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Anyone install Linux on a Chromebook?
(lemmy.ca)
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this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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How much of a PIA is it to install Linux on a Chromebook? I'm looking for a small laptop and Chromebooks are the perfect size.
For my Acer C740, I recall it being really simple.
The instructions were easy to understand and only had a few steps.
I removed a physical write-protect screw, booted to developer mode or something, ran a command in a terminal, and then it either flashed a new BIOS or I booted a Linux USB and flashed a new BIOS.
Either way, it's a regular computer now.
I can pop in any USB drive and boot whatever EFI-compatible OS I want.
in my experience, a major pain.. and while I did technically get it working on one, the audio and SD card never worked on one, and the other one required a fresh reinstall every reboot for some reason i could never figure out. Gave up on both and reinstalled the original OS.
They werent mine, so usability was more important than tinkering.
Watch the hard drive space. Chromebooks are supposed to be mostly cloud based, so they don't have much.
I had to take the keyboard off to remove a screw that enabled the required bios update. Since then been running Void with no issues. This was a Lenovo N22 so old, but still working.
I had to solder something on mine, though I don't think that's true of all chromebooks; depends on the model.