Introduction: Linux on XE303C12 Chromebook
Hello in this tutorial i will be showing how to boot Kali Linux from an SD card on the Samsung Chromebook 1.
This was a very hard project so have patience i will include an email so if any of you guys get stuck please email me and i will try to help you. So without any further adieu lets dive in.
Supplies
what you will need for this project is simple
- a computer to work from
- a Chromebook (duh!)
- an SD card (the OS requires 5GB so i recommend a 32GB SD card)
Step 1: Operating System
So Kali Linux is not my favorite OS just it's the one that works so that's what were going with.
Since the Chromebook is an ARM based laptop you can't just boot any Linux OS. So what took me longest was finding a bootable OS and hear is what I have... *drum-roll*
*edit- http://www.pcds.fi/downloads/operatingsystem/debianbased/kalilinux/archive/kali2019/rel20193/arm/chromebooks/kali-linux-2019.3-exynos.img.xz.torrent-edit*
If for some reason this image is no longer available please contact me because i have copy's downloaded.
Step 2: Flashing Sd Card
In order to flash the image to the SD card you must download and run balena etcher
After opening balena etcher click select image and navigate to the Kali Linux iso. Double click on it once you find it. Then click select drive. After selecting your SD card click FLASH! And you should be on your way.
Step 3: Developer Mode
In order to modify the chromebook you must have developer privileges. In order to switch your chromebook into developer mode you must hold down the esc and refresh keys then tap the power button. When you arrive at the screen pictured above press ctrl+d it will then ask you to verify just press enter. The chromebook will then take several minutes to reset. WARNING this step will wipe all your data and can not be avoided. From now on at start up it will show a screen informing you that os verification is off to continue start up press ctrl+d or wait 30 seconds.
Step 4: Modifying Chromebook BIOS
In order to boot from usb you must modify the Chromebooks BIOS. To do that you have to open a terminal, do that by pressing ctrl+alt+t. After the terminal opens type shell and hit enter. Congrats now you are into the shell terminal of the chromebook. Now it gets tricky type
#- sudo crossystem dev_boot_legacy=1 -#
and
#- sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 -# then reboot
Step 5: Boot
This time at the os verification screen press ctrl+u and it should boot from usb (SD)
DO NOT LEAVE THERE IS WAY MORE TO BE DONE!!!!!!!!
First off all give yourself a pat on the back becuase the easy part is over and continue to next step.
Step 6: Resize Partitions
This may sound like an easy step but you can't just g-part for a number of reasons
1. g-parted does not yet exist and can not be installed
2.if you did g-part then chromebook will not boot because it messes up the root partition
ok so here it goes better open a terminal
# apt- WAIT!! we dont have repositories installed yet
ok forget the first part
# apt-get update
# apt-get install git aptitude
# apt-get update
ok now
# apt-get install cloud-guest-utils
# growpart /dev/mmcblk1 2
# resize2fs /dev/mmcblk1p2 // ok this command should take awhile just wait
# cgpt repair /dev/mmcblk1
#cgpt repair /dev/mmcblk1 2
# reboot
Step 7: Finishing Up
Ok then now you can install g-parted
# apt-get install gparted
and then have fun i would recommend a few commands :
# apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
# apt-get install lxde // alt desktop environment ( i tried gnome but it does not work well )
# apt-get install synaptic // software manager
Allright so that should be all if you have any trouble at please contact me at
calvinshank38@gmail.com
Thanks and if this really helped you guys then please leave a like because this took a long time to put together.
37 Comments
7 months ago
For anybody who's landed on this page and wants to grab this image, I was able to google it and I found it here for download:
https://old.kali.org/arm-images/kali-2019.3/kali-linux-2019.3-exynos.img.xz
Reply 5 months ago
Thank you so much!!!
Reply 5 months ago
BTW, the Kali image credentials are as follows:
username: root
password: toor
12 months ago
Hey, by any chance do you still have the images?
Question 1 year ago on Introduction
can you use a usb stick
Question 2 years ago
Yo torrent is dead can I get a link?
3 years ago
The link to the image doesn't work anymore
Edit: To install the image to internal memory, use this command (from the kali drive)
xzcat kali-linux-2019.3-exynos.img.xz | dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4M status=progress
Reply 2 years ago
2 years ago
Hello Sirius38. I am looking for a 32bit ARM Kali Linux file for an older Chromebook.
Do you have something available?
Thanks
Tip 2 years ago
SOUND:
Here's how I got sound to work, after upgrading with sudo apt-get dist-upgrade and updating everything:
sudo apt-get install libasound2 alsa-utils alsa-oss
Then I went into alsamixer with sudo alsamixer and unmuted the following:
- Headphones (also increased the volume)
- Left Headphones Mixer Left DAC1
- Right Headphones Mixer Right DAC1
- Left Speaker Mixer Left DAC1
- Right Speaker Mixer Right DAC1
Switching between speakers and headphones can be done manually through the PulseAudio GUI. I didn't dig into a solution for this, so if anyone knows how to get it to switch automatically, please post here and let us know!
2 years ago
nice
2 years ago on Step 7
Hello,
Krys the link posted worked for me via Bit Torrent to get Kali.
I have used this on an old Samsung Chromebook and it has given it a new purpose and use.
Is there any way to transfer this to the Samsung's internal storage ? I am not bothered about loosing ChromeOS, I have another Chromebook but want to use the Samsung as a Linux Laptop.
Thanks for all your hard work, much appreciarted.
Reply 2 years ago
hi you like get kali on samsung chromebook watch this on youtube and read the discription this is the link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvbnOMaMPuA
2 years ago
can i have a lik to kali ? Thanks ....
2 years ago
thank you to who sent me this link as of right now it should work and eventually i will get a new stable version available for all of you
http://www.pcds.fi/downloads/operatingsystem/debianbased/kalilinux/archive/kali2019/rel20193/arm/chromebooks/kali-linux-2019.3-exynos.img.xz.torrent
Question 3 years ago
download link?
Answer 2 years ago
Here ya go, I too was searching for this, I just ran across the link yesterday, It does work, there are some issues but it loads right up from the Sd card on my XE303C12 Chromebook, of course you still need to follow the instructions on this page :) I hope this helps :) http://www.pcds.fi/downloads/operatingsystem/debianbased/kalilinux/archive/kali2019/rel20193/arm/chromebooks/kali-linux-2019.3-exynos.img.xz.torrent
2 years ago
Hello, Can I get a link to the iso please? Thanks :)
Reply 2 years ago
He says there is no longer an ISO available. you can try some of the Manjaro ARM builds - probably one wil work. I am not sure if yuou need 32bit or 64 bit. i would assume it is 32 though. - https://manjaro.org/download/#ARM
2 years ago
Hi, there is a way to get the link to download the ISO? thanks.