I've just figured out how to get PICO-8, sound and all, to work on ChromeOS 79. Since there doesn't seem to be any other information on the topic, I'll post it here.
To begin, install Linux (Beta) (a.k.a. Crostini) on your Chromebook. You can learn how to install Linux (Beta) here.
After Linux (Beta) has installed, install and unzip the Linux version of PICO-8. Then, drag and drop the pico-8 folder into My files / Linux files. That way the files will appear in the home directory of Linux (Beta).
Next, we need to make pico8 executable:
$ cd ~/pico-8 $ chmod +x pico8 |
That's enough to get PICO-8 working. However, the sound won't work. To fix this, open the new Terminal app and type the following commands:
# Make sure the new cros-pulse-config package is installed. $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade # Clear out existing pulse settings. $ rm -rf ~/.config/pulse # Turn it off & on again via crosh (Ctrl-Alt-T). crosh> vmc stop termina |
Finally, to run PICO-8:
$ cd ~/pico-8 $ ./pico8 |
And there we go! PICO-8 running on ChromeOS.
Sources
Lexaloffle - A proper Linux installer, please
Chromebook Help - Can't get my Linux apps to produce sound
Chromebook Help - Set up Linux (Beta) on your Chromebook


Thank you. I might try this eventually. I do have a couple questions:
1) Will this only work on certain Chromebook models? I have a Samsung Chromebook 3.
2) Will installing the Linux beta thing affect my Chromebook's other functions? Like its Android compatibility maybe?
Once again, thanks for posting about this. Also, it's been awhile since I've been on this site. Glad I came back around.


@ScorchWare No problem! I've only tested this on a single Acer Chromebook, so I can't say for certain whether it would work on other models. I don't see why it wouldn't though. As for installing the Linux beta, it won't affect your Chromebook's other functions to my knowledge. Android compatibility was unaffected on the Chromebook I did this on. Let me know if you try this, I'd be really curious to hear how that turns out! Best of luck.


@ScorchWare Glad it worked! Let me know if any issues come up. Given that the Linux support in ChromeOS is still in beta, things may change.


Just want to post here for posterity. This wasn't working for me at first. I got an error:
SDL Error: No available video device
** FATAL ERROR: Unable to initialize SDL
I tried a bunch of stuff - no luck. I finally wiped my Linux installation and reinstalled it and - voila - it just worked. Not sure what my issue was but hopefully that helps anyone else with that error.
I'm using a Pixelbook (i5 version)


This isn't working for me, and i'm really annoyed:
Whenever I run "./pico8", I get an error "-bash: ./pico8: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error". I'm using the x64bit on a Lenovo C330 which I'm pretty sure is 64bit
It would be awesome if one of you linux geeks would help me! Thanks!


I can verify that this works on the Acer Chromebook CB3-431. Big fan of that one as it's super inexpensive. Now I can Pico8 anywhere!
Thanks for the easy tutorial


If you're receiving "format error", you probably have a Chromebook with an ARM CPU as opposed to the X86 CPU found in a typical PC. Chromebooks come in both, with each having their own advantage. The biggest disadvantage of the ARM CPU is you can't run linux programs compiled for X86, which is most things. For open source applications, it's not that much of a barrier since you can just recompile it yourself (and usually, someone has already done so for you), but with closed source apps like PICO-8 you're at the mercy of the dev to compile a version for you.
And before you go trying the Raspberry Pi version, that's probably not going to work for you either. The Raspberry Pi does have an ARM CPU, but its "armhf" CPU does not produce applications compatible with the "arm64" one typically found in ARM Chromebooks.


PLEASE HELP!
I'm trying to install pico 8 64 bit onto an acer chromebook but when I get up to the second terminal command (chmod +x pico8) it won't work. I'm not sure if I'm unzipping properly but I have no idea how to and I found something saying to copy what's inside the zip, then copy it to a blank folder. Wtf. How do I make it work?


I got it working, but due to the lack of being able to delete singular linux apps without deleting all of the apps, I have the same problem. I can run the first command, and it works as it should, but as soon as I get to the second command (chmod +x pico8), it brings up "chmod: cannot access 'pico8': No such file or directory." I now know that I unzipped properly, but unless I'm forgetting a step, I'm doing exactly what I was doing for it to work in the first place. Please help.
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