Google Chromebooks with x64 CPU (google-x64cros)
![]() Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook (11IGL05) ("Google Lick") running postmarketOS | |
Manufacturer | |
---|---|
Name | Chromebooks with x64 CPU |
Codename | google-x64cros |
Type | generic |
Hardware | |
Chipset | Various x86_64 |
Architecture | x86_64 |
Software | |
Original software | ChromeOS |
FOSS bootloader | yes |
postmarketOS | |
Category | community |
Pre-built images | yes |
This device allows postmarketOS to run on x86_64 ChromeOS boards by using its verified boot mechanism.
Contributors
Based on the Generic x64 UEFI device port contributed by:
And ChromeOS-specific postmarketOS integration by:
Installation
See Chrome OS devices page.
Bios
There are three types of bios you can use with x86_64 Chromebooks. The default ChromeOS Depthcharge payload for Coreboot, the Tianocore payload for Coreboot, or the odd Legacy Boot implementation.
Depthcharge
The default bios that comes with Chromebooks are perfectly fine for usage with postmarketOS as long as they use the Depthcharge Coreboot payload (most Chromebooks do). The only downside of using this bios is that Google does not update these bios often, and if you device is unsupported by ChromeOS anymore you will most likely never get another bios update.
Tianocore
This bios implementation requires the usage of MrChromebox's Firmware Utility Script to work. This is a tool unaffiliated with postmarketOS, and as such YMMV. |
An alternative UEFI implementation for Chromebooks is Tianocore, provided by MrChromebox. This bios does get updates, unlike Depthcharge, as it is a community effort. This makes booting Linux much easier on Chromebooks and even allows for the booting of "normal" distros such as Fedora or Ubuntu. The only downside to Tianocore over the stock bootloader is that it will be unable to load stock ChromeOS after flashing, but ChromiumOS and ChromeOS Flex still work fine.
Legacy Boot
This bios implementation requires the usage of MrChromebox's Firmware Utility Script to work. This is a tool unaffiliated with postmarketOS, and as such YMMV. |
This was the de-facto method of booting Linux on Chromebooks before upstream Tianocore was ported. This method doesn't work in postmarketOS. It is recommended to use MrChromebox's Firmware Utility Script to flash a new version to fix the many bugs that vendors left. It is not recommended to use this method as Tianocore is much easier to use and less likely to break.
Common Issues
Audio
There are reports of people damaging the speakers while tinkering with audio stuff on various Chromebooks. This includes ARM ones, but those are ported and tested per-device to be safe. Although this generic port doesn't add any configuration beyond what upstream projects do, those upstream configurations may or may not be safe to run on your specific device.
See also
- pmaports!3862 Initial merge request