Installing Ubuntu Linux 24.10 on GPD Pocket 3

Installation

Consult official Ubuntu installation tutorial for general help on installation

Get the installer named ubuntu-24.10-desktop-amd64.iso from Ubuntu 24.10 download page and write it to a USB disk
Install as usual. Reboot when done

Post installation

Screen scale

Right-click on the desktop wallpaper, pick Display settings
- Enable Fractional scaling
- Drag the window to fix it
- Set Scale to 150%
- Apply
- Keep Changes
- Close Display settings
- (alternatively, set larger font size using gnome-tweaks)
Unpin a few apps from the sidebar (Right-click → Unpin)
Settings → Ubuntu Desktop → Icon size: 32

Display orientation on startup

To fix screen orientation on startup & shutdown:
Run Terminal from the menu, then paste this¹ and press Enter.
Enter your password when prompted to.
Expect it to output Success

echo 'GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="$GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT fbcon=rotate:1 video=DSI-1:panel_orientation=right_side_up"' | sudo tee /etc/default/grub.d/fbcon-rotate.cfg && sudo update-grub && echo Success

Reboot to apply

Screen auto-rotation

Run Terminal from the menu, then paste this and press Enter.
Enter your password when prompted to.
Expect it to output Success

sudo apt install --update gnome-shell-extension-manager && echo Success

Run Extension Manager from the menu.
Click Browse
Search for rotate
Install Screen rotate extension
Switch to Installed page
Click the ⚙ settings icon on the Screen rotate extension
Set orientation offset to 1
- Wrong orientation? You probably didn't reboot after setting display orientation on startup. Reboot now.

Now you can toggle screen auto-rotation from the quick menu on the top-right. Try rotating the device.

On-screen keyboard — option 1

Open ⚙ settings of the Screen rotate extension again
Check both Show OSK in protrait orientation
TODO: find a way to hide accesibility icon

Now OSK is disabled in landscape („laptop“) orientation & enabled in portrait. Swipe up from the bottom to show keyboard, click on hide button to hide.

On-screen keyboard — option 2 (currently broken)

Waiting for required extensions to become compatible with Gnome 47.

Run Extension Manager from the menu.
Click Browse
Search for OSK
Install TODO extension

Now you can toggle on-screen keyboard from the menu bar on the top-right.

KVM module

Works as a standard webcam. TODO: apps

Fingerprint reader

It won't work. See FocalTech FTE3600 · Issues · libfprint.

epsimatic/Installing Ubuntu Linux 24.10 on GPD Pocket 3.md