As a long-time Chromebook user and Linux enthusiast, I've relied on Crouton to run full Linux environments alongside ChromeOS. But manually launching it every time was a hassle—until I set up autostart. This guide walks you through enabling it seamlessly, based on my hands-on experience.
Table of Contents: Preparation | Install | Configuration | Conclusion
With autostart enabled, skip booting ChromeOS fully, opening a terminal, and typing commands. Dive straight into your Linux setup.
To enable read-write access to the ChromeOS filesystem for your Crouton chroot, press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the terminal.
sudo sh ~/Downloads/rw-rootfs
Follow the on-screen instructions printed in the terminal carefully.
Now, download the necessary files. Start with the base autostart configuration:
curl -Lk --connect-timeout 60 -m 300 --retry 2 "https://gist.github.com/DennisLfromGA/6443733/download" | tar -xzO > ~/Downloads/crouton.conf
Move it to the init directory:
sudo mv ~/Downloads/crouton.conf /etc/init
Next, download the init script (leave it in Downloads):
curl -Lk --connect-timeout 60 -m 300 --retry 2 "https://gist.github.com/DennisLfromGA/aa1c92ebe77c3df4ca84/download" | tar -xzO > ~/Downloads/crouton.init
Install a Chrome extension for file editing, then open ~/Downloads/crouton.init in a text editor.
To find your chroot name, run:
cd /usr/local/chroots && ls
Set your default chroot in the file. Then, uncomment (remove # from) your preferred desktop environment (DE) in Crouton.
Finally, uncomment XMETHOD=xorg and comment out XMETHOD=xiwi for a full-screen Xorg session.
Note: If your Crouton runs in a window (xiwi), keep XMETHOD=xiwi uncommented.
Save changes and reboot. Autostart is now active!
Autostart transformed Crouton for me—from a novelty to my daily driver on Chromebooks. No more tedious commands; just pure Linux productivity.
What's your take on Crouton autostart? Share in the comments below!
