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Kerry Liu edited this page Jan 6, 2016 · 12 revisions

Welcome to the Dell Chromebook 13 guide for running Linux natively!

OK, well it's more like tips for installing Linux on a Dell Chromebook. If this is your first time installing linux on a chromebook, I suggest you use this "guide" more as a supplement as I may have omitted something obvious. The order that this guide goes in is roughly (See sidebar): Enable Legacy Boot -> Linux Installation -> Keyboard, Trackpad, and Other Tweaks.

Before you begin, you should make sure that you have the following:

  • A backup of the ChromeOS operating system which came pre-installed in case something goes wrong.
  • You claimed your free Google goodies.
  • A usb/sd card image of the Linux distro you wish to install.

I currently have Arch Linux with Gnome installed on my Chromebook, though most popular distros should install and run perfectly fine.

Issues and gripes that I currently have are:

  • Very, very small amount of white noise when sound is turned on, only noticeable to me when I have headphones plugged in.
  • Caps lock is now Super key.
  • Even with the keyboard tweaks, I'm still getting used to all the different shortcuts.
  • Other than two finger scrolling, there aren't many multi-finger gestures for the trackpad.
  • I keep hitting the power button when I want to use the non-existent Delete key.
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