Search the Community

Hello! Im basically just trying to get a USB HID device working in the chromeOs bios, since the included keyboard is dead. Any help is great, thank you!

I have a Chromebook I got in ~2020 for my birthday (wish I got a Windows one instead) from my great aunt and a couple of months ago I realized that it was really slow when it was plugged in and being used. I have installed ChromeOS dev mode and I am on the dev channel so I can hopefully one day install Linux on it (I still need to find the write protect screw). How could I fix the issue of it being slow? And even better how can I install Linux (Ubuntu) on it and find the location of the WP screw.

I am learning Python, but my only keyboard compatible device is my Chromebook. I have been using an online IDE to code, but I find the UI laid out odd. I know I could download the official Python IDE on my iPad, but my iPad doesn't support my USB keyboard and I can't afford a Bluetooth Keyboard/Keyboard Case.

You've been clickbaited! HA! I did buy a lot of ~400 Chromebooks, but it was absolutely intentional. These lots are available on every auction site I know of at insanely low prices (I'm talking ~$10 USD/unit base price), and I saw an opportunity. My idea originally was to fix and flip the laptops, after possibly flashing them with an up-to-date and supported OS. I even went as far as to sacrifice my dignity and post on Reddit to gather suggestions for alternative OS's with long-term support from the community. In some ways, Chromebooks are actually a great product for this kind of enterprise. They don't have hard drives that can be removed and destroyed, come with an OS*, and in addition to being steeply discounted second-hand, are physically very simple devices, making repairs fairly simple. The project essentially had a few core goals: Make the power of even basic computing accessible to more people Give Chromebooks new life Reduce e-waste Do some cool nerd shit It's been great to see more and more coverage of this kind of thing by LMG, and now that they've actually directly addressed the Chromebook issue on WAN Show, I figured I'd post here and gather some feedback and ideas from this incredibly creative and eco-conscious tech community. There are a few specific things that I'd love to get some others' thoughts on - There are obviously many options for alternative OS installations, but the main issue that I keep running into is long-term support. Projects like GalliumOS, a Linux distro specifically designed to be installed on EOL Chromebooks, are no longer supported, while Neverware's CloudReady was purchased by Google and killed (shocker) in favor of Google's own ChromeOS Flex. ChromeOS Flex is currently my frontrunner as an alternative, because it's the most likely to support Chrome hardware, preserve the Chromebook featureset and experience, and extend their life. Testing, fixing and flashing Chromebooks is super tedious. Because of their locked-down nature, automation is basically impossible on any level and Google's own documentation recommends using a Rubber Ducky USB to automate things like domain enrollment. That's not even broaching the complexity of flashing a new firmware and operating system. One possibility that I've considered foe the long-term is the "Uber Eats" model - crowdsourcing labor to fix, flash and test the laptops from university compsci students or high school techies, passing the cost to the end user while still undercutting new low-end laptops. I've considered the idea of selling refurbished laptops back to school districts or refurbishing their existing Chromebooks as a service, but this would require some kind of reputation and relationship with school districts and probably include some super duper fun government contracting gymnastics. For some reason it seems like the chargers for second-hand laptops disappear into thin air. It's very rare to see a lot that comes with them. Compatible chargers are available from Alibaba for as little as $4/unit, but I'd like to avoid any unnecessary new goods. A substantial number of them actually use USB-C charging, which led me to consider buying USB-C chargers for all of them and outfitting the rest with USB-C-to-barrel-jack adapters as necessary. I'm not sure if this is actually a better option. USB-C chargers are arguably more future-proof and widely compatible, but the adapter introduces more points of failure. Pretty much all of the laptops have considerable cosmetic damage caused by long-term exposure to grade-school children. I've considered painting them, covering them with stickers or vinyl sheets dbrand-style, or just putting them in laptop cases to hide the scratches (see the next bullet). I've explored the idea of not using any shipping materials, instead opting for a reliable laptop case and bag. My thinking is this - if a laptop case is sturdy enough to handle drops in daily use, it can handle shipping. Along with the bag, these will also have some real value to the end user, rather than creating more trash. I've also considered recycled shipping materials as a fallback option. I know this is a lot and I hope it won't be interpreted as me asking the community to do my homework! I've already invested a fair bit of time and effort into this project and only want to find the best possible approach with the assistance of other like-minded people.

I followed this article online to install Chrome OS on my laptop, I followed every step correctly and got all the way up to the Loading Brunch Framework screen to boot into Chrome OS. I don't know why but it's boot looping again and again. Is there a way to fix this? I used the grunt_recovery.bin file since my laptop is running AMD. Here is a link to the article stating how to install Chrome OS on a Windows 10 laptop that I used. https://beebom.com/how-install-chrome-os-on-pc/

Hi all I recently got an HP Chromebook 11 G1 (Samsung Exynos ARMv7 based 32bit CPU) not sure what year it is from I would say 2013 or earlier.. anyway is there a way to replace chromeos with Linux on this? As it's EoL so I'm hoping to give it a new life.. and all I can find is stuff using Crouton which isn't really what I would like to do.

If you dont already know, Chrome OS Flex is google's take on running Chrome OS on non-chromebook hardware. https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/#form-section I personally think its pretty cool as it could be an alternative to a lightweight Linux install (i.e. Lubuntu) I just want to hear other people's opinon on this

Due to the laggy performance I've been getting on Windows, I have been trying to switch to ChromeOS on my potato. I followed this (https://youtu.be/QviTlPB_BiE) (Kedar Nimbalkar's) video, tried both rammus and samus builds. The error I'm getting by the end reads pv: write failed: no space left on device After writing 3 of the 12 partitions. The remaining 9 display the aforementioned message. This is weird because there should be space on my device after I agreed to a format in the script. Any fixes for this, please? Device Name: Acer Aspire 5736z Processor: Intel Dual Core T4500 RAM: DDR3 4GB Storage: 500GB HDD

Good day guys, I've been wondering if there is any way to det an upper limit on the CPU clock speed on Chrome OS. I have a Lenovo Miix 720 on which I've disabled the fan and on Windows I can just limit the maximum CPU state in the power menu improving battery life and thermals since I don't need that much performance. I'd like to install Chrome OS but the last time I did it, the CPU would constantly boost generating heat that can't be handled by my modded passive cooling system. Thank you

- a "Hackable” Linux Tablet

I've had this thing for years, but now all my apps are gone, including Play Store. No clue why... There's another user on the laptop that does still have all this on it. I've searched the settings a little but didn't find any solutions yet...

So I brought myself a Lenovo ideapad duet and tryed to Install Steam on crustinie/arm64 Debian but it dosen't Work (of cause it dosen't). So can anyone Help?

Summary A few months ago, there were reports that Google and most likely Valve were working on the support of the popular gaming platform Steam to come on Chrome OS. Discoveries have been made by 9to5google on how it will work and which Chromebooks it will first support. As of now it will start with the laptops that have the 10th gen Intel processor. ChromeOS supports running Linux apps under the project “Crostini”. It does this via running an entire Linux distribution in a virtual machine. 9to5google tracked a new project within the open-source code of Chromium called “Borealis”. This appears to be related to virtual machines for ChromeOS. It turned out to be a full on distribution, which unlike Crostini that is based on Debian, Borealis appears to be based on Ubuntu. Personal opinion I haven’t heard much about ChromeOS lately (actually nothing), but this is still a rather interesting yet unsurprising news, especially considering that Valve has made a lot of effort into the development of Proton and the fact there have been some reports of it being made earlier this year. Regardless, this feels rather welcoming to the OS, even though it’s marketing share is rather low afaik. Source https://9to5google.com/2020/07/01/chrome-os-preparing-steam-gaming-ubuntu/

Hi, I've got a slightly weird issue with my Acer Chromebook 14 which seems to be connected to the latest Chrome OS update v81.0.4044.94 (although I'm not 100% sure, it could just be coincidental timing). Basically, when connected to my home network on the 2.4GHz bands, it only gets about 5-10% of the download speeds it normally would. I usually get around 25-50 Mbps, but on my chromebook now I'm lucky to get 0.25 (according to the google speed test). Sometimes it also refuses to connect altogether or drops in and out. Basically it's unusable except for very light web browsing. Our network is set up with the router downstairs, then two other powerline hotspots with different SSIDs in other places - usually I just connect to whichever has the strongest signal depending on where I am. It's the same problem whether I'm trying to connect to the router or the hotspots. Distance doesn't seem to matter so I don't think it's a signal problem, and my phone and PC connect to any of them fine with normal speeds. What's also strange is that my Chromebook will connect to the 5GHz band on the router, and gets normal download speeds with no issues. It's also really strange to me that it does still connect to the router/hotspots just gets completely unusable speeds. As I say, it seemed to occur after the latest chrome OS update but it could be coincidental timing, I only noticed it after the update but might just be reading too much into things. tl;dr - chromebook gets very low speeds or unreliable connection on 2.4GHz band, but find on 5GHz, seemed to start occuring after latest chrome update If anyone has any fixes/suggestions that would be amazing, I've never really done much digging around under the hood of my chromebook before (because normally it just works with no issues...) so am not really sure where to start. Cheers!

So, this is what's happening to me. My Asus C300 was supposed to get Android Apps support on v55, but I still can't see the damn box to enable it. Updated it to the canary channel, to v59, made a lot of things that I saw people did and worked to them but not for me. There you have some screenshots so you can verify that i'm not crazy at all. It is in Spanish, if you don't know what it means, just ask. Anyone that knows about this and could help me? Thanks in advance

Hey everyone! This isn't exactly the oldest laptop ever, but I had an old HP Envy dv4 Laptop that I really wasn't using anymore. The Windows install on it got really slow, and I wasn't really using any of the programs anymore, except Chrome. I decided that I still wanted to use it for schoolwork and travel, and I heard you could install ChromeOS/ChromiumOS (the Linux-based operating system on Chromebooks) on a laptop. This would significantly speed up your laptop web browsing and boot speeds! I was discouraged when I learned that you had to work through the Google Developer Console to install ChromiumOS, and even write some configuration for your specific laptop. Then, I discovered this free software called CloudReady. CloudReady allows you to easily add (a slightly modified version) of ChromeOS onto pretty much any laptop. Also, with some laptops, you can configure dual boot! (so you can either boot to Windows or ChromeOS) (Please note it would probably not work with some laptops, especially from over 10 years ago, but your mileage may vary). Anyways, let's get to the guide: First of all, you need an 8gb or 16gb USB flash drive to put the CloudReady image on. Download the CloudReady image from this site: https://www.neverware.com/freedownload. Make sure you get the right version (32 vs 64 bit) On a computer with Google Chrome installed, download the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromebook-recovery-utili/jndclpdbaamdhonoechobihbbiimdgai/related?hl=en Open Chromebook Recovery Utility, and click the gear in the top right corner. Then click "Use local image". Select the CloudReady zip file you just downloaded, and then the correct flash drive. Then, click "Create now" to create the installation disk. It will take a while for the process to complete. You may see weird percentages such as "209%". This is normal because the program isn't exactly meant working with CloudReady. Also, if you are having trouble writing to the USB drive, try force quitting Google Chrome and the Recovery Utility and then running the program as an administrator. This method was able to fixe the problem for me, just make sure you force quit After you are done, eject the flash drive and put it into one of your (powered off) laptop's USB ports. Turn on the laptop and go to the BIOS/Device Priority to boot from the USB drive, instead of the laptop 's hard drive. To find the keys to press during startup to go to your laptop's BIOS, make a google search with your laptop model and then "BIOS Config" You should now boot to CloudReady/ChromeOS and you should see the logo. Setup/Install Instructions Press "Accept & Install" to install Flash Player, this could take a few minutes. Configure Wi-Fi/connect via Ethernet Now, you can log in with your Google account. Also, make sure you've taken all the files you want off of your laptop. Even if you want to dual boot, just incase. After you've logged in, click on the time in the bottom right, then click "Install CloudReady". This will install CloudReady to your hard drive, instead of just booting off your USB disk. Click "Install CloudReady" Now, you may see an option to dual boot. This is if you would like to choose between Windows and ChromeOS every time your laptop boots up. I may check with CloudReady's support devices list to see if your laptop can dual boot: https://guide.neverware.com/supported-devices/. Choose standalone if you just want ChromeOS. The installation may take a while, and it may even restart a few times. When it's done, make sure you take out the USB flash drive before the laptop starts up again. That's it! You've converted your old laptop into a fast Chromebook! I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial, and I hope it helped. I'd love your feedback This is the first one I've done on the LinusTechTips forums! I have a blog where I write about re-using old tech, but I decided I wanted to share it with the LinusTechTips community! If you want to see other ways to re-use your old PC/laptop, I have an article here.

So does anyone want to fight me on the worth of chrome OS. I love it.

Hello, I was wondering if anybody new any methods of fixing a bug with a Acer C740 Chromebook. Whenever a video is played in fullscreen on the laptop, the taskbar appears directly above the video bar. Any ideas how to fix this

So, my 2014 model Toshiba Chromebook 2 won't turn on, even with a full battery. I know it won't boot (and not just not activate screen) as the USB ports don't power devices. When it is plugged in, however, it boots fine with no hitches whatsoever. My current theory is the battery is dislodged from the connector or has malfunctioned (Some of my previous Windows laptops would function fine with no battery, as long as it was plugged into the wall). I would appreciate advice as to what to do and how to find out what model this is. I am fairly comfortable with opening it and doing some laptop surgery, but this will be my first time. I did a Crosh (chrome's shell environment terminal) battery test. The output: crosh> battery_test No test length specified. Defaulting to 300 seconds. Battery is charging or full (100.00% left) Battery health: 81.42% Please make sure the power supply is unplugged and retry the test. But if I unplug the laptop, it won't boot

My Chromebook chrashed yesterday, now ChromeOS is corrupted, and I have to recover it using the recovery tool from Google. But for some reason it doesn't want to work for me. I tried Windows (8.1 64-bit), Linux Ubuntu 17.04 and ChromeOS. None of them seem to work. I need my Chromebook working again quick. Does someone hase ideas of how to fix it? I do want a valid Google verified version of ChromeOS, not a third-party version. Thanks.

Currently I'm looking at the Acer R11, Asus Chromebook Flip, Asus transformer book T100CHI-C1 and as for tablet I haven't really decided which to choose from. (there are great deals on these for blackfriday,except the flip) I'm gonna use this primarily for media consumption (reading comics, books, watching movies in a car and etc,) and net browsing. Maybe some typing but hardly. I'm very used to having multiple tabs (10-20 when im on dual screen) open and I have a lot of files on different external drives where i'll be hoping to watch some media files when internal storage is a problem. I'm hoping to use this for travelling and something portable for around the house. I currently have a heavy duty laptop so I dont need to to be powerful. I'm planning on having a fairly large 128gb USB or Micro SD card for storage of media files. Access to the android store to be able to play some light games would be nice just to kill time but i don't plan on gaming on it because I'll be building a rig fairly soon. I'm aware that I'll be able to have Bluestacks and steam on A windows OS but I'm unsure how responsive they would be since they weren't necessarily built for touch screen usage. My limitations to gaming are probably just some pass and play, turn based board games and whatever i use on mobile to kill downtime. Are there any advantages or disadvantages I'm missing that would swing me towards one option or another. Any different suggestions would also help.

Source: ZDNet , AllAboutChromebooks (Image from AllAboutChromebooks) Google has apparently killed their (hiding in plain sight) skunkworks project to run Windows and Linux on Chromebooks under the name "Project Campfire" or "AltOS". From ZDNet: The project would have allowed Chromebooks to officially dual boot Windows or Linux alongside ChromeOS. Chalk another one up for the Google Graveyard. This certainly could have been cool, given that it currently requires quite a bit of shenanigans but is quite doable by the enthusiast... On the other hand, we've avoided (narrowly) a brewing OtherOS fiasco.

Hi all, I'm Interested in acquiring a Chromebook, however, I currently feel like a have two problems. Available programs and RAM. On my current laptop an ASUS vivobook s551b, for that I use for everything, is, of course, a widows machine. The problem I feel is that I wouldn't be able to use the Cold turkey website blocker as well as the thunderbird email client. And as chrome is usually RAM intensive would 4GB actually properly handle the chrome tabs. The Chromebook I'm interested in, (Perth, WA Australia) Acer 15.6" FHD Pentium Chromebook CB515-1H-P6E4 https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/acer-15-6-fhd-pentium-chromebook-cb515-1h-p6e4-acb5151hcb

Hey, I cannot find the write protect screw on my HP Chromebook 14 db0003na, I am looking for this in order to turn it into a windows 10 laptop.

Hi guys, I'm a little stressed right now. I was cleaning out my external hard drive and going through old clips from when I used to play black ops 2. I was moving clips to use for videos into a separate folder with csgo videos, and accidentally deleted the folder. It was a lot of old videos from several years back and some precious stuff I'd love to try and get back. Is there any way I can recover the data? I'm very worried and any help is extremely appreciated! Thank you!! EDIT: I see a folder titled $RECYCLE.BIN but the folder's content doesn't look useful. Here is a screenshot.