Fatdog64-631 for Acer C720 only.

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kirk
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Fatdog64-631 for Acer C720 only.

#1 Post by kirk »

I recently purchased a Acer C720 Chromebook for $99 dollars after trading in a 8 year old XP laptop. So the first thing I did was get rid of Chrome. I made a custom version of Fatdog64-631 for the Acer C720. It has most of the unused firmware and drivers removed. It uses kernel 3.12.18 with patched drivers for the clickpad and support for the custom keys on the keyboard.

There's a lot of tutorials out there on how to install linux on the c720, the folks at Arch do a nice job. First make a backup of Chome in case you want to restore:

Boot up your Chromebook and login
Plug in a spare ~2GB+ USB flash drive
Open the Chrome browser
Go to chrome://imageburner

Then read Arch's c720 page here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ac ... Chromebook

take a look at this too:

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/dev ... chromebook

You can make bootable USB drive after downloading the ISO like this:

dd if=./Fatdog64-631-Acer-c720-only.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M

Make sure /dev/sdb is actually your flash drive! If it's your harddrive kiss your data goodbye.

Then you can boot c720 into Fatdog64. After booting you can use Gparted (found in the control panel which is in the tray) to repartition the 16GB SSD.

Now you can copy vmlinuz and initrd from the USB drive to your new partition. Fatdog64 is completely contained in those two files. On your new partition make a new directory named fd64save. This is where all read/write operations will be stored.

Then you can install Grub4Dos (also in the control panel.) Select the Legacy compatible 'menu.lst' option. After that add this to your menu.lst:

title Fatdog64-631-c720
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz mem=1950m tpm_tis.interrupts=0 nmi_watchdog=0 waitdev=0 savefile=direct:device:sda1:/fd64save
initrd /initrd

title Fatdog64-631-c720-no-save-file
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz mem=1950m tpm_tis.interrupts=0 nmi_watchdog=0 waitdev=0 savefile=none
initrd /initrd

The above is assuming you put everything on sda1.The first entry will boot using the folder you created above as the read/write layer. The second will boot without it and the read/write layer will be in RAM. The mem=1950m is to overcome a firmware limitation, it can be done away with if you use the fatdog-split-initrd.sh script to split the main sfs file out of the initrd. Then you have to use the basesfs= boot parameter to specify where you put the main sfs. I can elaborate if anyone is interested. I'll edit this later with more information.

The ISO is here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/iso/ (200MB)

You might also want LibreOffice to use instead of the included Abiword and Gnumeric. It can be found here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/60 ... .2.4.2.sfs (123MB)

Place that SFS file in the same place as your fd64save folder. You'll be asked if you want to add that sfs file at first boot or you can use the SFS manager in the control panel to add it.

For more information about Fatdog64 you can check out our web page.

Image
Last edited by kirk on Tue 13 May 2014, 13:27, edited 4 times in total.

kirk
Posts: 1553
Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#2 Post by kirk »

-

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dk60902
Posts: 230
Joined: Sun 26 Sep 2010, 22:34
Location: In front of my computer

Re: Fatdog64-631 for Acer C720 only.

#3 Post by dk60902 »

kirk wrote:I recently purchased a Acer C720 Chromebook for $99 dollars after trading in a 8 year old XP laptop. So the first thing I did was get rid of Chrome. I made a custom version of Fatdog64-631 for the Acer C720. It has most of the unused firmware and drivers removed. It uses kernel 3.12.18 with patched drivers for the clickpad and support for the custom keys on the keyboard.

There's a lot of tutorials out there on how to install linux on the c720, the folks at Arch do a nice job. First make a backup of Chome in case you want to restore:

Boot up your Chromebook and login

Plug in a spare ~2GB+ USB flash drive

Open the Chrome browser

Go to chrome://imageburner

Then read Arch's c720 page here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ac ... Chromebook

take a look at this too:

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/dev ... chromebook

You can make bootable USB drive after downloading the ISO like this:

dd if=./Fatdog64-631-Acer-c720-only.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M

Make sure /dev/sdb is actually your flash drive! If it's your harddrive kiss your data goodbye.

Then you can boot c720 into Fatdog64. After booting you can use Gparted (found in the control panel which is in the tray) to repartition the 16GB SSD.

Then you can copy vmlinuz and initrd from the USB drive to your new partition. Fatdog64 is completely contained in those two files. On your new partition make a new directory named fd64save. This is where all read/write operations will be stored.

Then you can install Grub4Dos (also in the control panel.) Select the Legacy compatible 'menu.lst' option. After that add this to your menu.lst:

title Fatdog64-631-c720
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz tpm_tis.interrupts=0 nmi_watchdog=0 waitdev=0 savefile=direct:device:sda1:/fd64save
initrd /initrd

title Fatdog64-631-c720-no-save-file
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz mem=1950m tpm_tis.interrupts=0 nmi_watchdog=0 waitdev=0 savefile=none
initrd /initrd

The above is assuming you put everything on sda1.The first entry will boot using the folder you created above as the read/write layer. The second will boot without it and the read/write layer will be in RAM. I'll edit this later with more information.

The ISO is here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/iso/

You might also want LibreOffice to use instead of the included Abiword and Gnumeric. It can be found here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/60 ... .2.4.2.sfs

Place that SFS file in the same place as your fd64save folder. You'll be asked if you want to add that sfs file at first boot or you can use the SFS manager in the control panel to add it.
Where did you get this trade-in deal?
HP Pavilion Mini Pentium 1.7 GHz Dual Core 12 GB RAM 120 GB SSD Linux Lite 3.8 64-bit w/ Kensington Slimblade Trackball
Bionic8.0 Xenial64 Tahr64 USB frugal install
Samsung Chromebook Plus
LG V20 LG Xpression Plus Huawei Ascend XT2

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Ted Dog
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Location: Heart of Texas

#4 Post by Ted Dog »

was late to the party and lost the trade in time... You should have posted.... I found out about the deal a week late..

kirk
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Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#5 Post by kirk »

Where did you get this trade-in deal?
Best Buy.
was late to the party and lost the trade in time... You should have posted.... I found out about the deal a week late..
Ya, I just caught the end of it.

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ally
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Location: lincoln, uk
Contact:

#6 Post by ally »

I thought this deserved it's own page on the archive (also added to the fatdog page)

mirrored here: http://archive.org/details/Puppy_Linux_Chromebook

:)

rrolsbe
Posts: 185
Joined: Wed 15 Nov 2006, 21:53

Anyone care to try this on a C710?

#7 Post by rrolsbe »

Kirk/Fellow Forum members

Just curios if/how this might work on an Acer C710 that has been updated with the Coreboot/Seabios firmware (which allows booting from USB if in Developer mode) ? Any reason your method could not run entirely from the FatDog64 USB boot stick? IE... Still have the option to boot ChromeOS via the internal SSD. I have been using FATDOG64 and VirtualBox very successfully on a high-end Dell computer. I ponder how well this combo would work on the C720 or possibly the C710 with 1007u processor (would require a larger SSD or an external mass storage drive to store the VM files)?

GREAT Work!!!
Regards, Ron

kirk
Posts: 1553
Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#8 Post by kirk »

just curios if/how this might work on an Acer C710 that has been updated with the Coreboot/Seabios firmware (which allows booting from USB if in Developer mode) ? Any reason your method could not run entirely from the FatDog64 USB boot stick? IE... Still have the option to boot ChromeOS via the internal SSD. I have been using FATDOG64 and VirtualBox very successfully on a high-end Dell computer. I ponder how well this combo would work on the C720 or possibly the C710 with 1007u processor (would require a larger SSD or an external mass storage drive to store the VM files)?
I don't know how it would work on the 710, this iso only has the kernel modules needed for the 720 plus usb drivers. So I don't know if the 710 would work or not. Running from usb would work, of course booting would be slower and you may need to specify waitdev=5 (that's 5 seconds) if you put a savefile on the usb stick. That allows time for the usb system to initialize. You might not need it, just have to try and see if Fatdog64 can find your savefile or not. The ISO is only 200mb so I wouldn't think you would need a new SSD.

rrolsbe
Posts: 185
Joined: Wed 15 Nov 2006, 21:53

Dual Booting ChromeOS and Fatdog64 from USB

#9 Post by rrolsbe »

kirk wrote:
just curios if/how this might work on an Acer C710 that has been updated with the Coreboot/Seabios firmware (which allows booting from USB if in Developer mode) ? Any reason your method could not run entirely from the FatDog64 USB boot stick? IE... Still have the option to boot ChromeOS via the internal SSD. I have been using FATDOG64 and VirtualBox very successfully on a high-end Dell computer. I ponder how well this combo would work on the C720 or possibly the C710 with 1007u processor (would require a larger SSD or an external mass storage drive to store the VM files)?
I don't know how it would work on the 710, this iso only has the kernel modules needed for the 720 plus usb drivers. So I don't know if the 710 would work or not. Running from usb would work, of course booting would be slower and you may need to specify waitdev=5 (that's 5 seconds) if you put a savefile on the usb stick. That allows time for the usb system to initialize. You might not need it, just have to try and see if Fatdog64 can find your savefile or not. The ISO is only 200mb so I wouldn't think you would need a new SSD.
Kirk

Thanks for the reply! I dd'd your ISO image to a 1G USB stick and successfully booted it on my Dell laptop. I created a second partition on the remainder of the stick. I formatted it using the mke2fs command and for some reason it did not format; however, when I formatted the ext2 partition using gparted it worked fine. Shutdown and created the fd64save.ext4 on the newly formatted ext2 partition. Rebooted and used the "Control Panel/Utilities/Savefile Argument Builder" to help me with the kernel boot parameter. Then, rebooted and entered the following kernel boot paramater:
"fatdog savefile=ram:device:sdd2:fs64save.ext4 waitdev=5"

Also tried it using the usb (uuid) option of the "Savefile Argument Builder) shown below and that also worked. Probably the better way to go because the device might not always be sdd2.

savefile=ram:uuid:85ee9e73-e0cd-4ac8-8bd3-7e8ea657b8fb:fd64save.ext4 waitdev=5

If someone reports back that your ISO image works on a C710 with the SeaBios Coreboot payload, I will probably simply use the Puppy ISO editor to add the kernel boot arguments to your isolinux.cfg file. I am dual booting ChromeOS/Puppy on an old Asus 904HA eeePC netbook. While booted into Puppy, I verified that I should be able to store the the vmlinux, initrd, sfs and fdsavefile.ext4 files on one of the ChromeOS partitions. Doing so would speed up the boot process and not require the boot USB after boot time. Even If I run Fatdog totally from the USB stick, it should be quite fast using the RAM kernel savefile parameter.

NOTE: Most of information in this post also applies to the C720.

Guess the next step is to either purchase a C720 or take the plunge and load the Seabios firmware on my C710/1007u.

If someone tries any of the above on either a C720 or C710 please report back.

Thanks Very Much In Advance
Regards, Ron

PS - Kirk --Thanks for all your hard work on Fatdog64!!
I thought there would be more interest in using Fatdog64 on Chromebooks? This thread is pretty quiet lately.

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configX
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Joined: Fri 23 May 2014, 17:18

Thanks!

#10 Post by configX »

Thanks so much for making this! I've been scratching my head trying to figure out the best way to get my C720p's trackpad working. Question for you...you said you removed drivers and firmware...is there any way to put those back? The reason I ask is because I would use Fatdog on several computers via a USB drive. Not sure if all those missing drivers would cause issues on other computers?

kirk
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Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#11 Post by kirk »

The reason I ask is because I would use Fatdog on several computers via a USB drive. Not sure if all those missing drivers would cause issues on other computers?
For the other computers use Fatdog64-631 here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=91937

Which is the same as the one here without the special configuration for the c720. If you mean the same iso for both, probably not a great. I've uploaded a sfs of all the kernel modules and firmware. Here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/60 ... 0-only.sfs

This still doesn't contain the video drivers that have been removed, so only intel video would be supported.

rrolsbe
Posts: 185
Joined: Wed 15 Nov 2006, 21:53

Useing the C720 only SFS file works on my Dell Inspiro

#12 Post by rrolsbe »

kirk wrote:
The reason I ask is because I would use Fatdog on several computers via a USB drive. Not sure if all those missing drivers would cause issues on other computers?
For the other computers use Fatdog64-631 here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=91937

Which is the same as the one here without the special configuration for the c720. If you mean the same iso for both, probably not a great. I've uploaded a sfs of all the kernel modules and firmware. Here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/60 ... 0-only.sfs

This still doesn't contain the video drivers that have been removed, so only intel video would be supported.
See my previous post above for background info. I downloaded and used the firmware SFS file and it worked perfect on my Dell Inspiron!! Using the SFS file allows me to configure the WiFi and browse the web using Firefox. Question, if this SFS file was loaded and used on a C720 Chromebook would it cause any problems?

Thanks for the SFS file Kirk!
Regards, Ron

peterw
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Joined: Wed 19 Jul 2006, 12:12
Location: UK

Booting onto HP14 Chromebook

#13 Post by peterw »

Hi kirk and all.

This is a welcome development since the Chromebooks are great economical machines that could be a whole lot better if they could easily run a regular Linux distro easily.

I have just got a HP14 Chromebook which is very similar to the Acer C720 and can confirm that the Fatdog C720 iso boots onto it as well via a usb. I have not partitioned the hard drive since I don't want to risk losing it because the laptop has a battery fault and will probably have to go back. When I get a good unit, I would ideally, like to dual boot it with Chrome without having Developer Mode on it with the risk that it gets wiped by a wrong key press when starting up. (It will be my wife's laptop). Just the normal boot menu would be fine. I see that this is all work in progress.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HP_Chromebook_14

Interestingly, I have tried Quirky 6.1 and Slacko 5.6 PAE on it and they booted as well and were very responsive. The slight problems were that the touch pad did not work and I had to use a usb mouse and the keyboard quirks were not recognised: eg, Alt + backspace = delete.

There are 3 things I would like to know; two of which have been addressed by the C720 iso, but I don't know how to do this in the other Puppies..
1. How to fix the touch pad?
2. How to fix the keyboard quirks?
3. How to get the old Network Wizard into Fatdog since I have problems with the current Connect Programme? Unfortunately, the Fatdog system never works for me. I have tried and retried the latest and it never connects but the 631 RCs did.

When I get a good Chromebook I will be able to take this further.

peterw

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don570
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#14 Post by don570 »

In Canada Acer C710 costs $199 Can plus 15% sales tax.
http://www.factorydirect.ca/Product.aspx?sku=AC2834
____________________________________________________

kirk
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Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#15 Post by kirk »

if this SFS file was loaded and used on a C720 Chromebook would it cause any problems?
Yes, I think it would break suspend. The ehci_hcd and ehci_pci modules would load and we don't want them to. The xhci_hcd module takes care of usb host controller duties. You could black list those to modules by editing /etc/modprobe.d.
1. How to fix the touch pad?
You'll need to patch a couple of the kernel modules, see the Arch linux link above for the patches. And you'll need a patched Xorg synaptics driver. The patched source here: http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/source ... 720.tar.xz
2. How to fix the keyboard quirks?
That's an Xorg/xkb configuration, you'll have to ask who ever is maintaining which ever puppy you're trying to use.
3. How to get the old Network Wizard into Fatdog since I have problems with the current Connect Programme? Unfortunately, the Fatdog system never works for me. I have tried and retried the latest and it never connects but the 631 RCs did.
The wifi definitely works with the c720, but might well not work with the hp14. This iso has all the extra drivers removed. If you're saying Wpa_gui doesn't work, I would need more details.

peterw
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Queries on setting up for Chrome Book

#16 Post by peterw »

Hi Kirk

Thanks for giving me a pointers of how to overcome the problems I am having; I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I may not have time to pursue the touch pad and keyboard at the moment because the HP 14 has to go back on Monday due to a defective battery. The supplier won't send me the battery to fit.

The problems that I have on the wireless network is the same on another laptop and I can look at that further. There are a few things that could be affecting my ability to connect:

1. My SSID is hidden and so when I scan I find the mac address and a string of xxs, etc. When I type in the ssid I am not certain that the string of xxs is replaced.

2. I am not sure of the procedure for using the net-setup.sh and I have followed the flow of the options.
Configure IP Address: select wlan0 - I have tried both Auto and Static
Configure Access Profile: select wlan0 - I have tried all the options here but my ssid is hidden and it may be the cause of my problems.
Activate Settings Now: select wlan0 - I have tried the options that I have set up but it fails to connect.

3. I have also tried the wpa_gui options which is in the bottom right hand corner. I am not sure whether I should have done this before the net-setup.sh. When I have done this my hidden ssid issue remains.

If I try other Puppies and your release candidates then I can connect with Dougles Network Wizard and Frisbee. For example, at the moment, I still have the HP 14 and booted a Puppy from a usb and that allowed me to connect the wifi.

I am not certain what to do next.

Regards

peterw

kirk
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Location: florida

#17 Post by kirk »

I've never tried to connect to a hidden ssid. You might want to add ap_scan=2 to /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf :

Code: Select all

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=users
update_config=1
ap_scan=2
Some folks say that their wifi driver requires that for a hidden ssid. You could also look at /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf in the other puppies and see if they have ap_scan set.


Don't use net-setup.sh and wpa_gui. Use one or the other. I would try wpa_gui first.


P.S. A hidden ssid doesn't really do much good, encryption is much better. A hidden ssid with encryption does no good at all, finding your hidden ssid is nothing compared to cracking your encryption.

proebler
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#18 Post by proebler »

Kirk,

Thank you for making FatDog64 available for the Acer C720.
This fat dog has proved to be leaner than expected.
My observations while taking it for a walk are:

WiFi network connection: Like peterw, I could not use the wpu_gui to connect to a hidden SSID. The scan for available networks did show one with a hidden SSID [mine], but I did not then manage to enter the name and PK and gain access. I had to “unhide
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Stripe
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#19 Post by Stripe »

Thanks Kirk

was looking for a reason to return to puppy after some health issues, and you have given it to me :D

checklist
I have access to a c720 :D
will not have hardware issues :D
will not have wireless issues :D

thank you very much Kirk, you have made someone very happy and opened the door for a return to puppy :D

well done mate

kirk
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Joined: Fri 11 Nov 2005, 19:04
Location: florida

#20 Post by kirk »

Display Properties [in Control Panel>Desktop]: Crashes the system, have to power off and re-boot. Since this pup is intended for the C720 only, I suspect that there is no need/room for other settings.
It sure does, well actually it crashes X. So you can hit ctrl-alt-backspace to exit to a terminal and then type xwin to restart the xserver. This is caused by a bug in the patched synaptics driver. Could put in the synaptics driver from the normal 631, but then the touch pad wouldn't act as well.

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