2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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title: Debian Bookworm Install on a Samsung Chromebook Plus
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x-toc-enable: true
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System Configuration
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====================
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Hardware: Samsung Chromebook Plus XE513C24 (gru_kevin)
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Libreboot: 2023-04-23
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Operating System: Debian Bookworm RC2
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Note! As of this RC2 version of Debian Bookworm, the system automatically
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makes use of non-free firmware during install. If your intention is to avoid
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all non-free firmware you should avoid using Debian Bookworm or search for a
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downstream version of Debian Bookworm that strips out all non-free firmware.
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More info in the link below.
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[https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware](https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware)
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Install Media Preparation
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=========================
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Follow the Debian installation instructions in the link below:
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[https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/](https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/)
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At the time of this install Debian Bookworm RC2 was recommended on the download
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page and I selected the DVD image to have all the packages available when
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offline (3.7 gigabyte iso). See the notes below about alternately using the
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netinst version.
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[https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/bookworm_di_rc2/arm64/iso-dvd/](https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/bookworm_di_rc2/arm64/iso-dvd/)
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Write the iso file to a micro sdcard. Replace "sdcard_device" below
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with the appropriate device path on your system.
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```
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# dd if=debian-bookworm-DI-rc2-arm64-DVD-1.img of=/dev/sdcard_device bs=1M status=progress; sync
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```
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During the install the system automatically makes use of non-free firmware to
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activate the wireless network card. For this reason you could choose the
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netinst iso and download files as needed rather than using the DVD iso.
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Installation
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============
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1. Insert the micro sdcard into the slot on the Chromebook.
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2. Power on the Chromebook.
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The system automatically found an EFI image (efi/boot/bootaa64.efi), but after
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loading it the "Synchronous Abort" handler activated and the chromeboot would
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reboot.
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Since libreboot/uboot has a 2 second pause at the beginning to stop autoboot if
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desired I paused autoboot and it dropped me to the uboot command line. Per the
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2023-05-15 02:31:42 +00:00
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suggestion from alpernebbi on libreboot IRC I looked for the grub EFI image on
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the micro sdcard and started that up instead. Below are the series of uboot
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commands I used to understand the media and partition structure. Device 1 is
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the micro sdcard slot, and in this case the efi partition is 2.
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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```
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Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
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=> mmc list
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mmc@fe320000: 1
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mmc@fe330000: 0
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=> mmc dev 1
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switch to partitions #0, OK
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mmc1 is current device
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=> mmc part
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Partition Map for MMC device 1 -- Partition Type: DOS
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Part Start Sector Num Sectors UUID Type
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1 0 7766016 00000000-01 83
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2 7766016 15168 00000000-02 ef Boot
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=> ls mmc 1:2
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efi/
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168 ubootefi.var
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1 file(s), 1 dir(s)
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=> ls mmc 1:2 efi/boot
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./
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../
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872448 bootaa64.efi
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4289984 grubaa64.efi
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2 file(s), 2 dir(s)
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=>
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```
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The following two commands are the ones that were needed to boot the operating
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system.
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```
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2023-05-15 02:31:42 +00:00
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=> load mmc 1:2 $loadaddr efi/boot/grubaa64.efi
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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4289984 bytes read in 187 ms (21.9 MiB/s)
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=> bootefi $loadaddr
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```
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The grub text menu popped up at this point. See the screen shot below. I
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found the first option "Install" provided the easiest install experience as
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everything was in text mode and easy to read. The "Graphical install" worked
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also, however the screen resolution was so high that all the text and buttons
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were quite small on the display and harder to read.
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At this point the installation proceeded normally.
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Note that you will see a message during install asking whether you want to
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search for non-free firmware. My experience was that the system would use
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non-free firmware regardless what I selected in that dialogue. The system was
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able to connect wirelessly to the internet and download packages and updates as
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needed.
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2023-05-15 02:31:42 +00:00
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Some users have mentioned experiencing corruption of the first partition after
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installing Debian Bookworm on a Libreboot / uboot xe513c24 system. This is
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possibly due to the experimental nature of the libreboot / uboot system at this
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time.
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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2023-05-15 02:31:42 +00:00
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One potential workaround is to leave some unused space at the beginning of the
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drive before the first partition. This can be done by manually partitioning
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during install and configuring the first partition to start 100MB or so from
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the start of the drive.
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Also, per instructions from alpernebbi on IRC, when you arrive at the stage
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where the grub bootloader is installed take special note to select yes to the
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option to "Force installation to removable media path", and also say no to the
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option to "Update NVRAM variables". If one selects yes on updating NVRAM
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variables this can also lead to partition corruption in some instances.
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Lastly when rebooting into your new system you will likely experience the same
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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synchronous abort issue mentioned above. You can use the same method to pause
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the uboot script and drop to the uboot prompt to load and boot the grub efi
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2023-05-15 02:31:42 +00:00
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image. Depending on how you partitioned the internal emmc drive during
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install, the partition number may vary, but below are the applicable commands
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on my system. The internal device is 0, and the efi partition was 1.
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```
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=> load mmc 0:1 $loadaddr efi/boot/grubaa64.efi
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4289984 bytes read in 187 ms (21.9 MiB/s)
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=> bootefi $loadaddr
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```
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Once booted into your Debian Bookworm system you can open a shell as
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root and go to the boot efi path to copy the grubaa64.efi file and overwrite it
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onto the bootaa64.efi file.
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```
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# cd /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT
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# mv BOOTAA64.EFI BOOTAA64.EFI.bak
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# cp grubaa64.efi bootaa64.efi
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```
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By doing this the system will boot from uboot normally without needing to drop
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to the uboot prompt. This will only last until the next time debian updates
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grub though, so you may need to repeat this as a workaround for now.
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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Below are a couple screen shots of the installed system running from the
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internal emmc.
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System Functionality
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====================
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2023-05-11 08:24:15 +00:00
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Things that work:
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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* Wireless internet and bluetooth (due to non-free firmware)
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* Touch screen and stylus
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* Touchpad
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* Audio (Speakers and headphone jack)
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* Volume buttons on side of laptop.
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* Graphics (the open source panfrost driver is impressive)
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* Playing videos
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2023-05-11 08:24:15 +00:00
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Things that do not work:
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2023-05-09 03:44:21 +00:00
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* Powering off. You can shutdown in Debian and the system goes through the
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normal shut down sequence, but then remains on indefinitely (blue light on
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side near power button). You have to hold the power button down for 10
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seconds or so to completely power off the system.
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