Samsung Chromebook ARM - Arch in chroot (crouton port)

[drinkcat]

Hi all,

Just received my Samsung Chromebook ARM. Of course I want to put Arch on it (Chrome OS is nice, but too limited).

The solution provided by crouton (https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton: install another Linux distribution in a chroot, and run both simultaneously) is more attractive for me, at least for the time being, since, from what I heard, Arch is not 100% functional on the platform yet, and I don't want to get rid of Chrome OS just yet ,-)

Anyway, crouton is for Ubuntu only, so I ported the scripts so that they would work for Arch Linux:
https://github.com/drinkcat/chroagh

Arch x86 is not supported, but it can be added without too much effort. Also, I only ported the xfce target (no other WM).

Please give it a try!

[flakedave]

Hey drinkcat, thanks for this!
I tried to follow the instructions on the github but the installation failed.

When I issue
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'sudo sh -e installer/main.sh arch -t xfce')
I get
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
WARNING: USB booting is enabled; consider disabling it.
WARNING: Signed boot verification is disabled; consider enabling it.
You can use the following command: sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=0 dev_boot_signed_only=1
')
and downloads start, but I don't get any yes and no questions. The script stops with
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
Creating install root at /usr/local/chroots/alarm/mnt
installer/../installer/arch/main.sh: 409: enter-chroot: not found
')

I haven't really checked what is going on in main.sh (no time so far) but decideded to report it anyway.

Cheers and thanks again,

Davide

[codemac]

You'll want to use a different mirror, I used us.mirror.archlinuxarm.org.

I'm running into a different issue though:

[.. downloads all the packages ..]
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
Creating install root at /usr/local/chroots/alarm/mnt
installer/../installer/arch/main.sh: 409: installer/../installer/arch/../../host-bin/enter-chroot: Permission denied
')

Dunno what to do about that yet..

[drinkcat]

Hi folks,

Thanks for trying it out, I think I found where the problem is (basically the current script would only work if crouton/chroagh has already been installed).

Can you download the latest version and try again?

Thanks!

[flakedave]

The edited version worked like a chARM and was super easy to set up.
Thanks, I was tired of using the SD card sticking on the side when I wanted to use Arch. The system feels more responsive too.

Great job!

[drinkcat]

Awesome, thanks!

There are still features missing in the master branch, like clipboard transfer and keymap (to get home/end/page up/down, etc.). I already wrote some code for those features, but I need to port them back to chroagh. Subscribe to modifications on github to get informed.

I also find that the fonts are a bit ugly in xfce... I'm no fonts expert and I'm also struggling on my PC install, if somebody can come up with better defaults, I'd be happy to integrate them in ,-)

Best,

[flakedave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') also find that the fonts are a bit ugly in xfce... I'm no fonts expert and I'm also struggling on my PC install, if somebody can come up with better defaults, I'd be happy to integrate them in ,-)

[doragasu1]

Other than preserving ChromeOS, does this method have any additional benefits, like for example better graphics performance?

[drinkcat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('doragasu1', 'O')ther than preserving ChromeOS, does this method have any additional benefits, like for example better graphics performance?

[kdb424]

I'm quite interested in this, but I have an intel system. Any chance that you could add in support?