HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 Fedora

[UpBo]

Hi everyone. 

I am currently running Fedora Workstation with Gnome on the HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 and everything works out of the box including trackpad, WiFI, fingerprint reader, tablet mode, etc. My attempts with Zorin OS 18 and Debian 13 didn't go so well. For example, in Zorin OS I couldn't get the trackpad working. Debian also had some issues, I don't remember exactly right now except that I got frustrated and deleted it again. Fedora KDE Plasma also seemed to work well out of the box but I like the functionality of the touchscreen with Gnome way better.

However, I am fairly unsatisfied with the performance of the stylus. It doesn't have palm rejection (I believe that's how it's called), so when I put down my hand to write something, my hand gets detected too and not just the pen. Also the pen doesn't track well when I tilted. 

I wonder whether there's something I can do to improve this or whether Linux in general isn't ready yet for more delicate stylus support. 

Maybe others have similar experiences or even ideas how to improve the stylus functionality?!

[BongChaGomez]

Hello @UpBo,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

You’re not imagining things — what you’re seeing is very typical for modern HP 2-in-1s with MPP (Microsoft Pen Protocol) pens on Linux. Fedora + GNOME is currently about as good as it gets, but there are still real limitations around palm rejection and tilt.

Palm rejection on MPP is mostly firmware-driven, and Linux doesn’t get the same hooks Windows does.

What you can improve (practical steps)

1️⃣ Make sure you’re on a new enough stack (critical)

Check these versions:

uname -r libinput --version gnome-shell --version

Recommended minimums (Fedora 40 / 41):

• Kernel 6.8+ (6.9+ even better)

• libinput 1.25+

• GNOME 46

If you’re behind:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Fedora Rawhide improves MPP further, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you enjoy debugging.

2️⃣ Use Wayland only (never X11)

You’re probably already doing this, but just to confirm:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

Must say:

wayland

Palm rejection is worse or broken entirely on X11.

Linux is ready for stylus use — but only if the device uses Wacom.

For MPP-based HP convertibles:

• Fedora GNOME is the best choice ✅

• Stylus support is usable but imperfect

• Writing notes works

• Drawing with palm down is frustrating

You are already at ~85% of what Linux can currently deliver on this hardware.

Hope this helps!

[UpBo]

Hello @BongChaGomez

Thank you so much for your detailed answer. I was using the latest versions of Gnome, the kernel, etc. but I wasn't satisfied and decided to return the laptop in the end because everything felt too buggy. Instead I got a Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1 and I am quite content with the stylus support on that machine, I even did some drawing and artwork on it. 

I hope that I can get back to HP in the future because I prefer the keyboard on HPs 🙂 

[BongChaGomez]

Hello @UpBo ,

You’re very welcome 🙂 — and that makes total sense.

Linux on brand-new hardware can technically be up to date and still feel rough around the edges, especially with power management, touch, pen, and firmware quirks. If the experience felt buggy day-to-day, returning it was a perfectly reasonable call.

Thank you for choosing HP. We will look forward to serve you better in future!