Chromebook Acer C720P getting Google Play Store with Chrome OS 65+ recovery from USB.

[nabil2000]

Google Chrome OS R74 is out- crostini sound?

Will Linux crostini sound finally sorted with Chrome OS R74 latest release? testing soon...

Using ATB v72 chromefied already internal SSD, from ATB v72 USB...

$ sudo bash chromefy2.1.sh /dev/sda3 chromeos_11895.95.0_nocturne_recovery_stable-channel_mp.bin swtpm.tar
no & no

$ sudo bash chromefy2.1.sh /dev/sda3 chromeos_11895.95.0_eve_recovery_stable-channel_mp.bin chromeos_11895.95.0_caroline_recovery_stable-channel_mp.bin
yes & no

first impressions -
webstore camera has been removed - fully replaced by Android camera migration...
camera took time to initialise, needed to have Android reactivated...
camera is laggy, so probably no hardware acceleration
I preferred webstore camera for picture quality - loads in a window - camera migration takes whole screen from camera app...
not impressed by camera - it works though

next check crostini sound...

On Acer Iconia W700 - eve 74 is extremely laggy - maybe the slow USB stick - will further test with a faster USB stick... also had to powerwash...

using faster USB 3.0 stick -
crostini sound works -
using Open with GNOME MPV gives a small window rendering video
using Open with mpv Media Player gives a bigger & decent window viewing experience -
I had to use lower density to stop video lag - this is on Acer Iconia W700 which has reasonable CPU/Intel graphics specs for Windows 10 & Ubuntu 18.04 -
quality is same or better than Chrome OS native video player app.
struggles in Android with VLC, & crashes...

 

[nabil2000]

camera & camera migration

What I said earlier on camera migration & camera is not fully correct -

Full screen camera migration has become the default, but if you disable camera from Android settings, then you get what used to be webstore camera -
which means they have been integrated, depending on the app using them, either of them will be invoked.

I thought that little "discovery" deserved an entry

Also variation between eve & cyan -

In cyan the native default is windowed not migration,
camera migration can be accessed from apps that require it, such as Skype.

In eve it's reversed, the default is camera migration,
web camera (used to be installable from webstore) is invoked by web browser cameras, or if camera is disabled from Android camera settings.

 

[Hnk1]

Great job! I can try your advice one day with FydeOS 6.1 - did you get WiFi too, I tried but there was no WiFi for me even though it's Acer C720P...
(maybe because I did not boot to FydeOS 6.1 first before chromefying?, i just chromefied after imaging)

Also, just for lolz I tested with FydeOS 5.3.1 & I did manage to get camera migration & everything else working using an old USB install I had for Intel Compute Stick, so it is possible...
in this case it was FydeOS 5.3.1 with cyan 73 / caroline 73 (& without resizing the /dev/sdb3 partition)

Everything works including WIFI. Compared to fyde5.31 with cyan71 Caroline 71, above settings Fyde6.31 takes 2-3s more.
Gaming which I do via psx emulator and mame, heavy games like Tekken tag tournament lag a bit more.

Other than that, no issues with Fydeos6.31

 

[nabil2000]

Everything works including WIFI. Compared to fyde5.31 with cyan71 Caroline 71, above settings Fyde6.31 takes 2-3s more.
Gaming which I do via psx emulator and mame, heavy games like Tekken tag tournament lag a bit more.

Other than that, no issues with Fydeos6.31

Lucky you - for some odd reason I could not get WiFi on Acer Iconia W700 - so had to resort to replace /dev/sdb12 syslinux/vmlinuz.A by the one from ATB v72 - it then works perfectly...

I like to use Acer I W700 because it is a hybrid tablet, & is more performant than Acer C720P.

What I found out was that one needs a fast SSD with a good USB3.0 to SSD controller to get maximum performance.

 

[nabil2000]

Enjoying Netflix with vanilla kernel, ROOT-A original partition

Using script of post 1 that keeps Acer Chromebook R11 cyan original kernel & root partition has advantages,

one of which is to be able to run Netflix in Android, which I enjoy membership to...

one caveat - no camera migration,

so I got a decent performing usb 3.0 stick just in case I want to play Netflix videos on Acer CB C720P in Android...

everything else works, just that ROOT-A is vanilla & kernel is Google 3.18 shipping kernel.

Acer CB R11 is closest to Acer CB C720P that has Android 7.1.1 & crostini.

Same above should apply for Acer Iconia W700 - but the ROM is now auron_paine, not cyan - Acer CB C740 is closest to Acer Iconia W700 - the kernel is 3.14, so no crostini, & probably no camera migration either...

Example - for Acer Iconia W700 - on USB /dev/sdc with ATB v72 -

$ image_file=chromeos_11895.95.0_auron-paine_recovery_stable-channel_paine-mp-v2.bin
$ rootfs_start="`cgpt show -i 3 -n -b -q $image_file`"
$ rootfs_size="`cgpt show -i 3 -n -s -q $image_file`"
$ mkdir chrome_efi_mount
$ sudo mount /dev/sdc12 chrome_efi_mount -t vfat
$ mkdir chromium_efi_mount
$ sudo mount -ro loop,offset=$((`cgpt show -i 12 -n -b -q $image_file`*512)) $image_file chromium_efi_mount
$ sudo cp chromium_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B chrome_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B -f
$ sudo cp chromium_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B chrome_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.A -f
$ sudo umount chrome_efi_mount
$ sudo umount chromium_efi_mount
$ sudo dd if=$image_file of=/dev/sdc3 bs=512 skip=$rootfs_start count=$rootfs_size

 

[Hnk1]

Lucky you - for some odd reason I could not get WiFi on Acer Iconia W700 - so had to resort to replace /dev/sdb12 syslinux/vmlinuz.A by the one from ATB v72 - it then works perfectly...

I like to use Acer I W700 because it is a hybrid tablet, & is more performant than Acer C720P.

What I found out was that one needs a fast SSD with a good USB3.0 to SSD controller to get maximum performance.

I also had a breakthrough with camera migration with 7.1 android and linux but no google assistant.
this is the best combination which works in my opinion

Using Fyde 6.1 as base with chromefy once with nocturne 74
Then chromefying it with cyan 73 and caroline 73

I cooked this as my previous instructions by copying all the files in my ssd

End result, camera migration working out of the box and it has no lag or anything. Everything works good and better performance than my previous cooking which had android 9 with google assistant. This also fixes the keyboard which I changed in my previous build so I am back to STOCK keyboard layout as well. I prefer this build more. dd 'd it to my ssd and using it !



Unfortunately ATB 72 using the special builds did not yield any camera migration but it seems faster than fyde in my opinion. Maybe when I do the next cooking , I can find some other ways to get camera migration working,

Also, I tried camera migration by booting in Linux but the files I am changing do not seem to have any affect on camera migration.

 

[nabil2000]

I also had a breakthrough with camera migration with 7.1 android and linux but no google assistant.
this is the best combination which works in my opinion

Using Fyde 6.1 as base with chromefy once with nocturne 74
Then chromefying it with cyan 73 and caroline 73

I cooked this as my previous instructions by copying all the files in my ssd

End result, camera migration working out of the box and it has no lag or anything. Everything works good and better performance than my previous cooking which had android 9 with google assistant. This also fixes the keyboard which I changed in my previous build so I am back to STOCK keyboard layout as well. I prefer this build more. dd 'd it to my ssd and using it !

Unfortunately ATB 72 using the special builds did not yield any camera migration but it seems faster than fyde in my opinion. Maybe when I do the next cooking , I can find some other ways to get camera migration working,

Also, I tried camera migration by booting in Linux but the files I am changing do not seem to have any affect on camera migration.

I only use ATB v72 special build as base for my final outcomes - for eve 74 - I get google assistant (which I do not use or need) & camera migration.

For camera migration you need to make sure to have the camera Vendor_ID : Device_ID in its config file
/etc/camera/camera_characteristics.conf
camera0.module0.usb_vid_pid=Vendor_ID : Device_ID
example:
camera0.module0.usb_vid_pid=04f2:b335

then disable Android camera from Android settings
run Chrome OS camera
re-enable Android camera from Android settings
test
maybe needs reboot too.
It takes time to activate, needs Android fully activated, had to remove Android & put it back...

FydeOS 6.1 does not have swtpm proxy module, so I do not use it.
A way around my FydeOS 6..1 issues is to copy over ATB v72 kernel & modules, but why bother when using ATB v72 proper is good enough.

mini-challenge -
get camera migration working in Macbook Air

camera is only recognised as Built-In in Macbook Air
to get vend_id : prod_id I had to use windows
on eve disabling Android camera gives webcam working ok
camera within android (migration) I couldn't get...

 

[Gnissa68]

Is this still viable? I just purchased an ACER Chromebook C720p from amazon.

 

[Hnk1]

Is this still viable? I just purchased an ACER Chromebook C720p from amazon.

yes, see the guides @nabil2000 and I have posted.
You will find them very helpful. I have step by step guide as well. In case you still need help, let me know!


For those who are looking for dell chromebook 11 WOLF, i just had a breakthrough with it as well.
FydeaOS 7.1 chromefied once with nocturne75
then using that chromefied image with cyan75 and caroline75.

End result, everything working even camera in android for dell CB 11 .

 

[Ringot2326]

It is asking for a password.

 

[nabil2000]

caroline

caroline has been removed from recovery.conf

anyone has the last chrome OS caroline image before it was removed? upload or give link please.

 

[Hnk1]

caroline has been removed from recovery.conf

anyone has the last chrome OS caroline image before it was removed? upload or give link please.

do you mean the caroline75 ? I can download it fine. If you want the link, I can upload it to my mega and quote you here.

Wondering if anyone has had any luck with the ASUS C302? I have been waiting (im)patiently for official support for Linux apps so when I came across this I was super excited to try it out! But, I have no sound at all on my ASUS C302 using Arnold the bat or FydeOS as a base, and I think it is the same if I boot from a Cloudready live USB. Either way, thank you for this as it's an amazing method to get old unsupported hardware up and running on what has become a pretty versatile platform!

Were you able to fix your device sound issue ? If yes, how did you do that?

I have recently got an Acer CB3 131 and can not get sound to work as well. Found a way to fix it on linux but nothing yet on CB.
@nabil2000
do you have any idea how to import drivers from one device to another ? From my understanding, the issue is due to newer versions of drivers and you need to revert them to an older version.

aplay -l gives the following

List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: chtmax98090 [chtmax98090], device 0: 1 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: chtmax98090 [chtmax98090], device 1: Deep-Buffer Audio (*) []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

 

[nabil2000]

chromeos_12105.100.0 & above

Newest chromeos_12105.100.0 (which is v75) & above using chromefy 2.1 not working for Acer CB C720P using ABAT v72 -
I assume it will not work also with ABAT v74 (ABAT v75 not yet released).

Trying using USB with FydeOS 7.2 (Chrome OS v75) - might work, will report when tested -

Nocturne 75 then Eve 75 / Caroline 75 yields a working OS on Acer C720P (MrChromeBox firmware) but no bluetooth, so use a compatible USB BT dongle.

Same issue with Cyan 75 / Caroline 75 - it is FydeOS 7.2 not including a Bluetooth driver for Acer C720P, hopefully ABAT v75 release will fix this issue.

In conclusion to be able to chromefy successfully for Chrome OS v75, one needs Chromium OS v75 which FydeOS 7.2 provides, but ABAT has not yet released...

I checked also on BBen Intel cherrytrail Compute Stick, & there Bluetooth works (but it does not have crostini as no VT-x capability)...

all pretty routine

On Acer Iconia W700 with V75 - no camera migration, though legacy camera works when disabling Android camera from Android settings, camera migration works for v74 though, with ATB v72

Latest test - ArnoldTheBat v76 vanilla special...
Chromefy is unbootable with latest 12105 Chromebook images, sad.
My method of post #1 using original kernel/Root-A partition still works.
Chromefy works successfully only using FydeOS 7.2 -
Might be End of Line for ArnoldTheBat with chromefy.

 

[nabil2000]

I never managed to get sound to work with baytrail, I use a usb external sound dongle instead. To get drivers you need to compile for the exact kernel, or build your own Chromium OS...
There is a new problem with latest Chrome OS v75/v76 - no bluetooth even with ATB v76 & FydeOS 7.2 - I use a compatible BT dongle instead...

do you mean the caroline75 ? I can download it fine. If you want the link, I can upload it to my mega and quote you here.

Were you able to fix your device sound issue ? If yes, how did you do that?

I have recently got an Acer CB3 131 and can not get sound to work as well. Found a way to fix it on linux but nothing yet on CB.
@nabil2000
do you have any idea how to import drivers from one device to another ? From my understanding, the issue is due to newer versions of drivers and you need to revert them to an older version.

aplay -l gives the following

List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: chtmax98090 [chtmax98090], device 0: 1 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: chtmax98090 [chtmax98090], device 1: Deep-Buffer Audio (*) []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

 

[nabil2000]

eve 75 with ATB v76 special works for Acer CB C720P

This is how it worked for me (maybe too many steps)

Use ATB v76 special
chromefy nocturne 74 / swtpm.tar
chromefy eve 74 / swtpm.tar
chromefy eve 74 / caroline 74
test...
again
chromefy nocturne 75 / swtpm.tar
chromefy eve 75 / caroline 75
It successfully boots...

caveats - no bluetooth - use a compatible BT USB dongle

Acer Iconia W700
only legacy camera - no camera migration, same as above & as FydeOS v7.2 (v75)
To get camera migration to work in Acer W700 use Chrome OS v74.

 

[nabil2000]

Sound solution

This is a promising USB sound solution at a keen price to bypass drivers issues for Chromebook clones, ordered one, I will test & report
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NMXY2MO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tested with Asus Chromebit CS10 Chromebook Stick, works well - side note Chromebit Chrome OS (veyron_mickey) includes Google Assistant unlike cyan.

Were you able to fix your device sound issue ? If yes, how did you do that?

I have recently got an Acer CB3 131 and can not get sound to work as well. Found a way to fix it on linux but nothing yet on CB.
@nabil2000
do you have any idea how to import drivers from one device to another ? From my understanding, the issue is due to newer versions of drivers and you need to revert them to an older version.

 

[Ringot2326]

sudo cp not working : "cannot create file; no such file or directory"

"cannot create file; no such file or directory"

It keeps saying this. :crying: :crying:

Using a c720p

How to get the syslinux file?

 

[nabil2000]

"cannot create file; no such file or directory"

It keeps saying this. :crying: :crying:

Using a c720p

How to get the syslinux file?

Which method you used to make your Chromebook clone?

 

[Ringot2326]

'Which method you used to make your Chromebook clone?'

Which method you used to make your Chromebook clone?

I used your method. Also the step-by-step tutorial link that you gave.

 

[cbay]

Does the method one by @Hnk1 in
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78806350&postcount=163

still work?
I tried ATB 78 special build with candy 78 recovery bin for my dell 3120 and while I can boot from the resulting USB. I do not see any Play Store in the launcher/ settings.
I noticed in method one in the above link

sudo cp chromium_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B chrome_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B -f
sudo cp chromium_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.B chrome_efi_mount/syslinux/vmlinuz.A -f

Are we supposed to copy vmlinuz.B to to both .B and .A or does the second line have a typo? I did use the commands exactly as mentioned in Method One.