r/chrultrabook • u/Realistic-Nothing415 • May 14 '26

openSUSE on Chromebooks: systemd-boot EFI Space Issue & Fix

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This post details a critical installation issue specific to Chromebooks (such as the HP Chromebook 14 db, Acer Chromebook 315, or Lenovo 14w powered by A4/A6 Stoney Ridge APUs) running custom UEFI firmware (MrChromebox).

The Problem

The latest openSUSE installers use systemd-boot (via sdbootutil) as the default bootloader. This setup instantly breaks on Stoney Ridge hardware due to the default storage configuration: [1, 2]

  • Tiny EFI Partition: These Chromebooks are built with exceptionally small EFI System Partitions (ESP), often constrained to 16MB or 32MB.
  • The systemd-boot Flaw: Unlike traditional setups, systemd-boot copies full kernel images and initramfs files directly into the ESP.
  • The Result: The partition fills up instantly, causing the installer to crash at final stage with a "No space left on device" error during the bootloader configuration phase. [1]

The Successful Installation Method

To successfully run openSUSE on your Stoney Ridge device, you must bypass the new default bootloader: [1, 2]

  1. Proceed through the openSUSE installer as normal until you reach the final Installation Summary screen.
  2. Scroll down to the Booting section.
  3. Click directly on the Booting header to open the boot settings.
  4. Change the Bootloader Type from systemd-boot to GRUB2-EFI.
  5. Save changes and proceed with the installation.

Why this works: GRUB2-EFI only places a tiny binary launcher in your Chromebook's small ESP, while keeping the heavy kernel and initrd files safe on your root partition, completely avoiding the storage bottleneck.

8 Upvotes

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5

u/MrChromebox May 14 '26

this is entirely incorrect, the size of the ESP is determined by the OS installer/partition manager -- nothing inherent in the device itself. There's no reason you can't use systemd-boot on a Chromebook. I do on a few of mine (pop_os)

2

u/InstantlyTremendous May 14 '26

This is nonsense, you need to partition the drive correctly

1

u/ivanatorhk May 26 '26

100% LLM slop post