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Mr.Chromebox is the MVP when it comes to running alt OS on Chromebooks, His Coreboot/Seabios[1] is the UEFI ROM which enables it. He also actively answers queri

Mr.Chromebox is the MVP when it comes to running alt OS on Chromebooks, His Coreboot/Seabios[1] is the UEFI ROM which enables it. He also actively answers queries in the r/chultrabook & r/GalliumOS subreddits. Gallium OS is needed because of some weird quirks with certain Chromebooks e.g. BayTrail chipsets require special drivers for Touchpad, microphone etc. from ChromeOS and only Gallium OS include them. If you can get hold of a 11" Chromebook, Then installing Linux on it using Coreboot is the least expensive way to get a portable Linux computer with keyboard as Chromebooks are often subsidized. Just ensure that the device is supported by Coreboot beforehand. [1] https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/

zozbot234 5y ago
Intel BayTrail chipsets are well supported by some distros such as Fedora nowadays. Does the ChromeOS hardware come with additional quirks?
- Abishek_Muthian 5y ago
  > Intel BayTrail chipsets are well supported by some distros such as Fedora nowadays Sorry, I meant Braswell. At one point, Installing other OS on Braswell damaged its speakers[1] which are now resolved with latest Mr.Chromebox's firmware + OS level fixes. There are still issues with Microphone even with GalliumOS. Also ChromeOS has Chrome Multi Touch (CMT) touchpad driver which is much better than default driver and are included in Gallium OS, But since GalliumOS is not developed further it's better to go for other OS. > Does the ChromeOS hardware come with additional quirks? I understand that you question was related to Intel BayTrail, But I'm using it to mention that there are certain hardware deviations w.r.t Chromebooks like inclusion Google Security Chip (GSC)[2]. [1] https://wiki.galliumos.org/Support/Braswell https://wiki.galliumos.org/Support/Braswell [2] https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/cr50_stab/docs/case_closed_debugging_cr50.md https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/c...
  - zozbot234 5y ago
    Is Braswell hardware reasonably common outside Chromebooks? AIUI, Cherry Trail (e.g. MS Surface 3) was released alongside Braswell and is now well supported in some mainline distros at least.

zozbot234 5y ago

Intel BayTrail chipsets are well supported by some distros such as Fedora nowadays. Does the ChromeOS hardware come with additional quirks?

Abishek_Muthian 5y ago
> Intel BayTrail chipsets are well supported by some distros such as Fedora nowadays Sorry, I meant Braswell. At one point, Installing other OS on Braswell damaged its speakers[1] which are now resolved with latest Mr.Chromebox's firmware + OS level fixes. There are still issues with Microphone even with GalliumOS. Also ChromeOS has Chrome Multi Touch (CMT) touchpad driver which is much better than default driver and are included in Gallium OS, But since GalliumOS is not developed further it's better to go for other OS. > Does the ChromeOS hardware come with additional quirks? I understand that you question was related to Intel BayTrail, But I'm using it to mention that there are certain hardware deviations w.r.t Chromebooks like inclusion Google Security Chip (GSC)[2]. [1] https://wiki.galliumos.org/Support/Braswell https://wiki.galliumos.org/Support/Braswell [2] https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/cr50_stab/docs/case_closed_debugging_cr50.md https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/c...
- zozbot234 5y ago
  Is Braswell hardware reasonably common outside Chromebooks? AIUI, Cherry Trail (e.g. MS Surface 3) was released alongside Braswell and is now well supported in some mainline distros at least.