I was recently given a 2012 samsung chromebook xe303c12-a01 for free but it is of no use to me with chrome OS.

I have played around with it a little and managed to make the SSD writeable and would like to install some kind of Linux on it.

However, I have my mind on completely different things so I wonder if there exist an install-ready live image that I can use to boot from USB and, with a mouse click (or two or ...), have it installed directly on the SSD as only OS to use it as a travel companion.

I have scanned through a number of recipes and I think that there must be some install ready images out there. It would save me a lot of time.

I don't want a Crouton or Chrubuntu solution, I want the chrome OS gone and replaced by some "real" Linux.

*if* you really have full write access to the ssd, can't you put ubuntu mate iso on a usb stick and boot from and install that?

No, I have to build (if I have understood it correctly) a Samsung xe303c12 specific kernel and rebuild the iso and that is a question of either use the chromebook to compile that kernel or cross compile it on another computer.

Aaah, that thing doesn't have an i386/amd64 processor but rather an arm chip.
Maybe these links help:
http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet
In some article it says, that the cpu is identical to nexus 10 tablet. But searching for nexus 10 ubuntu yields installation instructions where you have to compile yourself...
Seems you're out of luck with a one-stop solution...

Cheers
Upuetz

I managed to download a Kali Linux for arm and put it on a usb stick and also to start it and copy it to the ssd.
only problem now is that the computer starts in developer mode with a developer prompt and I have to start Kali with
vboot_twostop
But ... it is up and running. Only problem now is to find out how to make it start when switching om the computer
and how to extend the system to my taste.
AND it is really fast compared to the original Chrome OS

Well, well. Finally I managed to brick it... I get a prompt "SMDK5250" and access to a limited set of commands, but I get nowhere from there. Good thing it was for free....

I may be able to start it ... coming back.

It might be "uboot" - the boot loader you are seeing. That boot loader is very resilient to bricking! You can specify kernel and initrd and such and kick it and it will boot again.
But more is hard to tell from a distance :-)

It is all too embarrassing as I have built and programmed my own computers since long ago. Linux is my OS since 1994 (after 2 years of experimenting with it). But Chrome OS is so different on the ARM systems. I'm playing around with it but so far I haven't managed to start a new kernel from SD port or the main USB port. If I get it up and running again I'll post the recipe, if not I have had some fun with it. I have managed to make it load and try to run things from the USB port and I am slowly learning by trial and error, mostly error so far....

If you get any kind of prompt your chances of resurrection are rather high. *Maybe* you could even boot that thing over the network (tftp and such).
I fiddled with a uboot platform a year ago, I think you need to give another pc a fixed IP and then try to connect to the uboot by telnet. Then you can see the boot prompt (of uboot) and alter the options.
HTH,
Upuetz

At the moment I'm trying to make a Debian 8.5.0 armhf boot from USB but so far I haven't managed to figure out if it is possible and if so, the exact command to start it. Of course with the hope to be able to transfer it to the SSD. Maybe a letter to the debian arm developers ...

You could also take out the ssd, connect it by a usb/sata adapter (if it's sata) and run it in a virtual environment (qemu or *maybe* virtualbox) and install it there. Then, put it back in, cross your fingers and give it a go

Would have been an option if the darn thing was not soldered directly on the motheerboard. Though I remember having seen a solution to that too... will look into it.

No live images I found but there are a bunch of walkthroughs that indicate the correct way for getting started.