88 lines
4.0 KiB
HTML
88 lines
4.0 KiB
HTML
|
<p>As I had mentioned in a previous post about ARM boards, I have
|
||
|
|
recently acquired an ASUS C201P chromebook which I have started to use
|
||
|
|
more on a daily basis. The advantages of this laptop is that it can be
|
||
|
|
run with completely free/libre software, firmware, and drivers -
|
||
|
|
although you will need a wifi adapter to avoid the proprietary wifi
|
||
|
|
card, which is kind of crap anyways. You can find the information on how
|
||
|
|
to libreboot it
|
||
|
|
<a
|
||
|
|
href="https://libreboot.org/docs/install/c201.html"
|
||
|
|
target="_blank" >
|
||
|
|
here
|
||
|
|
</a>
|
||
|
|
(I had a hard time finding this, so you're welcome). It's
|
||
|
|
actually quite a simple process, and unlike other laptops where you
|
||
|
|
require all kinds of hardware flashes to install libreboot, on this the
|
||
|
|
only hardware manipulation you need is to take out a screw...
|
||
|
|
literally.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Then, once you have libreboot installed, you just have to install the
|
||
|
|
Linux distro. I personally prefer Arch-based distros, so that's what I
|
||
|
|
tried to install. Luckily ArchLinuxARM exists. Now one option you have
|
||
|
|
is to install the distro on an external SD card, which is what the
|
||
|
|
<a
|
||
|
|
href="https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/rockchip/asus-chromebook-flip-c100p"
|
||
|
|
target="_blank" >
|
||
|
|
installation guide
|
||
|
|
</a>
|
||
|
|
shows you how to do. However, what I wanted to do - and what I've done -
|
||
|
|
is to install it on the internal eMMC.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>So, why would you want to install your OS onto the internal eMMC?
|
||
|
|
Firstly, so you don't have to manually tell the laptop to boot into the
|
||
|
|
external SD slot every time you boot up, for fear of accidentally
|
||
|
|
booting into the horror that is ChromeOS. But secondly because the
|
||
|
|
internal eMMC is much faster than your external SD, so startup speeds
|
||
|
|
are very nice.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>One option you have in order to install a Linux distro onto the eMMC
|
||
|
|
is to use something like
|
||
|
|
<a
|
||
|
|
href="https://github.com/SolidHal/PrawnOS"
|
||
|
|
target="_blank" >
|
||
|
|
PrawnOS
|
||
|
|
</a>
|
||
|
|
which is built specifically for the ASUS C201. However, this is debian
|
||
|
|
based. However, simply using the ArchLinuxARM instructions verbatim that
|
||
|
|
are meant for an external SD on the eMMC is not going to work either -
|
||
|
|
trust me, I've tried. So I was considering what the rest of my laptop's
|
||
|
|
life was gonna be like, having to always be ready to press the right key
|
||
|
|
combination on startup for fear of booting into an OS so bad, it's only
|
||
|
|
slightly better than Windows. That was, until I remembered that I had a
|
||
|
|
friend who had installed PrawnOS on his ASUS C201's eMMC. Why was this
|
||
|
|
important? It meant that I could see how PrawnOS partitions the eMMC,
|
||
|
|
and simply copy that.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Therefore, if you want to install ArchLinuxARM on the eMMC, you've
|
||
|
|
got to use the following partition setup:</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<code>
|
||
|
|
Disk /dev/mmcblk2: 14.7 GiB, 15762194432 bytes, 30785536 sectors<br />
|
||
|
|
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes<br />
|
||
|
|
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes<br />
|
||
|
|
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes<br />
|
||
|
|
Disklabel type: gpt<br />
|
||
|
|
Disk identifier: 5CD647E1-DAD1-4E4A-B9D5-F87D00D1DCAE<br />
|
||
|
|
<br />
|
||
|
|
Device Start End Sectors Size Type<br />
|
||
|
|
/dev/mmcblk2p1 20480 86015 65536 32M ChromeOS kernel<br />
|
||
|
|
/dev/mmcblk2p2 86016 30785501 30699486 14.7G Microsoft basic data<br />
|
||
|
|
</code>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>The main thing you gotta pay attention to here are the sectors.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Anyways, you're almost done. The only thing that's left is... to
|
||
|
|
compile a custom kernel. Yup, wasn't gonna be that easy. Luckily,
|
||
|
|
there's a guy who setup a <code>PKGBUILD</code> that builds everything
|
||
|
|
for you more or less automatically. Although I will warn you that it has
|
||
|
|
a lot of drivers disabled, such as the Atheros ones. So if you want
|
||
|
|
those enabled you'll have to uncomment a line in the
|
||
|
|
<code>PKGBUILD</code> file that says <code>make menuconfig</code> so
|
||
|
|
that during the build process you can enable the needed drivers or
|
||
|
|
modules. And trust me, there are a lot of them you may want to
|
||
|
|
enable.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>After this, if I haven't forgotten anything, it should work... I
|
||
|
|
hope. At least it works for me.</p>
|
||
|
|
|