Linux

Linux for Surface RT

The 2 ways of booting

Each way of booting has it's own advantages and disadvantages. EFI is easy to boot but has bad performance and power effiency. APX needs more special hardware to boot but performs much better.

EFI Boot

EFI booting is the easier way of booting Linux.

Characteristics

• No L2 Cache, no cpuidle (bad performance)

• No power related features (no PMIC regulators)

Requirements

• Yahallo

• USB drive

APX Boot

APX booting needs some special hardware.

Characteristics

• No Wi-Fi

• Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling (best performance)

Requirements

• USB A-to-A cable (straight: D+ -> D+, D- -> D-)

• µSD Card

• Linux PC (x86)

Features

• Screen (Touch, LVDS Encoder, Backlight)
• Touchscreen
• UART A
• SD Card (+UHS-I mode)
• USB-A host

• 2 GB DDR3 RAM

• SPI Bootflash
• eMMC
• HDMI (with audio)

• Vol+/-, PWR, Windows Buttons

• Touch-/Type-/Powercover (+ hotplug detection)

  • Hall effect lid sensor (close tCover to suspend the device)

• NCT1008 CPU and case temperature sensor
• Wifi
• Battery / Charger
• Audio: only output (headphone & speakers)
• Sensor Collection / Sensor Hub
• PMIC

What's Missing?

• Hardware Acceleration (3D)

• Bluetooth

• Camera