GalliumOS on an old chromebook ============================== Last edited: $Date: 2022/04/30 17:30:16 $ Old chrombook ------------- I have an old Asus chromebook which the auto-update expiration (AUE) date is many years in the past. This weekend I finally took the time to reveive this machine. Machine specs ------------- - CPU: Intel Celeron N2830 @ 2.4 GHz - RAM: 2 Gb - Display: 11.6 inch 1366x768 - SSD: 16 Gb eMMC - Touchpad: 4.1 x 2.4 inch - Wifi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac - Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 - Battery: 48WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-ion - Weight: 1.15 kg The keyboard is a typical chromebook keyboard, according to a review it offers a nice deep 2mm of vertical travel and requires 65 grams of force to depress. In other words: it is not a Thinkpad keyboard, but it is not bad. Other than a power port, it offers an HDMI port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, anSD card slot, a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 Type-A port. Dual boot --------- Expired chromebooks can be revived in two different ways: - Replace ChromeOS completely - Keep ChromeOS on a small partition and add a second operating system The first option is rather destructive and requires to open the chromebook to remove the write protect screw. Because I didn't know what to expect from a Linux install on this chromebook, I decided to go for the second option. This second option requires a firmware update that can be performed with the write protect screw in place and doesn't require opening the case. Installing via chrxn -------------------- The wonderful command-line installer chrxn makes everything easy. I had expected some challenges during the conversion, but everything went super smooth. Globally, the conversion consists of the following steps: - Set the chromebook into developer mode (hit Esc + Refresh + Power) - Boot into ChromeOS and open a terminal - Run a command to fetch chrxn and updates the firmware - Run a command to fetch chrxn and resize disk space - Run a command to fetch chrxn and install GalliumOS See: https://chrx.org/ GalliumOS --------- GalliumOS is a small desktop installation based on Ubuntu 18.04 with a 4.16 Linux kernel. It comes with the XFCE4 window manager. So, it is a rather old distribution. I installed Emacs and Firefox from the standard repository, which gives you Emacs 25 and Firefox 99.0. Emacs upgrade ------------- I followed the instructions from ubuntuhandbook.org and now on the chromebook Emacs 27 is running. See: https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2020/09/install-emacs-27-1-ppa-ubuntu-20-04/ Performance ----------- The machine is absolutely workable. I haven't tried Libreoffice or some other more 'heavy' application, but Firefox runs fine. Emacs works fine too, of course. So for some basic writing, note taking and light surfing this is a valid option. The machine is light weight, the battery time is still somewhere around five or six hours, which is good enough for me. Experience ---------- The machine works fine. I have to get used to a traditional window manager, after about two decades of tiling window manager. So, perhaps I will replace XFCE4 with ratpoison or dwm. Most of the time I am writing and have some SSH sessions open. Which is of course easy to do on a machine like this. The 2 Gb RAM makes Firefox useable enough. Most of my browsing I do in eww or lynx anyway. The only complaint I have so far is the trackpad. It is very easy to misplace your mice while typing on the keyboard. So the palm-recognition isn't great. I haven't looked into that yet. Maybe in the future I will do the full conversion, opening the case and removing the write protect screw. This opens the way to a more up to date operating system. But for now, with this conversion I have a 1.15 kg small 11.6 inch laptop, that is running Emacs 27, Firefox and some ssh sessions in a terminal window. It is probably capable to do more, but this is all I need for a second side laptop. * EOF *