Chrome OS devices

Related articles

• Custom firmware for Chrome OS devices
• Laptop
• Installation guide
• Beginners Guide

Warning: This article relies on third-party scripts and modifications, and may irreparably damage your hardware or data. Proceed at your own risk.

This article was created to provide information on how to get Arch installed on the series of Chrome OS devices built by Acer, HP, Samsung, Toshiba, and Google. Currently this page is being overhauled, and more model specific pages are being built with some of the information listed below.

Introduction

Legacy boot

Some of the newer Chrome OS devices (Intel's Haswell and Broadwell based models) feature a "legacy boot" mode that makes it easier to boot Linux and other operating systems. The legacy boot mode is provided by the SeaBIOS payload of Coreboot, which is the firmware for the Intel based Chrome OS devices (with the exception of the first generation of Chromebooks). SeaBIOS behaves like a traditional BIOS that boots into the MBR of the disk, and from there into standard bootloaders like Syslinux and GRUB.

On the Chrome OS devices that shipped with SeaBIOS, the installation process of Arch Linux should be similar with a few minor adjustments.

Models without SeaBIOS

Older models, as well as some newer models, aren't shipped with SeaBIOS as part of the installed firmware. There are three approaches that can be taken when installing Arch Linux on these devices:

• Flash a custom firmware (which includes SeaBIOS payload).
• Take the ChrUbuntu approach which uses the Chrome OS kernel and modules.
• Build and sign your own kernel, see [1] [2].

The Installation process described on this page tries to cover the method of installing Arch Linux on these non SeaBIOS models by flashing a custom firmware.

Firmware write protection intro

All Chrome OS devices features a firmware write protection. It's important to be aware of it as one might need to disable the write protection as part of the installation process (to update GBB flags or flash a custom firmware).

For more details see Firmware write protection.

Prerequisites

• You should claim your free 100GB-1TB of Google Drive space before you install Arch. This needs to happen from ChromeOS(version > 23), not linux. This will sync/backup ChromeOS, as designed
• Visit the ArchWiki page for your Chrome OS device.
• If there's no ArchWiki page for your device then before proceeding, gather information about the device and if you succeed in installing Arch Linux, then consider adding a new ArchWiki page for your model (you can use the Acer C720 as an example for device shipped with SeaBios or the Acer C710 as device that didn't shipped with it).
• Read this guide completely and make sure you understand all the steps before making any changes.

Chrome OS devices

Chromebook models

First generation of Chromebooks

The first generation of Chromebooks: Google Cr-48, Samsung Series 5 500 and Acer AC700 use Insyde H2O firmware and not Coreboot firmware. There are three approaches how to install Arch Linux on these devices:

• Flash a custom H2C firmware (only available for Google Cr-48) and install Arch as on any other UEFI laptop.
• Take the ChrUbuntu approach which uses the Chrome OS kernel and modules.
• Build and sign your own kernel, see [3].

Hardware Comparisons

Warning: The availability of SeaBIOS doesn't promise device compatibility for Linux or that the pre-installed SeaBIOS works properly. Before purchasing a device visit its page on the ArchWiki and look for Linux users' posts about that model.

Chromebook Models

Available	Brand	Model	Processor	RAM	Storage	Upgradable	Screen	Resolution	Weight	SeaBIOS	Remarks
Dec 2010	Google	Cr-48	1.66 GHz Intel Atom N455	2GB DDR3	16GB SSD	mSATA	12.1 in (30.7 cm)	1280x800 (16:10)	3.8 lb (1.7 kg)	Unavailable for 1st generation	Custom H2C firmware available
Jun 2011	Samsung	Series 5 XE500C21	1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570			mSATA			3.06-3.26 lb (1.4–1.5 kg)	Unavailable for 1st generation
Jul 2011	Acer	AC700				mSATA Mini	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	3.19 lb (1.4 kg)	Unavailable for 1st generation
May 2012	Samsung	Series 5 XE550C22	1.3 GHz Intel Celeron 867 1.6 Ghz Intel Core i5 2467M	4GB DDR3		mSATA	12.1 in (30.7 cm)	1280x800 (16:10)	3.3 lb (1.5 kg)	In custom firmware only
Oct 2012		Series 3 XE303C12	1.7 GHz Samsung Exynos 5250	2GB DDR3	16GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	2.43 lb (1.1 kg)	Unavailable on ARM	Supported by Arch Linux ARM
Nov 2012	Acer	C710	1.1 GHz Intel Celeron 847 1.5 GHz Intel Celeron 1007U	2-4GB DDR3	320GB HDD 16GB SSD	SATA 2.5" 7,9.5mm			3-3.05 lb (1.4 kg)	In custom firmware only
Feb 2013	HP	Pavilion 14 Chromebook	1.1 GHz Intel Celeron 847			SATA 2.5" 7,9.5mm	14 in (35.6 cm)		3.96 lb (1.8 kg)	In custom firmware only	Service Manual
	Lenovo	ThinkPad X131e Chromebook	1.5 GHz Intel Celeron 1007U	4GB DDR3	16GB SSD	mSATA	11.6 in (29.5 cm)		3.92 lb (1.8 kg)	In custom firmware only
	Google	Chromebook Pixel	1.8 GHz Intel Core i5 3427U	4GB DDR3	32GB iSSD 64GB iSSD	No	12.85 in (32.6 cm)	2560x1700 (3:2)	3.35 lb (1.5 kg)	Yes
Oct 2013	HP	Chromebook 11	1.7 GHz Samsung Exynos 5250	2GB DDR3	16GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	2.3 lb (1.04 kg)	Unavailable on ARM	Unsupported by Arch Linux ARM installation identical to Samsung XE303C12
Nov 2013		Chromebook 14	1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U	2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3	16GB SSD 32GB SSD	42mm M.2 NGFF	14 in ( 35.6 cm)		4.07 lb (1.84 kg)	Yes
	Acer	C720/C720P Chromebook	1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U 1.7 GHz Intel Core i3-4005U			42mm M.2 NGFF	11.6 in (29.5 cm)		2.76 lb (1.25 kg)	Yes
Jan 2014	Toshiba	CB30/CB35 Chromebook	1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U	2GB DDR3	16GB eMMC	No	13.3 in (33.8 cm)		3.3 lb (1.5 kg)	Yes
Apr 2014	Dell	Chromebook 11	1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U 1.7 GHz Intel Core i3-4005U	2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3	16GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)		2.9 lb (1.31 kg)	Yes	Requires stock SeaBIOS patching
Jun 2014	Lenovo	N20/N20P Chromebook	2.1 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2830	2GB DDR3		No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)		2.86 lb (1.3 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Asus	Chromebook C200/C300		2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3	16GB eMMC 32GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm) 13.3 in (33.8 cm)		2.5 lb (1.13 kg) 3.1 lb (1.4 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Lenovo	ThinkPad 11e Chromebook	1.83 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2930	4GB DDR3	16GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)		3.1 lb (1.4 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
		ThinkPad Yoga 11e Chromebook				No				No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Samsung	Chromebook 2 XE503C12/C32	1.9 GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5420 2 GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5800			No	11.6 in (29.5 cm) 13.3 in (33.8 cm)	1366x768 (16:9) 1920x1080 (16:9)	2.65 lb (1.2 kg) 3.06 lb (1.39 kg)	Unavailable on ARM	Supported by Arch Linux ARM
Jul 2014	HEXA	Chromebook Pi	2.1 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2830		32GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	2.6 lb (1.18 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
Aug 2014	Acer	CB5-311 Chromebook 13	2.1 GHz Nvidia Tegra K1	2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3	16GB eMMC 32GB eMMC	No	13.3 in (33.8 cm)	1366x768 (16:9) 1920x1080 (16:9)	3.3 lb (1.5 kg)	Unavailable on ARM	Unsupported by Arch Linux ARM
Sep 2014	Toshiba	CB30/CB35 Chromebook 2	2.16 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2840		16GB eMMC	No			2.96 lb (1.34 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Acer	CB3-111 Chromebook 11	2.1 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2830	2GB DDR3		No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	2.4 lb (1.09 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
Oct 2014		C730 Chromebook 11	2.16 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2840	2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3	16GB eMMC 32GB eMMC	No			3.1 lb (1.4 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	HP	Chromebook 14 G3	2.1 GHz Nvidia Tegra K1			No	14 in (35.6 cm)	1366x768 (16:9) 1920x1080 (16:9)	3.79 lb (1.72 kg)	Unavailable on ARM	Unsupported by Arch Linux ARM
		Chromebook 11 G3	2.16 GHz Intel BayTrail-M N2840		16GB eMMC	No	11.6 in (29.5 cm)	1366x768 (16:9)	2.8 lb (1.28 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Samsung	Chromebook 2 XE500C12		2GB DDR3		No			2.65 lb (1.2 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
Feb 2015	Dell	Chromebook 11 3120		2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3		No			2.74 lb (1.24 kg) 2.91 lb (1.32 kg)	No	Custom firmware not available yet
	Acer	C740 (EDU) Chromebook 11	1.5 GHz Intel Celeron 3205U 2.00 GHz Intel Core i3-5005U			Unknown			2.87 lb (1.3 kg)	No	SeaBios payload for partial fw flashing is available
		CB5-571 Chromebook 15			16GB SSD 32GB SSD	Unknown	15.6 in (39.6 cm)	1366x768 (16:9) 1920x1080 (16:9)	4.85 lb (2.2 kg)	Unknown	See remark 3
Mar 2015		C910 (EDU) Chromebook 15		4GB DDR3		42mm M.2 NGFF				Unknown	See remark 3
	Google	Chromebook Pixel 2	2.2 GHz Intel Core i5-5200U 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7-5500U	8GB DDR3 16GB DDR3	32GB 64GB	No	12.85 in (32.6 cm)	2560x1700 (3:2)	3.35 lb (1.5 kg)	Yes	See remark 3

Remarks for the hardware comparison table

1. Bay-Trail-M models: It seems like all the models missing SeaBIOS payload of Coreboot.
2. Bay-Trail-M models: There was no success yet in compiling a working custom Coreboot firmware with SeaBIOS payload that can run a mainline kernel. Attempts to solve the existing issues are being made, for more info visit the coreboot on Chromebooks Google+ community.
3. Broadwell models: It seem like in contrast to Bay-Trail-M, Broadwell chips doesn't have eMMC controller integrated on the silicon die, so it's possible that most (if not all) of the Chromebook models based on Broadwell will feature a SSD SATA storage (IC soldered to the board or an extension and upgradable card), unlike models with eMMC storage there shouldn't be an issue for the developers to build custom firmware for those models that comes with SSD storage, for more info visit the coreboot on Chromebooks Google+ community.
4. MyDigitalSSD M.2 NGFF SSD drives are probably the most popular choice when upgrading the internal SSD of a Chrome OS device. There are multiple accounts of failing MyDigitalSSD SSD drives at the Acer C720 topic on the Arch forums [4] [5] [6] and much more on the web. If the SSD was upgraded to a MyDigitalSSD model then it's highly recommended to backup the system and data frequently. It might be advisable to upgrade the SDD with a different brand.

Installation

Warning: Installation on Chrome OS devices that don't ship with SeaBIOS requires flashing a custom firmware, a process that may brick your device. Proceed at your own risk.

Note: While the following information should fit all the Chrome OS devices with Coreboot firmware (shipped with SeaBIOS payload or without), it's possible that with some models you may need to make further adjustments.

The general installation procedure:

• Enable developer mode.
• Chrome OS device with SeaBIOS:
  • Enable legacy boot / SeaBIOS.
  • Set SeaBIOS as default (optional but recommended, requires disabling the write protection).
• Chrome OS device without SeaBIOS:
  • Flash a custom firmware.
• Prepare the installation media, another Linux machine may be needed to manually create the 64-bit media.
• Boot Arch Linux installation media and install Arch.

Enabling developer mode

Developer Mode is necessary in order to access the superuser shell inside Chrome OS, which is required for making changes to the system like allow booting through SeaBIOS.

Warning: Enabling Developer Mode will wipe all of your data.

To enable developer mode:

• Turn on the Chrome OS device.
• Press and hold the Esc + F3 (Refresh) keys, then press the Power button. This enters Recovery Mode.
• Press Ctrl + D (no prompt). It will ask you to confirm, then the system will revert its state and enable Developer Mode.

Note: Press Ctrl + D (or wait 30 seconds for the beep and boot) at the white boot splash screen to enter Chrome OS.

Accessing the superuser shell

After you have enabled the Developer Mode you will need to access the superuser shell. How you do this depends on whether you've configured Chrome OS or not.

Accessing the superuser shell without Chrome OS configuration

If you haven't configured Chrome OS, just press Ctrl + Alt + F2 (F2 is the "forward" arrow on the top row, →), you'll see a login prompt.

• Use chronos as the username, it should not prompt you for a password.
• Become superuser with sudo bash.

Accessing the superuser shell with Chrome OS configuration

If you have configured Chrome OS already:

• Open a crosh window with Ctrl + Alt + T.
• Open a bash shell with the shell command.
• Become superuser with sudo bash

Enabling SeaBIOS

If your Chrome OS device didn't ship with SeaBIOS or you prefer to install a custom firmware, then continue to Flashing a custom firmware.

This method will allow you to access the pre-installed version of SeaBIOS through the Developer Mode screen in Coreboot.

• Inside your superuser shell enter:

# crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_legacy=1

• Reboot the machine.

You can now start SeaBIOS by pressing Ctrl + L at the white boot splash screen.

Note: If you intend to stay using pre-installed SeaBIOS route and think you won't appreciate having to press Ctrl + L every time you boot to reach SeaBIOS then you can set Coreboot to boot to SeaBIOS by default. This currently must be done inside of Chrome OS and requires disabling the write protection (hardware and software), it might be a good idea to do this now so that you will not have to re-install Chrome OS later with recovery install media. If you're choosing to keep Chrome OS (installing Arch on external storage or on the internal storage side by side with Chrome OS then set SeaBIOS to default later.

You should now have SeaBIOS enabled on your Chrome OS device, if you choose to not set it as default then you can continue to Installing Arch Linux.

Boot to SeaBIOS by default

To boot SeaBIOS by default, you will need to run set_gbb_flags.sh in Chrome OS (already included in Chrome OS, it won't work correctly in Arch Linux).

Warning: If you do not set the GBB flags then your system might become corrupted on empty battery, Chrome OS will be forced to recover and you will lose your Arch Linux installation on the internal storage.

Warning: If you do not disable the write protection before setting the GBB flags you endanger wiping out the RW-LEGACY part of the firmware (i.e. SeaBIOS) and your system might not boot (should be recoverable with Chrome OS recovery media). Updated versions of set_gbb_flags.sh won't let you set the GBB flags without disabling the write protection.

• Disable the hardware write protection.

To find the location of the hardware write-protect screw/switch/jumper and how to disable it visit the ArchWiki page for your Chrome OS device. If there's no information about your device on the ArchWiki then turn to Information for Chrome OS Devices and Coreboot's Chromebooks page.

More information about the firmware protection available at the Custom firmware for Chrome OS devices page.

• Inside your superuser shell enter:

# sudo su

• Disable the software write protection.

# flashrom --wp-disable

• Check that write protection is disabled.

# flashrom --wp-status

• Run set_gbb_flags.sh with no parameters.

# set_gbb_flags.sh

Note: Recent versions of Chrome OS have moved the script to /usr/share/vboot/bin/set_gbb_flags.sh which isn't in $PATH by default.

• Make sure you get the following output, see [7].

GBB_FLAG_DEV_SCREEN_SHORT_DELAY 0x00000001
GBB_FLAG_FORCE_DEV_SWITCH_ON 0x00000008
GBB_FLAG_FORCE_DEV_BOOT_LEGACY 0x00000080
GBB_FLAG_DEFAULT_DEV_BOOT_LEGACY 0x00000400

• Now set SeaBIOS as default.

# set_gbb_flags.sh 0x489

• Enable back the software write protection.

# flashrom --wp-enable

Your Chrome OS device now will boot to SeaBIOS by default, you can continue to Installing Arch Linux, if your device is booting correctly then you should re-enable the hardware write protection.

Flashing a custom firmware

Note: The following steps explain how to flash a custom firmware from Chrome OS, for information on how to flash a custom firmware from Arch Linux visit the Custom firmware for Chrome OS devices page

• Disable the hardware write protection.

To find the location of the hardware write-protect screw/switch/jumper and how to disable it visit the ArchWiki page for your Chrome OS device. If there's no information about your device on the ArchWiki then turn to Information for Chrome OS Devices and Coreboot's Chromebooks page.

More information about the firmware protection available at the Custom firmware for Chrome OS devices page.

• Access your superuser shell.
• Enter the command shown on the Download ROM page at John Lewis site.

Note: The reason for not posting here is to force you to visit the site and read the page before proceeding.

• After the script exited copy the backed up firmware to an external storage before rebooting the system.

You should now have a custom firmware installed on your device, cross your fingers and reboot.

After flashing the firmware you can continue to Installing Arch Linux.

Installing Arch Linux

Preparing the installation media

32-bit installation

Create an Arch Linux Installer USB drive.

64-bit installation

Note: Modifying the installation media is only needed in case staying with stock firmware, if a custom firmware was flashed then the following steps are probably (as far as users report) not needed and one can use the official installation media.

Due to a bug (FS#40637) in recent versions of the 64-bit Arch Linux Install Medium (after 2013.10.01), a 64-bit installation with the official image is not currently possible without modifications.

Adding GRUB to the installation image

The instructions below outline a method of modifying the image so that it will boot properly and a 64-bit installation can be performed.

Note: If you use a Chromium recovering USB medium, you could get GPT:partition_entry_array_crc32 values don't match errors (see dmesg). Use GNU Parted to correct that errors

Create a new FAT32 partition on your USB drive e.g. with gparted and label it as ArchLinux.

Warning: Without the label it won't work

• Mount the new partition (replace x with the correct letter as shown with sudo fdisk -l and username with your own username)

# mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt/ -o uid=username,gid=users

Install GRUB2 on the USB drive

# grub-install --no-floppy --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdx

Note: If you don't get a bootable USB drive after completing the steps described below, try running the above command on a system which is similar to your Chrome OS device (e.g. in a system which uses BIOS).

Create a new directory in /mnt/boot where 'YYYYMMDD' is the year, month, and day, of the ISO being used, respectively

# /mnt/boot/archlinux-YYYYMMDD-dual

Mount the ISO

$ mkdir ~/iso
# mount -o loop archlinux-YYYY.MM.DD-dual.iso ~/iso

Copy the mounted files to the usb drive

$ cp -r ~/iso/arch/* /mnt/boot/archlinux-YYYYMMDD-dual

Create the grub.cfg file

/mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg

menuentry "Arch Linux 64 Bit" {
 linux /boot/archlinux-YYYYMMDD-dual/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz archisobasedir=/boot/archlinux-YYYYMMDD-dual archisolabel=ArchLinux
 initrd /boot/archlinux-YYYYMMDD-dual/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
}

Example using the iso from the 20150301 release which requires slightly different paths:

/mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg

menuentry "Arch Linux 64 Bit" {
 linux /boot/archlinux-20150301-dual/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz archisobasedir=/boot/archlinux-20150301-dual/arch/ archisolabel=ArchLinux
 initrd /boot/archlinux-20150301-dual/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
}

You can then boot the installation image as normal and follow the normal installation instructions.

Booting the installation media

• Plug the USB drive to the Chrome OS device and start SeaBIOS with Ctrl + L at the white boot splash screen (if SeaBIOS isn't set as default).
• Press Esc to get a boot menu and select the number corresponding to your USB drive.

The Arch Linux installer boot menu should appear and the installation process can proceed as normal.

Note: For now choose GRUB as your bootloader: you can choose MBR or GPT partitioning schemes. If you choose GPT then don't forget to add a BIOS Boot Partition. Also see Known Issues.

After finishing installing Arch Linux continue by following the Post Installation Configuration.

Alternative installation, Install Arch Linux in addition to Chrome OS

It's possible to have both Arch Linux and Chrome OS installed on the internal drive.

Re-partition the drive

In order to partition the drive, we will run the first stage of the ChruBuntu script in Chrome OS. After logging in, open a shell with Ctrl + Alt + T, run shell, then cd ~/ to enter the home directory. Once there, run the following:

curl -L -O http://goo.gl/9sgchs; sudo bash 9sgchs

It will ask how much space to partition for the alternate partition. 8GB is a safe number for the 16GB SSD. More than 9 may not work.

Fixing the filesystem

Reboot the system so Chrome OS will repair the filesystem after the previous re-partitioning process. Once this is done, verify that the disk space has been reduced by opening a file manager and clicking the gear in the top right of the window.

Continue the installation process

Continue the installation process but instead of wiping the internal drive and creating a new filesystem you should install Arch to the existing empty partition that we designated for Arch in the previous step.

So after booting the installation media:

• Run the command fdisk -l to list drives and partitions. Find the internal drive and note the name of the partition matching the size you specified in the ChrUbuntu script.
• Use mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdxY (where xY is drive letter and partition number, eg. /dev/sda7) This will create the filesystem for arch.
• Following the instructions for installing GRUB on GPT, use gdisk to create a 1007kb partition and set the type to EF02.

Note: Contrary to what some people say, the grub partition does NOT need to be the first partition on the disk. The existing ChromeOS partitions make this difficult to do anyways.

Choosing between Arch Linux and Chrome OS

Reboot your system and press Ctrl + l to load SeaBIOS in order to boot into Arch, or press Ctrl + d in order to boot into ChromeOS.

Now you can also set SeaBIOS as default (or even later as you are keeping Chrome OS).

Post installation configuration

Patched kernels

Note: Since kernel 3.19 it's recommended to use the linux package from the official repositories as except setting kernel parameters (fixing suspend) no other extra step or patch are needed, linux-chromebook^AUR will probably cease to be supported.

linux-chromebook^AUR includes different patches which didn't accepted yet to Linux's upstream sources for better support Chromebook models, including:

• TPM related patch (already in 4.00).
• Backlight display support for Dell Chromebook 11, only needed when using stock firmware. The reason this wasn't added to the upstream kernel sources is probably due to lack of confirmation that the patch needed and works, if you need it then it's advisable to report it in freedesktop as DRI/DRM-Intel bug.

This package will limit the extra configuration needed and also save you from manually building and installing different modules.

It is advised to review the list of patches and decide if the package is needed as the list is slowly getting smaller while the patches being accepted to the upstream sources.

Installing the patched kernel package

• Build from AUR (if you're using Yaourt then you probably want to point TMPDIR in /etc/yaourtrc to somewhere else than /tmp).
• You might want to remove linux package (though it isn't mandatory).

# pacman -R linux

• Install the patched kernel package.

# pacman -U linux*chromebook*.pkg.tar.xz

• Rebuild your grub config.

Video driver

See Intel Graphics.

Touchpad and touchscreen

See Touchpad Synaptics and Touchscreen.

Touchpad and touchscreen kernel modules

Since kernel 3.17 all the related patches merged into the upstream sources, meaning the linux package in core supports these devices.

What to do if your touchpad or touchscreen isn't supported?

• Review the list of patches in linux-chromebook^AUR, if a related patch for your Chromebook model exist then install this package.
• If there's no such patch don't worry as the developers should be able to add it by request as the Chromium OS sources includes the related changes.
• You can also try to find the related commits by yourself and create a proper patch, some hints:
  • Dig into your Chrome OS system, look at the obvious suspects like boot log, /proc/bus/input/devices and /sys/devices.
  • The Linux kernel sources for Chromium OS are at [8].
  • Each kernel source for the latest Chromium OS release has its own branch, name convention: release-R*-*-chromeos-KERNELVER, where R*-* is the Chromium OS release and KERNELVER is the kernel version.
  • Review the git log of drivers/platform, drivers/i2c/busses and drivers/input/touchscreen.

Touchpad configuration

There are few options how to set the touchpad:

• Visit the ArchWiki page for your Chromebook model (see Chromebook models) for touchpad xorg.conf.d file.
• Use a touchpad configuration tool like Synaptiks for KDE, although it is said to be currently unmaintained and seems to crash under KDE 4.11, it works well with KDE 4.12.2. Another utility, kcm_touchpad^AUR, does not work at all.

Chromium OS input drivers

xf86-input-cmt-xorg^AUR from AUR offers ports of the Chromium OS input drivers: xf86-input-cmt, libgestures, and libevdevc as alternatives for Synaptics input driver and for touchscreen inputs drivers (like xf86-input-evdev), notice that currently Chromium OS input drivers failing to load with startx, they only work with a display manager.

Fixing suspend

Note: Lid suspend might not work directly after boot, you might need to wait a little.

The following are instructions to fix the suspend functionality. Depending if you use the pre-installed SeaBIOS or John Lewis' pre-built custom ROMs with linux-chromebook^AUR you might not need the following fix. With the recent 3.17 kernel the suspend fix still needed.

There have been a few alternatives discussed and those may work better for some. [9] [10]

When using the stock coreboot included on Haswell Chrome OS devices, the general idea is to disable the EHCI_PCI and TPM modules, which cause the suspend/resume cycle to fail. There are multiple ways to achieve this.

With a patched kernel

Install a Patched Kernel which provides these fixes without the need for any additional kernel parameters.

With kernel parameters

Note: The TPM patch has been accepted so from kernel 4.0 and on you won't need to add the related kernel parameter.

Add the following to your GRUB configuration

/etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="tpm_tis.interrupts=0 modprobe.blacklist=ehci_pci"

Then rebuild your grub config.

With systemd

Sometimes the synaptics touchpad, and various other parts of the laptop are used as wakeup devices causing certain movements of the laptop during suspend to end suspend. In order to disable all wakeup devices except for the laptop lid sensor, create the following suspend-device-fix.sh file.

/usr/local/sbin/suspend-device-fix.sh

#!/bin/bash

awk '{if ($1 != "LID0" && $3 == "*enabled") print $1}' < /proc/acpi/wakeup | while read NAME
do echo "$NAME" > /proc/acpi/wakeup
done

exit 0

Now give the file executable permissions:

# chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/suspend-device-fix.sh

Create a systemd service to execute the script on every boot.

/etc/systemd/system/suspend-fix.service

[Unit]
Description=Suspend Fix

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/suspend-device-fix.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

First start the service.

# systemctl start suspend-fix.service

If it properly starts, then allow it to be started on bootup.

# systemctl enable suspend-fix.service

Add the following line at the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.local (if it does not exist, just create it) to prevent bad handling of EHCI USB:

/etc/rc.d/rc.local

echo 1 > /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:1d.0/remove

Then, create the following cros-sound-suspend.sh file. Only the Ath9k binding/unbinding lines are listed below; see the alternatives linked above for additional sound suspend handling if you experience issues.

/usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/cros-sound-suspend.sh

#!/bin/bash

case $1/$2 in
  pre/*)
    # Unbind ath9k for preventing error and full sleep mode (wakeup by LID after hibernating) 
    echo -n "0000:01:00.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ath9k/unbind
    # Unbind snd_hda_intel for sound
    echo -n "0000:00:1b.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/snd_hda_intel/unbind
    echo -n "0000:00:03.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/snd_hda_intel/unbind
    ;;
  post/*)
    # Bind ath9k for preventing error and and full sleep mode (wakeup by LID after hibernating) 
    echo -n "0000:01:00.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ath9k/bind
    # bind snd_hda_intel for sound
    echo -n "0000:00:1b.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/snd_hda_intel/bind
    echo -n "0000:00:03.0" | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/snd_hda_intel/bind
    ;;
esac

Make sure to make the script executable:

# chmod +x /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/cros-sound-suspend.sh

This method also requires the tpm_tis.interrupts=0 kernel parameter in your GRUB configuration.

/etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet tpm_tis.interrupts=0"

Then rebuild your grub config.

Fixing audio

Haswell based models

One or more of followings might help solving audio related issues, setting snd_hda_intel module index reported the most useful. It's highly possible that you won't need to make any change.

• Create /etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf, the option index will make sure the analog output is the default (and not HDMI), the option model will notify the driver our board model which will make the built-in microphone usable (you can try instead model=alc283-sense-combo).

/etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf

options snd_hda_intel index=1 model=alc283-dac-wcaps

• Use the ~/.asoundrc file from [11].

• To fix Flash audio with PulseAudio, use the ~/.asoundrc file from [12].

Hotkeys

The Chromebook function keys recognized as standard F1-F10 by the kernel, it's preferable to map them accordingly to their appearance. It would also be nice to get the keys Delete, Home, End, PgUp, PgDown which in Chrome OS mapped to Alt + : BackSpace, Right, Left, Up, Down.

Sxhkd configuration

One way to set the hotkeys would be by using the Sxhkd daemon. Besides sxhkd^AUR, this also requires amixer, xorg-xbacklight, and xautomation.

• See [13] for an example configuration in ~/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc.

Xbindkeys configuration

Another way to configure hotkeys would be by using Xbindkeys. Besides xbindkeys this requires amixer and xorg-xbacklight and xvkbd.

• See [14] for an example configuration in ~/.xbindkeysrc.
• See vilefridge's xbindkeys configuration for another example.

Alternate xbindkeys configuration

Volchange (originated in the Debian User Forums)) can manipulate the volume with PulseAudio instead of using amixer. Besides Volchange this requires xorg-xbacklight and xvkbd.

• Download the script from [15].
• Make it executable

$ chmod u+x ~/.local/bin/volchange

See [16] for a matching ~/.xbindkeysrc.

Patch xkeyboard-config

Another option is to install xkeyboard-config-chromebook^AUR, for more details visit [17].

Mapping in Gnome with gsettings set

Some of the function keys can be mapped in Gnome with the advantage of HUD notifications on changes (like volume and brightness changes) which can supplement one of the mapping methods mentioned above. This linked example maps the brightness and volume actions. Notice that xdotool is required.

Power key and lid switch handling

Ignore using logind

Out of the box, systemd-logind will catch power key and lid switch events and handle them: it will shut down the Chromebook on a power key press, and a suspend on a lid close. However, this policy might be a bit harsh given that the power key is an ordinary key at the top right of the keyboard that might be pressed accidentally.

To configure logind to ignore power key presses and lid switches, add the lines to logind.conf below.

/etc/systemd/logind.conf

HandlePowerKey=ignore
HandleLidSwitch=ignore

Then restart logind for the changes to take effect.

Power key and lid switch events will still be logged to journald by logind. See [[18]].

Ignore by Gnome

Install gnome-tweak-tool, open the Tweak Tool and under Power change the Power Button Action.

Known issues

Syslinux

Follow Syslinux installation instructions carefully. Try manual installation to see where the problem comes from. If you see Missing Operation System then it may be because you need to use correct bootloader binary. If syslinux does not work try other bootloader such as GRUB.

See also

• Developer Information for Chrome OS Devices at the Chromium Projects site
• BBS topic about the Acer C720 which include generic information on Haswell Based Chromebooks.
• Re-partitioning in Chrome OS [19], [20]
• Brent Sullivan's the always updated list of Chrome OS devices
• Google Chromebook Comparison Chart