ASUS Chromebook C201
The Asus Chromebook C201 is a Rockchip RK3288-C (ARMv7-A, Cortex-A17) based, exceptionally free (libre) software friendly portable computer. It's a lightweight (ca. 980g) and, thanks to the Rockchip RK3288-C system on chip (SoC), pretty fast device. Besides supporting hardware 3D acceleration without proprietary software its most distinguishing feature is, however, that it is one of only a few devices supported by Libreboot[1]. Thus the factory firmware can optionally be replaced with entirely libre firmware. Instructions on how to do this can be found on the Libreboot website.
Hardware
| Make/model | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Veyron-Speedy, veyron-minnie | filename of device tree binary: rk3288-veyron-speedy.dtb,rk3288-veyron-minnie.dtb |
| SoC | Rockchip RK3288-C | |
| RAM | 4GB | 2GB version available, DDR3 |
| Firmware | Coreboot with depthcharge payload[2] | physical write-protection (screw), Libreboot supported |
| Boot media | eMMC, SDXC or USB |
SoC
| Component | Make/model | Status | Kernel driver(s) | Kernel version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 4 x ARM Cortex-A17 | Works | 4.15 | max @1,8GHz | |
| GPU | Mali-T764 | Works | Panfrost | 5.3 | OpenGL ES <2.0[3] |
| USB 2.0 | Works | 4.15 | 2 * USB-A | ||
| HDMI | ? | dwhdmi | |||
| Analog Audio | Rockchip I2S | Works | rockchip_i2s | 5.2 | Required codecs: es8328_i2c, es8328_spi |
| HDMI Audio | Synopsis Designware HDMI I2S Audio | ? | dw_hdmi_i2s_audio | 5.15 | Required codecs: hdmi_codec |
Peripherals
| Component | Make/model | Status | Kernel driver(s) | Kernel version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 11.6" @ 1366x768 | Works | 4.15 | xorg-server via fbdev works | |
| WiFi | Broadcom | Works | brcmfmac | 4.15 | works with proprietary blobs |
| Touchpad | Elan I2C | Works | elan_i2c | 4.15 | |
| Bluetooth | ? | ||||
| Embedded controller | Works | cros_ec | 4.15 |
GCC Optimization
/etc/portage/make.confRK3288 exampleCOMMON_FLAGS="-march=armv7-a -mtune=cortex-a17 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-abi=hard"
CFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
CXXFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
For a hardened system consider appending
-fstack-protector-allCreating installation media
Create the installation media manually.
Installing Gentoo
Consult Asus Chromebook C201/Installing Gentoo for instructions on how to install Gentoo on the Asus Chromebook C201.
Built-in wifi
Built-in wifi requires the proprietary binary firmware blob brcmfmac4354-sdio.bin, provided by sys-kernel/linux-firmware:
root #emerge --ask sys-kernel/linux-firmware
Furthermore the aforementioned binary expects a nvram, /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4354-sdio.txt. Create it with the content provided by the ChromiumOS project: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/board-overlays/+/master/overlay-veyron/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-veyron/files/firmware/brcmfmac4354-sdio.txt
The ChromiumOS project considers this file belonging to the BSP (Board Support Package) and considers upstreaming the file to sys-kernel/linux-firmware as being pointless.[4]
For additional background information regarding this nvram, consult the Linux Wireless wiki.
Issues
If the bluetooth module is loaded at any time and the system is suspended, both the bluetooth and wireless driver will stop working. A temporary fix is to blacklist the btsdio module:
root #echo "blacklist btsdio" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-btsdio.confExternal resources
- https://notabug.org/dimkr/devsus
- https://github.com/Miouyouyou/RockMyy
- http://www.synkhronix.com/journal/gentoo-chromebook
- http://www.galexander.org/chromebook
- https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/C201
- https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/c201.html
References
- ↑ List of supported hardware, Libreboot. Retrieved on June 21st, 2019
- ↑ Depthcharge, Developer Information for Chrome OS Devices. Retrieved on June 21st, 2019
- ↑ GNOME Meets Panfrost, blog of Panfrost's main developer Alyssa Rosenzweig. Retrieved on November 16th, 2019
- ↑ ChromiumOS Git at Google. Retrieved on February 25th, 2019