OXT Lite On Chromebook

[tperry2x]

As promised, here's a bit of a walkthrough.

You might have to open the Chromebook and remove the OS verification screws. (I counted 5 on the one in the video I uploaded above)

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boot into Recovery Mode. For Chromebooks, this means pressing [ESC+Refresh+Power]
Once at the recovery screen, press [CTRL+D] to enable developer mode

Connect to a wifi network, and browse as guest.

Now, press [CTRL+ALT+F2] (F2 is right-arrow on ChromeOS keyboards), then login with user 'chronos' (no password is required, nor should one be set)

If not already in a shell, type shell and press [ENTER]

Then run: (note the O in -LO is not a zero)

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cd; curl -LO mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh

You will receive multiple prompts. You'd want to choose to remove all write protection first.
Secondly, you have to confirm that you accept you can never go back to a Google ChromeOS - there's no putting this machine back to the original firmware unless you can make a firmware backup by other means.

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Once you do that, the bootloader will be unlocked, and you can then boot off a USB drive and install a full linux distro without issue. No mods to LCC/OXT required. I'd recommend choosing a lightweight distro. Something like LXDE, Debian 12, Puppy Linux, (the list goes on). You may have to do some trial and error downloading various flavours of distro over at distrowatch to get the best experience for your particular Chromebook hardware, but that's what people like me deem fun - Yeah, I don't get out much (and neither do I want to).

edit: I just want to clarify (and this is not to upset anyone): This above method does NOT involve booting into ChromeOS first then running an additional Linux OS (you are doubling your ram usage - not that Chromebooks normally have a lot of this to play with anyway. It will be slooooow). Far better to REMOVE ChromeOS so that it can function as a conventional laptop.

[jacque]

Hello all. TerryL invited me here and has posted the relevant parts of our correspondence so far. My old Chromebook was a Lenovo-something-or-other, 34-bit, my current one is an HP x360, x_86 64 bit. The bitness may matter. I have already set up a Linux partition and installed the Linux version of Firefox which works fine, but it takes so long to launch that I usually just use the Android version. I think the lengthy launch time involves starting up Linux, which I don't use much. I do have a Linux folder with a few additional files, primarily my own Android apps which require moving them to Linux and then using Terminal to install them. I didn't try building them as Linux apps after my initial failed experiment.

I know nothing about Linux but am interested in trying again. Mark W. did you install the LC release or the OXT version? My original attempt was with the LC build. I'd kind of prefer that since I have a full license there, but an OXT release would be okay too.

[mwieder]

Hi Jaque-

I have LC 9.6.11 installed on my Chromebook. Just downloaded it and ran the installer. It's a bit clunky and there's a bit of a delay in launching, which as you pointed out is no doubt due to loading the book's own version of linux first. After installation is shows up in the Android Launcher under "linux tools". Haven't really done anything with it - just a proof of concept to see what works and doesn't.

Weird thing with the menubar menus is that the checkmarks disappear when you hover over them.

[jacque]

There's clearly something I don't understand about Linux. I launched the Linux version of Firefox and downloaded 9.6.11 from my LC account. The download completed successfully, according to the app, but the file was nowhere in my Files app, either generally or in the Linux folder. I repeated it with the same result; then did 2 more while cancelling immediately mainly to catch it during the download and click on "show folder" but that did nothing except go to a blank white Firefox page.

So I launched the Android version of Firefox and got the download without issue, double-clicked the installer and got an error "This filetype is not supported." Oops. I moved the installer into the Linux folder and got the same message. So that's that.

Where did the first two completed downloads go? I don't really want an invisible GB of space used up.

Edit: Oh wait, is installation a Terminal thing? Talk to me like I'm five.

[richmond62]

I know nothing about Linux but am interested in trying again.

Come on in: the water's warm: but not on a Chromebook.

Far, far better to lay your hands on something else (among a variety of other machines in my EFL school, I run Xubuntu on a 12 year old 'thing' that cost me about $25, and it runs reasonably fast) and dedicate that to your "walk on the wild side."

And while I'm here, and mentioning a "walk on the wild side." I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the OpenXTalk forums: although, arguably, we need your wisdom and experience more than you need us.

[jacque]

Tried Terminal:

sudo apt install LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64

I guess I'm supposed to use apt-get:

sudo apt-get install LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64'

[tperry2x]

Tried Terminal:
sudo apt install LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64

Hi Jacque. Welcome to the OXT forum.
I can help with that bit - you won't find it by running that command because it won't be listed in the distribution's repository.
The apt command won't help there.
You could try downloading the linux installer on a standard desktop PC, copy it to a memory stick, plug in the stick into the Chromebook, open files and open a terminal.
su
enter your sudo password.
Drag the LC installer into the terminal window.
Press return, and it should install.

However - I'll echo what Richmond said, and what I said at the top of this post. (That's not me being flippant or anything btw ): Far better to use a dedicated Linux device for this as you are essentially loading two operating systems, so it's going to be slow on such underpowered devices.

[jacque]

To be honest, I don't really want to learn or run Linux, I just want to run LC on the machine I use as my laptop when I'm not in my office. I won't be developing any apps on it, I'll stick to my Mac, but I'd like to run some sample scripts occasionally to double-check things when I'm not at my main computer.

I'll try the tranfer method though, that might work. I would like to know how Mark did it though when he said he ran the installer.

[tperry2x]

Sorry, I should have mentioned. Those steps are to run the installer.

[jacque]

It looks like things are a little different on ChromeOS. There is no su password by default; the fact that you're logged into your Chromebook verifies you (I had to look it up.) SU doesn't work but sudo does so I tried that. Dragging a file from another source doesn't work either. I can get the drag cursor but when I drop it into terminal nothing happens. No file path displays.

Edit: LC says I need to set the executable bit. I did that: sudo chmod +x LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_11-Linux.x64
No errors. It still won't install though.

[TerryL]

Much like Windows safe-mode where downloads are only allowed from the Windows Store, I suspect the Linux Terminal command 'sudo apt-get install <app_name>' is downloading and installing from the Google Store. I've not read where this is clearly stated. Linux LC 9.6.11 is probably not in the Google Store.

The only other way to install a Linux program into Chromebook is with a .deb file. That doesn't explain how Mark installed Linux LC 9.6.11 on his Chromebook by dbl-clicking it like a .deb file, but Jacque couldn't trying the same thing both from the Downloads folder and from a copy in the Linux Files folder. Can we make a .deb file of Linux OpenXTalk Lite? Terry
https://www.internalpointers.com/post/b ... e_vignette

Installing Linux apps using a .deb file
This is the easier method. You can download .deb Linux installer files directly from the internet for some apps.
1) Once you download a .deb file, find it in your Downloads folder.
2) Copy the file by selecting it and pressing Ctrl+C or right-click and Copy.
3) Open the Linux Files folder from the left navigation pane and paste it into the folder with Ctrl+V. Double-click the file to run.
4) The installation window will appear. Click Install. Wait for the installation to finish. Click OK to close the window.

[mwieder]

OK - assuming you have linux enabled on your Chromebook...

Open Chrome and download the latest LC installer.
It will end up in your Downloads folder.

Open the Files app and navigate to your Downloads folder.
You should see the installer you just downloaded.
You need to move it to the Chromebook's linux environment.
Drag the LC Installer to the Linux files folder.

Open the Terminal app.
Click on penguin under Linux.
Type "ls" and you should see the LC installer in your home directory.
Now you need to change the execution permissions. Type

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sudo chmod 777 <LiveCodeInstaller...>

And launch the installer from the commandline:

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./<LiveCodeInstaller...>

[jacque]

Thanks Mark! I'd already done all of that without success. However after I gave up I quit Terminal. Today I relaunched and it did things I hadn't seen before, basically restarting the Linux installation. Since my download was already in the Linux folder and permissions had been changed, all I did was type the installer name as you said and... it installed! Hope abounds. I installed for "you only."

But.

As before, every palette and stack is presented as its own app. Nothing talks to anything else. I couldn't get out of the Welcome window until I clicked on something else in the overview. The message box is an app, so is the welcome screen, the tools palette, etc. The same thing happened on my old Lenovo.

[jacque]

I don't know if this helps, but here's what Terminal says I'm running:

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PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

Also: Linux 6.6.30-02725-g3e8c91b46252 x86_64

[mwieder]

That matches mine although I have Linux penguin 6.1.64-09049-g010fe86d9eae.

[TerryL]

Thanks to tperry and mweider for their step-by-step instructions. So there's a third method, using the Terminal with extended privileges to run a Linux program installer. Excellent. Maybe we can use this method with Linux OpenXTalk Lite instead of making a .deb file of it (ChromeOS now decompresses 7-zip files).

@ Jacque. If you eventually get the install working...please post your impression of how Linux LC works on your newer hardware Chromebook. I'd like to know if it's dodgy or sluggish, especially the script editor (current opinion is that it would be too slow to promote). Terry

[jacque]

Since I don't know what to do next, I'd need some instructions. I'd like to get this working but I'm stuck for now. Apparently Mark was able to see menus but I get nothing but a bunch of independent windows.

[TerryL]

No help from Linux users? I have no experience, but it seems to me that Jacque is doing something with her Linux partition that Mark is not. I'll offer these suggestions.

o Verify the window-as-app problem is exclusive to LC and not in other Linux programs that display palettes. Install the popular app Audacity using the 'sudo apt-get install audacity' method. You can always uninstall later. It has lots of toolbars, and palettes from edit > preferences and help > about.
o If you have Android apps in the Linux folder, try temporarily moving elsewhere, restart ChromeOS, and try LC again.
o Post a screen-shot of the LC problem. Pictures attract comments. (I've had to submit text then immediately edit with attachment for the green checkmark to upload).

[tperry2x]

No help from Linux users?

My only helpful suggestion I could add is one I added before, which is to replace ChromeOS entirely. If that's not an option - the differences you could be seeing are differences with the ChromeOS version and Chrome browser.
If you are going to run Linux programs on Chromebooks without swapping out ChromeOS, then you need at least Chrome OS v69 (Aug 2018) and a Chromebook with a processor capable of hardware virtualization support (generally not an ARM-based one, because on a Chromebook - this is usually missing).

To check your OS version type chrome://version in the Chrome address bar.

Other things that may impact the window behaviour are the same things that make the LCC/OXT windows misbehave on various Linux distros - the window drawing methods aren't fully supported by whatever software compositor is running. This compositor varies between distros, but on a half-linux-ChromeOS implementation - your mileage may vary.

[TerryL]

I contacted google's chromebook forum. The discouraging response:
"Ah, so it's a self-extracting installer thing. Those can be convenient, but often try to take a one-size-fits-all approach and may not function correctly universally. Since it's a paid product, I'm afraid I'm not able to test installing it on my machine. But you might want to check with LC to see if they have an alternative Linux installer (a .deb package would be great!) or if they might be able to provide further assistance."

I had another thought, the engine might need elevated permissions to run correctly? In terminal type and press returnKey:
sudo chmod 775 <path/to/engine>
From a google search, the chmod 777 command grants the read, write, and execute permissions to all groups (owner, group, and everyone else). Most sources say this is dangerous, better to use +x (execute permissions to all groups) or 775 (read, write, and execute permissions only to owner).

I'm aware the prevailing opinion is why bother with Chromebook. I still think it's worth promoting as another OXT platform if a reliable install method for OXT can be worked out.