title: Acer Chromebook C720. What now? link: https://onemoretech.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/acer-chromebook-c720-what-now/ author: phil2nc description: post_id: 7209 created: 2014/03/27 19:55:56 created_gmt: 2014/03/27 23:55:56 comment_status: closed post_name: acer-chromebook-c720-what-now status: publish post_type: post

Acer Chromebook C720. What now?

My new used Acer C720-2802 Chromebook came yesterday. Very cool. Question is, what now? My foray into Chromebook territory was inspired by this episode of the Linux Action Show. With only 2GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD, you'd think that this model would be something I'd stay away from, especially given my public disdain for underpowered tablets and the many failures of the netbook segment. But with its 11 inch screen, 8 hour battery life and 1.4 GHz 64-bit dual core Intel Haswell processor (a low wattage Celeron 2955U), this is definitely not a reflection of netbooks past. Of course the ultimate goal is to run Linux on this thing. Specifically, Fedora Linux. Right now I'm trying to get Gnome Shell to run on a chrooted Ubuntu Saucy installation (made possible with crouton). This is really a trial run, however. I've already put the device into developer mode and tried booting a stock Fedore 19 Live usb stick with the legacy compatible SeaBIOS enabled. This, of course, failed, but I really didn't work at it very hard. Next time up I'll made some adjustments to the runtime parameters to hopefully eliminate any bottlenecks (like available RAM). If some of those who read this are worried about my renewed interest in hardware over the last year, you're in good company. It worries me too. But it has also helped keep me sharp, sharper that I think I would have been without it. The way I look at it, system administration is my profession but hardware hacking is just one of my hobbies. At least it keeps me off the street.

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