Thanks, yes I’ve looked at that and unfortunately, it didn’t help in my case. I looking to replace the Acer with a different Chromebook in the future. Cheers!

Hey dagsix,

The Acer CB3-431 (AKA Edgar) is definitely one of those more tricky Chromebooks to mess around with! I had similar problems trying to get it going compared to my Acer 131 (which was a breeze), but after replacing Chrome OS with Arch Linux, the thing functions just as well as my 131- plus the bigger screen diameter of 14″ vs. 11″ makes a world of difference.

You may find this wiki article to be helpful:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Acer_Chromebook_14_CB3-431_(Edgar)

Thanks for your thoughts!

Hey Sam,

Yes, they’re both sporting Intel CPUs which is pretty much the only “necessary” requirement to run Linux. They are somewhat on the lower end of the spectrum with limited memory capacities (RAM), but Linux really doesn’t use much and you could get away with running a basic Ubuntu with Xfce I’d assume.

Though, if you plan to do some resource-intensive work on the computer, I’d suggest looking into a faster Intel CPU with more RAM.

But if you’re just looking to do basic things like browse the web, use some lightweight programs, and watch some videos, those two Chromebooks should do the job!

As for the touchpad issue, it really depends on the version of Linux you install. I’ve had some models fail to even have their keyboard function properly. It’s not a smooth transition for 100% of laptops, so there are some bugs bound to happen. Though most of them are fixable, some are not. I’d do more research to see if there’s a solution.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks.

I’d read that touchpad could be the issue, is it true?

Hey Jeff,

“Compatible” in this sense means that they’ll run your popular Linux distro- and that’s about as far as it promises! Getting new kernel or hardware drivers outside the default installation is really hit or miss based on reader input.

In my experience, I’ve had no problems with typical hardware like touchpad and even touchscreen support (not much Pixelbook experience other than borrowing a friend’s though). But for the basics, you can easily modify by adding those to flags to your installation using Crouton with just a few extra commands.

However, for stuff like USB-powered devices, WiFi, SD readers, and external peripherals galore, I’ve had some issues on some models here and there (though it could just be the distro).

If you’re getting a Chromebook just to run a basic installation of Ubuntu with Xfce or KDE or the like- the ones on this list will work just fine. It’s when you start wanting to “customize” your installation and going beyond what a normal installation includes where you may encounter some bugs. It seems to vary with model, distro, and some degree of randomness!

I wrote an article on the actual process of installing Linux on a Chromebook you may find helpful!

If you have any other questions, let me know and I’ll try my best to help you out. Sorry I couldn’t be more specific.

Thanks.