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?

[DudeJB]

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

[RedBalloon]

Thanks for the reply. Are you sure that Steam OS is only installable on x86? From what I've read it requires a 64 bit processor. Your comment got me thinking that this Asus Chromebox might not have enough RAM for Steam OS (comes with 2GB, while requirements list 4GB). I pre-ordered one of these last night.

[borg_7_of_9]

steamos is x86/64 code chrome book's run on arm cpu's so no it won't work
2G of ram is enough BTW i run steamos x86/64 on a PC with 2G and it's fine..

http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown Intel or AMD 64Bit CPU

even running steam big picture and streaming from my main host rig works fine with 2G of ram on my steamos/vista client rig (Dual boot)

[RedBalloon]

Thanks very much, good to hear Steam OS runs fine with 2GB RAM. The Asus Chromebox has an Intel Celeron processor (Haswell), so AFAIK the CPU shouldn't be an issue. I'm mainly worried that Asus locked down the BIOS to prevent modification of the operating system, though I've read that other Chrome hardware has been pretty open in this regard.

[borg_7_of_9]

oh interesting then it may work didn't no it was an intel based unit should have looked it up..

well if you can gain access then you should be able to install it assuming drivers are there some new network devices can cause headaches..

edit: looking at the spec's it has intel graphics may cause a headache or 2 and may not go well with 2G of ram due to the IGP needing memory but assuming it only needs 256~500MB for video it may work well..
if it was a dedicated gpu id say yes 4 sure but its hard to say with an igp but they are supported..

[RedBalloon]

Thanks again, I appreciate the feedback. Sounds like this might be a project but I'm hopeful. I'll come back in a couple weeks and let you know how it goes.

[blackout24]

borg_7_of_9 eredeti hozzászólása:

oh interesting then it may work didn't no it was an intel based unit should have looked it up..

well if you can gain access then you should be able to install it assuming drivers are there some new network devices can cause headaches..

edit: looking at the spec's it has intel graphics may cause a headache or 2 and may not go well with 2G of ram due to the IGP needing memory but assuming it only needs 256~500MB for video it may work well..
if it was a dedicated gpu id say yes 4 sure but its hard to say with an igp but they are supported..

Intel Haswell iGPUs are very powerful. You can play Skyrim on Wine on Linux on a 200 USD Acer Chromebook without problems. You're not going to have any driver problems with anything that comes from Intel on Linux. They are one of the biggest contributors to the kernel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEqB0HDKW1w

So yes you can install a real Linux on any Chromebook/Chromebox.

[RedBalloon]

That's fantastic, thanks much for sharing. If its GPU can run Skyrim (albeit slowly on Low settings), it sounds like streaming in 1080p at a good framerate should work just fine.

[MCA]

Wrong beta group. Post this at Steam OS group: http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/beta/

[RedBalloon]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm curious about its capability as a streaming machine but I understand my original question may be better placed in the SteamOS group.

[blackout24]

On Linux the hardware decoding only works with NVIDIA cards atm, but the Intel Haswell CPU should be fast enough to decode 1080p.

[RedBalloon]

Thanks blackout24. Does that mean the Intel integrated GPU won't decode video when streaming through SteamOS?

[blackout24]

@RedBallon

At the moment, yes. See: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/540732888895002246/

In theory the Intel HD Graphics can use VDPAU through VDPAU backend in VA-API, which is what Valve uses but there seems to be a problem. So on Linux video hardware decode only works with NVIDIA. They could implement VA-API directly. The Haswell Celeron is fast enough, though.

You can watch a review of the Acer C720 in about 4 hours on the Linux Action Show. It has exactly the same hardware as a Chromebox.

http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/show/linuxactionshow/

The host said that he did not have any issues playing Batman at 1080p/60 FPS via his Chromebook streamed from a Windows box. And that's with no hardware decode as I said.

I just watched the live recording.

[RedBalloon]

Thank you, very helpful. I'll check that out. It looks like SteamOS recently started to support Intel graphics so here's hoping that hardware decoding through In-Home Streaming isn't far behind:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/9/5292596/steamos-now-supports-intel-and-amd-graphics

EDIT: Found this video to be illuminating for anyone considering this Windows to Linux streaming set-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHwT7yW6jeQ

[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).