Thursday, April 06, 2017
Acer Chromebook 14 running GalliumOS / Ubuntu Review
This is Part 2
having described how to setup GalliumOS on a Chromebook, now we
consider the overall user experience with the device and the Xfce4
desktop and applications.
Additionally by way
of comparison to a HP ProBook laptop running Microsoft Windows 7 and
equivalent experiences with common daily tasks. Including the value
proposition here in terms of the functionality enabled and the
overall cost and total ownership experience.
Comparing the HP
ProBook running Windows and Microsoft Office we see that the HP has a
dual core CPU 2.0GHz processor (3.0GHz burst mode) with 8GB of
memory. However with Windows loaded the available memory is 5GB. The
anti-virus software is disabled so that the significant 30% resource
drag it imposes is not a factor. The display on the HP is an older
1366x768 resolution, newer ones have 1080p displays. The battery life
is around 3.5 hours and the laptop weighs 5 pounds with battery. The
full size keyboard and touch pad give a professional typing feel.
The Chromebook with
GalliumOS and LibreOffice 5 suite has a quad core CPU 1.6GHz
processor with 4GB of memory. The processor has a burst mode of 2GHz
also. With the LINUX OS loaded there is 3.8GB of available memory.
The full HD 1080 display is professional quality device output
combined with the HDMI port. The battery life is at least 10 hours
and the device weighs 3 pounds. When using an external display
monitor battery life is significantly extended, 8 hours of use drains
only 4 to 5 hours of battery. The Chromebook keyboard is acceptable
for mobile use, I’m typing this travelling on the Metro Rail, but
for daily use an external wireless keyboard and mouse are the better
option.
For boot up time to
OS load and application menu activation then the Chromebook wins
hands down. Not only is Windows much slower to load anyway, but the
accessing for the USB 3.0 based resident OS is faster than the laptop
using the traditional disk hard drive. Similarly shutdown is
dramatically faster.
Next we move to
applications experience. For web browsing on the HP ProBook using IE
browser and a single tab it opens quickly and web sites load rapidly.
The dual code processor performs as expected. Similarly using FireFox
on the Chromebook is very comparible, quick loading and web site
navigation. When opening multiple saved tabs on both systems this
drags down performance, its not going to be an instant load, but a
wait period while all the various tabs are resolved. However, just
for dedicated web browsing one can just simply boot the Chromebook
natively into ChromeOS mode where it is optimized to provide the
fastest web experience.
The two Office
Suites are now very comparable. Microsoft Office is the industry
benchmark, but LibreOffice 5 (LO) is now almost identical. In fact
the LO Impress 5 may even be better than PowerPoint in many respects.
Similarly I recently used LO Base 5 to manage a database for 4,500
users in a government office complex. Importing and exporting data to
and from Excel spreadsheets, merging, updating and reporting. The SQL
commands in Base work well and being able to do all this from a
highly portable Chromebook in the field is ideal. LO Base also allows
data sharing across the suite to be enabled (called connection
pooling). This allows columns and rows to be seamlessly shared
between Calc and Base. This functionality is certainly on a par with
using Microsoft Access, while the SQL command option provides
significant additional power.
There are caveats,
the LO Base is held in memory, so as to optimize performance it
should be run standalone normally. Also, make sure to save
frequently, to clean up memory and make permanent record of the
latest database content. I should probably write a separate blog
entry on the how to and tricks and tips for LO Base operations. But
this does give a sense of what can be accomplished on the Chromebook.
What about Windows
applications generally? The Wine emulator works well in allowing a
range of standard Windows programs to run on LINUX. So your favourite
Windows programs can work over in GalliumOS too.
For software
development the OxygenXML editor uses Java and works on both machines
for supporting day to day content engineering. Other Java based
solutions like MindPlane, VLC video player, PDF tools and more also
work on both.
Moving on to using
multimedia. I was able to save videos filmed on an action camera in
full HD to the Chromebook. Each video is 0.5 GB (500Mb) in size. I
then used OpenShot to edit down and produce both YouTube and
Instagram video segments. This worked surprisingly quickly and only
took a few minutes to do the final production generation. I did
notice that all 4 CPU cores were being used 100% by OpenShot to
compute that rendering. Impressive resource sharing. On the HP
ProBook this is a more mixed experience. The Microsoft video editing
software is less competent, but of course you can install OpenShot on
Windows and then use that. I did not try that, but previously when I
have I always found OpenShot performs vastly better on LINUX.
On both systems
using Skype, Zoom or Google works well. The audio quality through the
USB microphone is exceptional and of course the built-in webcam
provides acceptable video too. The resolution of the Chromebook is a
1MB video chip the same as the 1MB on the ProBook.
Using the Bluetooth
on the Chromebook to connect to Sony headphones and then streaming
Pandora using the PinHos app is superb with A2DP support enabled. The
ProBook does not have Bluetooth, but obviously you can use a USB
Bluetooth adaptor to perform the same way.
Overall both systems
perform acceptably and are comparable in many respects. The newer
Acer Chromebook comes in ahead in display quality clearly and also
battery life where the low energy mobile chipset gives 3 times the
capability.
Value for dollars
spent gives the edge to the Chromebook for around $370 for the system
and the USB sticks, an USB + Ethernet extension hub and a simple
USB boom microphone. The HP ProBook starts at around $560 for the
older models. If I had a budget of $500 I would definitely look at
the Dell Chromebook with its superior specifications.
To round out this
review the results of the GeekBench CPU tests:
Clearly the
Chromebook is not winning any performance awards compared to full CPU
machines.
However in class it
does well – for comparison to other Chromebooks see this review
(http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/acer-chromebook-14).
What I like is the
portability, battery life and flexibility. Connecting an external
display and keyboard clearly covers off other reviewers needs. And
for commuting or classroom needs the Acer display and keyboard are
fine. Similarly running GalliumOS makes a huge difference in terms of
what can be accomplished on this machine. Hope this helps you make
informed decisions for your own needs.
Monday, April 03, 2017
Acer Chromebook 14 Dual Boot with LINUX / GalliumOS / Ubuntu
Following the success of running Ubuntu on an Intel Smart Stick, I realized I needed a portable solution for travel, along with more power for daily home desk use. Including developing software, editing media images and videos, and using office applications for work (including my own CAM Editor project).
After researching Chromebooks I settled on an Acer Chromebook 14 from my local MicroCenter store. The metal hard shell case, HD 1080p screen quality, light weight and great battery life all made this impressive and then quad-core CPU, 4GB of DRAM give it solid performance potential.
Using the Acer as a simple Chromebook and ChromeOS is a delight, super fast power up and log in to browsing. Perfect for those quick needs to hop on the Internet. Flip the lid, log in to Google account, surf.
Next is enabling the dual boot so you can also run serious desk applications, media tools and do software development. And of course work without being tethered to a WiFi connection.
There are several on-line resources setting out these steps (see below).
Essentially the steps can be summarized as:
- Enable ChromeOS Developer Mode boot up
Modify the Chromebook BIOS
Enable booting from a USB stick - Create a GalliumOS boot image USB stick
Boot from USB stick - Install GalliumOS on to your USB 128GB stick
Re-boot from USB 128GB stick and your brand new GalliumOS - Tailor and setup your new GalliumOS home
Fascinating Captain here provides the necessary overview instructions, but before you rush off to do all that, read my insights and the pitfalls to avoid. Plus use the tips and tricks and links here NOT those on Fascinating Captain (he is using a Toshiba not an Acer).
For the Acer Chromebook you need to install the Braswell GalliumOS which is tailored for Chromebook devices. The regular Ubuntu will not work. GalliumOS is also using the Xfce4 desktop and not Unity. Note that with Xfce4 you can make it look and use much of Unity functionality; more on that later.
Next thing to realize is that the ChromeOS is actually a parred down LINUX (GenToo) version produced by Google. What this means is that terminal mode is right there. Once you enable the developer mode, and boot to ChromeOS, you can now access command line bash, and then shell commands. This means you can download the Gallium boot ISO image and then use the Chromebook to create the bootable USB stick. The GalliumOS install page tells you how. It suggests the Etcher tool, but I used the LINUX dd command. It is vital you use the command exactly though e.g.
sudo dd bs=1M if=galliumos.iso of=/dev/sdb ; syncAgain this is slightly different from how Fascinating Captain has it. Notice also that to run the dd command you open the terminal window.
- Press [Ctrl+Alt+T] to get a ChromeOS terminal ("crosh") window
- At the prompt, enter
shell
Now you have the ISO boot stick ready, you need to enable dual booting. For dual booting on a Chromebook you should use the RW_LEGACY BIOS mod from the MrChromebox web site.
The way dual booting works is, the boot screen displays, and you then use Ctrl-L to boot LINUX, or Ctrl-D for ChromeOS. If you do nothing, it will time out, beep and boot to ChromeOS by default.
I have added the USB 3.0 port extender and Ethernet connector and the external HDMI cable in the picture here. That allows me to use my HD monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse. The HDMI works well with a VGA adapter if you need that to use your monitor or a projector.
I also have an external Samson "Go Mic" USB microphone for Skype and recording with using tools like Audacity. The Bluetooth works also with my Sony DR-BT50 headphones and Pandora and Google Play and A2DP fidelity.
So now you have things working, its time to move in and set up the "furniture and fittings" as you like it.
The keyboard mapping you can get to by pressing the ? search key and entering search term - keyboard. More on Chromebook keyboard here.
You can also setup Weather services from My-Weather-Indicator here. The default Weather Update in the Xfce4 panel does a nice job too.
I also added the Caffeine service from the Software library to prevent screen sleep during video play. In addition I ran the Startup app from the Settings and disabled a range of services that I do not need generally, including the timeout manager.
There's a big laundry list of software to install; naturally those are to you own preferences. Open the launcher and enter search term - software to see the software center.
Then here is my top dozen list:
1) Firefox browser. It is noticeably faster than Chromium (and do not install extensions in Chromium; it will crawl then).
2) LibreOffice Suite 5
3) Wine for running Windows software
4) Screenshot tool
5) Skype
6) VLC video player
7) Pithos for Pandora
8) Google Play desktop
9) Freeplane mindmap
10) GIMP editor
11) Kdiff3 compare
12) Audacity audio and OpenShot video
For many more tips, see this what to do guide. For online help see the GalliumOS community links. And don't forget to install latest updates using launcher and run the GalliumOS Update app. Then last but not least, purchase a spare USB 128GB stick and do a complete backup so you have an image.
Welcome to GalliumOS on your Acer Chromebook.
Here is a desktop screen shot of the Xfce4 launcher, Ubuntu theme and nautilus file manager open.
Here is a of screen shot of several desktop items open and the system performance monitor.
