[U-Boot] installing linux only (not crouton) on HP Chromebook 11

[Misha Komarovskiy]

Hello Sean,

On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 8:26 AM, Sean Felipe Wolfe <stjohnskid at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I own a couple HP Chromebook 11's, model SPRING-G3A-B3S-Q2F, the kind which
> only charge from the micro usb. I would like to erase ChromeOS and install
> only Linux. Is this possible?
>

Yes it is possible.
Remember to create spi chip backup first, as chromebooks contain
device specific data in some partitions. [1]

> I've already installed Ubuntu via crouton, but I am curious if it is
> possible to lose the ChromeOS altogether. I have tried this script from
> John Lewis:
> https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware/rom-download/
>
> However, I believe because the HP CB11 uses the U-Boot bios, this script is
> not compatible.
>
> Any other options? If not that's ok ... they were cheap :) Thank you!
> ____________________

Before fully replacing factory bootloader with mainline, imho better
to start with chainloading mainline U-Boot from SD card, this requires
only to enable developer mode [2]

Chainloaded U-Boot will boot linux from SD card or USB flash, check
for example Arch Linux for Samsung Chromebook ARM [3]

[1] https://www.chromium.org/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/samsung-arm-chromebook#TOC-Flash-Layout
[2] https://www.chromium.org/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/samsung-arm-chromebook#TOC-USB-Boot
[3] https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/samsung/samsung-chromebook#wiki
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-- 
Best Regards,
Misha Komarovskiy
zombahatgmaildotcom