This sorted me out: Use your Chromebook touchpad

Oh. Didn't think of that :P
Will try it tomorrow and report back.
My workaround solution in the interim was to get the word document looking how I wanted it to look and then sending on as a pdf (converting to pdf captures what you see of the finished document where sending as a docx file results in a messy missing formats file being sent).

For those who got this, do you get the 100 GB free space in Google Drive for 2 years?

Yes, I redeemed it earlier. It took around 2hrs for it to be applied. Mine is now showing 115Gb total available.

You also get 3mths Google Play Music free too.

Thanks for the confirmation :smile:

​still don't know why ms closed man messenger then changed it all to Skype.....all my online buddies that used man rarely used Skype me included as it always says some one is online when there computer is not even on.....got a fifty quid amazon voucher to use so may well dive in......does Netflix work ok?

Netflix works fine. BT Sport as well. Amazon Fire TV streaming on the other hand does not work.

Do you mean amazon prime video? I had that working in the browser yesterday.

​excellent thanks

​yep. I love my C720 (ditched windows a while ago).
... but it's not on the list for android play integration, so I'm on the lookout for a new one. Acer Chromebook 14 or Toshiba Chromebook 2 are the current front runners. Unless anyone wants to donate a pixel!!

Anyone else crouton there's yet? Far easier than I expected.

I'm still looking through the documentation. How is performance with XFCE compared to vanilla Chrome OS?

It's as well as Chrome OS basically, it's personally fine and nippy, plays 1080p video fine, plus considering the file size for the VLC chrome app at over 250MB I think a full OS is a better choice, plus the benefits of connecting to other networks for media.

But for browsing and the like I just either logout of xenial or press ctlr + alt + forward or back.

Great stuff, thanks for the reply. I'm just creating a recovery image and will have a go later today :smile:

Just a reminder to those interested in running Linux on this machine (or any chromebook) you will have to change your CB to "Developer Mode" which negates to some extent the built-in security of chromebooks and the OS. I'm sure you know this anyway!
With 16Gb of SSD you might find it useful to run Linux off a USB3 or SD Card alongside ChromeOS. This is an excellent tutorial for running Ubuntu with Xfce desktop environment which consists of a Google Doc and a link to a superb Youtube run through. I have had this set up (with Unity) for 2 years on my HP14 CB which only has 2Gb RAM - runs fine. Good luck and enjoy your chromebooks.

Great stuff make sure it installs xenial otherwise 12.04 which is 4 generations old now.

Oh, that's a bu**er. It's currently installing 12.04. I didn't realise it wouldn't install the latest when following this guide:
How to geek

No drama, I'll just disable and re-enable dev mode and start again with the correct command line switches! :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes. Was on infinite loop trying to load on my machine

Anyone got a solid guide how to install Xenial on this chrombook?

I'm using the one linked below right now and am waiting for the install to complete. Seems to be working so far....I made the mistake of following a different guide earlier that installed using Crouton defaults and I ended up with a very old version of Ubuntu (see remlap's post above):
Crouton install guide

Also I've discovered there is a package manager for ChromeOS

https://skycocker.github.io/chromebrew/

Not tried it yet.

Anyone having issues with the touchpad after installing Xenial? Mine is shockingly unresponsive and doesn't register finger movements well or taps unless I do them a few times.

Yep shockingly bad in every release I've tried, I used a mouse though so never got round to fixing it.

Here we go put this in terminal

xinput set-prop "Elan Touchpad" "Synaptics Finger" 5 20 255

If it works add that script to your start up software :smile:

I resorted to using a mouse too, but that worked really well!!! Duly added to the start up list. All your help is greatly appreciated :grin:

Awesome mate!

How can i install kodi on xfce? I have xfce installed now.

How do you add that to your statup script not sure.

Do the following...
Applications
Settings
Open 'Session and Startup'
Select the Application Autostart tab
Click 'Add'
Give the new setting a name. I called it 'Touchpad fix'
Add a description if you want to
Enter the command provided by remlap into the 'Command' box
Click ok and restart Linux. That should be it. Hope that helps.

What's the reasoning for Kodi formerly XBMC?

Use this in terminal to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install kodi

To fix the touchpad:

Applications > Settings > Sessions and Startup > Application Autostart > Add

Name: Touchpad
Description: Corrects Touchpad Sensitivity
Command: xinput set-prop "Elan Touchpad" "Synaptics Finger" 5 20 255

Thanks guys all done the reason for kodi is so i can watch all my fav shows and films.

Can the display driver be updated as it states in the tutorial or dont we need it.

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common python-software-properties

sudo add-apt-repository https://download.01.org/gfx/ubuntu/14.04/main

wget --no-check-certificate download.01.org/gfx…ilg -O - | sudo apt-key add -

wget --no-check-certificate download.01.org/gfx…g-2 -O - | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

Don't need it.

You should do this though to stop tearing;

ubuntuforums.org/sho…468

In case anyone else is also having PolicyKit problems, there's a thread relating to it from 2013 here: Github - You are not allowed to perform this action

After spending all evening trying to sort this issue out, I have thrown in the towel. The only way I can get Ubuntu Software Center to install anything is by opening it via shell rather than the Applications menu. Likewise Software Updater and others.

It looks like the whole issue is because apps which need elevated permissions aren't being passed through authentication and so won't work correctly if you try and open them without explicitly using sudo or gksudo. There are loads of forum posts about this problem (Google 'crouton policykit error' or similar). I've read that this bug was fixed a while ago and has since been reintroduced.

If anyone does know of a fix that works, please put me out of my misery and post here. I've tried checking that policykit is ticked in startup and used various commands offered as suggestions in lots of different forum posts, to no avail oO

What runs better unity or xfce on this chrombook.

I'm using XFCE and it runs just as well as Chrome (touchpad issues notwithstanding!).

From what I read, Unity doesn't work at the moment with Chromebooks, although that's only based on things I have seen in forums today. Take with a pinch of salt.

Your missing the point the price and the portability along with what you can do on this machine bargain for £99

Unity will install under trusty but not xenial I think.

Is the left/right click very noisey?

You really are better off paying a little more and getting a Chromebook with 4gb RAM.

Is there any way of improving the contrast on this screen?

cold tiny screen

I can confirm Amazon Prime Video (not sure why I called it Amazon Fire TV :P) works fine now. Must have been the shoddy broadband in my flat ??

I meant Amazon Prime Video when I said Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Prime Video works fine - not sure why it was on infinite loop when I tried it first off! This little machine just got a little sweeter for me :grin:

Took a chance on buying one of these and I am so far impressed. It takes a while to set up and learn but once you do it does everything it needs to at a fair if not speedy pace. It does lag a bit but not so much that it irritates or hangs.

No such product exists. So what is your point?

Yes they do. I have one myself.
In fact im typing on it now.
Toshiba Chromebook 2 is the one I have.

Has anyone managed to enable the legacy bios?

In your humble opinion eh?! :wink:
You might feel better off spending more money to get 4Gb and that's great for you. I happen to completely disagree and am happy with 2Gb :sunglasses:

Try opening 5-10+ tabs and then see how it handles hehe

I am more than happy with my Acer C720 except for my wifi problem. The matt screen hides all the reflections from my daughter always leaving lights on and it scoots along when connected to the 5ghz range.

Try only spending £99 on a brand new device with 4gb of ram. See telling someone to do something they can't do doesn't matter if they don't want to do it and are happy with the way they are doing it. You're happy to spend more money on a more powerful device you can do more on. That guys happy to do less on a device that cost him less.

Oh and next request:

It handles half a dozen or so tabs in Chrome OS with Ubuntu in the background just fine. Why wouldn't it?

The point you're missing is that for a £99 spend I've got a really nice Chromebook that does everything I could possible need it to - I did my homework before buying it and to spend significantly more on a 4Gb model would have been a waste of money for my needs. Yours clearly differ.

When I'm out and about or fancy sitting in a cafe for an hour or two browsing the WWW I don't need 4Gb RAM. All the things it can't do (Photoshop, Lightroom, PC gaming etc.) I'll carry on using my 16Gb i7 laptop for.

Despite what you seem to think, I haven't wasted any money and am really happy with this Chromebook. Even with its paltry 2Gb :sunglasses:

I'm currently sat with Chrome OS running four tabs and a few browser plugins...in the background. In the foreground, I'm using the latest Ubuntu with XFCE. This in turn is running Wine (Linux software that allows you to install and run native Windows software) and within Wine I'm analysing a chess game with the Windows version of Arena Chess and the Rybka 3 chess engine. There's no stuttering or lag and according to Arena I have 883Mb of RAM left, even with the analysis engine running. The battery is at 93% and I have approx 9hr 48m left before it runs out.

Not bad for a dirt cheap Chromebook with only 2Gb! Best £99 I've spent in a long time :stuck_out_tongue:

Cast the screen to a Chromecast and the playback was very jerky (standard OS). Anyone else experience the same? Is it possible to playback only on the Chromecast and not on the N22 screen simultaneously?

I'm not a fan of track pads, does anyone know if you can successfully connect a wired or wireless mouse to this via the USB port or Bluetooth?

this or the surface pro 4? Price doesnt matter :grin:

Get both :stuck_out_tongue:

It works fine with a Logitech wireless mouse although the transceiver takes up one of the two USB ports. I tried using a USB hub to compensate for that and it worked fine too. I find the trackpad is fine, but prefer to use a mouse if I'm at a desk or table.

I use a generic non-branded wireless mouse (using a USB transceiver) and it works without any fuss in both Chrome OS and Ubuntu.

Gone up to £143 now......so glad I got this at £99, cheers Op!

£143 now, so I am wondering if it will ever go down under £99 in a near future? Amazon prices fluctuate a lot, mind you!

Bluetooth mice works fine in both OS's too but need to be paired in Chrome OS if you've chroutoned it.

How do you switch between chrome OS and ubuntu? [ctrl]+[alt]+[shift]+[back] or [forward] doesn't work.

Using it for the first time just now and I'm very impressed so far. Quicker for browsing than my i5 laptop and google docs does everything I need it too....this'll transform my studies. Feels very strong and as a 'serial dropper' that's crucial for me. Delighted.

expired... it's gone back up in price.

May seem obvious but are you running it in crosh?

I've found the fix, I needed to type in sudo startxfce4 in crosh.

Sorry, I didn't see your post until just now. Glad you got it sorted :grin:

Unity works just fine,I have it running on this machine .

Its back at £99.99!

2gb is usable. 4gb is better if you work with alot of media heavy tabs open as Chrome can run out of memory and crash individual page tabs.

I agree. Since I got this I haven't really used my tablet. I watch Amazon / Netflix on this with no problems.
Great Chromebook. So quick to start up too.

Back at £99.99 somebody please unexpire!

If it was on Infinite Loop then maybe Apple was interfering in some way? You don't want to get too close to those guys.

Go on. Take a lol off me. You've earned it :face_with_monocle:

Go on. Take a lol off me. You've earned it :face_with_monocle:

22/9/2017
My N22 can now install Android apps form the play store. Spotify and Netflix working well and now looking for some more to install.