Linux on the HP Stream tablet

[lapinot]

Here is my experience.

HP stream x360 with fresh lubuntu 20.04 live USB

- Wifi don't work from scratch and need additionnal drivers to work

- bluetooth don't work (search without finding any connection)

Thanks for your help

[kyle_b]

Thanks, just in case you didn't know, this thread is focused on Linux on the HP Stream tablets and not the HP Stream notebooks which use different components for Wifi and Bluetooth. There are some other threads here specifically for Linux on the Stream notebooks if you do a search.

[BronzeBeard]

If you guys don't want to jump through hoops making crappy Ubuntu or Debian based distros work. From my experience, Mageia 8 works out of the box. Has Kernel 5.7 and ~gasps ~  32-bit support.

I haven't tried bluetooth, and the live installer (which I had to use because of limited USB drive sizes I have) doesn't have a 32-bit Gnome. But XFCE works great on it. 

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is also an option for those of you who want to use 32-bit distro without having to hack up the ISOs. I haven't tested this though, because Mageia is probably the second best distro out there. (Second only to Slackware of course.)

Cheers and thanks to everyone for the hardwork. This old Windows 8 device is almost usable now!

*Edit: Correction, Mageia 8, typo on my part, I use 7 on my workstation. 

[kyle_b]

FYI, I updated the installation instructions at the top of the thread for Ubuntu 20.10, I installed Xubuntu 20.10 on my Stream 7. The installation completed without error but it wouldn't boot. The /boot/efi/EFI directory structure didn't get created. I'm sticking with Xubuntu 20.04 LTS for now.

[jmt87]

I have had a similar experience with a Best Buy-branded Insignia tablet I bought 4 or 5 years ago.  It has a 32bit EFI boot loader.

This what I figured out by trial and error that works for my system.

When in a Live USB session with Ubuntu Budgie, or Linux Mint, both LTS versions, before you start the Installer, open/install Synaptic package manager, then find and install "grub-efi-ia32". It will replace the "grub-efi-64" files that are on the Live session.

Then you run the Installer. When it goes to install Grub, it will use the 32bit EFI files, and will boot properly.  I know it sounds odd doing that during a Live session, but I have done that with the last 4 installs of different Ubuntu-based distro, including Ubuntu Mate 20.04, Budgie 20.04, and now Linux Mint Mate 20.0.

[devin503]

how did you get xubuntu 20.04 installed? did you use the 64-bit version?

[VK1973]

I used the same technique as described at the top of the thread (page 1).

Essentially you use the 64-bit image, but you need to modify to use the  /EFI directory from a Fedora ISO as that supports the Stream's 32-bit UEFI.

[devin503]

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@VK1973 wrote:

Essentially you use the 64-bit image, but you need to modify to use the  /EFI directory from a Fedora ISO as that supports the Stream's 32-bit UEFI.

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does this mean installing the 64-bit version of xubuntu 20.04?

[kyle_b]

@devin503  Yes, I've been running 64-bit Xubuntu 20.04 on my Stream 7 following the instructions at the top of the thread. As of version 19.04, all flavors of Ubuntu offer only 64-bit versions so am I understanding your question correctly?

[lapinot]

More precisely : I use xubuntu 20.04 24bit installation. Need a unifying receiver for my wireless Logitech mouse because of the Bluetooth driver don't work. 

The WiFi often desactivated (I don't have this problem with my other devices).