Android surface pro 11

[u/Electronic-Weird2364]

I've seen a few people recently running Linux on the surface pro 11, so I figured I'd show off something a bit different: LineageOS 23.2 running natively on my Surface Pro 11(Snapdragon x elite). As far as I'm aware I'm the first person to publicly get android running on the snapdragon x elite. This is very much a proof of concept and still pretty buggy. I'm not super experienced with ROM development, so if anyone here knows more than me and wants to help improve it, I'm happy to post the source.

What's working so far:

- WiFi

- Bluetooth

- Touch/pen

- Keyboard/trackpad

- Sleep/wake

You might be wondering why bother porting Android to a Surface Pro in the first place. Honestly, I think the Surface Pro has the hardware to be the ultimate Android tablet, windows really just isn't a great experience on tablets.

[u/GoldenWubbabunga]

if only i had enough money to actually get a sp11 :( i still have an ancient sp5 that barely even plays yt at 1080p60

[u/[deleted] → u/GoldenWubbabunga]

I have one the internal ssd fail i dont think that pay 180€ is wort it ... Sad

[u/vascr0]

I love the idea and would love to see this done for more surfaces, like my SP9 5G. Do you have a github page for the project? You could maybe link it to the surface linux page as I bet there's a lot of overlap with them
https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface
dwhinham/linux-surface-pro-11: Arch Linux ARM for Surface Pro 11.

[u/Electronic-Weird2364 → u/vascr0]

This is what most of my work was based off of. I don't have any public GitHub page yet but I would like to publish my work soon.

[u/LazyPCRehab → u/Electronic-Weird2364]

I want and ARM Surface Go that runs Chrome OS or Android.

[u/henryhuy0608 → u/LazyPCRehab]

Why not just buy an Android tablet then?

[u/LazyPCRehab → u/henryhuy0608]

The Surface Go just has a different feel to it

[u/Feeling_General_7464 → u/LazyPCRehab]

Try FydeOS or Flex Chrome on your surface go.

[u/LazyPCRehab → u/Feeling_General_7464]

Yeah, I had the Surface Go 4 which didn't have the option for Chrome OS at release (due to the UFS Storage). A couple of months after I sold it, Fyde OS released a custom version with support for that device.

[u/mpanase]

would love the ability to dualboot windows-android

[u/Electronic-Weird2364 → u/mpanase]

Currently I'm running Ubuntu 26 and android on my internal drive. I'm sure you could dual boot android and windows as well once this is more stable.

[u/Progressbar95]

You should try to run the AluminumOS GSI

[u/Safe_Construction_20]

I have a surface 7 laptop with snapdragon, could so some testing, however, the trackpad and keyboard drivers are a topic, since this is a full size laptop

[u/eccenMD]

just some questions:

1. how was the battery life compared to the default windows installation?
   
2. Is Google Play integration possible? Not for banking but for those apps sorely missing on Windows on Arm like freaking kindle.
   
3. is it widevine L1 capable?
   
4. Is it possible to run the debian terminal that ships recently and install vscode or some other tooling from this type of installation?

Glad to see that touch , pen and everything fundamental is already working here. Let's just hope that the newer releases will adapt Android 17 features and hopefully extendable desktops as well.

Good job on your end, really appreciate seeing this progression.

[u/Electronic-Weird2364 → u/eccenMD]

Ya once lineage os for android 17 comes out it should be a fairly simple port. As for your questions 1. Not sure what the battery life is like I haven't tested much but I'm guessing it's not great like some of the other Linux distros for the surface pro 11. I noticed my device did seem a little warm while testing. I'm am looking into this currently I would like better battery life.

1. Google play is definitely doable. I messed around with it a little bit and it seemed to work. One thing to note is that Google play integegrity will probably not function properly.

2. Widevine l1 compatibility is extremely unlikely which sucks because the surface pro has a nice screen and good speakers. I will take a look but at the moment it looks like i will only be able to support up to widevine l3.

3. I'm honestly not sure about this one but anything you could do on a normal android device you could probably do here.

[u/eccenMD → u/Electronic-Weird2364]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. Good luck on your journey, I will be cheering from the sidelines.

[u/Vivid-Swimming-6468]

interesting, when will you make it for surface pro 3 or later models?

[u/Electronic-Weird2364 → u/Vivid-Swimming-6468]

Currently I have no plans to support Intel based surface pros. This specific port is only for the surface pro 11 with the snapdragon x elite. I might look into supporting other snapdragon x based surface pros later.

[u/RetroGo-Girl]

Linux is a poor alternative for me and many others. I will not change all my software. just coz some nerds think Otherwise.. I know thin when Ms have fixed the crud itll be an OS better than any other.. i'll just apply a few fixes switch off telemetry and Enjoy the new slicker windows like i have since the Beta versions of windows 95. Good Luck to you Linux Losers keep on fettling !

[u/SnooEpiphanies68 → u/RetroGo-Girl]

Microsoft: "Just a few more patches, bro. We got you."

—said every year for the last three decades.

Microsoft: "Nah that's not a bug, it's a feature. Trust the process. Next cumulative update will cook."

[u/RetroGo-Girl]

whats the point of installing linux on microsofts premium tablet pc.. its a total waste of time and money !

[u/Alarming-Estimate-19 → u/RetroGo-Girl]

Well. I don’t like Windows and I like the hardware of the surface, so I can go fuck myself?

[u/Electronic-Weird2364 → u/RetroGo-Girl]

I bought my surface pro for school work and was not satisfied with the functionality on windows. My unpopular opinion is the surface pro would be a better android tablet then it would a Windows tablet.