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#26 2010-12-22 06:51:48

robbychen
Member
Registered: 2010-12-22
Posts: 1

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Does anyone know what is XItoCoreType?

Here is the entire output from Xorg.0.log about why syntp_drv.so doesn't load:

(II) LoadModule: "syntp"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/syntp_drv.so
dlopen: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/syntp_drv.so: undefined symbol: XItoCoreType
(EE) Failed to load /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/syntp_drv.so
(II) UnloadModule: "syntp"
(EE) Failed to load module "syntp" (loader failed, 7)

I have no idea what is the XItoCoreType. It only shows the source code on Google which doesn't have the code to define this symbol.

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#27 2010-12-22 07:00:56

vostok4
Member
Registered: 2010-12-16
Posts: 70

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

It looks like for 3G you'll need to dig a little deeper into cromo:

chromeos-base/cromo                           Chromium OS modem manager

Flimflam is something akin to netcfg I think:

chromeos-base/flimflam                        Provides a daemon for managing internet connections

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#28 2010-12-22 14:24:49

damis648
Member
Registered: 2010-01-25
Posts: 18

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

For changing brightness with the keys, did anybody come up with a good solution? I couldn't find any way to bind keys to changing the brightness, so I made two quick bash scripts:
brightnessup

#!/bin/bash
echo -n $((`grep current /proc/acpi/video/OVGA/DD02/brightness | cut -d" " -f2` + 10)) > /proc/acpi/video/OVGA/DD02/brightness

and brightnessdown

#!/bin/bash
echo -n $((`grep current /proc/acpi/video/OVGA/DD02/brightness | cut -d" " -f2` - 10)) > /proc/acpi/video/OVGA/DD02/brightness

I then bound F6 to 'sudo brightnessdown' and F7 to 'sudo brightnessup' and gave them both NOPASSWD in the sudoers file.

It's probably a stupid solution, but if anyone has some better ideas, let me know.

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#29 2010-12-22 14:36:15

gtklocker
Member
Registered: 2009-09-01
Posts: 462

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Right now, yeah, I become envious!

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#30 2010-12-22 16:23:49

vostok4
Member
Registered: 2010-12-16
Posts: 70

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Domis I have my brightness bound to that fake caps lock key + the brightness for keys on my keyboard,  bound through dwm. Same for volume etc. The caps lock key is xk_superl if anyone is wondering.

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#31 2010-12-23 18:17:16

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

For brightness I tried using xbacklight (in Ubuntu) to change the brightness, but found that binding keyboard shortcuts to "xbacklight -dec/inc 10" didn't work for some reason. My workaround was the following quick and dirty python script:
http://pastebin.com/gDEvFjua
To use it, bind a keyboard shortcut for raising the brightness (I'm using Mod4+F7, where Mod4 is the fake capslock) to run this script with the argument "up".
For example: /home/user/pyChangeBrightness.py up
And for lowering brightness: /home/user/pyChangeBrightness.py dn
Don't forget to replace "user" with your username, assuming you've saved the script in your home directory as pyChangeBrightness.py
I do find that it normally takes a few more times to raise the brightness the same level as decreasing it, but it's probably a bug in my script. Also, the script will take a preset brightness level to change from, but that's irrelevant for this use.

Still hoping for a solution to the touchpad issue....The two possible solutions I see are either 'porting' the drivers from Chrome OS, or forcing the kernel to recognise the touchpad as a regular "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" and using the built in 'synaptics' driver....

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#32 2010-12-26 01:25:35

Tito0096
Member
From: Las Vegas, NV
Registered: 2010-12-26
Posts: 1
Website

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Hey guys, I used the OP's post to mesh up a guide in the ubuntu forums after people where having troubles. Here it is: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1651290

I too am wanting to merge the kernels so things are fully functional with the other linux distro. The Synaptics drvier suite has to be in Chrome OS somewhere. My limited knowledge prevents me from doing anything my self. I was wondering if I could test something for anyone since the recovery stick can restore any problems that have occurred and make the CR-48 back to shipping status. Check the Ubuntu post for more details about it, and the more detailed guide.

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#33 2010-12-26 23:47:31

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Here's a workaround to get by with *some* kind of scrolling in the meantime. All it does is it uses wheel emulation to set the combination of holding right click and swiping up or down as vertical scrolling.
Note: this worked for me in Ubuntu, I can't really speak for Arch Linux, but the package mentioned is the successor of the previous package known as "gsynaptics" if that means anything to you.

If you install the package 'gpointing-device-settings' it will add a menu entry to System > Preferences called Pointing Devices.
It *should* list a device called "PS/2 Synaptics TouchPad".
What I did was enable wheel emulation and changed it to button 3 (which I believe is right click) and enabled vertical scroll. I left timeout and inertia default (inertia seems to be 0, timeout is fairly short) and left middle button emulation unchecked. This enables a regular right click when doing a 'hard' click in the bottom right corner without lingering, and if you hold the right click you can swipe a finger up or down to scroll. Granted, this isn't using the touchpad driver at all as this is supposed to be used for regular mice, but it's a start for getting by for now.

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#34 2010-12-27 21:36:21

tlp
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 3

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

pheonix7117 wrote:

Here's a workaround to get by with *some* kind of scrolling in the meantime. All it does is it uses wheel emulation to set the combination of holding right click and swiping up or down as vertical scrolling.

This works for me. I installed gpointing-device-settings from the AUR (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=25663) and it works as you described. Thanks for the tip! smile

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#35 2010-12-27 21:57:07

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Glad it helped :-)

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#36 2010-12-27 21:57:18

walmartshopper
Member
Registered: 2010-03-31
Posts: 37

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Rather than trying to get the 3G connection working, I tried tethering my phone over bluetooth.  However, the rfcomm kernel module apparently wasn't built with TTY support, so I couldn't bind to a device.  I also tried tethering over USB, but the chrome os kernel doesn't have any ppp support in the kernel, so that doesn't work either.

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#37 2010-12-28 00:28:38

nixbox
Member
Registered: 2010-12-28
Posts: 3

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

I was able to get a carrier signal on Gobi 2000 using wvdial on Arch, but  it fails when it invokes pppd, as there is no ppp_generic kernel module for the kernel that comes with Chrome.

I was not able to get the carrier until I did a factory reset using:

/opt/Qualcomm/bin/gobi-factory-reset 000000 

The only argument is 000000 which is supposed to be the SPC number.

Clearly, on Chrome OS something needs to do the job of pppd and flimflamd does that as it has a plugin

/usr/lib/flimflam/plugins/pppd.so

At this point, the only way to get the 3G going on Arch is to port atleast flimflamd to Arch and maybe cromo as well because there is interaction between them which setups the connection.

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#38 2010-12-28 02:06:10

damis648
Member
Registered: 2010-01-25
Posts: 18

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

I don't really know where to ask this, so I'll ask here: has anybody else tried to load any alternative bootloader on the device? Through some research, I found that that proper way to create a kernel partition is with vbutil_kernel in the chroot. Following this (http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chr … OS-devices) information I tried to load up a few different "kernels" (bootloaders, notably chameleon) to no avail (system just rebooted). I also tried to change the bootstub to a different EFI application (such as grub, which I built with every module built-in) which didn't work either (system got stuck at a black screen). I guess this just isn't possible, because from what I've read, the EFI doesn't pass all of the necessary handles to the loader?

Does anybody else have some experience with this? I don't really know what I'm doing.

EDIT: Also, trying to use some EFI loaders just kicks it into recovery mode...

Last edited by damis648 (2010-12-28 02:32:41)

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#39 2010-12-29 02:30:17

nixbox
Member
Registered: 2010-12-28
Posts: 3

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

damis648 wrote:

I don't really know where to ask this, so I'll ask here: has anybody else tried to load any alternative bootloader on the device? Through some research, I found that that proper way to create a kernel partition is with vbutil_kernel in the chroot. Following this (http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chr … OS-devices) information I tried to load up a few different "kernels" (bootloaders, notably chameleon) to no avail (system just rebooted). I also tried to change the bootstub to a different EFI application (such as grub, which I built with every module built-in) which didn't work either (system got stuck at a black screen). I guess this just isn't possible, because from what I've read, the EFI doesn't pass all of the necessary handles to the loader?

Does anybody else have some experience with this? I don't really know what I'm doing.

EDIT: Also, trying to use some EFI loaders just kicks it into recovery mode...


I have found that we can use vbutil_kernel to self-sign the kernel. After proper signing, theoretically, it should go through the verified boot procedure.

I have compiled a vanilla kernel with some modifications but cannot sign it as i do not have a 64-bit system to do a chromium os build. I will check if vbutil_kernel can be compiled separately and used.

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#40 2010-12-29 07:35:47

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

nixbox wrote:
damis648 wrote:

I don't really know where to ask this, so I'll ask here: has anybody else tried to load any alternative bootloader on the device? Through some research, I found that that proper way to create a kernel partition is with vbutil_kernel in the chroot. Following this (http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chr … OS-devices) information I tried to load up a few different "kernels" (bootloaders, notably chameleon) to no avail (system just rebooted). I also tried to change the bootstub to a different EFI application (such as grub, which I built with every module built-in) which didn't work either (system got stuck at a black screen). I guess this just isn't possible, because from what I've read, the EFI doesn't pass all of the necessary handles to the loader?

Does anybody else have some experience with this? I don't really know what I'm doing.

EDIT: Also, trying to use some EFI loaders just kicks it into recovery mode...


I have found that we can use vbutil_kernel to self-sign the kernel. After proper signing, theoretically, it should go through the verified boot procedure.

I have compiled a vanilla kernel with some modifications but cannot sign it as i do not have a 64-bit system to do a chromium os build. I will check if vbutil_kernel can be compiled separately and used.

If you had a 64bit machine, would that help? I have one available with the full Chromium environment set up....If I can be of help let me know, I just can't test it on my CR-48 right now (travelling tongue)

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#41 2010-12-30 09:23:27

nixbox
Member
Registered: 2010-12-28
Posts: 3

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

pheonix7117 wrote:
nixbox wrote:
damis648 wrote:

I don't really know where to ask this, so I'll ask here: has anybody else tried to load any alternative bootloader on the device? Through some research, I found that that proper way to create a kernel partition is with vbutil_kernel in the chroot. Following this (http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chr … OS-devices) information I tried to load up a few different "kernels" (bootloaders, notably chameleon) to no avail (system just rebooted). I also tried to change the bootstub to a different EFI application (such as grub, which I built with every module built-in) which didn't work either (system got stuck at a black screen). I guess this just isn't possible, because from what I've read, the EFI doesn't pass all of the necessary handles to the loader?

Does anybody else have some experience with this? I don't really know what I'm doing.

EDIT: Also, trying to use some EFI loaders just kicks it into recovery mode...


I have found that we can use vbutil_kernel to self-sign the kernel. After proper signing, theoretically, it should go through the verified boot procedure.

I have compiled a vanilla kernel with some modifications but cannot sign it as i do not have a 64-bit system to do a chromium os build. I will check if vbutil_kernel can be compiled separately and used.

If you had a 64bit machine, would that help? I have one available with the full Chromium environment set up....If I can be of help let me know, I just can't test it on my CR-48 right now (travelling tongue)

Thanks for the offer. PM'ed you.

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#42 2010-12-30 17:07:10

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Got it, emailed you back.
Once a vanilla kernel binary is signed, would that enable us to load a vanilla Ubuntu or Arch Linux kernel onto the Cr-48?

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#43 2010-12-31 15:00:01

damis648
Member
Registered: 2010-01-25
Posts: 18

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Could I ask if someone would be willing to send me a copy of their BIOS? It can be backed up using the flashrom utility (I'd recommend the svn version in the AUR):

sudo flashrom -r backup.bin

Thanks in advance for anyone who could send me this.

I'm doing research for a potentially modified BIOS which would work just like traditional BIOS, making installing any OS much easier. I'd also like some testers for that, if anyone is interested.

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#44 2010-12-31 16:44:05

rob356
Member
Registered: 2010-12-31
Posts: 8

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

So I have been messing around with linux on my CR-48 for a few days, mostly trying to get the touchpad to work, and here is what I have discovered:

  • All the problems stem from the fact that the touchpad is recognized as a pointer, not a touchpad, this prevents the normal synaptics driver from working. In ChromeOS the touchpad is still detected as a pointer, but the syntp driver is used.

  • I found the site where google hosts the pre-built stuff for specfic ChromeOS devices. They have packages for both the gobi device and the synaptics device. You can find it here.

  • From what I can determine the Synaptic driver installs three scripts in /etc/init. One discovers the touchpad and places it into "raw" mode using the serio_raw module. The second script does some d-bus stuff, and the third starts a "Synaptic Enhancement Daemon". It also places files in /opt/Synaptic. There are some utilities to see vaules for the touchpad, etc. Also the "syntp_drv.so" driver is placed in the xorg modules directory

  • I copied the mouse section from the ChromeOS xorg.conf to mine, so it would use the syntp driver. I am using ubuntu for this, and aparrantly they use xorg 1.9.0, and ChromeOS uses 1.7.6. I got an ABI version mis-match. I disabled ABI checking and the X server crashes when loading the module. I am thinking of trying out Arch so I could possibly downgrade Xorg to 1.7.6.

So I have come to a conclusion, there are two options:

  1. Easier: Downgrade Xorg and use the syntp driver

  2. Harder: Make Xorg recognize the touchpad as a touchpad and use the synaptics driver

Oh, and for the person asking about the BIOS, the code for the bootstub is here. And according to this section of the installing Ubuntu guide

The Chrome OS BIOS is a modified EFI BIOS. The bootstub is a standard EFI Application, but it's embedded in the kernel image in a dedicated partition type, rather than accessible through a FAT filesystem. To decrease boot time, the BIOS does not discover or pass the standard disk drive handles to the bootstub, so the bootstub doesn't know anything about disks or filesystems. There is also no Compatibility Support Module in the BIOS. In theory elilo or grub2 could replace the bootstub, but they would have to reimplement some of the device discovery functions normally done by an EFI BIOS.

If you want to take this on, go for it. That would let us create a kernel partition that just contained an EFI bootloader, which could then chain-boot to external USB drives, etc. That might be kind of cool.

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#45 2010-12-31 22:59:06

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Wow, that's a lot accomplished! :-)

I may be over-simplifying the issue, but it seems to me that (at least on the surface) the issue in your option #2 is merely that the device is detected as a "PS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" as opposed to the usual "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad". From a variety of Ubuntu threads and bug reports, it seems this is related to an issue with the new Synaptics "Clickpads" not being recognised appropriately. It seems to me that all that would need to be done is fix the parameters that determines if the device is indeed a Synaptics touchpad to include the identifier for these 'clickpads', which is what I *think* was done in the "synaptics-dkms" package I linked to in an early comment. The issue I had was that since it was a "dkms" package, it needs to recompile the modules into the kernel and thus requires the linux-headers for the kernel in use. As we're using the Chrome OS kernel, I didn't know of a way to install the appropriate linux-headers for it to get "synaptics-dkms" to install correctly.
Of course, with my limited knowledge that may be harder or more complicated than your #1, but those were my observations.

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#46 2011-01-01 22:26:18

rob356
Member
Registered: 2010-12-31
Posts: 8

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

I GOT THE TRACKPAD WORKING!!!!11!!!!!!!!111!!!!! big_smile
Everything works, two finger scrolling, tapping, all of it big_smile

I am using Ubuntu 10.10, but it should be even easier to do on Arch Linux.

It is kind of complicated, so I will be editing this post soon with a tutorial, but the basic idea is downgrade Xorg and configure it to use the syntp driver.

EDIT:
I decided to make a Cr-48 wiki and made the first page my instructions. I figured it would be easier for other people to get to, and anything else we discover can be added there.
Here is the link: http://cr-48.wikia.com Click on the "Getting the trackpad working in Ubuntu link.

Next Project, the Gobi, supposedly it has GPS too big_smile Source Kernel Patch

Last edited by rob356 (2011-01-02 00:08:52)

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#47 2011-01-02 19:23:35

pheonix7117
Member
Registered: 2010-12-21
Posts: 13

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Awesome! As I said on the wikia, I'll try it out when I'm done travelling (end of the week) and let you know how it works for me.
Thanks again!

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#48 2011-01-02 20:50:28

feld
Member
Registered: 2010-12-19
Posts: 3

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

In case you guys didn't know someone posted on the SomethingAwful forums a BIOS you can flash smile Apparently a CR-48 was shipped with a stock BIOS and a Japanese/Chinese copy of Windows 7. He ripped the BIOS and you can flash it with flashrom and then you can install any OS you want on the CR-48.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?hthdi433l4qfv05

There's the BIOS.

**NOTE**
You cannot flash the bios unless you remove the bottom half of the laptop (all the screws in the battery bay and under the rubber feet) and pull the laptop apart. There's something that prevents flashing the BIOS unless you do this.

Enjoy smile

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#49 2011-01-03 00:57:16

vostok4
Member
Registered: 2010-12-16
Posts: 70

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

Does removing the chrome bios allow you to use the entire disk? Ie install grub to sda root and have a 16gb disk with an arch kernel?

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#50 2011-01-03 01:14:38

damis648
Member
Registered: 2010-01-25
Posts: 18

Re: HOWTO: Installing Arch Linux on Google Cr-48 netbook

The new BIOS works just like a standard PC bios. (It also has UEFI capabilities). I wrote a guide to flashing it here:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index. … pic=241376

With this new BIOS, you can install any linux distro like normal. In ubuntu, the trackpad words out of the box with the synaptics driver.

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