While Linux support was announced on Chromebooks three years ago, which means it has long been possible to run Linux on Chromebooks, it was initially missing some key features at launch. However, Google seems to be catching up right now, as it leads the way in making Chrome OS a viable platform for everyone. For example, you can now enable microphone and GPU acceleration in Linux on Chromebooks. Both of these features have long been requested by creatives and power users, and in the end, Google has delivered on its promise. So without further delay, let’s continue and learn how to enable microphone support and hardware acceleration in Linux on Chrome OS.
Enable Microphone and GPU Acceleration in Linux on Chromebook (2021)
Here we have mentioned two easy ways to turn on microphone and GPU acceleration support in Linux on Chromebook. You can expand the table below and easily jump to the relevant section.
Turn On Microphone Support in Linux on Chromebooks
You can enable the microphone on Chromebooks on Linux right now, and you don’t need to update to the Beta or Dev channel for that. feature Available in stable channel since Chrome OS 80 and now Google offers a user-facing option to turn on microphone support in Linux.
1. After installing Linux on your Chromebook, open the Settings page and go to Advanced -> Developers from the left menu.
2. Next, click on “Linux development environment”.
3. At the bottom, you will find the item “Allow Linux to access your microphone”. Activate it and that’s it.
4. Now open any audio recording app. For example, here I used Audacity, one of the best Linux apps for Chromebooks, and it recorded my voice clearly, confirming microphone support in Linux on Chromebooks.
Note: You may need to change the recorder to: sysdefault: Line:0 at Audacity. For other applications, you do not need to make any changes.
5. If the microphone is not working in Linux apps on your Chromebook, then Restart your device. It will most likely fix the problem.
Enable GPU Acceleration in Linux on Chromebooks
Before we get started, let me make it clear that GPU acceleration has been added by default to almost all Chromebooks since Chrome OS 81. The only caveat is that you need to upgrade the Linux container to the latest Debian Buster build. Here’s how to do it.
1. Open the Chrome browser and go to the Chrome Flags page.
chrome://flags
2. After that, Search for “Crostini GPU Support” and enable it from the dropdown menu. You can also open the custom flag directly from the address below. Now, click on the “Restart” button at the bottom.
chrome://flags/#crostini-gpu-support
3. After rebooting, open Linux Terminal and run the following command to update packages and dependencies. Copy and paste the command into Terminal and hit enter. After that, it will be updated to the latest Buster build.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
4. After the packages are updated, run the command below to install the Mesa utility. Lets you know if GPU acceleration is enabled on your Chromebook.
sudo apt-get install mesa-utils -y
5. Finally, open the Linux Terminal and run the command given below to verify if GPU acceleration is enabled. If it says “Accelerated: Yes” then you’re done. Now you can play desktop-level Chromebook games and effortlessly use graphics-intensive Linux apps on your Chromebook. Enjoy!
glxinfo -B
Make Your Chromebook a Powerful Machine
This was our short guide on how to enable microphone support and GPU Acceleration in Linux on Chromebooks. These were two of the most sought after features in the creative and gaming community, and Google has finally started talking. With the recent addition of Android app sideloading on the Chromebook, Google has made it very clear that it takes the Chrome OS platform seriously. Now all we need is webcam support on Linux on Chromebooks. When this happens, we will definitely let you know. Anyway, that’s it for us. So, what do you think of these two new additions to Chrome OS? Let us know in the comment section below.
