Using old Microsoft Surface for display.

[FlyingSpud]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out if it would be possible to use my old Microsoft Surface RE (it's very old but functional) as the display/controller for my Mavic 2 Pro and what it would take to make that happen.

If it's possible, I'd like to dedicate the tablet to flying.

 

[slup]

Hi there & welcome to the forum ?

Not possible to use as the main screen device I'm afraid ... the GO4 app only runs on either iOS 10 or above or Android 5 or above.

If using either a iOS or Android as main perhaps it's a way somehow to mirror the screen (just the picture without control possibilities).

 

[FlyingSpud]

Hi there & welcome to the forum ?

Not possible to use as the main screen device I'm afraid ... the GO4 app only runs on either iOS 10 or above or Android 5 or above.

If using either a iOS or Android as main perhaps it's a way somehow to mirror the screen (just the picture without control possibilities).

That's unfortunate! I'm looking to make some use of old devices. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

That's unfortunate! I'm looking to make some use of old devices. Thanks for the reply!

Totally off topic for drones.

But you could use the old surface as a digital picture frame. If it is compact enough to set somewhere where you normally put stand-up picture frames, just put a bunch of images on it (or a USB stick), put a slideshow program on the thing, and let it rip. The only thing it would be missing (that a dedicated digital frame has) is a timer for on/off times.

Chris

PS: no, I haven't done this, but I've heard that some people do

Psst: if you don't want to do that, consider donating the device (since it still works). It may be old to you, but could be usable for an underprivileged family with kids, or anybody else that counts as the millions of people that cannot afford a computer of any kind.

 

[anotherlab]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out if it would be possible to use my old Microsoft Surface RE (it's very old but functional) as the display/controller for my Mavic 2 Pro and what it would take to make that happen.

If it's possible, I'd like to dedicate the tablet to flying.

Do you mean the Surface RT? The short answer is no.

It runs a limited version of Windows 8.1 on an NVideo ARM chipset. This means none of the apps that let you run Android on Windows will work for it. Due to its bootloader, no one (AFAIK) has ever managed to get Android running on it.

Since it hasn't been supported in 2018, I wouldn't risk running any web browser on it. Security-wise, it's not a safe device to give someone.

The only possible use I can think of it would be to use it as a sort of smart picture frame as Not A Speck Of Cereal suggested. It's a shame because the screen was nice, it was built like a tank, and the battery life was great, but it was a dead-end for Microsoft.

 

[Seldenm]

Try using Bluestacks. This program allows you to run Android apps on your Surface. Not sure if it totally works with DJI Fly or Litchi, etc. but worth a try.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I don't think Bluestacks will run on the Surface RT because it's not on the Windows Store and the Surface RT is limited to apps through the Windows store, I can find rumours there was going to be an app but can find nothing since. Also there doesn't appear to be a way to install Android directly on the device either unfortunately.

 

[anotherlab]

Try using Bluestacks. This program allows you to run Android apps on your Surface. Not sure if it totally works with DJI Fly or Litchi, etc. but worth a try.

BlueStacks was never available for Windows RT. About 5 years, a BlueStacks support person hinted about supporting Windows RT, but that never happened. At any rate, the Windows 8/8.1 App Store was shuttered two years ago. You couldn't install a new app on it even you wanted to.

The hackers at XDA spent a lot of time trying to a version of Android running on the Surface RT, but without any success. They almost got it working on Windows 8 RT, but any attempt to install Android on an 8.1 device would brick the Surface.

The Surface RT is running an unsupported OS on an obsolete Tigra CPU from 10 years ago.