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Daniel Price
On 18th February, 2014 Google Chrome,Hardware Stuff, Linux Do you need Skype on your Chromebook? Do you miss not having access to games throughSteam? Are you pining to use VLC Media Player? Then start using Linux on your Chromebook. Installing a traditional Linux environment on your Chromebook is a quick and easy way to unlock your machines true potential and improve its functionality. Chromebooks have been getting a lot of news coverage recently their market share has been expanding rapidly and many onlookers now predict they are set to become one of the best-selling gadgets of 2014. They are not perfect for everyone though, their inherent online functionality frustrates some users, the ongoing Google vs Microsoft war means no native Skype app, and the media player isnt well-endowed with features. Luckily, because the Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system, users can install an alternative Linux environment and get a fully-fledged Linux desktop on their Chromebooks. Before you start please be aware that if you have a ARM-based machine, several Linux apps (including Skype) will not work, as they are only designed to run on Intel architecture.
There are two main ways to install a traditional Linux environment on your device, either in a dual-boot environment using ChrUbuntu, or in a chroot environment using Crouton. Both
methods are relatively painless to undertake, and this article will provide a simple step-by-step guide on how to install them, whilst also looking at their advantages and disadvantages.
Lets have a look at how to install ChrUbuntu. Please make sure you have enabled Developer Mode and you are connected to a Wi-Fi network before starting. 1. Turn on your Chromebook, but do not enter your details when presented with the login screen. Instead press Ctrl+Alt+Forward. 2. Type Chronos and press Enter 3. Type curl -L -O http://goo.gl/9sgchs; sudo bash 9sgchs and press Enter. 4. You will see some on-screen information about the installation that is about to take place. Press Enter. 5. You will be asked to decide how much of your Chromebooks local memory you want to use for Linux. The developer recommends no more than 9 GB. Press Enter. 6. The repartitioning of your hard-drive will then take place. Upon completion you will be returned to the Chrome OS login screen, again, do not enter your details. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 4. 8. The installation will start. Every time you see an on-screen prompt, select the default option.Important towards the end of the installation you will be prompted to choose where GRUB should be installed, please ensure you choose /dev/sda, failure to do so will cause the installation to fail. 9. Reboot when prompted to complete the installation. Once the installation has finished, you will be returned to the screen saying OS Verification is OFF. Simply press Ctrl+L to boot into Linux, or Ctrl+D to boot into Chrome. Note: Power users can use the shell to see what other versions of Ubuntu are available by entering curl -L -O http://goo.gl/9sgchs; sudo bash 9sgchs -h at the second time of entering the command.
Removing ChrUbuntu
If you have installed ChrUbuntu locally and then decided it is not for you, the only way to remove the OS and restore the drive partitions to their factory state is to perform a system recovery. When performing a full system recovery, all your data in the cloud will automatically resynchronise with your machine, but all local data will be wiped, so please ensure you have adequate backups before you commence the process. The simplest way to recover the system is by creating a recovery disk directly from your Chromebook. Enter chrome://imageburner in the browsers address bar, and follow the onscreen instructions. You will need a USB stick with at least 4 GB of memory.
When the disk has been created you can enter Recovery Mode by holding Esc+Refresh and pressing the power button. Once in Recovery Mode, you will be prompted to enter the USB recovery disk and the process will begin.
3. Type shell and press Enter. 4. Type sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -t xfce and press Enter 5. Near the end of the installation you will be prompted to enter a username and password for your new Linux system. Choose something suitable, press Enter, and the installation will compete.
To start your new OS, make sure you are in the Chromebooks shell (from your desktop press Ctrl+Alt+T, type shell, press Enter), then type sudo startxfce4 and press Enter. After you have done this once, the new OS will continue to run until you either turn off your computer or log out of the Linux desktop environment. The following keyboard shortcuts enable you to switch between the original Chrome OS and your new Linux environment:
o o
Arm-based machines: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Forward and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Back Haswell/Intel-based machines: Ctrl+Alt+Back and Ctrl+Alt+Forward then Ctrl+Alt+Refresh Once you have successfully installed your new environment there are a couple of actions you should take to improve your experience.
1. Enable your keyboards brightness and volume keys to work inside the new OS. To do this, access the Chrome OSs shell (from the Chrome OS desktop, press Ctrl+Alt+T, type shell, and press Enter), and type sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -r precise -t keyboard u and press Enter. 2. Remove the new environments screensaver as it has been known to cause graphics errors. You can do this from the terminal inside Linux by typing sudo apt-get remove xscreensaverthen pressing Enter.
3. Install Ubuntu Software Centre and Synaptic (both used for installing additional apps). Do this by entering the terminal inside your new Linux installation, typing sudo apt-get install softwarecenter synaptic and pressing Enter. Note: Power users can see which Linux versions are supported by running sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -r list before starting the installation.
big bonus, and integration of the /downloads folder makes working between the two environments a much smoother experience.