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I have an Acer C720, with a 64 gb SSD, in which I would like to install Ubuntu. But I don't want the "crouton" version. If I follow the directions from here (https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/764181-how-to-install-linux-on-an-acer-c720-chromebook) will I get a "real" version of Ubuntu? If not how should I proceed?

Thanks

Elisa
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    Yes that link will get you the real version which is called Chrubuntu. I did that on my Chromebook HP 14 – Jonathan Jul 02 '15 at 22:22
  • I've updated my answer to address Bodhi's new Chromebook distro – Jonathan Jul 28 '15 at 21:10
  • I have installed "real Ubuntu" (Chrubuntu as well as plain ordinary Ubuntu) on Acer 720 with a 128GB SSD. Both works. If you want to erase the ChromeOS (after making recovery SD/USB) and make it a full-time Ubuntu-book, then go with plain Ubuntu 15.04 (or later). Please update your question if you want to delete ChromeOS and install Ubuntu on the whole SSD. – user68186 Jul 28 '15 at 21:21
  • Follow http://www.newchromebook.com/guide/c720-permanent-linux-laptop-turorial-1-of-3/ if you want to convert the C720 Chromebook to an Ubuntu-book. Use Ubuntu 15.04 instead of 13.04. – user68186 Jul 28 '15 at 21:37

3 Answers3

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The real version of Ubuntu on Chromebook is called Chrubuntu.

I have done this, and even got it working great, but after a few months it wouldn't boot. There's no way I can tell you how to do it in one post. Go for it, but remember it's imperfect. Here's the most important resource:

reddit.com/r/chrubuntu

However, I'm going to say that you shouldn't do this. It's a hassle (think 8 hours of setup time), when another distro now supports Chromebooks out of the box. You can use pendrive linux's universal installer to install the Chromebook flavor of Bodhi linux, and you'll find yourself probably much more at ease

Make sure you get the chromebook flavor: http://bodhilinux.com Of course you still have to configure the Chromebook itself to allow it: http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2014/01/howto-bodhi-linux-on-acer-c720.html

Jonathan
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You need to enable developer mode and then enable legacy boot. Then, enable boot from USB. Then, do a standard Ubuntu 15.04 install with a flash drive. This process will delete ChromeOS.

Merlin04
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As far as I can establish by quickly examining the script, yes. The script downloads a base Ubuntu version from:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/$ubuntu_version/release/ubuntu-core-$ubuntu_version-core-$ubuntu_arch.tar.gz

where $ubuntu_arch and $ubuntu_version are the Ubuntu arch and version specified/needed.

However, it then modifies bits, presumably to make it work on Chromebooks. This seems to include settings for the touchpad, setting up software repos (mainly those used in standard Ubuntu), and making a patched kernel (using this amongst other things), as well as flashing new firmware.

So parts like the kernel and hardware/driver configuration may not be the same as in the 'standard' Ubuntu versions, but are necessary to make it work on Chrombooks. The software (desktop, applications & programs etc) used should for the most part be exactly the same as available in standard Ubuntu installs as I think is uses the normal repositories.

Wilf
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    Since kernel 3.19 and above all the Acer 720 hardware work out of the box. There is no need for that part of the Chrubuntu script any more. However, one needs the first part of the script to shrink the statefull ChromeOS partitions to make room for Ubuntu if one wants to dualboot. Otherwise Coreboot notes that the ChromeOS partition has been tampered with and won't let ChromeOS boot from the shrunk partition. Once the script creates the new partition, one can reboot from Live USB and choose Something else and install Ubuntu in /dev/sda7. – user68186 Aug 03 '15 at 16:21