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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.
Watch the hard drive space. Chromebooks are supposed to be mostly cloud based, so they don't have much.
I had to solder something on mine, though I don't think that's true of all chromebooks; depends on the model.
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.
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.