When the update to Chrome OS 69 arrived in mid-September 2018, it introduced several features highlighted by Google Material Theme, Night Light and support for Linux apps (internally codenamed Crostini) for select devices.
With Crostini, Google wants developers to create and run Android apps on Chromebooks, essentially moving them from being mere web browsers into the best all-purpose devices that can take advantage of both Android, Chrome OS, and Linux.
But of course, all Chromebooks were never going to get a seat on here for various reasons, the foremost being hardware. Some devices running on 32-bit ARM processors should forget about Crostini support and so should others with older Linux kernels for Chrome OS.
At the time Crostini arrived, the devices that got support included the likes of Google Pixelbook, Asus Chromebook Flip C101PA, Acer’s Chromebook 11 (C732, C732T, C732L, and C732LT), Chromebook Spin 11 R751T, and Chromebook 15 CB515-1HT/1H.
Samsung’s Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Plus (V2), Lenovo’s Thinkpad 11e Chromebook and Yoga 11e Chromebook, as well as HP’s Chromebook x360 11 G1 EE and Chromebook x2 were also lucky to get support for Linux apps with Chrome OS 69.
The list, as expected, has been growing since then, with eight more devices joining the party in August 2019. Today, there is even more great news that reportedly, Crostini support is coming to more Broadwell powered Chromebooks.
Chromium commits have been found with references to upgrading the Linux kernel of Broadwell-powered Chromebooks such as Acer’s Chromebook 11 (C740), Chromebook 15 (CB5-571, C910), and Dell’s Chromebook 13 (7310) from version 3.14 to version 4.14.
I think this is welcomed news for many of you – I found in recent chromium commits, that Broadwell and RK3288 based chrome devices are to be updated to newer Linux kernels. Keep in mind, that these are fresh commits, so deploying to Dev, Beta, and Stable Chrome OS channels will last some time.
Broadwell: upgrade from 3.14 to 4.14 (e.g. Acer Chromebook 11 (C740), Acer Chromebook 15 (CB5-571, C910), Dell Chromebook 13 (7310))
RK3288: upgrade from 3.14 to 4.19 (e.g. ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA, ASUS Chromebit CS10, ASUS Chromebook C201PA)
For Broadwell, it means probably also a soon appearance of Crostini support. RK3288 chrome devices will not support Crostini as Google mentioned earlier.
Along with updating the kernel version, Broadwell-powered Chromebooks should also get support for Linux apps very soon. But as noted, the commits are fresh from a few days ago, so these changes making their way to the stable Chrome OS channel will take some time.
We will keep an eye on this development and update this story as and when we get news.
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Hillary Keverenge
2097 Posts
Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.
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