Installing Linux on HP Chromebook 14 x360
pre-reqs
- blank ext4 formatted flash drive for original ChromeOS firmware backup
- flash drive with UEFI compatible Linux distro installed
Steps
- powerwash and shutdown
- open back cover and disconnect battery. Plug in power cable and blank ext4 flash drive
- Enter Recovery Mode: press/hold ESC and Refresh, then press Power for ~1s; release all 3 keys
- Press CTRL+D to switch to Developer Mode; confirm when prompted
- Press CTRL+D on Developer Mode splash screen to boot in Developer Mode
- (On first boot, system will securely wipe all userdata, this takes a few minutes)
- open a VT2 terminal (from login screen: CTRL+ALT+F2, login ‘chronos’)
- run the mrchromebox firmware utility script using instructions from https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript:
- cd; curl -LO mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh
- select option 2
- go through firmware backup process
- new UEFI firmware will install
- reboot
- plug in flash drive with Linux distro on it
- install Linux distro (I went with Fedora 39 since wifi was flaky under Debian 12)
- reboot, install updates, reboot again
- install sound drivers with https://github.com/WeirdTreeThing/chromebook-linux-audio
- I had to run this with “force” flag since the Sona’s audio chipset has a bug currently
- reboot again and should be good to go!
useful sites