Installing SteamOS on new Asus Chromebox

[RedBalloon]

The new Asus Chromebox is now available, which comes preloaded with ChromeOS:

http://www.sabrepc.com/asus-chromebox-m004u-chromebox-celeron-2955u-intel-hd4400-graphics-mini-pc.html

I'm tempted to pick one up for In-Home Streaming to my living room from my office PC. Any thoughts on whether or not it would be possible to install SteamOS over the existing ChromeOS environment?

[DiamondPugs]

引用自 RedBalloon：

I just wanted to report back since I've had a chance to play with the Asus Chromebox as a client-side PC for streaming.

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 using Crouton. I had some issues with the Intel graphics drivers but they seem to be working fine now. You'll need to change some settings through the ChromeOS terminal to allow your server PC to see your client PC, which can be found below:

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/540731691380357088/#p2

I'm able to stream games from my Windows PC! The performance isn't great at 1080p, but I noticed that lowering to 720p drastically improved the framerate (from ~30 to ~60). I've tried The Swapper, Rayman Origins, and Saints Row the Third. Saints Row is the most taxing to run and stays at about ~40 fps at 720p, and there is a noticeable delay with the audio (I'll crash a car and hear the crunch a fair bit later). I ordered an extra 2GB of RAM (see link below) in the hopes that I can free up some memory for the Intel graphics and achieve better framerates in 1080p.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LDLP8W/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

Edit: Just tried Bioshock Infinite and it streams beautifully at 720p or 1080p (though I'm starting to prefer 720p on the big screen so I can read the text from the couch).

So you got yourself an inexpensive living room media center that can perfectly stream video games. That's amazing! (I was curious if this was possible)
Just one question since you are using Crouton. Are you booting both ChromeOS, and Ubuntu at the same time? Or are you booting just Ubuntu?

[Tig Ol' Bitties]

Yes, that's cool. I'm holding off on buying a Chromebook until next month when Samsung releases some slightly beefed up versions.

I'm aso curious as to whether you are now only using Linux or you have ChromeOS still on there.

[UnReal-4-Life]

i havent read every ones responce to this but I think it would work on that. Who ever is doing that let us know. Good Luck

[DiamondPugs]

引用自 UnReal-4-Life：

i havent read every ones responce to this but I think it would work on that. Who ever is doing that let us know. Good Luck

You should read before posting on any thread.

[RedBalloon]

I'm running Crouton, which piggybacks off the Chrome OS, so the Linux OS doesn't work well unless you boot into both ChromeOS and Ubuntu.

I didn't have much luck installing Linux with Chrubuntu on the Asus Chromebox but I'm a novice. The recovery USB for ChromeOS is a good safety net. I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 via Crouton for Steam In-Home Streaming (Bioshock Infinite streams like a dream on Ultra settings, 720p), but I'd like to give Chrubuntu another shot. I found this write-up today which outlines the steps the author used to get Linux running on the Chromebox through the Chrubuntu method:

http://www.willispickering.com/content/upgrade-asus-chromebox-add-more-memory-and-ssd-and-ubuntu

[RedBalloon]

Just a quick update: got Chrubuntu working on the Chromebox and installed Ubuntu 12.10. Big Picture mode works perfectly, just a couple of minor annoyances:

1. Pulling up Big Picture on the remote PC also opens it on the client PC, but the client PC doesn't close Big Picture when I exit Big Picture on the Client.
2. Using the default driver to plug-and-play the Xbox 360 Wireless controller in Ubuntu 12.10 leaves the 4 LED lights on the front of the controller blinking, even though it's connected and working. There's something called xboxdrv that you can install on Ubuntu that corrects the blinking lights issue, but I haven't been able to get it to work with Steam (or anything else) yet.

[Stealth-X]

RedBallon, I'm having trouble getting steam streaming to work on my ACER C720. I used crouton to install Ubuntu with xlce. (not sure the version but I followed an online guide)

I have steam installed and beta accepted on the Ubuntu side of things, but it doesn't give me the option to stream. I don't think that my Linux is seen by my windows 7 gaming computer. Any suggestions? I opened up port 27036 in Linux, but still no luck.

Thanks,
Nate

[RedBalloon]

If you're running Crouton and you can't get the host PC and the Acer ChromeOS machine to see one another, I think that you'll need to follow the instructions below. You'll need to boot into ChromeOS first, enter the terminal, and follow the instructions posted by Pybro #2 here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/540731691380357088/#p2:

"per /u/twisted- at reddit, you have to modify ChromeOS's iptables. What I did was the following

* open a shell (ctrl + alt + t)
* type shell
* type sudo iptables -F
* type sudo iptables -P INPUT ACCEPT
* type sudo iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT
* type sudo iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT

What this does is flush your iptables (-F) and then reassign them to let everything through. Which is probably a very insecure way of running your chromebook, and I don't know if you want to do that or not. BUT, in-home streaming is now working for me in Crouton."

You'll need to do this any time you restart your machine while running Crouton.

[Toby5Scott]

Has anyone tried streaming games to Asus Chromebox and connected to a big TV? How's the performance? I'm planning to get one :)

[Gordon Freeman]

Has any one gotten controller support on steam while using Crouton? I got steam streaming to work but steam doesnt seem to detect my controller.

[RedBalloon]

Hi Gordon,

If you're using an Xbox 360 controller, you might have luck with the instructions in the link below on Crouton:

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/07/dealing-with-xbox-controllers-in-ubuntu

sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:rael-gc/ubuntu-xboxdrv
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-xboxdrv

[ayr-ton]

引用自 DudeJB：

Doubt it would work as it is only instalable on x86.

The asus chromebox is x86, not arm.

[Gordon Freeman]

Yup, couldnt get the controller to work on Crouton, but it works fine on Chrubuntu. Streaming works well too. I will test it out later, hooking it up to a big tv via HDMI and will try streaming to it. Would be a good portable streaming laptop