INFO: Installing Leap 15.6 on HP Chromebook

English Hardware
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This post is an info post about the process of installing Leap 15.6 on a Chromebook. The challenges have been overcome, so here I will document this process in case anyone else would like to try for this type of machine.

Background: The client purchased an inexpensive Chromebook with the intent to use it for web browsing and basic office tasks while traveling. Because openSUSE is the clients OS of choice for past machines, the client wished to install Leap 15.6 on this new machine to establish consistent working environments across all computers.

Model Name: HP Chromebook 14a-ne0013, part of the HP Chromebook 14a-ne series.
Hardware: Intel GeminiLake Celeron N421; RAM 4GB LPDDR4X, 64GB eMMC solid state drive; Intel m.2 wifi card.
Comments: This machine is nothing special but the Intel wifi card is a pleasant surprise to find in a model in this price range. Some computers in this range have a cheaper MediaTek card that does not have Linux drivers available (replacing the MediaTek cards with the AX210 is a simple, and fairly inexpensive way to resolve this issue.)

Installation Process:
First, the major thing to observe is that this Chromebook, among many, does not have a full BIOS installed. So, you cannot enter BIOS and boot from USB in a typical offline way. I generally prefer to install an operating system offline, in case of internet failure. To do this, one must first flash a BIOS onto the Chromebook in question. You can do this while preserving ChromeOS, or while wiping it. The client requested it to be wiped.
I opted for the BIOS available at mrchromebox.tech.

BEFORE DOING THE BELOW, BACKUP ANYTHING YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE OFF YOUR DEVICE. THIS PROCESS WILL INVOLVE VOIDING WARRANTY (most likely).

To install the BIOS on a Chromebook, you must first remove the physical write protect. Depending on the model, it may be a screw or something else. On this model it is a battery detection module. Remove it by:

  1. Unscrew and open the back of the computer. A thin, flat object is necessary for popping all the catches, and the two up by the hinge are kind of particularly stubborn.
  2. Unplug the battery from the motherboard. In this model it is that lovely black cable connecting the battery to the main control board. Lift the tape and detach.
  3. Proceed with the steps below, do not plug it back in until done. (You can put the case back together or just be careful and continue working with it undone.)

Next you must enter Developer Mode. This is doable by:

  1. Enter ‘recovery mode’ by holding down the ESC & Refresh keys at the same time while powering on the device.
  2. Press [CTRL+D]. This will bring a screen that says “Turn OS Verification Off…”
  3. Press ENTER and wait a few minutes. Eventually it will reboot into a screen that says “OS Verification is off”. It will boot to this screen every time now. It will offer you the chance to turn “OS verification” On. Do not.

Next we will be opening a terminal and getting the BIOS and its handy script using some basic curl. Reliable internet is nice for this, or you can also download it separately, put it on a usb stick and direct it to find the script there. I used the internet.

  1. In the “OS Verification is off” screen, press CTRL+D, this brings up ChromeOS.
  2. Let it on the internet so that you can use it as a guest (or your own account if you want, but guest access is fine).
  3. Press CTRL+ALT+T, this should launch a terminal.
  4. Type shell to launch a traditional linux shell. (press enter to execute the command and each of the below, if you haven’t used terminal a lot.)
  5. Change directory to: cd ~
  6. Use curl to fetch the BIOS editing script: curl -L -O http://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh
  7. Use ls to make sure you now see something called firmware-util.sh. You do? Good. You don’t? Try line 6 again, check internet, etc.
  8. Run the firmware-util shell script using sudo bash firmware-util.sh. It will take a few seconds to think.
  9. It will ask if you wish to disable write protection. The answer is yes. Y.
  10. At this point, the one we were working on rebooted; it will take you back to step 1.
  11. Repeat 1-5.
  12. Give command ls. Is firmware-util there? (mine was gone). If yes, repeat 8. If no, repeat 6-8.
  13. You should now have firmware-util running and see something like “Chrome OS… Device HP Chromebook…” and a list of numbered options. We had three options, some have more. One of these options is for UEFI (Full ROM). Type that number and press enter.
  14. It will warn you no less than 3 times that you are about to remove Chorme OS, and void your warranty. You were also warned previously in this post. If you are absolutely certain you wish to continue, do what you are told on screen.
  15. It will ask to backup the extant firmware on a USB. This is a good idea and you should do so.
  16. It will then install a UEFI BIOS.

Now, you have a computer that just has a BIOS and very little else. If you boot it, and do nothing, it will take you to a text-only shell like environment. Do that. You will soon be able to install Leap.

  1. Boot to the shell like environment.
  2. Insert your bootable USB containing Leap (or Tumbleweed, or any other distro you want for x86_64).
  3. Wait about 3 seconds and then type exit and hit enter.
  4. It should load a screen that looks like a traditional BIOS. Go to the Boot Menu option and select Boot from USB. [It took some trials to get it to recognize the USB, the method above of booting into shell-like environment, waiting a few seconds, then typing exit is what worked for us, but you may try different things.]
  5. You should now be in the familiar ‘install openSUSE’ environment. Have a lot of fun.
  6. Once you have installed openSUSE and it boots successfully, you can reconnect the battery (and put the case back together).

Hope this is useful to anyone who wants to try this.
SisPenguin

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2

Usage of BTRFS on eMMC can be harmful due to write amplification.

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Fortunately, users have the option to select their filesystem of choice upon install.

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@Svyatko do you have a cite for this?

@SisterPenguin keep an eye on DEVICE_LIFE_TIME, eg;

mmc extcsd read /dev/mmcblk0 | grep DEVICE_LIFE_TIME_EST_
eMMC Life Time Estimation A [EXT_CSD_DEVICE_LIFE_TIME_EST_TYP_A]: 0x01
eMMC Life Time Estimation B [EXT_CSD_DEVICE_LIFE_TIME_EST_TYP_B]: 0x01
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