Asus chromebook 311 mint only

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guzzis3
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Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by guzzis3 »

Ok, big deep breath.

Before I ask my question I need to explain something. I started using unix in about 1990. I did my first linux install, redhat 4.2 in (I think) the late 90's. I worked as a sys admin for some years, although I am really a mech eng.

The problem is I had a couple of strokes in 2020. I am part blind, can hardly read and have brain damage. I've spent weeks reading everything I can find but I'm confused and just don't have the confidence to take the next step. I'm sorry I need help.

I bought this chromebook as a small portable machine to slip in my bag just for browser and reading documents and maybe spreadsheets on the go. I thought if I didn't like chrome I'd blow it away and install linux. Easy right ? Well I didn't count on the obfuscated bios and weird booting...

I'm pretty sure I've got it in developer mode. I made a usb stick with mint 20.3 64bit and YUMI ?

But I don't know what to do next. There seem to be all sorts of variations on how to enable USB boot and install the OS.

I want to wipe chrome and just have mint. Once it's installed I'm going to try the various linux screen readers to see which work the best. They are really resource hungry so I'm planning to run xfce ?

Anyway could someone walk me through the next steps or point me to a resource that explains it simply ? I am totally confused about enabling the install and am scared of breaking stuff. I just don't have the capacity to fix it if it goes badly wrong.

PS I am in Brisbane Australia.

Thank you very much for reading.
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SMG
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Re: Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by SMG »

guzzis3 wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:22 pmI'm pretty sure I've got it in developer mode. I made a usb stick with mint 20.3 64bit and YUMI ?

But I don't know what to do next. There seem to be all sorts of variations on how to enable USB boot and install the OS.
Welcome to the forum, guzzis3.

The reason there are so many variations is because there have been many ways to create and manufacture Chromebooks. I have never converted a Chromebook, but MrChromebox.tch is usually the website I check when helping others.

Checking the Supported Devices page I see there are multiple Acer Chromebooks with 311 in their name so you might need to get more specific with the model number for others here to be able to help you. There are links from each version Chromebook on what is needed to get the system ready for Mr. Chromebox's firmware.

As a general overview of the process, you might find this How I turned an old Chromebook Pixel into a native Linux laptop running Ubuntu helpful.
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A woman typing on a laptop with LM20.3 Cinnamon.
guzzis3
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Re: Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by guzzis3 »

Thank you very much for the reply.

I have to admit I found the Mr Chromebook site confusing. Probably because I have so much trouble reading. I read various pages but couldn't tell exactly what each section was trying to achieve.

Acer's models numbering is also confusing. The box says Acer chromebook 311 and under that is C733-C25S.

When I could see as I said I could plough through this stuff, now it just gets overwhelming.

https://www.mightyape.com.au/product/11 ... b/35587538

This is the one. The part number matches also.
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Re: Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by SMG »

guzzis3 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:29 amThe box says Acer chromebook 311 and under that is C733-C25S.
I see the C733 on a line on the Devices for Geminilake.
  • Acer Chromebook 311
    (CB311-9H, CB311-9HT, C733, C733U, C733T)
  • Boardname: BOBBA <---------This is the key piece of information to know with your computer (and not that it is an Acer 311).
  • UEFI Firmware (Full ROM) - Available (it has a check mark)
  • WP (Write Protect) Method: CR50
The last line means your BOBBA board is write protected using the CR50 Google security chip. According to MrChromebox, "Under factory configuration, the CR50 sets the WriteProtect state to follow the battery sense line, so disconnecting the battery will disable the hardware write protect."

However, MrChromebox then goes on to say, "If using MrChromebox's Firmware Utility Script to flash the firmware or set the GBB flags on your device, it is not necessary (nor recommended) to manually disable the software write protection. The Firmware Utility Script will automatically disable/clear/set/enable the software write protection as required." (emphasis is mine)

So it would appear you you are ready to run the script as described on the ChromeOS Firmware Utility Script page. Or did you run that script already?

It's my understanding one needs to run the script from MrChromebox before attempting to install Linux Mint. That script will set up the Firmware so the Linux Mint install works properly.

You would, in ChromeOS, run the following in a crosh shell (I don't know what that is -- I have never used ChromeOS):

Code: Select all

cd; curl -LO mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh
and then press Enter to download and run the script.

The script cannot be run from a crostini (penguin) terminal according to MrChromebox.

Hopefully, someone who has done this already can jump on the topic and help with first hand experience.
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guzzis3
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Re: Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by guzzis3 »

Thank you very much for that.

I'll wait 24 hours in case someone jumps in and says otherwise. If not I'll try the above and report back.

I'd read all that but with my messy brain now it just stopped making sense. A friend bought the same machine so if my OS change works out I might do it all over again for her.

Thank you again.
guzzis3
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Re: Asus chromebook 311 mint only

Post by guzzis3 »

Hi again.

First I am sorry it's taken so long to get back to this. Unfortunately everything takes 10x longer so it takes me ages to get to things.

I've done the above but I'm missing something. I'm giving up for now. I ran the script and did a lot of reading but I'm missing something.

Thank you again for the help.
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