• ×
    Information
    Windows update impacting certain printer icons and names. Microsoft is working on a solution.
    Click here to learn more
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
  • ×
    Information
    Windows update impacting certain printer icons and names. Microsoft is working on a solution.
    Click here to learn more
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
Guidelines
The HP Community is where owners of HP products, like you, volunteer to help each other find solutions.
Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended
HP Stream Tablet 7 and 8
Linux

Update - 18 November 2020 - Ubuntu 20.10

I tested Xubuntu 20.10 on my Stream 7, the installation completed without error but the Stream does not boot, the installation does not create the /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu directory containing the necessary grubia32.efi file. It only creates the directory structure as far as /boot/efi and that directory is empty. I think it would be possible to install the necessary grub files manually but I did not pursue it. Xubuntu 20.04 LTS is the long-term support version so I will probably just stick with that for now, the installation instructions are below.

 

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

Update - 30 April 2020 - Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

I tested Xubuntu 20.04 on my Stream 7 and it is working well.  All devices are supported except for the cameras.  The installation instructions are the same as 19.04 below with the exception that a new grub installation error has been introduced when doing a fresh installation. I fixed it by deleting all partitions off the internal eMMC disk before beginning the installation. 

 

The new error appears near the end of the installation with a popup box: "Unable to install GRUB in /dev/mmcblk1. Executing 'grub-install /dev/mmcblk1' failed. This is a fatal error".  This is a new grub error, different from the long-standing grub installation error mentioned here when there is no internet connection.  The new bug seems to be reported here so a fix may be forthcoming. I was able to fix it for now by deleting all partitions using the "Try without installing" option from the Live USB boot menu to boot to the live desktop.  I then went to System => GParted and deleted all of the partitions on the internal eMMC disk. I could then run the installation from either the desktop Install icon or reboot the Live USB and select the Install option from the boot menu and the installation completed successfully.

 

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

Update - 1 January 2020 - Mint 19.3 and Debian 10.2.0

There are some recent 32-bit alternatives to Ubuntu's 64-bit images that save memory utilization on the Stream's 1 GB of RAM. They do however introduce some difficulties getting all the devices to work. I tested them briefly and included some observations below. They use the same installer as Ubuntu so the installation procedures are mostly the same:

 

Mint 19.3 has a 32-bit version available with the 5.0 kernel so there is kernel support for all devices now. It is based on Ubuntu 18.04 however so it does not include the firmware for the Stream's audio. The "Audio Firmware installation" instructions below will have to be followed after installation. Also, the Xfce desktop version is the lightest weight and probably best suited for the Stream but it gave me this additional audio error: "Connection to Pulseaudio failed. Automatic retry in 5s". There are solutions for this online, I found one here that eventually worked.

 

Debian 10.2.0 has a 32-bit version available and also has one big advantage, the 32-bit bootloader is already included in the live image so the live USB will boot on the Stream's 32-bit UEFI without modification. Even with its 5.3 kernel however, Bluetooth and the battery indicator were not working on my Stream 7 so possibly all required firmware is not included. I did use the "non-free" image which includes the firmware but apparently not all. One bonus was the battery life seemed much longer with Debian unless I was just imagining it. It was hard to gauge since the battery indicator did not work. There is also a GNOME desktop version which successfully enabled auto screen rotation on the Stream.

 

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

Update - 18 October 2019 - Ubuntu 19.10

I tested Xubuntu 19.10 on my Stream 7 and it is working well.  All devices are supported except for the cameras.  The installation instructions are the same as for 19.04 below.

 

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

Update - 18 April 2019 - Ubuntu 19.04

Ubuntu 19.04 is working well on my 2014 HP Stream 7 Bay Trail tablet, there is new device support enabled with the 5.0 kernel. Bluetooth works natively now and audio (including automatic headphone detection) works without copying additional files.  All devices that I know of are working now with the exception of the cameras.  Ubuntu installs very easily on the Stream, as easily as it would on any other computer once the live USB is modified to accommodate booting on the Stream's 32-bit UEFI firmware:

 

Installation instructions for Ubuntu 19.04 on the HP Stream tablet

 

Create a Ubuntu live USB to boot on the Stream's 32-bit UEFI firmware

- Download Ubuntu and burn it to a USB drive, I used Xubuntu 19.04.  I tried regular Ubuntu 19.04 but the installation hung from some reason.  It seems better to use lighter weight flavors such as Xubuntu or Lubuntu on the Stream.  I used UNetbootin to create the live USB since it needs to be writable.

- Also download a current 64-bit Fedora ISO file (since it contains the 32-bit EFI bootloader missing in Ubuntu). I used Fedora 29 Workstation 64-bit.

- Delete or rename the Ubuntu live USB /EFI directory, it will not support the Stream tablet's 32-bit UEFI.

- Extract the entire /EFI directory from the Fedora ISO and copy it to the root of the Ubuntu live USB.

- Also copy the Ubuntu live USB's /boot/grub/loopback.cfg file to its /EFI/BOOT directory and rename it "grub.cfg" (delete or rename the existing grub.cfg first).
- Edit the /EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg file like below, changing each "linux" and "initrd" label to "linuxefi" and "initrdefi":

 

For example, change this:

    menuentry "Install Xubuntu" {
     linux /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/xubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity iso-scan/filename=${iso_path} quiet splash ---
     initrd /casper/initrd

To this:

     menuentry "Install Xubuntu" {
     linuxefi /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/xubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity iso-scan/filename=${iso_path} quiet splash ---
     initrdefi /casper/initrd

The USB should now boot on the Stream and give you the option to run Ubuntu or install it.


The Secure Boot option needs to be disabled within the UEFI setup menu.
A OTG adapter and powered USB hub with an external mouse and keyboard are required to do the installation.  An un-powered hub may work but it will read the USB drive slowly and may fail reading it since the Stream's USB port provides very little power from the internal battery.


- Power on the tablet and hold down the volume down button or press the F9 key on the keyboard to boot from the live USB.

- Select "Install Ubuntu".

- Connect to the Internet via Wifi.

- Select both buttons:

  • Download Updates
  • Install third-party software

- For Installation Type, I selected "Erase disk and install Xubuntu" since I wanted a fresh install.

- Restart when the installation completes.

 

Rotating the screen manually

The screen can be rotated 90 degrees right or left to landscape mode with these commands, I created a desktop launcher for this:

     xrandr -o right
     xinput set-prop '8' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 0 1 0 -1 0 1 0 0 1

 

     xrandr -o left
     xinput set-prop '8' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 0 -1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

 

Note that the device ID number '8' above may change if any devices are plugged into the USB port via OTG. If a USB mouse is plugged in for instance, the ID number for the Goodix Capacitive TouchScreen may shift to another number.  The xinput command (with no arguments) can be used to display the correct ID number like below:

 

$ xinput
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜   ↳ Goodix Capacitive TouchScreen id=8 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳   Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   Video Bus id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   bytcr-rt5640 Headset id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   axp20x-pek id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   gpio-keys id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   gpio-keys id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   HP WMI hotkeys id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳   Goodix Capacitive TouchScreen id=13 [slave keyboard (3)]

 

Auto screen rotation

Installing the GNOME desktop using the instructions below works to enable auto screen rotation for version 18.10 but it does not work completely on 19.04, it rotates the screen but does not re-orient the cursor.  If anyone has a fix for this, please post it here although GNOME seems to take more resources and it might be better not to use it on the Stream.

 

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

NOTE: This is an update of the original thread that was archived.

 

Update - 8 November 2018 - Ubuntu 18.10

 I tested Ubuntu 18.10 on my 2014 HP Stream 7 Bay Trail tablet and there is new device support enabled with its 4.18 kernel. The brightness control works now along with the suspend feature.  Battery life seems better also.  18.10 did however eliminate 32-bit support for some distributions such as Ubuntu MATE and Ubuntu Budgie.  32-bit support is still available with Xubuntu and Lubuntu.  

 

I also discovered that the capability to auto rotate the screen comes with the GNOME desktop.  I installed GNOME to 32-bit Xubuntu and the auto rotation works now.  The instructions are below:

 

I first installed Xubuntu 18.10 32-bit using the 18.04  instructions below and then installed GNOME following the instructions here: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-gnome-on-ubuntu-18-04-bionic-beaver-linux running only the below two commands:

sudo apt install tasksel

sudo tasksel install ubuntu-desktop

When prompted for the default display manager, select gdm3, reboot and the GNOME desktop will launch along with the auto rotate capability.  GNOME also seems to work well with the Stream’s touchscreen automatically launching the onscreen keyboard whenever a text entry screen displays.

 

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

 Update - 28 April 2018 - Ubuntu 18.04

I have tested the newly released Ubuntu 18.04 and it is running well on my Stream 7 tablet.  The Wifi, touchscreen, battery indicator and audio continue to work natively (the audio still requires firmware files to be copied after the installation).  Also, the home button (Windows logo button on the Stream) works now, it displays the main menu when pressed. There is a new bug fix where a Wifi connection is no longer required to complete the installation on Ubuntu MATE although it was still required on Ubuntu Budgie. I posted the instructions below:

 

Installation instructions for Ubuntu 18.04 on the HP Stream tablet

 

Create a Ubuntu live USB to boot on the Stream's 32-bit UEFI firmware

- Download a 32-bit Ubuntu or Mint image and burn it to a USB drive, I used Ubuntu MATE 18.04 32-bit.

- Also download a current 64-bit Fedora ISO file (since it contains the 32-bit EFI bootloader missing in Ubuntu). I used Fedora 29 Workstation 64-bit.

- Extract the entire EFI directory from the Fedora ISO and copy it to the root of the Ubuntu live USB.

- Also copy the Ubuntu live USB's /boot/grub/loopback.cfg file to /EFI/BOOT, and rename it "grub.cfg" (delete or rename the existing grub.cfg first).
- Edit the /EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg file like below, changing each "linux" and "initrd" label to "linuxefi" and "initrdefi":

 

Change this:

 

     menuentry "Try Ubuntu MATE without installing" {
     linux /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-mate.seed boot=casper iso-scan/filename=${iso_path} quiet splash --
     initrd /casper/initrd.lz

 

To this:

 

      menuentry "Try Ubuntu MATE without installing" {
     linuxefi /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-mate.seed boot=casper iso-scan/filename=${iso_path} quiet splash --
     initrdefi /casper/initrd.lz

 

The USB should now boot on the Stream and give you the option to run Ubuntu or install it.

 

The Secure Boot option needs to be disabled within the UEFI.  A OTG adapter and powered USB hub with an external mouse and keyboard are required to do the installation.  An un-powered hub may work but it will read the USB very slowly or even fail reading it since the Stream's USB port provides very little power on its own from the internal battery.

 

 - Power on the tablet and hold down the volume down button or press the F9 key on the keyboard to boot from the USB.

 - Select "Install Ubuntu".  I tried using the "Try Ubuntu without Installing" option and then selecting the desktop icon "Install Ubuntu" but the installation hung for some reason, this seems to be new with 18.04.

 - Connect to the Internet via Wifi if desired although it is no longer required with Ubuntu MATE 18.04. The long standing problem of the grub bootloader installation failing when there is no Internet connection is fixed now.

 - I selected Normal Installation (not minimal).

 - Select both buttons:

  • Download Updates (if Wifi is connected)
  • Install third-party software

 - For Installation Type, I selected "Erase Ubuntu 17.10 and Reinstall" since I had a 17.10 installation that I wanted to overwrite. 

 - After the installation, reboot and install the firmware for the audio.  

 

Audio Firmware installation

Download the zip file from: https://github.com/plbossart/UCM and unzip it to your home directory and use this command to copy it: 

sudo cp -r UCM-master/bytcr-rt5640 /usr/share/alsa/ucm

and then reboot.

Open Sound Preferences and you will see multiple audio devices, you may have to change from the default device to test it and also switch manually between speaker and headphones since the automatic headphone detection does not work.

 

Rotating the screen manually

The screen can be rotated 90 degrees right or left to landscape mode with these commands, I created a desktop launcher for this:

     xrandr -o right
     xinput set-prop '7' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 0 1 0 -1 0 1 0 0 1

 

     xrandr -o left
     xinput set-prop '7' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 0 -1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

 

Note that the device number '7' above is correct only if no devices are plugged into the USB port via OTG. If a USB mouse is plugged in for instance, the number for the Goodix Capacitive TouchScreen would bump up to 8. The xinput command (with no arguments) can be used to display the correct number.

 

Auto screen rotation

This is not working with 18.04 Ubuntu MATE but it works well on 18.04 Ubuntu Budgie so it seems it should not be hard to add it to MATE.  If anyone has instructions to do that, please post them here. The audio is not working consistently on Budgie or else I would probably switch to it.

 

Manually adjusting screen brightness

I created a desktop launcher with the below command. The value can be between .2 and 1:

     xrandr --output DSI-1 --brightness .7

 

Bluetooth

I have not gotten bluetooth working although others have.  If anyone has instructions to do this, please post them here.

   

63 REPLIES 63
HP Recommended

What method do you use for modifying the Ubuntu ISO? Because I can only mount it read-only.

HP Recommended

I use a PC with Linux Mint 18.3, the USB thumb drive is automatically mounted in read-write mode.

HP Recommended

I have found a possible solution for the blouetooth issue. I tried to install a driver from a github but it doesn't work. The thing is that another user claim to have repaired this by compiling a custom kernel. Here is the link for you to add to the tutorial if the answer is correct. I haven't tried it yet becose the time required to compile the kernel exceeds the time of the battery life in my Stram 7 Using Ubuntu Budgie 18.04 with kernel 4.17.2.

https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8723bs_bt/issues/7#issuecomment-229053537

Sorry for my bad english. 

HP Recommended

@Juzt3, yes, I expect that fixing the bluetooth probably requires recompiling kernel. 

 

Also, is your audio working consistently in Ubuntu Budgie 18.04?  On my Stream 7, it sometimes boots with the audio device appearing in Sound Preferences and it works fine. At other times it boots and there is no audio device which is strange.  I do not have this problem with Ubuntu MATE 18.04. 

 

The auto screen rotation works nicely in Budgie so I would like to use it otherwise.

HP Recommended

The same happens to me, i'm using budgie for the same reason as you. Also in the last beta of Ubuntu 18.10 i was able to change the screen brightes directly from the config manager. In budgie im using Brightness Controller software for this.

HP Recommended

I tried to compile the 4.17.8 version of the kernel using the guide i linked to to you but it didn't work. Can you please try this solution please?

HP Recommended

I have found the solution for the Bluetooth problem and is in this github: https://github.com/Orochimarufan/rtl8723bs_bt

Just follow the guide i did it using the last kernel 4.17.12 and now my bluetooth works

HP Recommended

@Juzt3, I did a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE 18.04 32-bit, updated the kernel to 4.17.12, installed cc and the below commands from the guide ran without error:

 

$ cd <repo root>
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo systemctl enable --now bluetooth rtkbt

 

The bluetooth adapter was still not detected on my Stream 7 however. 

 

Can you tell us what version of Ubuntu you used and were there any additional instructions required outside of the guide?

 

HP Recommended

Sorry. What i'm trying to say is that a re compiled that kernel with the patch that is reffered in the github repository.

If you cannot apply the patch atomatically then doing it manually will do the trick. You do not need to reinstall Ubuntu for this.

You can google a guide to compile a kernel in another machine and generate .deb files so you can do it quicky. I did it using a VM in my main machine.

Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.