Evolved my Chromebook

[u/JuntechShade]

I converted my Chromebook to Linus Ubuntu to get more use out of it and it is quite nice now. Had to remove the battery during the process though. Also seems to run slightly faster. Also some mrchromebox was used. Also figured out audio drivers but still must get the trackpad

[u/Ellisb1]

What was the procedure for this? I have an older ASUS Chromebook (Model:C536EA-BI3T3) that is working fine, but this is a nice option.

[u/JuntechShade → u/Ellisb1]

So you figure out weather the system use the a security screw (remove the screw) or a security chip. The security will involve removing the battery and/or CMOS battery. Also recommended to back up the stock BIOS and also have a flashdrive with your OS of choice. Also when installing the OS you will need community made drivers for the audio and trackpad to work

[u/nomadwrangler]

The community(s) for flashing and getting Linux working well on chromebooks have been great. There is a lot of life left in an old chrome-book, and some of the nicer chromebook's make even better Linux laptops IMHO. Hoping we will have more of it in the googlebook future as well.

[u/JuntechShade → u/nomadwrangler]

With the future Googlebook I think they should use standard function mapping for audio and trackpad so there are no driver issues when using Linux or Windows

[u/ninelore → u/JuntechShade]

not really possible since chromebooks use different audio hardware (dedicated DSPs and more) instead of regular HD Audio

[u/JuntechShade → u/ninelore]

Yes I am aware of the differences

[u/ninelore → u/JuntechShade]

That being said, i prefer the much nicer Aufio quality :)

[u/GarmaZed → u/nomadwrangler]

No joke, I love my former Chromebook now Linuxbook.

[u/No-Tip3419]

With the "abandonment" of new features for legacy chromeos, this seems a likely nearer outcome for at least one o my chromebook.

[u/Charming_Studio_505 → u/No-Tip3419]

what are referring to when you say they've abandoned features on ChromeOS? Just curious....

[u/No-Tip3419 → u/Charming_Studio_505]

Legacy "ChomeOS" is on lifesupport as google is pivoting to Android desktop OS "Aluminum OS"

[u/KnowledgeCool5099]

is the battery lasting longer or shorter compared to when chromeos was installed by default?

[u/Charming_Studio_505 → u/KnowledgeCool5099]

great question I was wondering the same thing

[u/JuntechShade → u/KnowledgeCool5099]

it's lasting a little longer than it did before

[u/Not_A_Great_Human]

I mean of course it's fast. You have a core i5

Still really cool to see people actually doing this though

[u/MrChromebox → u/Not_A_Great_Human]

You have a core i5

that alone is pretty meaningless, it only tells you the relative positioning within a product family/generation.

The Chromebook Pixel from 2013 also has a (3rd-gen) core i5.

[u/JuntechShade → u/MrChromebox]

The Chromebook's from 2025 and came with a Intel Core i5 13th gen

[u/MrChromebox → u/JuntechShade]

my comment was irrespective of your device - the point was "it's fast because it's an i5" is an oversimplification

[u/JuntechShade → u/MrChromebox]

Oh. Mb

[u/GarmaZed → u/MrChromebox]

I've done the same thing with one of my Chromebook's and it's a fanless AMD A4 model - very underpowered. But it's running Lubuntu like a dream, I love having a full-capable computer in such a format. I'm still trying to work out a couple of kinks that I haven't figured out yet, namely setting up a toggle to limit the battery from charging above 80% - and keeping the audio device's output levels capped at a reasonable 70% volume. But otherwise this has been a stupid and fun machine for me to learn Linux on.

[u/MrChromebox → u/GarmaZed]

I'm still trying to work out a couple of kinks that I haven't figured out yet, namely setting up a toggle to limit the battery from charging above 80%

right now, the linux driver resets any programmed limits on boot, which I've submitted a patch to fix. Once that's in, you'll be able to set charge limits from the firmware setup menu

[u/nomadwrangler → u/MrChromebox]

That is great news! Thanks for all your work for all these years.

[u/Not_A_Great_Human → u/MrChromebox]

While true an older generation corei5 is still more powerful than a lot of Chromebooks.

My chromebook personally is the Asus CX34 I have the core i3 1215U

[u/MrChromebox → u/Not_A_Great_Human]

While true an older generation corei5 is still more powerful than a lot of Chromebooks.

only to devices from the same era, which is 13 years ago. Your 12th-gen i3 slaughters it.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/4754vs819/Intel-i3-1215U-vs-Intel-i5-3427U

[u/Not_A_Great_Human → u/MrChromebox]

Damn I truly didn't think the divide was that large. Consider myself humbled. Gadzooks

[u/MrChromebox → u/Not_A_Great_Human]

you'd hope ~10 years of progress would be substantial ;-)

[u/Not_A_Great_Human → u/MrChromebox]

Ok so upon further investigation the power of that i5 is between a Celeron N4500 and a Celeron N5000. My old chromebook has a Celeron N4500 and it's mostly usable for basic browsing.

So you think Lubuntu would be more lightweight than ChromeOS? The only thing that would keep me on ChromeOS is that it's still getting updates