Scheduled Maintenance: We are aware of an issue with Google, AOL, and Yahoo services as email providers which are blocking new registrations. We are trying to fix the issue and we have several internal and external support tickets in process to resolve the issue. Please see: viewtopic.php?t=158230

 

 

 

C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

New to Debian (Or Linux in general)? Ask your questions here!
Message
Author
User avatar
kiyop
Posts: 3983
Joined: 2011-05-05 15:16
Location: Where persons without desire to improve themselves fear to tread, in Japan
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#16 Post by kiyop »

https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201
First, we prepare the SD card on a desktop machine. These instructions are for an 8G card, which affects on the second cgpt add call - you can adjust as required.
(snip by kiyop)

Code: Select all

DEV=/dev/mmcblk0
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk0" with the proper value?
(snip by kiyop)

Code: Select all

cgpt add -t kernel -l kernel -b 34 -s 32768 ${DEV}
(snip by kiyop)
Now move the SD card to the Chromebook which is already booted with ChromeOS:

Code: Select all

(snip by kiyop)
DEV=/dev/mmcblk1
(snip by kiyop)
# Write the signed kernel to the kernel partition:
dd if=${MNT}/boot/vmlinuz.signed of=${DEV}p1
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk1" with the proper value?
Are you sure that the size of the signed kernel is smaller than 32768-34+1=32735 ? (Although I may be wrong.)
Openbox, JWM: Jessie, Sid, Arch / Win XP (on VirtualBox), 10
http://kiyoandkei.bbs.fc2.com/

C-137
Posts: 3
Joined: 2016-05-27 15:33

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#17 Post by C-137 »

thanks for your reply,
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk0" with the proper value?
on my "desktop" machine /dev/mmcblk0 is the sd card reader. i tried both sd card and usb pen drive (/dev/sdb)
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk1" with the proper value?
/dev/mmcblk1 is the sd card reader on the c100pa, that seemed to work
Are you sure that the size of the signed kernel is smaller than 32768-34+1=32735 ? (Although I may be wrong.)
i think 34 is the offset, and 32768 kb is the size of the kernel partition. the kernels i've tried so far were all less than 6mb.

i'll try to compile the kernel in arch directly on the flip so i don't have to cross compile. (https://chromium.googlesource.com/chrom ... rty/kernel)
perhaps the release they've mentioned in the howto works (release-R43-6946.B-chromeos-3.14)
Last edited by C-137 on 2016-05-30 23:10, edited 1 time in total.

C-137
Posts: 3
Joined: 2016-05-27 15:33

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#18 Post by C-137 »

C-137 wrote: i think 34 is the offset, and 32768 kb is the size of the kernel partition. the kernels i tried so far were all less than 6mb.
sorry, actually, the unit is sectors, i think (512b each). so the kernel partitions are 16mb

User avatar
kiyop
Posts: 3983
Joined: 2011-05-05 15:16
Location: Where persons without desire to improve themselves fear to tread, in Japan
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#19 Post by kiyop »

C-137 wrote:
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk0" with the proper value?
on my "desktop" machine /dev/mmcblk0 is the sd card reader. i tried both sd card and usb pen drive (/dev/sdb)
Did you modify the above "/dev/mmcblk1" with the proper value?
/dev/mmcblk1 is the sd card reader on the c100pa, that seemed to work
I see. Thanks.
C-137 wrote:the kernels i've tried so far were all less than 6mb.
I see. Then, as you understood, 16MB is enough. Are you sure that the sector size of the sd card is 512 bytes?

I do not know why it does not work. :?:

You did "Installing to an SD card using the ChromeOS kernel" in https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201 , didn't you?

ADDED AT Tue May 31 22:57:11 JST 2016;

Are you sure that you did the following correctly?
https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201

Code: Select all

# Guess which kernel partition is the latest.  Run cgpt show and see
# which one (KERN-A or KERN-B) has the highest priority.
cgpt show /dev/mmcblk0
# Copy the ChromeOS kernel to the root filesystem,
# In this example we'll assume it was KERN-B:
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p4 of=${MNT}/boot/chromeos.kernel.signed
Openbox, JWM: Jessie, Sid, Arch / Win XP (on VirtualBox), 10
http://kiyoandkei.bbs.fc2.com/

bluevector
Posts: 1
Joined: 2016-06-28 17:18

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#20 Post by bluevector »

I also followed the guide on https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201, alas it did not work for me as well. Booting from the sd-card goes into black screen... I copied the kernel with the highest priority and it did not work:

Code: Select all

cgpt show /dev/mmcblk0

       start        size    part  contents
           0           1          PMBR (Boot GUID: 4C6BF2E4-6BC4-054A-99A4-2E6FAE678F6B)
           1           1          Pri GPT header
           2          32          Pri GPT table
     8671232    22081536       1  Label: "STATE"
                                  Type: Linux data
                                  UUID: A330ED08-FB60-6949-AA22-F45CA62C187A
       20480       32768       2  Label: "KERN-A"
                                  Type: ChromeOS kernel
                                  UUID: 5B2F38F5-0A27-F043-A307-86DA8CB34370
                                  Attr: priority=2 tries=0 successful=1
     4476928     4194304       3  Label: "ROOT-A"
                                  Type: ChromeOS rootfs
                                  UUID: 36266423-B14E-C14A-94C0-B685287D5A3A
       53248       32768       4  Label: "KERN-B"
                                  Type: ChromeOS kernel
                                  UUID: 7D61CA0F-2D05-E64A-BE91-B7ED4BB7DF0A
                                  Attr: priority=1 tries=0 successful=1
      282624     4194304       5  Label: "ROOT-B"
                                  Type: ChromeOS rootfs
                                  UUID: C01982AE-623B-7C42-85FD-03F55F2CB0D3
       16448           1       6  Label: "KERN-C"
                                  Type: ChromeOS kernel
                                  UUID: 3847A485-15B0-2A40-BBCD-79D07169E0AB
                                  Attr: priority=0 tries=15 successful=0
       16449           1       7  Label: "ROOT-C"
                                  Type: ChromeOS rootfs
                                  UUID: 6E23428D-C174-A34B-A208-A6D16BEB16BC
       86016       32768       8  Label: "OEM"
                                  Type: Linux data
                                  UUID: D63410EE-47CC-5B4D-BBEE-C8A149EA80A2
       16450           1       9  Label: "reserved"
                                  Type: ChromeOS reserved
                                  UUID: 150EC368-049E-8446-AA4B-1C9B78EB2661
       16451           1      10  Label: "reserved"
                                  Type: ChromeOS reserved
                                  UUID: B72BB9F9-1E54-7348-BF64-97C932F94FE8
          64       16384      11  Label: "RWFW"
                                  Type: ChromeOS firmware
                                  UUID: 13B5EA09-EE85-6346-95B6-B4F8D990AEA5
      249856       32768      12  Label: "EFI-SYSTEM"
                                  Type: EFI System Partition
                                  UUID: 4C6BF2E4-6BC4-054A-99A4-2E6FAE678F6B
    30785503          32          Sec GPT table
    30785535           1          Sec GPT header
I first tried copying from Kernel-A as it has the highest priority, but when it did not work I tried with Kernel-B and the result was still failure. Has anyone find a solution to this?

Also is there anyone who has compiled kernel (like Gentoo) or that of ARM and satisfied with it? It seems like I am going to try upstream kernel soon.

Thanks,

User avatar
kiyop
Posts: 3983
Joined: 2011-05-05 15:16
Location: Where persons without desire to improve themselves fear to tread, in Japan
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#21 Post by kiyop »

bluevector wrote:I also followed the guide on https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201, alas it did not work for me as well. Booting from the sd-card goes into black screen...
What happens if you press Alt and SysRq keys and REISUB after you get into black screen?
If it reboots, kernel is running even after you get into black screen. Thus, it may relate to graphical issue.
Openbox, JWM: Jessie, Sid, Arch / Win XP (on VirtualBox), 10
http://kiyoandkei.bbs.fc2.com/

pendrachken
Posts: 1394
Joined: 2007-03-04 21:10
Location: U.S.A. - WI.

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#22 Post by pendrachken »

Also just for testing purposes ( since the kernel is up and logging ), did you try raising your backlight with the brightness keys?

I have one particular laptop that no matter what kernel / paramaters are use gets the backlight immediately set to zero on boot, and has to be raised with the buttons each and every boot.


Backlight may be worth looking into....
fortune -o
Your love life will be... interesting.
:twisted: How did it know?

The U.S. uses the metric system too, we have tenths, hundredths and thousandths of inches :-P

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#23 Post by jguillen »

Hello everyone. Im experiencing the same "black screen" issue.Tried all 3 kernels with same result.
pendrachken wrote:Also just for testing purposes ( since the kernel is up and logging ), did you try raising your backlight with the brightness keys?

I have one particular laptop that no matter what kernel / paramaters are use gets the backlight immediately set to zero on boot, and has to be raised with the buttons each and every boot.


Backlight may be worth looking into....
Nothing happens

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#24 Post by jguillen »

kiyop wrote:
bluevector wrote:I also followed the guide on https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201, alas it did not work for me as well. Booting from the sd-card goes into black screen...
What happens if you press Alt and SysRq keys and REISUB after you get into black screen?
If it reboots, kernel is running even after you get into black screen. Thus, it may relate to graphical issue.
Asus c201 keyboard don't have a sysrq key. Tried with an external usb keyboard, but doesnt seem to recognice it.

User avatar
kiyop
Posts: 3983
Joined: 2011-05-05 15:16
Location: Where persons without desire to improve themselves fear to tread, in Japan
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#25 Post by kiyop »

jguillen wrote:Asus c201 keyboard don't have a sysrq key. Tried with an external usb keyboard, but doesnt seem to recognice it.
Thank you for reporting the above. :)
Sometimes, SysRq key is PrintScreen key. Is there PrintScreen key?

Furthermore, you can change keys.
Reference:
https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard#Keyboard_configuration
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=82079
Openbox, JWM: Jessie, Sid, Arch / Win XP (on VirtualBox), 10
http://kiyoandkei.bbs.fc2.com/

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#26 Post by jguillen »

kiyop wrote:
jguillen wrote:Asus c201 keyboard don't have a sysrq key. Tried with an external usb keyboard, but doesnt seem to recognice it.
Thank you for reporting the above. :)
Sometimes, SysRq key is PrintScreen key. Is there PrintScreen key?

Furthermore, you can change keys.
Reference:
https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard#Keyboard_configuration
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=82079
Here you can check the c201 keyboard.

http://newmindgroup.com/wp-content/uplo ... /9-1-1.png

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#27 Post by jguillen »

I've got some bad news for Asus c201 users.

https://marcin.juszkiewicz.com.pl/2016/ ... romebooks/

I contacted Marcin, and he explained me that he did not write that guide.

I still think this can be done, so here are some links to contine investigating. Some others guys were able to do it.

Libreboot on Asus c201
https://libreboot.org/docs/hcl/c201.html

Install Debian on Asus c201 using Chrome OS Kernel
https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201

Libreboot mailing list (Asus c201)
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libr ... 00024.html

Asus C201 ARM Chromebook Linux user experience
http://www.galexander.org/chromebook/

Installing Debian chroot in Asus c201
http://www.courville.org/home/rk3288-arm-chromebook

Libreboot ported to Asus Chromebook C201
http://liliputing.com/2015/08/libreboot ... oader.html

Libreboot.git (Asus c201)
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/libreb ... b97821617d

Trisquel forum post
https://trisquel.info/es/forum/asus-chr ... ot-arm-cpu

Parabola GNU/Linux-libre supports ARMv7
https://www.parabola.nu/news/parabola-supports-armv7/

If I ever manage to install debian, I'll let you know :)

determination
Posts: 1
Joined: 2016-12-15 19:34

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#28 Post by determination »

jguillen wrote:I've got some bad news for Asus c201 users.

https://marcin.juszkiewicz.com.pl/2016/ ... romebooks/
That blog post is a critisism on the "Debian On" section of the wiki.
It has nothing to do with the ability to run Debian on Chromebooks.

I have just bought this laptop specifically to run GNU/Linux on it, in particular Debian.
I'll be using the Libreboot guide you linked to, I'm pretty confident that it will work because this laptop is now being sold by the author of that guide, with Libreboot and Debian pre-installed.
This is one of the very few laptops that can run entirely without proprietary software.

bugsbunny88
Posts: 1
Joined: 2016-12-17 18:18

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#29 Post by bugsbunny88 »

We definitely need a better more newbie friendly tutorial. I can't follow it.

c201
Posts: 2
Joined: 2017-02-06 12:01

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#30 Post by c201 »

For those who try to install a native linux distribution on C201 -- try Arch Linux ARM first. It is the only step-by-step instruction on the internet I could find that really worked for me. Yes, we are in 2017 already.

In last week I've tried so far:
* Debian (obviously) - didn't work;
* Fedora - didn't work;
* Devuan image - worked only command line and I couldn't build the image myself as lots of information is missing and the build scripts are broken;
* Arch - worked as expected. I could set up whole system with GUI (Weston/Wayland on fbdev) in a few hours. The instruction I used was for Asus Chromebook Flip C100P, but it did work for me with out changing even one bit.

I don't have a working HDMI output yet, which is a big deal for me. As a next step, I'll try to compile the latest mainline kernel and try to set up the HDMI port from there.

c201
Posts: 2
Joined: 2017-02-06 12:01

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#31 Post by c201 »

HDMI output doesn't work.

The 4.x kernel doesn't work - I am getting a white screen during boot with no further messages.

logikarios
Posts: 10
Joined: 2017-01-11 11:17

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#32 Post by logikarios »

Is there any news on installing debian on the C201? After installing debian on the sd card and booting from it, I also get a blank screen. I've followed this guide. Can anyone help?

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#33 Post by jguillen »

Hello everyone,

I have GOOD and BAD news regarding debian on the c201. The good news, it can be installed, and get to work. The bad news, we need to reconfigure Xorg without CONFIG_VT. Google has disabled CONFIG_VT in the kernel, in order to prevent the creation of consoles and the starting of Xorg from current stable.

There is a workaround in http://demo1.faikvm.com/trac/wiki/C201 but still no luck. But I think Im recompiling the wrong way.

I will try tonight https://www.x.org/wiki/Building_the_X_Window_System/ so I hope I can provide more helpful info.

PS. You can use ARCH in the meanwhile.

jguillen
Posts: 16
Joined: 2016-07-03 08:48

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#34 Post by jguillen »

BTW I strongly recommend flashing c201 BIOS to LIBREBOOT.

logikarios
Posts: 10
Joined: 2017-01-11 11:17

Re: C201 Chromebook : boot sequence after kernel

#35 Post by logikarios »

jguillen wrote:BTW I strongly recommend flashing c201 BIOS to LIBREBOOT.
Installing libreboot was a piece of cake compared to (trying) installing debian. Can you please expand on the part of
Xorg: Recompile x without config_vt, so that we work with the chrome-OS kernel.
of the workaround you mentioned?

Post Reply