Hi all, I've now managed to install and boot Parabola from microSD on the c201, but only (thus far) with the ChromeOS kernel that I extracted from the internal storage.
I simply followed the Arch instructions here: http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/rockchip/asus-chromebook-flip-c100p and then Parabola's migration instructions here[0]: https://wiki.parabola.nu/Migration_from_Arch_Linux_ARM#Install_Parabola_keyring_and_mirror_list ...down to (and excluding) "Bootloader configuration". I have since tried to find a way to boot without Google's kernel, but unsuccessfully. I learned a bit about the problem though: First I was surprised that normal installation images didn't work (I tried Debian 8) since I had actually disabled signature verification. After some research[1] however I learned that, despite this, the kernel (or its substitute, see below) needs to be configured in a particular way to be loaded. Then reading the following got me excited. "The ChromeOS firmware doesn't actually look at the kernel, it just looks for a ChromeOS-specific header that describes it. So if your custom kernel isn't actually a Linux kernel, but is a custom build of U-Boot that was packaged as though it was a Chromium OS kernel, the firmware will happily load it into RAM and jump to it. What happens next is up to you."[1] So I figured that if I could get hold of one of these U-Boot images, I'd be able to dd it into the existing ChromeOS kernel partition on my SD card and then load linux-libre from there. The chromium project does provide instructions[2] and even images for this, but for an earlier version, "snow" instead of "veyron". I tried both the nv_uboot-snow and nv_uboot-snow-simplefb images but they didn't work as I had hoped. Pressing Ctrl+U at the libreboot screen now gave me a silent black screen (and to get out I had to hold the power button to shut down). That was different from when I tried to boot normal installation images though, which always just result in a loud *beep*. Now, maybe this U-Boot method didn't work for other reasons. For example, my existing partition table doesn't contain /boot formatted with ext2 or FAT (as required by das U-Boot, apparently) but only kernel and root (the later with ext4). Still, the instructions[2] said that I should be able to open a U-Boot prompt by pressing and holding space and this didn't work. This is how far I got. I will continue to look for a solution but maybe someone else has an idea on what to try next. Thank you for your attention! Albin [0] Although I had to use different URLs for keyrings and mirror list. [1] https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/custom-firmware [2] https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/u-boot-porting-guide/using-nv-u-boot-on-the-samsung-arm-chromebook Den 2015-12-06 kl. 23:42, skrev Albin: > > > Den 2015-12-06 kl. 23:26, skrev Albin: >> Hi, >> >> Den 2015-12-06 kl. 12:46, skrev Paul Kocialkowski: >>> Hi, >>> >>> Le dimanche 06 décembre 2015 à 12:44 +0100, Albin a écrit : >>>> Den 2015-12-06 kl. 10:33, skrev Paul Kocialkowski: >>>>> Le samedi 05 décembre 2015 à 15:25 +0100, Albin a écrit : >>>>>> Den 2015-12-05 kl. 13:27, skrev Paul Kocialkowski: >>>>>>> Le samedi 05 décembre 2015 à 00:34 +0100, Albin a écrit : >>>>>>>> I just found another guide >>>>>>>> (https://gist.github.com/jcs/4bf59314d604538a5098) that mentions a step >>>>>>>> that's missing on libreboot.org: besides removing the write-protect >>>>>>>> screw one also has to run "flashrom --wp-disable". This should explain >>>>>>>> the permissions issue I had. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Can you confirm that this is the case (and that you were already using >>>>>>> the root account for your first report)? I didn't have to go through >>>>>>> this step when flashing, but maybe it is required the first time. >>>>>> >>>>>> Yes, I was using the root account for the first report. Now I've also >>>>>> tried to run the command "flashrom --wp-disable" which does output >>>>>> "SUCCESS". That did NOT help though because, just as before, the command >>>>>> "./cros-flash-replace flash.img coreboot ro-frid" results in: "bash: >>>>>> ./cros-flash-replace: Permission denied". >>>>> >>>>> Ahh I see, so "Permission denied" is not in all caps (which would have >>>>> looked like a flashrom error message). I bet this is shell complaining >>>>> because the script isn't executable. Try running: >>>>> chmod a+x cros-flash-replace >>>>> >>>>> before running it an everything should work fine. Maybe it would be >>>>> worth mentioning on the installation page. >>>>> >>>> >>>> I had already checked and tried to modify the permissions before asking >>>> on the email list. I get "Permission denied" despite executable >>>> permissions (that were already there), even with chmod 777. Isn't that >>>> strange? >>> >>> Maybe your filesystem doesn't allow execution (mounted with noexec?). >>> Perhaps try moving the files to the internal storage of the device >>> (instead of an external media that the system might mount with noexec), >>> or the opposite. >>> >> >> Problem solved; libreboot installed! >> >> I first inserted the SD card into a different computer and tried to run >> the script there but got the same error message. Then I copied over >> flash.img into the veyron_speedy directory that was created after the >> compilation process and ran the script from there as user. This worked >> fine and then I had no trouble installing libreboot on the chromebook >> using flashrom. >> >> It would be good to mention in the documentation that there can be a >> problem with execution rights. I had the same problem when trying to run >> the scrip both from the SD card and from the internal storage, i.e. >> after copying over the files from the SD card. > > I saw that you've added the following to the documentation: > "the cros-flash-replace script has to be made executable: # chmod a+x > cros-flash-replace. This did *not* help in my case (so maybe not for > others also) so I think it should say something else. By the way, the > circle around the write-protect screw on the image is white, not red as > said in the docs. > >> >> Now I only need to figure out how to install a functional GNU system and >> get rid of ChromeOS. Inserting a Debian installer (armhf) and pressing >> Ctrl+U results in a loud *beep* even with all the security features >> disabled. Do I need to prepare a custom installer image? >> >> Thanks! >> >> Albin >> >>>>>>>> Den 2015-12-04 kl. 23:49, skrev Albin: >>>>>>>>> Hi. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Tonight I tried to install libreboot onto an ASOS C201. I ran into a >>>>>>>>> number of difficulties that I managed to overcome (see the points >>>>>>>>> below, >>>>>>>>> my contribution to the docs), but then I got stuck at the point where >>>>>>>>> one is to run the cros-flash-replace script. The terminal keeps >>>>>>>>> returning PERMISSION DENIED. The file permissions, however, are the >>>>>>>>> same >>>>>>>>> as just after compilation and I've also removed The Screw as >>>>>>>>> instructed. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Does anyone have a clue what might be the problem? >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Cheers, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Albin >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Errors found in the documentation: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> 1. There are *eight* screws that need to be removed to open the >>>>>>>>> device, >>>>>>>>> not seven. There is (at least on my device) one also beneath the top >>>>>>>>> left pad. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> 2. You get into the TTY promt by pressing *Ctrl+Alt+Next*. >>>>>>>>> *Ctrl+Alt+Previous* is for exiting the promt. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> 3. The guide mentions first "cros-flash-replace" and then >>>>>>>>> "cros-firmware-replace": >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> "Then, the cros-flash-replace script has to be executed as such: >>>>>>>>> # ./cros-firmware-replace flash.img coreboot ro-frid" >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> By the way, shouldn't there be .img extensions after coreboot and >>>>>>>>> ro-frid? >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >> >
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