Ubuntu Unity ARM Chromebook Port

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1

Hello Rudra Saraswat (@rs2009), I made a port of Ubuntu Unity to the Kukui baseboard line of ARM Chromebooks. I just imaged my creation into a new flashable image. The official website with instructions install this image is located at https://chromebook-unity.github.io. Since only one device is currently tested, I need testers with Mediatek MT8183 Chromebooks. Some feedback from testers would also be awesome and make this port better. The supported devices for the port are listed below.

And also, @rs2009, thank you for inspiring me to port Ubuntu Unity at the young age of 11 :slight_smile:

Note: This image is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

tested systems - working

  • hp chromebook 11a - kappa

untested systems

  • lenovo ideapad duet 10.1 chromebook - krane
  • acer chromebook spin cp311-3h - juniper
  • lenovo ideapad 3 chromebook 14 inch (mt8183 version) - fennel14
  • lenovo ideapad flex 3 chromebook (mt8183 version) - fennel
  • asus chromebook flip cm3 (mt8183 version) - damu
  • asus chromebook cm3 - kakadu
  • acer chromebook 314 (cb314-2h/cb314-2ht) - cozmo
  • acer chromebook 311 - kenzo
  • lenovo 10e chromebook tablet - kodama
  • asus chromebook detachable cz1 - katsu
  • acer chromebook 311 (c722/c722t) - willow
  • asus chromebook cz1 - cerise
  • asus chromebook flip cz1 - stern
  • hp chromebook x360 11mk g3 ee - burnet
  • lenovo 100e chromebook (mt8183 version) - makomo
6 Likes
2

GREAT work! This is really good.

I’ve poked Rudra so he sees this. Just allow me to say: keep it up! I started in the project at 13, all it takes is persistence. :slight_smile:

3

Thanks! Rudra saw this and messaged me on another post.

If you have a supported Chromebook, feel free to test this image :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

Hi everybody,
I am releasing Ubuntu 23.10 this week (if everything goes well) and 24.04 when it releases.

I am still looking for testers, so if you have any Kukui baseboard Chromebook please reply.

I will ask hexdump0815 since he does have a few Kukui Chromebooks.

5

Hi everybody,

Ubuntu Unity Chromebook Edition 23.10 has officially released!

Visit chromebook-unity.github.io for install instructions.

6

It would be really nice and important too to get Ubuntu’s work great on Chromebooks. I wonder what’s the current situation and experience overall just right now :thinking:

7

This is amazing!

Downloaded the 23.10 version, put it on an sd-card, booted it on my Lenovo Ideapad Chromebook 3 (fennel14) ( CTRL-U on Login after enabling developer mode and usb boot) and it boots! Quickly checked some details:
Working out of the box: webcam, sound/video playback
glxinfo: hardware accelerated on Mali-G72 - yeah!
Not working: Wifi device doesn’t seem to be found - need to look into that

Anyhow this is encouraging! Thank you for doing this, this is great and just what I have been searching for quite a while now.

8

Thanks for reporting the wifi issue! I will try my best to look into it. However, wifi is working on my kappa. Can you try the 22.04 version and let me know? If that doesn’t work, delete /etc/resolv.conf with sudo, reboot, and connect to the internet again.

9

The 22.04 version has Wifi working out of the box and everything else seems fine as well.

On the 23.10 I deleted resolv.conf and rebooted - no change. iwconfig reports no wifi devices, so I assume something is missing in the 23.10 kernel (or modules) that was still there for 22.04.

This is even more encouraging. I will wait for the 24.04 version before replacing ChromeOS on the harddrive - but my hopes to free this little computer are really up now.

Thank you!

I will compare the output of lsmod on both images - maybe that will tell us something about the missing wifi driver on the 23.10 version.

10

Hi @bruzo,
I have some good news. When I tested the new 24.04 beta release, wifi has somehow fixed itself. If everything related to the 24.04 release goes to plan, expect a new image 1-2 weeks after release.

Thanks,
Aneesh

1 Like
11

And also, the kernel will be updated to a newer version. Also, thank hexdump0815 for the kernel and image. I only did the desktop part.

12

I’ll definitely check it out!

13

Hi all,

Due to the issues, I had some kernel & package issues that got solved, but it caused a ~2 month delay for this release. I will release the new image tomorrow once upload and updating links is done.

Thanks,
Aneesh

14

No worries about delays!

It has been fun already to play around with the 22.04 image. Thanks to you and finding your webpage I have a nicely configured system now on my chromebook - which is my perfect little travel computer now.

I will check out any images you upload and give feedback!

15

Most things work out of the box in Intel/AMD chromebooks and sound works after installing a sound script from github. See https://askubuntu.com/q/1468964/124466

On ARM, most things work, except GPU acceleration.