Ethereum - Disk space full on Chromebook, want to back up keystore on Linux (using Crouton)

Question

I am running a ChromeBook (v 46) on an Acer Chromebook 11, where I have installed Crouton to operate XFCE Ubuntu in Dev mode using the shell inside the Chrome browser. Inside Ubuntu, I have been running a node of Ethereum Geth , which has effectively eaten up all the storage that I have on the computer. After restarting my computer today, after having received notice in Linux that the disk space was full, I am now no longer able to use the terminal (Alt Ctrl T) in Chrome to run sudo startxfce4 , thus getting me back into Ubuntu. Specifically what happens is that the terminal opens but I can't type anything at a command prompt. Moreover, when I open the files app, there is nothing at all that appears in it (to include the Downloads folder), and when I open Chrome to clear out the browser history/cache (to clear out some extra space) the loading gif just keeps spinning. The Crouton extension in Chrome says that it is disconnected (although it is enabled), but I can't even download another copy of Crouton due to a lack of disk space.

I am not really worried about losing anything on the computer EXCEPT for backing up the keystore . Other than backing up that file, I don't mind wiping the system clean if that is what this takes. I have also recently purchased an SD card to prevent the disk from getting full again. What are my options for getting back into Ubuntu to retrieve the file, or at least backing up this file from ChromeOS without using the shell? Am I able to access the other operating system's file system from ChromeOS?

Thank you for any help you can provide on this matter. I am confident that this is a question of disk space and would appreciate any advice you can give that will help me retrieve this file. Thanks!

Answer 1

With help from DennyL from the Google Crouton forum:

You may be able to gain access to your file without logging in by - Pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2/Right-Arrow at the login screen

Entering: chronos (no password is set by default)

Logging in this way takes much fewer resources and may be just enough to get a terminal session.

Then: cd /usr/local/chroots/[chrootname]/home/[username]/ (default location for chroots)

This will put you in your $HOME directory in your crouton chroot from where you can hopefully look for your key file(s). You may have to 'mount' an SD Card or USB stick manually at this point and save your file(s) there.