How to connect a Pi 4 over a direct wired ethernet connection to a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet?

Last Updated on October 14, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org

• Pi screens use a lot of power and are poorly optimized for power saving, as previously discussed in this journal. To choose a tablet or an Android phone as a screen is a better solution for a battery powered setup, or a combination of both devices
• We have discussed a similar topic here:

How to use a Windows 10 laptop as Pi screen?

• We think it is worth testing also to change the direction of the host in the following video.
• The Pi running Ubuntu is then the device who controls the Ubuntu PC:

• We then eventually can try to control a Android phone from the Pi with Ubuntu as well.

• Explaining Computes already showed how to run Ubuntu on a x86 Microsoft Surface Tablet:

This could for instance a Microsoft Surface Pro 4:

• Which has an SSD which can be upgraded. Here is a detailed instruction how to run Ubuntu on the Micorosoft surface tablet:

https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface

• The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 offers a dock with wired ethernet connector. The dock is bulky, but eventually a usb to wired ethernet adapter works as well to solve the problem described here.

• We do not neet necessarily to install Ubuntu on the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 we can solve this problem with Windows 10 as well as shown here:

How to use a Windows 10 laptop as Pi screen?

• But we prefer Ubuntu over Windows for our application, and it makes the old Microsoft Surface Pro 4:tablet PC faster.

But we do not know how good the power saving options of Ubuntu are on a tablet, and if it is not better to stay with Windows 10 if the tablet is used for mobile applications. Chris Titus Tech who tested the Linux Pinephone to work with it on his YouTube channel thinks that “Linux mobile will never be a thing”.

• We think it is an interesting alternative to the instruction from TechCraft for people who do not want to use an iPad with the Pi 4:

• A Microsoft Surface Pro 4 costs on eBay about the same as an i Pad Pro which is required to connect a Pi 4 over usb-c to it.
• But the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 offers Windows 10, the internal SSD can easily be replaced and Ubuntu support for it is great.
• It is one of the rare Ubuntu tablets which is available.
• The battery and the screen can easily be replaced as well.

• But we still miss a detailed instruction how to use an Android phone as a Pi screen over a wired ethernet cable.