Install Debian on Chromebook

[Retired CSM]

First, let me wish everyone Happy Holidays and to stay safe and healthy.

I am a newbie to Linux/Debian and am trying to install Debian on my Samsung Chromebook Pro using the article written by David Schneider on GitHub, https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton. I have successfully installed Crouton but get the following error message when I try the next step:

chronos@localhost / $ sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r list
sh: 0: Refusing to exec /home/chronos/user/Downloads/crouton from noexec mount; see https://chromium.googlesource.com/chrom ... scripts.md

I went to that site but could not understand what it was trying to tell me.

My goal is to install Debian with KDE, or other appropriate GUI on my Chromebook. Even better would be to install it on my SD card that I have in the card slot as it has a higher storage capacity than does the machine itself.

Thanks for any help and great Holidays to all.

[sgosnell]

The error message says you've mounted the SD card with noexec as a mount option. You need to read, and understand, all the steps on that site, and follow them exactly. It's certainly possible to run Debian via Crouton on a Samsung chromebook, I've done it, but it was a long time ago. If your chromebook is newer, within the last couple of years, you can run Linux applications on it without needing crouton. You just enable Linux in the settings, and you have Debian Stable available. You can install anything in the Debian Stable repositories, and run it natively just like any other ChromeOS or Android app. It's the best of all three worlds..

[Retired CSM]

Thank you for the prompt response and on Christmas Day no less. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas.

I don't quite understand a couple of points in your response. First, is there any way to correct the way the SD card is mounted. I have taken no explicit actions to mount the card in the crouton tab. Second, you say that "you need to read,..." if you are referring to David Schneider's instructions, I thought that I had read and understood what he is saying. If there is something else that you are referring to please point out exactly what you mean so I can review it. My Chromebook is only a couple of years old but Samsung did not implement the Linux capability and I have to use Crouton. Thanks again, Abe

[sgosnell]

The way things are now, not a lot is going on here on Christmas, outside of video calls with the grandkids. Maybe next year...
The link in the error message gives a "not found" error for me. Has your chromebook been put into developer mode? That's a prerequisite.

Exactly what have you done? Without knowing exactly the steps you have taken and the commands you've entered, it's hard to figure out exactly what the issue is. What distro (Ubuntu, Debian, something else) and what desktop environment (Xfce, KDE, something else) and exactly how?

[Retired CSM]

We are all praying that 2021 will be a return to some sort of normalcy at least. Zoom has been a tremendous boon. We visit with our kids and grandkids every week as well as our siblings. I haven't seen my sisters so much in 40 years.

I did a powerwash into developer's mode so time ago. I am supposing that I am still in developer's mode as I have to hit Ctl-d on every reboot. I downloaded crouton using "sudo install -Dt /usr/local/bin -m 755 ~/Downloads/crouton" and launched it with "sudo crouton". At that point, when I tried to actually download and install Debian I got my error message. As I said in my initial post, I am following the guidance of David Schneider on GigHub, https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton, and am now at EXAMPLES, where he downloads Ubuntu with xfce. Since I want Debian I had to snoop around the I-net for other examples on how to do that. I am using the following link for guidance - https://www.linux.com/topic/desktop/how ... hromebook/. I used the following to download and install Debian with KDE - sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r buster -t kde. Then I get the error message about "noexec mount".

Hope this is what you are looking for.

[sgosnell]

Here is what you should have done. I still don't know whether you did it exactly or not.
Download crouton at

Code: Select all

https://goo.gl/fd3zc]

It should go to Downloads.
Open a shell

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Ctrl-alt-t
shell


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sudo install -Dt /usr/local/bin -m 755 ~/Downloads/crouton

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sudo crouton -r buster -t kde

Wait patiently and answer the prompts like a good person.
Done! You can jump straight to your kde session by running

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 sudo enter-chroot startkde

or, as a special shortcut,

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sudo startkde

If that doesn't work, report back.

[Retired CSM]

I did exactly as you requested. Even to the extent of deleting the version of Crouton that I had and downloading a new copy using your reference. Still can't install Debian. I tried to install Buster using "sudo crouton -r buster -t kde". After telling me that it was downloading the latest crouton installer, I got two lines of #s and the message "/usr/local/chroots/buster is not an ext filesystem", and it stopped at that point.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[sgosnell]

The crouton script can be deleted and downloaded at will, and should be updated as necessary. It's not part of the Linux system, just a script for running the chroot.
I find the error message about not being an ext filesystem puzzling. It has been a few years since I used crouton, but the /usr/bin location for the crouton install seems wrong. It should go to the SD card. Perhaps that script does that, I haven't looked at it. Is the SD card formatted as ext4, or is it still FAT as it came? You do need to format that as ext4, and perhaps that's where the error is coming from.

[Retired CSM]

My 128GB SD card is partitioned, 100GB is ext4 and the rest is FAT32. I have no idea what ext4 is. When I was researching how to install Debian on an SD card I found a source that said I needed the card formatted as ext4 and gave instructions on how to do that, so I did. Ultimately, I would prefer to have Debian on the SD card as storage on a Chromebook is extremely limited.

[sgosnell]

To which partition is the install going? You didn't say which partition is which. Ext4 is a Linux filesystem type, one of several.

[Retired CSM]

I have no idea which partition Crouton is using. I just run the "sudo crouton -r..." and get the error message. I removed the SD card and got exactly the same response.

[sgosnell]

Try formatting the SD card as one ext4 partition.

[Retired CSM]

I'll do that this afternoon, I have a very busy morning.

Thanks again,

[sgosnell]

At your convenience. Life goes on here, too.

[pcalvert]

If you're not dead set on Debian, there's also GalliumOS:

https://galliumos.org/

Phil