chrx

Install Linux onto your Chromebook. Dual-boot alongside ChromeOS for maximum flexibility.


works on	Compatible Chromebook models. See chromebooks.
installs	Several Linux distributions. See [operating systems](#operating systems) and recommendations.

chrx.org
github.com/reynhout/chrx

status

Version 2.0.5 (20151212) Updated for GalliumOS and Ubuntu 15.10. See changelog.

usage

Installing Linux via chrx onto a new (or freshly recovered) Chromebook is a two-phase process:

The first phase reserves space on your SSD or other storage device for the new operating system, and then reboots.
The second phase installs your chosen distribution, and configures the new system according to your selected options.

If you reinstall later, or switch to a another distribution, chrx will skip directly to phase two.

step-by-step

Enable Developer Mode (process is model-specific; for Acer C720, press ESC+F3(Refresh)+Power), then reboot
Load ChromeOS by pressing CTRL+D at the white "OS verification is OFF" screen
Configure your Wi-Fi network, if necessary
Switch to Virtual Terminal (VT) 2 by pressing CTRL+ALT+F2(top row right arrow)
Log in as user chronos (no password) to enter chronos@localhost shell
Run chrx: curl -Os https://chrx.org/go && sh go (see options)
Follow on-screen instructions to prepare your Chromebook for installation
Reboot, then repeat steps 2-7 to install and configure your new system

options

chrx can accept several command-line options:

Usage: chrx [ option ... ]

Options
   -d DISTRIBUTION OS-specific distribution to install [lubuntu]
                   (galliumos, ubuntu, lubuntu, xubuntu, kubuntu, edubuntu)
   -e ENVIRONMENT  distribution-specific environment [desktop]
                   (desktop, minimal, standard, server)
   -r RELEASE      distribution release number or name []
                   (lts, latest, dev, 15.04, 15.10, vivid, wily, etc)
   -a ARCH         processor architecture (i386, amd64) [amd64]
   -t TARGETDISK   target disk (/dev/mmcblk1, /dev/sdb, etc) []
   -H HOSTNAME     hostname for new system [chrx]
   -U USERNAME     username of first created user [chrx]
   -L LOCALE       locale for new system [en_US.UTF-8]
   -Z TIMEZONE     timezone for new system, Eggert convention [America/New_York]
                   (America/San_Francisco, Europe/Amsterdam, Etc/UTC, etc)
   -n              disable success/failure notifications
   -s              skip all customization, install stock OS only
   -y              run non-interactively, take defaults and do not confirm
   -v              increase output verbosity
   -h              show this help
  
  Default values are shown in brackets, e.g.: [default].
  
  If TARGETDISK is not specified, chrx will select the internal SSD.

examples

Lubuntu Desktop (latest):

curl -Os https://chrx.org/go && sh go

GalliumOS Desktop (latest), verbosely:

curl -Os https://chrx.org/go && sh go -d galliumos -v

Ubuntu Standard (good for servers), version 15.04, system name hal, first user dave:

curl -Os https://chrx.org/go && sh go -d ubuntu -e standard -r 15.04 -H hal -U dave

advanced usage

You may choose to host or cache these installation files yourself. There are many good reasons to do so, especially if you'll be doing a large number of installations. However, setup can be somewhat more complicated, and instructions are outside the scope of this README.

To point chrx at your cache, just set the CHRX_WEB_ROOT environment variable before running the go script, like this:

export CHRX_WEB_ROOT="http://myserver/chrx"
curl -O $CHRX_WEB_ROOT/go && sh go

compatibility

chromebooks

status	chromebook	hwid	notes
✅	Acer C720	PEPPY	Best-tested
✅	Acer C720P	PEPPY
✅	Acer Chromebook 11 C740	PAINE
✅	Acer Chromebook 15 C910	YUNA
✅	Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571	YUNA
✅	Dell Chromebook 11	WOLF
✅	Dell Chromebook 13	LULU	Requires firmware feature update
✅	Google Pixel (2013)	LINK
✅	Google Pixel (2015)	SAMUS
✅	HP Chromebook 14	FALCO
✅	Toshiba CB30/CB35 Chromebook (2014)	LEON
✅	Toshiba CB30/CB35 Chromebook 2 (2015)	GANDOF	Requires firmware feature update
✅	Other Haswell Chromebooks		Expected to work, but untested
✅	Other Broadwell Chromebooks		Expected to work, some models will require firmware feature update
❓	Other Sandy/Ivy Bridge Chromebooks		Requires SeaBIOS with Legacy Boot capability
❓	Other Intel Chromebooks		Requires SeaBIOS with Legacy Boot capability
❌	Bay Trail Chromebooks		Requires compatible firmware, presently unavailable
❌	ARM Chromebooks		ARM support is very unlikely
❌	HP Chromebook 11	SPRING, SKATE	(previously erroneously marked possible)

operating systems

status	OS	distribution	notes
✅	Linux	GalliumOS	Derived from Xubuntu, developed specifically for compatibility and optimized performance on Chromebook hardware.
✅	Linux	Lubuntu	A light-weight variant of Ubuntu, with the LXDE desktop environment.
✅	Linux	Xubuntu	A light-weight variant of Ubuntu, with the Xfce desktop environment.
✅	Linux	Kubuntu	Ubuntu with the KDE desktop environment.
✅	Linux	Edubuntu	Full Ubuntu plus application bundles used in educational settings.
✅	Linux	Ubuntu	The standard full Ubuntu distro.
❌	FreeBSD		Work in progress!

recommendations

Chromebooks perform best with lighter-weight operating systems and desktop environments, and they often require updated kernel drivers to support their new and tightly integrated hardware.

Selecting a distribution which meets these needs is therefore an important part of Linux-on-Chromebook happiness. While any updated distro will work for ordinary tasks, there are a few that stand out:

GalliumOS is optimized specifically for Chromebooks. It scores well on all metrics, looks great, and installs quickly. Some memory-hungry applications (e.g. Steam games) perform best on GalliumOS thanks to careful optimizations. GalliumOS is in BETA but is available for testing now.
Lubuntu also scores and performs well. It installs slightly smaller and uses significantly less RAM than other distros. Lubuntu is currently the default distro installed by chrx.
Xubuntu is another good choice. It's a bit heavier-weight than Lubuntu, but still performs very well.
I would not choose standard, full, Ubuntu for a Chromebook. It is perfectly usable, bit it's heavier and suffers in performance, without offering any important benefits. Memory use starts higher and increases much more quickly as you use the desktop apps (not reflected in measurements below). If your Chromebook model has 4GB of RAM, the performance differences are reduced but not eliminated.

sample measurements

distribution¹	disk space²	RAM use³	install time⁴	version	recommended?
GalliumOS	2.9GB	311MB	9 mins	1.0 BETA	✅
Lubuntu	2.7GB	227MB	18 mins	15.10	✅
Xubuntu	3.0GB	360MB	22 mins	15.04	✅
Ubuntu	3.5GB	440MB	28 mins	15.04	❌
Kubuntu	4.2GB	613MB		15.10	❌

All distributions were installed with the desktop environment option.
Disk space can be reduced by removing unwanted packages. The number shown reflects the default install for the desktop environment.
RAM use is measured after graphical login, connecting to Wi-Fi, and opening one window of the default Terminal program to run /usr/bin/free after a couple minutes for the system to stabilize. The number shown is an average of several tests, and variance is very low (2-3%).
Installation time will vary greatly depending on your Internet connection, but the ratios should be representative.

test suite

"Working" is defined as:

system boots cleanly and quickly
installation remnants are cleaned up
swap and compressed RAM are enabled
proper drivers are properly loaded
trackpad works (standard & australian)
trackpad settings are usable
audio works, including after sleep/wake
wireless works, including after sleep/wake
function keys for backlight are functional
function keys volume control are functional
microphone input works
webcam input works
power management sleeps system when lid closed
power management wakes system when lid opened
no user configuration is required for basic use

This list might evolve. Your input is welcome!

evolution

chrx past

chrx began as an updated and enhanced version of ChrUbuntu, and still retains some original ChrUbuntu code (especially the disk partitioning bits).

chrx present

chrx has been used to install Linux on thousands of Chromebooks. Users and discussion can be found on /r/chrubuntu.

chrx future

I'd like to test on a wider variety of hardware, and to install other Linux distributions.

Support for FreeBSD is coming. See http://blog.grem.de/pages/c720.html if you can't wait.

alternatives

chrx is a command-line installer which requires requires no physical media or other preparation to install. It allows you to dual-boot, so you can choose Linux or ChromeOS each time you turn on your Chromebook. This is a flexible setup, well-suited for many users, but of course not all.

Consider these alternatives:

Hugh Greenberg's Distroshare has nicely updated ISOs (for Ubuntu and many other Linux distros!), which can be installed from USB/SD flash RAM. This method completely removes ChromeOS from your Chromebook, and devotes your entire SSD to Linux.
- See also John Lewis's Alternate Firmware options for Chromebooks that do not support SeaBIOS Legacy Boot with stock firmware.
Crouton allows you to run ChromeOS and Linux simultaneously, instead of dual-booting like chrx or ChrUbuntu. This arrangement has a few drawbacks, but if you spend most of your time in ChromeOS and your Linux needs are limited, it should serve well.
The original ChrUbuntu has been tested on a wide variety of hardware. Unfortunately, it is now significantly outdated, and fails to install Ubuntu 15.04 and newer properly. 14.10 and older should install successfully via ChrUbuntu, but they will require significant additional configuration to work well. If your Chromebook is older and unsupported by chrx, give ChrUbuntu a try.

notes on security and privacy

Running code from the net is always an act that requires careful thought. chrx can be run directly from the net, and by default will download additional code via the same mechanisms. Any of these downloads could be misdirected or compromised. Downloading over an unsecured network (e.g. public Wi-Fi) raises the likelihood of such malfeasance, but it can never be fully eliminated.

If these are concerns of yours, you can mitigate your risks by auditing all of the code involved, comparing checksums of downloaded packages, and hosting local caches (see [advanced usage](#advanced usage)).

Also, chrx "pings home" on every install to report success or failure. This ping includes no personal information, only data that might be useful for investigating failures.

Log entries created by these pings look like this:

17.x.x.x - - [01/Jun/2015:07:37:00 +0000] "GET /end_ok HTTP/1.1" 200 0 "-"
  "chrx/1.1.1 hw=PEPPY_C6A-V7C-A2C sw=linux,ubuntu,latest,-,15.04,amd64,ubuntu-minimal" "-"

hw is a hardware ID that corresponds to your model of Chromebook (not a serial number).

sw combines a few of the command-line settings (or defaults) that you used to run chrx.

If this level of information sharing makes you uncomfortable, the behaviour can be disabled with the -n switch.

meta, obligatory

chrx is pronounced "marshmallow".

thanks

To Jay Lee for ChrUbuntu, to /r/chrubuntu for assembling links to tons of helpful resources, and to the dozens of people who found answers and solved problems before I even started looking.

changelog

1.0 (20141223)
1.1 (20150504): add support for Ubuntu 15.04
- 1.1.1 (20150508): add "-r RELEASE" option; validate some input
- 1.1.2 (20151005): update Ubuntu "trusty" to 14.04.3; add recognized HWIDs (PEPTO, LINK, SAMUS, LEON, PAINE, YUNA, SPRING, SKATE, FALCO, WOLF); always verify chrx.org certificates
2.0 (20151025): add GalliumOS support; add support for Ubuntu 15.10; add detection and installation prognosis for all known ChromeOS devices; add "-d DISTRIBUTION" and "-e ENVIRONMENT" options; remove "-m METAPACKAGE" option; remove "-i IMAGE" option, make RELEASE smarter; work around systemd conflict; refactor code into functions to facilitate multiple distros and future operating systems
- 2.0.1 (20151113): update core image pathname for GalliumOS
- 2.0.2 (20151118): update some HWIDs
- 2.0.3 (20151119): bugfix: issue #4, parted and partprobe removed from ChromeOS
- 2.0.4 (20151120): bugfix: issue #5, "-r RELEASE" handling failing for some values of RELEASE
- 2.0.5 (20151212): bugfix: add first user to important groups; use generic coreimage for GalliumOS

shinji257 / chrx Goto Github PK

chrx's Introduction