Why in English: well, most links below will be in English, hence it makes no difference... publishing in French would not make it more relevant (and French people that I know who can help me can read English...).
Objectives: get at least Linux to boot and be usable. Afterwards, find other usages for the tablet (drawing device, handwriting recognition...). At worst: restore a working system.
Install Linux on Surface
First some status to follow- https://www.reddit.com/r/surfacelinux
- https://www.reddit.com/r/SurfaceLinux/comments/7kazwp/current_state_of_surfaceseries_devices/ last updated january 2018 : Surface RT 1 ko Surface 2 ok
- https://forum.xda-developers.com/windows-8-rt/rt-development dedicated to Surface RT
Method applied: well, existing doc' first, then apply by priority and secured path to backup each step.
Some specs for my devices
Surface RT
Bricked, BSOD with some device not working, not even bootingCheck if it's error: 0xc000000d
In fact, it's error: 0xc000000f (not found after some research, hardware at fault?)
https://fr.ifixit.com/Device/Microsoft_Surface_2
https://fr.ifixit.com/Wiki/Microsoft_Surface_2_Troubleshooting
Surface 2
Pro 2 ?Locked to login screen, of course I do not have the password...
Backup the existing file systems
Links to backup the content first, in the hop of restoring it later, eventually :-)- Bitlocker will surely have been installed, so that the whole disk is encrypted... that's life
With no access to the OS, that's a bit more difficult, at least get ISO images to reinstall from recovery (will lose all data, hell, well...).
- http://www.microsoft.com/surface/fr-fr/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage ISO seem available, will ask for a serial number
- Surface 2 - 32GB - Windows RT 8.1
- https://www.monwindows.com/blog/creer-un-image-recovery-pour-surface-rt-t102200.html prepare an USB-key of 8 GB (or at least 4 GB, format it as fat32 (o_O) you will lose all your data...)
- https://support.microsoft.com/fr-fr/surfacerecoveryimage directly the recovery image
Magic keys
Generally, to access special mode, you have to keep the Volume up button pressed, then push power button (sometimes it's the Volume down button, only works once and require to reboot and restart from the beginning to have it taken into account, have the device connected to the computer before or after...)This is useful for:
- getting access to the bios (or UEFI)
- restore to factory/original config (all data lost most of the time): needs an external keyboard (type cover or usb-keyboard), Power button then shift key till login screen, then Power icon
- booting an external device like an USB-key with another system (live Linux USB...)
Isn't it illegal? Well, check https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2092158 yes, read it all
https://www.hardreset.info/devices/microsoft/microsoft-surface-pro-2-128gb/hardreset/first-method/
http://www.windows8facile.fr/reset-tablette-android/ magic keys "hard reset" for android 4.4 and many tablets
Some pre-requisites
I had a Surface 2 but no alimentation, a friend of mine had a Surface RT 1 with alimentation: by chance, they are compatible \o/Hardware, performance, devices
Pen available, where is it stored?Performance:
- video, supported GPU?
- screen: HiDPI?
- touchscreen, multi-touch, pen?
- CPU/RAM
- storage
Log of actions to get it working
- get an alimentation ok, get it to boot:
- Surface RT 1: BSOD
- Surface 2: get to login screen but I do not have the password, would have preferred admin access to reset it
