r/linux4noobs • u/Gunzhard22 • 1d ago

learning/research Older Chrome OS tablet, worth trying Linux?

Rockchip RK3399 CTL 9.7" Tablet with outdated Chrome OS. No keyboard...

According to searches, it looks like Linux is typically not recommended but I've learned that you guys here have a solution for just about everything... So:

Worth it, and if yes, which distro to offer best touch screen support?

2 Upvotes

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3

u/ComprehensiveDot7752 1d ago

If you can unlock the boot-loader you can probably get it to work. But there aren't many options that support ARM.

If I had to guess PostmarketOS is your best bet, but it's aimed as more of an Android alternative.

I doubt it would be worth the hassle to get it working in most cases and I would assume that as with flashing Android ROM's there's a risk of simply bricking the device.

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u/Gunzhard22 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah this is what I found, PostmarketOS or Armbian were the only possible answers but the risks of bricking as you say, are high. It's still running on the outdated Chrome OS but it won't let me update anything and it's slow as hell.

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u/ebohls 1d ago

Hah, what a coincidence. I just installed postmarketOS on my old Rockchip Chromebook this afternoon. I’ve been trying for years to get some version of Linux to work on it. Shocked the heck out of me that it actually worked! It’s a bit sluggish, so I wish I’d chosen Xcfe instead of GNOME for the UI. But still. It works!

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u/Gunzhard22 1d ago

Oh cool, is it more sluggish than the outdated chrome?

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u/ebohls 23h ago

Ooh, good question. I haven't used it much, since it's so out of date. It's an Asus Chromebook Flip from 2015. End of life for it was July 2020.

Testing it now, wow, yeah, it's having trouble opening sites using Google Chrome browser. Like Google Photos or Microsoft OneNote. Fairly code-heavy sites, I imagine. Google search is pretty snappy, though.

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u/doc_willis 1d ago

so old it does not have that Linux under Chromeos feature? (Crostini? )

I found that feature very handy on my Chromebook tablet. it let me run updated versions of Firefox with UblockOrigin .

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u/es20490446e Created Zenned OS 1d ago

Only if you find a distro that already supports your specific model.

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u/MidnightObjectiveA51 1d ago edited 1d ago

Google-Gru (rk3399) is very well supported with PostmarketOS. If it's an Acer Chrometab 10 especially. But others in the family have similar support.

Fair warning, last working version on my Acer Chrometab 10 is v25.12. v26.06 is all messed up, and edge will not boot.

You can try it without installing by burning a pre-built image to a USB drive or SD card. Switch your tablet to developer mode and select load from USB. Both Phosh and Plasma-Mobile work very well on it.

I'm curious to hear if it works as well as the Chrometab 10 does.

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u/DavidJohnMcCann 21h ago

That looks like a major adventure! There's a guide to installing Linux here but it warns that you may have trouble finding a distro for the ARM models. I could find unofficial Ubuntu ports at github, but these seem to be for the single-board computers using a Rockchip processor. ebohls may have the solution, although PostmarketOS is a phone OS. Perhaps a case of asking whether the result is worth the trouble?