Transcripts
[Music]
welcome to another video from explaining
computers
this time it's a bit of an experiment
because i want to see if i can
successfully run a linux distro on an
x86 tablet
specifically we're going to be trying
out various options on this old surface
2 pro
and by running a linux distro
successfully on hardware like this what
i mean is not just getting things like
the touchscreen and wi-fi and audio
working those obviously have to work i
also want to have a good on-screen
keyboard experience so as here in
windows 10 i can flick up an on-screen
keyboard in linux flick it up and down
as required and have access not just to
the letter keys and the number keys but
also cursor arrows and a control key and
a tab key things like that
now as i shoot this introduction i'm not
certain this is possible but i'm going
to give it a try i would like to be
running linux on this tablet so
let's go
and get started
right when it comes to running linux on
a tablet there are two possible options
one is to install a mainstream distro
and to tweak it for tablet operation
meanwhile the second option is to
install a dedicated mobile device distro
and so i thought we'd start with that
already there are quite a few projects
dedicated to running linux on a mobile
device and the first one i came across
is ubuntu touch
this is based on a graphical desktop
called unity 8 which for several years
was developed and maintained by
canonical the publishers of ubuntu but
development at canonical ceased and the
project now resides with a ub port as we
can see here and if we click on ubuntu
touch and get ubuntu touch unfortunately
for me it only currently supports armed
devices so i can't run it on my x86
tablet i need to move on
the second thing i came across was a
this post-market os as we can see a real
linux distribution for phones and other
mobile devices although again sadly for
me this only supports arm devices at the
moment so again i need to move on
thirdly i came across this plasma mobile
which is a version of the kde desktop
for guess what mobile devices
and if we click on install here we can
see again it starts off with arms a lot
of arm stuff here but if we go right to
the bottom we do find this a neon based
amd64 iso image and although this has
got a warning to say it's not actively
maintained this should work on my tablet
it says here it can be tested on not
android intel tablets pcs and virtual
machines so i am going to be taking this
for a spin
and finally i've also come across ying
os future mobile os based on linux and
if we scroll down here we discover there
are x86 and arm versions although the
x86 version is currently in version 0.9
so we shouldn't expect too much but
regardless i want to try it out and if
we click on the download link we get to
a page all about the operating system
and there's a download link actually
here and i should just point out when
you click on this it does request
readers to scroll down a bit but you
enter an email address to get access to
a download of the iso i did this a few
months ago i've had no issues but i just
thought i should point that out
so let's now test out plasma mobile and
then yin 0 s
greetings i've now got the linux
distribution with the plasma mobile
desktop on it on this ssd as a live
image so i can boot this now on the
surface 2 pro to do that i have to hold
in the volume key over here and then
press the power button to boot from usb
and hopefully this will work oh there it
is look if you're wondering why it's a
bright red it's because secure boot is
turned off and here it's got to select
operating system i have got a keyboard
connected to the tablet right now
because if i don't i can't press the
button to select that obviously if this
was installed you wouldn't have to do
that you wouldn't have the problem but
there we are it's now booting into the
operating system which as we can see is
a version of ubuntu 2004 with the plasma
mobile kde desktop
and here we are arriving in the system
and if i just to flick things up we can
enter using a pin you can see we've got
an on-screen keyboard one two three
four i think is the default and enter
all good so far but uh now we're here
i've found there are some problems with
this we can get to two
applications come on there we are it
shows us what's on the system and flick
them down
like that so it does work we've got a
working touch screen here but i can't
get the on-screen keyboard to work if i
flick in the search i can get to a
little box come on and
i can't bring up a keyboard and if we
look in there the settings the various
settings here there's a system settings
and if here we go to uh input devices
and we look at keyboards the keyboard
selections here are clearly all physical
keyboards there is a virtual keyboard
option
which if it comes up there we always
says no virtual keyboard which is
obviously not very handy things are
working but i say
come on and get the right place tricky
to use on this screen but uh come on let
me out of it there we are and if we go
back into settings and we go to some
more system settings over here we can
also find virtual keyboard
down here but
nothing to help us get things working so
this was a long shot it's not a
supportive distribution as it made clear
on the on the website but i thought we'd
give it a go but uh it's not going to
work for me so we'll move straight on to
try ying o s
so
here we now are running ying o s which
is rather professional in terms of what
it looks like as you can see the touch
screen does work we can pull down things
to look at various features here we can
go into settings as we could previously
and that seems to work and there's
various gestures in play if i pull in
from the edge of a screen like that
it'll close things down
as you can see
but uh once again i've got problems with
having access to an on-screen keyboard
if i go into the the chromium web
browser like that which comes up and
there is no way to bring up a virtual
keyboard and again i've gone round and
round and round i can't find a way to do
it so i can close things down nice and
easily like uh go on like that other
side there we are that works but clearly
without a keyboard i've got a problem so
this is as i said earlier in version 0.9
on x86 hardware so this is very much
something with potential for the future
so now i'm going to move on to trying
out some mainstream linux distros and
tweaking them for tablet use
greetings i've now been trying out
ubuntu and manjaro because they both got
good reputations for tablet use and here
as you can see we've got ubuntu and as
you can see if i move my finger on the
screen drawing out a rectangle clearly
the touchscreen works without any
problems and i've also gone into
settings and turned on the on-screen
keyboard in accessibility here this is
the stock on-screen keyboard we're
running again from a live drive a live
ssd services nothing's been installed
here this is exactly what you get out of
the box as it were but it does work if
we go to uh for example libreoffice
writer you'll see a keyboard comes up
it's not a brilliant keyboard i can't
get it scaled bigger we've not got much
actually on it but it does work so for
example if i hold down the key and type
some w's they will come up on the screen
but the reason i want to show you lots
of w's is you can see what happens is
typing goes beneath the keyboard that's
not very effective for for good tablet
use but it does work
and the other thing i want to show you
having said that the touchscreen works
fine if i bring up a window for example
the file manager here showing the ssd
from windows which is still installed on
this tablet if i try and move this
window about
i uh i struggle doesn't work properly
there is a
stylus you can use with windows on this
tablet and works absolutely fine but if
you try and use a finger at best oh it's
looking a little bit better now but it's
a bit random whether that will work or
not so clearly
this is not ideal so a bit surprised
stylus works finger doesn't but anyway
that's a bit of an issue so let's move
on to try out manjaro
and by the magic of filmmaking here we
are running manjaro with a gnome desktop
and yes it's pronounced you know when
you're referring to a desktop
environment rather than the creatures
some people keep in their gardens and
gnome is potentially at least a good
desktop environment to use on the tablet
because it's very much based around
things like the dock very icon focused
rather than menu item focus compared to
other distros although as you can see
here things don't necessarily scale
terribly well
anyway here in manjaro i have turned on
again the stock on-screen keyboard you
can install other on-screen keyboards
and linux distros we'll be looking at
those very shortly but i'm using the
stock one here and again as we saw in
ubuntu if we open up a document i can't
open up libreoffice writer here because
it's not installed by default in manjaro
but if i click here to type you can see
that as we saw in ubuntu we get exactly
the same on-screen keyboard not a
brilliant one but it does work but here
if i use key just to keep going
downwards you'll see things do scroll
rather than going beneath the keyboard
space so that is better performance than
we saw in ubuntu at least with this
particular on-screen keyboard so let's
just close that down because i also want
to show you close without saving yes if
i open up a window for example a farm
manager again here i can move around
perfectly well with my finger and i can
also use the stylus if i want as well
this clearly has got better touch screen
support at least for the surface 2 pro
than we saw in ubuntu
and indeed i therefore thought what i
should do now is to take manjaro to
tweak it to add a better on-screen
keyboard if i can and use it on this
tablet
but i suddenly thought wait a second
i've got hanging around this which is a
usb drive with linux mint on it and so
before i commit to manjaro on this
tablet i think we should at least boot
up linux mint
well i'm now very pleasantly surprised
because here we are running linux mint
from the usb drive so again we're
running a live image nothing has been
added to this distro and it's working on
the tablet very well indeed
as previously i've gone into
accessibility and turned on the virtual
keyboard as you can see and here the
default virtual keyboard is very nice
indeed much better than we've seen
previously it's got the control key that
i always like to have it's got cursor
arrows etc rather nice keyboard
but here in linux mint we also have
pre-installed a third-party virtual
keyboard called onboard which i was
planning on trying out in manjaro and
ubuntu but it's here by default in linux
mint
and you can learn more about onboard on
its website over here as you can see
like that and if we turn on the onboard
keyboard
there we are as you can see a very nice
virtual keyboard and this i think
compares very well to what i have in
windows
there are various layouts for this
keyboard if we go into its
controls down here as you can see and go
into it controls that there there are
different layouts available so we go up
here to see what they are this is the
the compact one i quite like this one
but there's also a space efficient one
like that which still has cursor arrows
and things like that we've also got a
full keyboard if we go down here that's
obviously good if you want everything at
once and there's also a phone type
keyboard if you don't want quite as many
symbols and things available but uh
personally i think that the compact
keyboard is a very good
keyboard to use on the tablet and you
can also set there is themes here if i
go down to a theme like that this is the
default i quite like droid which is very
subtly different but there's also things
like typists which give you a very wacky
keyboard with all these colors on oh
look i could customize the theme
so i'm very impressed that it will go
back to a droid like that this is a very
nice virtual keyboard running here in
linux mint oh and as we haven't had a
look i'll just run up a libra office and
just show you once we start typing here
with this keyboard which obviously works
fine it does the proper scrolling thing
it's scrolling the top area of the
screen so things are working fine and
when we turn off the keyboard like that
we then see the whole screen
so this i think is a very good result
i'm very tempted to just install linux
mint now on the tablet but i'm first
going to experiment with the onboard
keyboard in manjaro
so i've now installed manjaro with a
gnome desktop on my test rig so i can
check out how it'll work with the
onboard virtual keyboard before doing a
more fundamental install on the tablet
and i've installed the onboard keyboard
using the package manager just searching
for it and installing no problems at all
and as you might have noticed i pinned
it to the dash if i click down here we
have the onboard keyboard with a theme
that kind of matches the desktop here in
manjaro
however i have got two problems the
first one is i can't flick the keyboard
up and down using the icon the button on
the dash the way i could using the icon
on the panel in linux mint
and more fundamentally the keyboard is
at the top of the screen and you're
thinking probably chris we'll just put
it at the bottom then but if i go into
the controls like this we can go into
window and a doctor screen edge we can
turn that on and off that's not a
problem but we're going to settings for
position oh look it's at the bottom
already and doesn't matter what i do
here it's always at the top of the
screen
and given that my use of a tablet with
an on-screen keyboard is mainly to write
in google docs i can't possibly have the
keyboard above my document so this is
not a viable solution and i have tried
all kinds of layouts of the gnome
desktop none of them stopped me having
the keyboard only at the top and so what
i'm now going to do on the tablet is to
install linux mint
so here i am back again and everything
is now working
so if i press the windows icon beneath
the screen on this tablet to my great
delight we get the main linux mint menu
here i can show you that the onboard
on-screen keyboard is pre-installed in
accessories there it is down there and
once we brought it up we can bring it up
and down using the icon on the panel and
as you can see i'm trying out a rather
wacky theme so things now look very
different to how we started out in
windows
here in linux i'm also running google
docs here it is this works perfectly
well we're going to scroll it around
with our fingers if we wish and
obviously type with the keyboard to add
to it and when we use the cursor arrows
you'll see that the screen scrolls
correctly things don't disappear under
the keyboard
so this i think is a very good result
and in fact after installing linux mint
i managed to do all of my setup and
configuration without attaching a
keyboard
this said i should note that right now
i'm dual booting linux and windows on
this device
which is not ideal as a surface tablet
does not allow operating system
selection via a grub menu so right now i
can only access linux using advanced
startup options in windows which leaves
me with an interesting configuration
challenge for the future
but now that's it for another video if
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[Music]
you
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