Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with Surface Docking Station - Unable to get boot file

[Tom Elliott]

I’d also recommend updating to RC 10. The message you are showing is not an error. It will only present that message if the host it’s registered at has has_usb_nic=1 in the host kernel args or the global kernel args have the same

[kwetiaw]

@george1421 Hi george,

I did search the forum and yes you are right, there are plenty topics about surface pro 4. but I still cant make sense some of it. some require to add has_usb_nic=1 which I have added on the host i created manually. I managed to get a copy of the factory image by using clonezilla and with external USB keyboard.

so should I still need to boot from USB?

@Tom-Elliott I will try upgrading to RC 10 tomorrow. So, that information sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] No Caching mode page found
. will it eventually proceed? I did follow an instruction to add has_usb_nic=1 from one of the forum post.

[Tom Elliott]

@kwetiaw it never failed. You just need to hit the enter key on the keyboard.

[Wayne Workman]

It’s possible to configure the very latest version of dnsmasq to work with UEFI in proxy mode, but the very latest isn’t available in mainstream repositories yet, you’d have to get it and install it manually. I’ve not messed with the configuration for this yet, but others have and it’s here on the forums.

The file /tftpboot/ipxe7156.efi works with Surface pros. You could configure the very latest dnsmasq to serve this to UEFI machines. Or, you could properly setup your DHCP server to serve all the needed files to all the needed architectures via this article:
https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=BIOS_and_UEFI_Co-Existence

And others have said, there are a lot of threads on the Surface Pro here on the forums. Just search for them. Try to read through one of the more recent ones. Follow posted links, too.

[george1421]

@Wayne-Workman Do you think we have enough discrete bits of information to make a wiki page on the surface pro 4? As these devices become more popular I can see the volume of quesitons increase. Having one location (you look here->) would add real value from a support perspective.

[Tom Elliott]

Also keep in mind kernel support for the keyboards is very new but appears to be functional. I pushed up 4.7.3 last night fully patched as well.

[Wayne Workman]

@george1421 It’s a good idea. I just wish I had one of these things to test with. They are just so expensive…

#wiki worthy

[george1421]

@Wayne-Workman said in Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with Surface Docking Station - Unable to get boot file:

I just wish I had one of these things to test with. They are just so expensive…

Just remember that the FOG Project team is always willing to accept donations of a surface pro 4, if getting FOG 1.3.0 fully compatible with a surface pro 4 is mandatory for the posters environment.

[Psycholiquid]

I have a SP3 just laying here but I am not sure if it is on the lease or not (Owners kid dropped it off) but I don’t think the 3 is good to work with, You would also need the dock which to say the least is a very weird dock.

[Wayne Workman]

@Psycholiquid We could certainly return a borrowed device, or accept it as a donation. We need a surface pro 4 to work with eventually though. Do you have a dock for the 3?

[Psycholiquid]

@Wayne-Workman Yeah I hear ya. I cant make any promises but I may have a spare one I can loan out, I do see these being the new laptop. We have 35 in house now that I am dealing with

[kwetiaw]

Right, now the issue was i didnt have USB keyboard connected. I connected it now.
I have unplug and plug as it requested, didnt seem to getting any IP address. I can confirm the previous screen (first screenshot on my original post) that it found the Fog server 10.3.24.15.

I tried another USB docking station by Lenovo USB3.0 USB, this one fails miserably.

What is the next step do you think? I havent updated to the latest RC 10 and was booting up using the USB with ipxe.efi (latest one from here)

what should i do next?

[Wayne Workman]

@kwetiaw Rebuild your USB stick with the latest FOG kernel, Tom has made adjustments to better support newer style keyboards (like built in touch keyboard for surface and others) in the latest kernel.

You don’t have to go to RC-10, but I would recommend it. To simply get the latest kernel, you can just use the kernel update feature. Details are here:
https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Kernel_Update

[kwetiaw]

@Wayne-Workman Hi Wayne
I have upgraded to the latest RC 10 but im still stuck at pretty much the same screen

with argument has_usb_nic=1

without argument

[Wayne Workman]

@kwetiaw I’m linking threads that deal with the Surface Pro 4 here for you to read through. All of the below threads are marked as solved. As George already said, I’d like to compile all of this information into a single #wiki article, but I don’t have a SP4 to test with. I will be out for several days after tonight.

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6515/surface-pro-4-won-t-get-to-registration-menu

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/8181/surface-pro-4-image-capture

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7660/surface-pro-4-on-7977

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7353/surface-pro-4-unable-to-image

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/8323/several-problems-with-surface-pro-4

[kwetiaw]

I managed to get it working with a USB2.0 to Ethernet Dongle by Lenovo here

It deploys the image successfully but it boot looped because i dont have efi image (surface pro 4 cant do legacy boot anymore)

Anyway, thanks a lot for your help and I wish I could lend/give you a microsoft surface pro 4 for your testing. This is the first one and many to come in the near future in our company here.

It seems that the issue here is the official microsoft docking station not re-acquiring network connection

Cheers

[Wayne Workman]

@kwetiaw if you would please be so kind, we want some more information about that adapter.

idk if that USB boot stick you have can do debug or not - but if it can or you can get to the CLI somehow, please run this command and give us the output:
lspci

That will tell us what exact chipset that adapter is using and will be extremely helpful to us and others.

[kwetiaw]

@Wayne-Workman Hi Wayne

I will definitely do this for you next week Monday or Tuesday.

Cheers

[kwetiaw]

@Wayne-Workman

Here you go, hope that helps in anyway.

Cheers

[Wayne Workman]

@kwetiaw Thank you so much, was the USB to Ethernet adapter plugged in when you did this? I’m guessing it was since I see a fog imaging variable dump just above.