Gramps on ARM-based Surface Pro

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1

I have been running Gramps on Intel-based Surface Pro’s for years now.

However, now that MS have moved to ARM chips, I find that I cannot get it to run under Windows11 on these new machines.

The latest AIO download installs ok, but when I try and run it, I cannot get the screen-based keyboard to interact with Gramps.

Anyone got this working?

2

Troubleshooting suggestions by Perplexity AI:

As an expert in the ARM version of the Microsoft Surface Pro, I can suggest several troubleshooting steps for a user experiencing issues with a specific Gtk/Python based application not responding to the virtual keyboard:

Check Virtual Keyboard Settings

  1. Ensure the virtual keyboard is enabled in Windows settings:

    • Go to Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Touch Keyboard
    • Enable “Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached”[2]

  2. Verify that the virtual keyboard appears in other applications to rule out a system-wide issue.

Update Software

  1. Install all available Windows updates, including optional ones[2].
  2. Update the Surface firmware and drivers:
    • Download and install the latest Surface Firmware Package from Microsoft’s website[2]
    • Restart the device after installation

Application-Specific Troubleshooting

  1. Check if the application is ARM64-compatible. Some x86 applications may have issues with input methods on ARM devices[8].

  2. Verify that the Gtk version used in the application is compatible with Windows on ARM.

  3. Try running the application in compatibility mode:

    • Right-click the application executable
    • Select Properties > Compatibility
    • Check “Run this program in compatibility mode” and select an earlier Windows version

  4. Ensure the application has the necessary permissions to access input devices.

Alternative Input Methods

  1. Use the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) as a temporary workaround:

    • Search for “osk” in the Start menu and open it[2]

  2. Consider using a physical keyboard temporarily to isolate if the issue is specific to the virtual keyboard.

Python Environment

  1. Verify that the Python environment is correctly set up for ARM64:

    • Use an ARM64-native version of Python if available
    • Check if any required packages have ARM64-compatible versions

  2. Try running the application in a virtual environment to rule out system-wide Python configuration issues.

If these steps don’t resolve the issue, the problem may be more deeply rooted in the application’s code or its interaction with the ARM architecture. In that case, the user might need to contact the application developer for ARM-specific support or consider using an x86 emulation layer as a last resort.

Citations:
[1] Troubleshoot Surface Type Cover or Keyboard - Microsoft Support
[2] Reddit - Dive into anything
[3] Redirecting
[4] Windows on Arm -- Error 14 in Bome Virtual MIDI (Microsoft Surface Pro X) - Bome Forum
[5] 18 Ways to Fix It When a Surface Pro Keyboard Is Not Working
[6] Surface Pro Issues - Zoom Community
[7] New Arm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop aim directly at Apple Silicon Macs | Ars OpenForum
[8] Solved: Firefox arm64 graphical problems on Surface Pro X - Mozilla Connect

3

No solution for you since I don’t have an ARM-based machine to work with, but are you saying that only the screen-based keyboard won’t work? Does the physical keyboard work?

4

I didn’t have a physical keyboard – just the onscreen one. At first, it worked only about 1% of the time. After various updates, tweaks etc, I managed to get it to the point where I could TRY to import a back-up, but I couldn’t enter the file and the directory to import from!

Took the machine back to the shop, and got my money back (thanks, John Lewis).

Unsure as to whether the problems lie with Gramps or ARM-based surface – probably both.

LOL – just realised that my version of Gramps was quite old (GrampsAIO64-5.1.3-2) – anyway the Surface couldn’t cope with it.

It’s possible later versions of Gramps contained fixes etc which MIGHT make it work, but I have serious doubts.

For the moment, I would advise people to stay away from ARM at least until someone better than me comes along.

Cheers

(Now considering if my pockets are deep enough for the Surface Pro for Business, which are Intel-based)

5

I didn’t have a physical keyboard – just the onscreen one. At first, it worked only about 1% of the time. After various updates, tweaks etc, I managed to get it to the point where I could TRY to import a back-up, but I couldn’t enter the file and the directory to import from!

Took the machine back to the shop, and got my money back (thanks, John Lewis).

Unsure as to whether the problems lie with Gramps or ARM-based surface – probably both.

LOL – just realised that my version of Gramps was quite old (GrampsAIO64-5.1.3-2) – anyway the Surface couldn’t cope with it.

It’s possible later versions of Gramps contained fixes etc which MIGHT make it work, but I have serious doubts.

For the moment, I would advise people to stay away from ARM at least until someone better than me comes along.

Cheers

(Now considering if my pockets are deep enough for the Surface Pro for Business, which are Intel-based)

To add a clarification, Gramps works quite well on my ARM-based system
(Fedora Linux on ADLINK Ampere Altra, also arm64). I suspect this is
a Surface Pro and/or Windows problem, whatever it is, and not an ARM
problem. I’ve been running Gramps (and Gramps Web) on ARM systems for
a couple of years now without problems, but all Linux-based.

6

The number of postings about the Virtual keyboard problems on that ARM Surface Pro supports the idea that it is their implementation.

7

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