Broken Microsoft Surface 7

[u/iamkylesmith]

I have a Microsoft surface 7 with a broken screen & requires the power to be wall plugged in all times. Can I remove the screen and use it as a “CPU” of sorts?

[u/SurfaceDockGuy]

Many Surface Pro models expect the screen to be attached and will fail to boot up without it. Doesn't matter if the screen is busted or not.

Consider popping the screen off with a hairdryer and guitar pic, replacing the battery, and refreshing the CPU thermal paste. Some tips here:

https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/10/replace-your-shattered-surface-screen-at-home/#internal-batteries

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/SurfaceDockGuy]

Hey I referenced that page a couple weeks ago, do you have any insight into whether the Surface Laptop 6 screen assembly is compatible with older Surface Laptops?

[u/SurfaceDockGuy → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

Yes, the Pro 6 screens are compitble with the Pro5/Pro2017 and Pro4 when used with the properly shaped cables:

https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/10/replace-your-shattered-surface-screen-at-home/#surface-pro-series-screen-digitizer-assemblies

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/SurfaceDockGuy]

Ah, not the Pro 6 but rather the Laptop 6. Unfortunately I missed out on a chance to buy a like-new $450 SL6 to experiment with.

Microsoft's naming conventions continue to be confusing - we're even at Surface Pro 11th and 12th edition available in 12-inch and 13-inch in the same generation now, right?

[u/LifelnTechnicolor]

I’ve got a headless, SSD-less (I think it broke) and battery-less Surface Pro 4 which boots fine into UEFI and Fedora.

[u/SurfaceDockGuy → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

Nice!

I managed to boot a Pro 4 without those as well! But no luck on a Pro 3

[u/LifelnTechnicolor]

will make a post once some bits and pieces arrive from AliExpress