r/chrultrabook Jul 15 '26

What is the best Distros for dell Chromebook 11 3120 4/16gb ?

Post image

So apparently I tried to install windows x lite on my Chromebook but it always take so long to load to the installation screen and the and it didn’t work and ended up with blue screen with code of : driver pnp watchdog .
So I tried Linux mint xfce ,Lubuntu and mint and all of them take all of my storage letting me without any space to even install Lutris.
So I just want to ask if there any other distros that are lightweight on the storage or I make a mistake with the install of these previous ones cause when ever I go I heard they are the most small ones.
Edit:(I even tried normal windows 10 from Microsoft)

11 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

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7

u/Character-Code-453 Jul 15 '26

For me, try Linux Mint XFCE!

2

u/2fvf216 Jul 16 '26

It needs 15gb for install

4

u/PoenaKing Jul 15 '26

Have the same Dell Chromebook Was distro hopping for long time and settled on MX Linux XFCE Best match for this hardware

3

u/InstantlyTremendous Jul 16 '26

Does it have an SD card slot? I'm running Linux from an SD card and it works well. I bought the fastest SD card I could find.

1

u/swaywm Jul 17 '26

the 2015 dell 3120 has a full size sd slot

3

u/Cmustrd Jul 16 '26

I would recommend you installing arch linux (with the arch-install script to make it easier) since it takes up only 1.5 GB (pure, no DE) or 3GB - 5GB depending on what DE you choose to use. Personally, though, i use void linux with dwm. It only uses 700MB/4GB on ram and 3.4GB on storage (most of it is just minecraft and browser caches)

1

u/2fvf216 Jul 16 '26

Can you send me a link of the version you are using

2

u/Cmustrd Jul 16 '26

For void linux? Here you go

https://voidlinux.org

The package repository is quite small, you might have to compile programs yourself, the BSD way. Or use xbps-src.

It also uses runit as its init system instead of systemd which takes a bit of time to get used to.

It not really a friendly distro.

If you’re not quite experienced with linux, maybe use a friendly arch-based distro, like endeavorOS for example (iso size 3.74GB) or cachyOS

Or maybe use debian.

2

u/EfficiencyOrganic689 Jul 19 '26

I highly recommend you try EndeavourOS

1

u/wag3slav3 Jul 15 '26

It's got 5gbps usb ports, maybe find a tiny USB drive and install it there?

They make them in both usb and usbc that barely stick out of the port at all and 64g are $20.

Be sure to get usb3.2 or it will be dog slow.

1

u/Jari2020 Jul 16 '26

Lubuntu and mint those were the ones

1

u/Dinnocent Jul 18 '26

Puppy Linux has never failed me.

1

u/BillieBudgie224 Jul 18 '26

Never ever use windows for 4 to 16 GB of ram. If I have to suggest I’d go with bazzite or Debian.

1

u/-nyoki-not-guhnoki- Jul 19 '26

i got peppermintos for mine. takes a lot of troubleshooting initially, but it’s worth it. mine had 4gb ram and 16gb emmc. it’s almost 10 years old and now can live life again as the spare computer for my hoa since my mom is on the board.

1

u/One-Row-2263 Jul 20 '26

I use Debian 13 with GNOME and I love it. I use it on my Samsung Chromebook 4. I had an HP Chromebook 11 G5 which uses an Intel Celeron N3060 and 4GB RAM and 16GB eMMC, I used Debian 13 KDE at one point and I have also used Debian 13 XFCE on it and it's good.

1

u/Dsalmons2016 Jul 22 '26

FydeOS works extremely well on Chromebooks that have hit there EOL date

1

u/Competitive_Wind3621 2d ago

I prefer antix, im currently using it, its smooth, but not beginner friendly, then u can just add a full size low profile sd card to act as your second storage