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Fedora on Haswell Chromebook
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  1. #1
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    Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Hello all,

    I am contemplating a chromebook purchase (due mostly to the very nice price tag) since most of my work is done remotely. However, I would still need local versions of latex,python (scientific stack), emacs, git and a few other programs. I am asking on the chomeos list about the challenges involved in using/installing non-web-based linux applications but I understand that wiping the os and installing Fedora is also an option. Can anyone here comment on the potential downsides of doing this? Specifically I am interested in how using Fedora impacts things like: 4 second boot time, 8-9 hour battery life, suspend, and so forth.

    Thanks for your help,
    Peter.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by ptb
    ...how using Fedora impacts things like: 4 second boot time, 8-9 hour battery life, suspend, and so forth.
    Drive space might be a consideration too. I believe Chromebooks usually have around 16 Gb SSD.

    I am curious too, about this hardware. Very tempting at that price My thoughts, how functional would a Chromebook be, with Fedora and an attached usb drive (for data storage)?
    On quest for blue smoke and red rings...
    Fedora 39 | Lenovo Edge 15 | i5 1.7Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 4400 | 6GB RAM | 1TB HDD
    Debian 12 | Toshiba Satellite C655 | i3 2.3Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 8GB RAM | 65GB SSD

  3. #3
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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    This reference is for the Samsung arm chromebook but may be of interest.
    http://algorithms.ir/~mahrud/blog/20...inux-whatever/

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by kldixon
    This reference is for the Samsung arm chromebook but may be of interest.
    http://algorithms.ir/~mahrud/blog/20...inux-whatever/
    Thanks for the link, interesting read.

    Another thought: I am curious about the FOSS applications that are available for Chrome. Even if a small fee was involved, still would be worth it (as this is probably my kids future notebooks).

    School information and projects are already tied into Google, so it seems a likely purchase (Chromebooks). Windows and Mac osX is not a choice for us, and not sure I want to be tech support for the kids (with a Linux install) - though that is a choice available.

    The couple of concerns for me, is data storage (not a fan of the cloud), and FOSS applications that are available. I suppose though, easily remedied with a portable usb drive for data, and Google applications used by the school - already present in Chrome.

    May have to get a Chromebook and play around
    On quest for blue smoke and red rings...
    Fedora 39 | Lenovo Edge 15 | i5 1.7Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 4400 | 6GB RAM | 1TB HDD
    Debian 12 | Toshiba Satellite C655 | i3 2.3Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 8GB RAM | 65GB SSD

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    I recommend that you look at the laptop in person before buying. I have a Samsung Arm Chromebook that I'm happy with, but I wanted to run Fedora. It would be much more convenient for me to install on an Intel machine so I bought an Acer Haswell Chromebook. I like the Acer. Its faster and has a longer battery life. The only drawback is that the screen is very thin and not very strong. I managed to break the screen after less than a week. This is the first laptop I have ever broken. I did not get a chance to try installing Fedora.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Thanks Jvinla for the information (and sorry about your experiences with the Chromebook).

    Intel is my hardware outline for notebooks. I have found Intel processors with Intel graphics (no hybrid), the most friendly to GNU/Linux.

    And that is what I would go for in a Chromebook, Intel hardware, so hopefully it would be friendly to a Linux load.

    It is an interesting choice, do you try to add FOSS applications to Chrome; or load favorite Linux distro (with all your FOSS applications) and access Google functions through Firefox?

    I appreciate the value of Fedora as my daily driver, and easily access the kids projects and school info through Firefox (and Google). That's my comfort distro, but I do not want to discount the possible advantages of Chrome (especially education edition) for the kids.

    Again, may just have to get an (intel) Chromebook, and play around
    On quest for blue smoke and red rings...
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    Debian 12 | Toshiba Satellite C655 | i3 2.3Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 8GB RAM | 65GB SSD

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Very interesting points BBQDave. I decided to dive in and purchase an Acer haswell chromebook (I have fairly short contemplation times). I'll try installing my few FOSS applications on Chrome and see how things go before trying fedora. If anyone's interested I can post an update in a few weeks when I've had time to play with it.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by ptb
    I'll try installing my few FOSS applications on Chrome and see how things go before trying fedora. If anyone's interested I can post an update in a few weeks when I've had time to play with it.
    It will be good to hear how it goes, what your experiences are with the Chromebook
    On quest for blue smoke and red rings...
    Fedora 39 | Lenovo Edge 15 | i5 1.7Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 4400 | 6GB RAM | 1TB HDD
    Debian 12 | Toshiba Satellite C655 | i3 2.3Ghz | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 8GB RAM | 65GB SSD

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Hi,

    I installed Fedora 20 to my broken Chromebook.

    Used liveusb-creator to put Fedora-Live-XFCE-i686-20-Beta-5.iso on a usb stick.

    Tested the usb live boot on my desktop system.

    Followed the instructions at
    https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...720_Chromebook
    to allow usb boot

    Fedora would not boot giving the message (I think - screen damage makes it impossible to read)
    "not enough memory to load specified image"

    I found this fix:
    At the Fedora boot screen press <Tab> and type:
    mem=1024M <Enter>

    boots into XFCE
    touchpad does not work
    plugged in a usb mouse and it works OK
    opened a terminal and ran top - I do not see anything bad

    Install to hard disk
    Standard Partition
    Reclaim space on all of sda
    Manual Partition /boot=500 /swap=500 /=rest(14.27)
    Set root password & user
    reboot
    remove usb-stick

    It now boots to XFCE off ssd (after <Ctl><L>)
    touchpad does not work
    Wi-Fi works
    yum update
    reboot

    kernel = 3.11.10
    still no touchpad
    suspend hangs system
    yum install camorama - webcam works

    ----------------
    This is as far as I have gotten. I probably will stop at this point as the broken screen is taking
    all the fun out of this project.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    I found an entry @ fedora-fr.org with a script and instructions on how to build zram, drivers for the touchpad and light sensor and how to configure them. The page is in french but google translate made it possible for me to read it, it does mangle the code fragments thou so if intending to copy-paste, you are better of with the original french language page.

    http://forums.fedora-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=61252

    I followed the instructions to a T but at the point where the script is meant to copy the compiled kernel modules over, it exits with the error

    Code:
    mv: cannot stat ‘/lib/modules/3.12.7-300.fc20.i686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/chromeos_laptop.ko’: No such file or directory
    I am not sure what exactly I am doing wrong and I'm hoping that someone on this thread might have better luck.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by eebrah
    I found an entry @ fedora-fr.org with a script and instructions on how to build zram, drivers for the touchpad and light sensor and how to configure them. The page is in french but google translate made it possible for me to read it, it does mangle the code fragments thou so if intending to copy-paste, you are better of with the original french language page.

    http://forums.fedora-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=61252

    I followed the instructions to a T but at the point where the script is meant to copy the compiled kernel modules over, it exits with the error

    Code:
    mv: cannot stat ‘/lib/modules/3.12.7-300.fc20.i686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/chromeos_laptop.ko’: No such file or directory
    I am not sure what exactly I am doing wrong and I'm hoping that someone on this thread might have better luck.
    Ah, this looks useful. I will try it with my Acer C720 and let you know how it goes...

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    @AbdulAlhazred

    Talked with the author of the post @ fedora-fr and he updated the script so that it no longer throws the error I was getting. Follow the instructions there if you can, he covers EVERYTHING, mapping the function keys, fixing hibernate, touchpad enabling zram .....

    My c720 runs like a charm now

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by eebrah
    @AbdulAlhazred

    Talked with the author of the post @ fedora-fr and he updated the script so that it no longer throws the error I was getting. Follow the instructions there if you can, he covers EVERYTHING, mapping the function keys, fixing hibernate, touchpad enabling zram .....

    My c720 runs like a charm now
    Yes, I went through the whole script, after going ahead and installing to hard drive. The script worked great for me too, and I went through all the other config stuff. There are a few things in there I didn't do because of using Xfce, but generally speaking the results are pretty good. However I still have a few things to work on.

    1. Audio sometimes seems to have some issues. Skype for instance sounded rather poor. That might have been some other issue though, when I called my GF today it seemed much better. I'll have to do some more testing on that...

    2. Video in Skype really wasn't working. There seems to be some video driver issue there. Frames only sporadically updated, and partially at that. Skype crashed a few times. Again, I have to do some more research on this. I see that the French thread has a bunch of tweaks people did that other people have deprecated, so I am guessing its not entirely solved yet.

    3. Suspend is working. Hibernate... I don't know exactly how it is I am supposed to get back OUT of hibernate. Currently I have the power button mapped to suspend, but I guess I have some ignorance of what to do to get things working right. Ah well, more research.

    Everything else that I have tried works well. Wireless of course just worked OOTB, the touchpad is working well, mic and speakers, etc. Haven't tried the SD slot, HDMI, or bluetooth. Anyway, its a good starting point, you can get to a working machine that runs quickly and looks like it will yield at least 7 hours of battery life, maybe more. Xfce isn't the prettiest thing in the universe, but its a pretty good choice with 2GB RAM.

    So, I agree, all we really need now is a way to get UEFI/coreboot to authenticate the kernel so we can get rid of the Ctrl-L ugliness and I'll be ALMOST entirely happy.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by AbdulAlhazred
    3. Suspend is working. Hibernate... I don't know exactly how it is I am supposed to get back OUT of hibernate.
    Usually you'd press the power button to unhibernate. Unhibernating is really almost the same as rebooting, but at a certain point the swap partition is examined and the hibernate flag if seen is used to populate system ram. So the main advantage of hiberate is only that the full state of the machine is retained.

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    Re: Fedora on Haswell Chromebook

    Quote Originally Posted by marko
    Usually you'd press the power button to unhibernate. Unhibernating is really almost the same as rebooting, but at a certain point the swap partition is examined and the hibernate flag if seen is used to populate system ram. So the main advantage of hiberate is only that the full state of the machine is retained.
    Yeah, weirdly it just seems to hibernate fine now.

    I'm still having fits with PulseAudio though, what a nightmare. I'm a smart guy, I have software floating around in space, on various aircraft, running major trading operations, etc. I've written device drivers, a compiler, and just millions of lines of code. I can't even begin to understand PulseAudio. I get the concept, but the presentation is so heinous that it is just unusable. I could care less about monitors and blah blah blah, I just want the microphone to reliably work with Skype, what's so blasted hard about that? Yeah, apparently its harder than rocket science, literally. PulseAudio is a horrible joke. What's scary is that if you rip it out and use ALSA its not much better. Seriously people, if you want to do the Linux community a HUGE HUGE HUGE favor, write a piece of software that actually controls audio and presents it in a SIMPLE sensible way for the common use cases. If some people need to get down in there and mess with things, great, but this is just torture.

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