OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUSLY DOING THIS, MICROSOFT
bad idea: I already MITM'd this once.
I download the file with curl and stick it on a local fast server. Then I set up mitmproxy to silently rewrite requests to their shitty server to my local one, which will be an actual server that works and doesn't randomly drop connections once out of EVERY FUCKING TIME
annoyingly I already deleted the file I downloaded earlier.
(I'm juggling laserdisc archival files right now, so my laptop has a VERY full hard drive, and I thought I was done with that file when it failed verification)
my first attempt and curling it stalled at 16mb.
not gigabytes, megabytes.
hey microsoft could I mail you some blank floppies and you just return 'em with the file on it? that might be easier at this point
my best guess for what is happening: I'm getting randomly loadbalanced onto a bunch of very overloaded servers.
I have downloaded the file and I'm now copying it onto my local server.
why didn't I just download it on my local server in the first place, so I wouldn't have to copy it across my house's network?
good question.
okay the files all moved locally so I can just make mitmproxy point it at the different URL. but I think I have been screaming at this problem enough for one day, so I'm going to stop for tonight.
the surface hub has not defeated me yet, I fight on
I lied. mitmproxy is now redirected to my local server, and Surface IT Tool is downloading from it.
annoyingly slowly, actually. Only 51Mbps? this is 22gb!
(it's probably because mitmproxy is handling all the bytes instead of letting nginx do it)
okay I have made a recovery disk by using the MITM download hack
how much do you want to bet this thing won't even boot?
it boots! it's now recovering
this may finally get us incrementally closer to a version of windows that actually works
It replaced the windows logo during boot with the teams logo
It just showed that it was logging into a user account named "Skype"
Yeah I can't get past the setup. It gives me two accounts, Skype and Administrator, and the latter is passworded, and the former doesn't work because I can't login to a Skype account
This machine is a fractal paperweight
There are two recovery images I have that work. One of them boots to an environment that can't use the store and can't run software until it gets to the store.
The other can't log in because Skype is gone
IT LIVES! AND WE HAVE UNKIOSKED WINDOWS 11 IoT!
The trick was installing MTR (Microsoft Teams for Rooms) and then logging into the passworded Administrator account ("sfb": "Skype For Business") and deleting the Skype account. Now it boots to 11 IoT and I can run updates
And the machine can finally, FINALLY after 4 days become useful and a real computer:
Windows if you fuck me here after all I've been through, I swear to god...
okay so if you are unfortunate enough to get a Surface Hub 2S and want to make it run Useful Windows (linux would be nice but I haven't figured out how to boot it) instead of Broken Windows, you need to:
1. Get the Surface IT Tools
2. Go through the whole SEMM mode enrollment with the private key and such
3. Try to create a Surface 2S MTR 22H2 recovery disk. The download will fail
3a. MITM Surface IT Tools to get the URL of the 22gb file you need.
3b. write an addon for mitmproxy to redirect Surface IT Tools to a local server you control
4. actually make the recovery disk
5. Recover the Surface Hub 2.
6. It boots into Skype setup
7. Exit and log into administrator, password is "sfb"
8. Delete the Skype account and uninstall Microsoft Teams Rooms
9. Run Win11 updates
I think the fundamental problem with this device is that they ship it in a super-locked-down mode that can't do anything unless you install more software from the Microsoft Store... and as of last December it can't talk to the Microsoft Store anymore.
so the easy migration tool they had available can't be installed and even if you could install it, it wouldn't work
Migrate Surface Hub 2S to Windows 11 via USB - Surface Hub
This guide provides IT admins with detailed instructions on how to software-migrate a Surface Hub 2S to the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows (MTR-W) experience or Windows 11 using a USB drive.
because the way it suggests to make a recovery image doesn't create a recovery image this locked-down fucker will boot.
Only the Surface IT Tools recovery images will boot, and Surface IT Tools can't download files worth shit, so good fucking luck getting that 22gb image
also the Surface IT Tool verifies _something_ (I wasn't able to confirm what) with the microsoft servers before it'll write you an image, even if you have the image already downloaded.
So I highly suspect this method will break in the future
I should just make an image of the final recovery drive it creates, and stick that on the internet archive. DD it to your own 32gb drive and bypass all the nonsense
BTW this is one of my favorite kinds of projects.
You pick a shiny computer out of the garbage saying "why would anyone throw away this expensive fancy new computer?" and then slowly over the course of multiple days you Learn Why
I don't think I ever really explained why this is such a pain: The boot is locked down, and it's a real idiot-light kind of system. By default the UEFI does not allow changing the OS. It boots off the internal HD or not at all (although I think if you have an external drive the right signatures that's running the same OS, it doesn't consider it a problem and will boot it? No way to check that)
You can use the Surface IT Tool (on a different machine) to make a special USB key that will reconfigure the system, based on a private key you generate, and this enables "AllowOSMigration" in the EUFI config. Basically all other UEFI options are locked down even in the special SEMM mode tool.
And once you've got SEMM mode (I don't remember what it stands for, I'm too tired to look it up, and I'm pretty sure the last M is "mode" anyway so this is a case of RAS Syndrome) it supposedly will boot from USB devices
however I was only able to find two images that it would boot from, despite what the doc pages say.
Those two recovery images are the Win10 Teams Edition image and the Win 11 IoT Microsoft Teams For Rooms "Skype for Business" abomination.
I tried a bunch of other images, linux installers and such, regular windows 10/11 installation media, nothing happens. It won't boot them, it doesn't say why, there is no way to override.
Secure Boot is an open in the UEFI but it's locked, and the SEMM tool cannot change it.
So I'm REALLY limited in what I can run on this thing.
To get a Linux to boot I think I'd need to do some UEFI hacking (like enrolling other certificates somehow) or maybe boot hacking (load grub/ubuntu install using a chainloaded NTLDR?)
but for now we're probably leaving it on Windows 11 and declaring victory. It works enough for what we plan to do with it (Draw with the Surface Pen and make House Billboards/Grocery Lists) and it means we can declare victory here
Krita seems to support the pens well if you uninstall Microsoft Teams Rooms and then assign all the buttons to "Nothing".
Krita can then use the pen, with pressure sensitivity, the side button, and the eraser button. You do have to switch it to the other Touch API, though, in settings
also I accidentally Doomrolled my roommate: She was trying to use Krita and accidentally launched Doom II fullscreen
because I had configured the eraser-button to launch Doom if you tapped it, then got distracted away before I could test or reset that
Doom II at 320x240 opening on a 3840x2560 50" display that you're half a meter from is a sight to see.
pixels the size of hams
@foone you've heard of Doom, now get ready for ＤＯＯＭ
Alice Averlong🏳️⚧️
Sparks