EDIT 2: I figured it out! The Nvidia driver was indeed installed, but I needed to remove it and instead install the dkms version.

sudo paru -S nvidia-open-dkms

Once that got installed, the surface kernel and headers successfully installed and now when I boot up the system, the linux-surface kernel shows up for me to choose. My touchscreen and pen input are working perfectly now with pressure sensitivity!

EDIT: I wanted to add some additional information regarding some errors that I’ve run into. There’s a point in the Linux on Surface instructions where you need to run:

sudo pacman -S linux-surface linux-surface-headers iptsd

When I do, I get two sets of errors…although the install appears to complete.

Error set 1:

==> ERROR: module not found: 'nvidia'
==> ERROR: module not found: 'nvidia_modeset'
==> ERROR: module not found: 'nvidia_uvm'
==> ERROR: module not found: 'nvidia_drm'

Error set 2:

Error: mkinitcpio failed for kernel 6.15.3-arch-2-surface, skipping.

I’m not sure if either of these directly relate to the touchscreen and pen not working or if this is a completely different set of issues.

======================================================

I’m hoping someone on here may have some similar issues trying to get Linux running on Surface devices with the Linux-Surface project. I successfully installed CachyOS and got the wireless adapter working as well.

The touch input nor pen input seem to work at all. The screen successfully detaches and reattaches but the touch and pen input don’t work with either mode.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

  • lsjw96kxs@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    Arch is also harder than other distros to learn, that’s why maybe turning to a more used distros like fedora isn’t a bad idea. Fedora is also good for new hardware with it’s rolling updates and will have many tutorials to help you installing things. The only thing gaming focused distros do is ship you with packages and software meant to help you. So for the tests you could try others distros to see what’s easier for you.

    That said, you also said you came from Debian, so you could also install a Debian based distros. With Debian 13 out from not so long, it shouldn’t be a problem to run on your laptops as they are older.