Introducción
You can perform this on many chromebook not just sunsetted ones that are no longer taking updates from google. A big exception is ARM based chromebooks apparently. The flashing script will fail in some fashion for those. I am not sure if it gives an appropriate error message or an inscrutable code since I don’t have such a system to test against. If anyone feels the urge let me know what the error looks like or send me a screenshot I will include in this guide. I am going to provide links and info for some I am familiar with how to unprotect the roms on. Others can feel free to add additional ones as they see fit (I will require 500 reputation points to participate in edits though). Don't let this happen to your chromebook http://h22235.www2.hp.com/hpinfo/globalc...
Note: Sadly, many newer chromebooks require the ability to tiddle around with the firmware to disable the write protected mode that is factory set. The original mindset of manufacturers was to allow a simple hardware switch which was either a physical two position switch inside the case away from prying fingers or the removal of a physical write protect screw from a special point inside the case. If you know how this is done on some of the newer models contact me and lets discuss modifying this guide to be more complete for the newer models of chromebooks now coming out.
Note2: Update, are you someone who can read a lot of plain English technical instructions and are not afraid of a command line user interface? If that describes you accurately, there is a new way to enjoy a linux on chromebook experience for the newer generations of chromebooks mentioned in the first note above. It is called "breath". If you are not being truthful with yourself answering the question above please stop now! Otherwise you will just set yourself up for frustration while continuing to add to the hordes of linux opponents and naysayers that already fill the web with disinformation. There are some hardware requirements for generating the install media and a growing list of supported newer chromebooks. Oh, and it is thoughtfully hosted on github too! Thanks to Cameron for providing the link! I am going to try this now! I intend to post results here later based on my experience. Here is the link: breath
Qué necesitas
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You will need a couple of decent sized USB sticks. I used 16gb sandisk cruzer sticks. One for your desired live linux image and one for taking a backup of your original chromeos supporting image. The second one is optional since you only need that if you ever want to go back to your chromeos image.
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I did it just in case I bricked my laptop. Turned out to be unnecessary since the script worked perfectly. You can probably skip taking the chromeos flash backup since it probably won't be needed for yours either.
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Download amd64 lubuntu LTS image or whatever flavor you desire of linux. Burn it on one of your USB sticks with software suitable for creating bootable USB sticks. Download: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releas...
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Note that you may use a second computer to perform the above step. I was able to do it with my crouton chroot on my existing Pavilion chromebook. I use and recommend Etcher software for this step: Linux - Mac - Windows creating bootable images on USB keys - SD cards the easy way. or...
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You can burn to any USB device with this technique: you can try with the "chromebook recovery utility" from the web store. It basically does a dd of any image with a .bin extension, rename your downloaded linux iso to add the .bin extension, then on the tool choose "use a local image" by clicking the gear icon at the top right.
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You are now ready to "unscroogle" your chromebook. Remember those silly ads? I actually loved my chromebook for five very productive years. If it was not unsupported, I would continue to use as is too.
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Step 2 for HP Pavilion Chromebook in this guide. Above guide contains information and links on upgrading memory and storage as well!
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Step 2 for many other Chromebooks involves removing a write protect screw somewhere on the motherboard. Google is your friend here.
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Example write protect screw on HP Chromebook 11 G3 (2013) HP Chromebook 11 G3 write protect screw specifics
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Since you have it apart this is a good time to upgrade to more memory (if your chromebook model supports that) and or a larger SSD if you wish or need more space for dual boot for example. Reassemble carefully in reverse order.
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Boot into chromeos for next step.
On Asus C302C, check this site to turn write protect off
Interesting idea, I never put that back on mine (I have switch rather than a screw on my antique). If I understand the functionality there it merely protects the cmos support underneath the actual OS.... So it might be worth trying. You will probably want to make sure you did a full backup of the stock system (2nd memory stick mentioned in step one above) before attempting such a maneuver
tcagle53 -
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You most likely will need more storage to support this kind of setup. Since this is advanced usage, I won't cover that sort of thing here. Since google in their wisdom will stop supporting your hardware/software after only five years you probably don't care about dual booting anyway do you?
To reach this step I had to enable Developer Mode and then enable debugging features
I also had to set the password for chronos user. This was done by pressing ctrl + alt + -> on the Chromebook.
What manufacturer and model/year is your machine?
As I stated in the intro newer CB’s are not really covered by this document. I may be able to incorporate your additional steps here if I decide that they are useful for some newer system. Feel free to use this content to create your own guide for your particular machine if you so desire.
tcagle53 -
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Press [ Ctrl ] [ Alt ] [ T ] to get to the crosh shell prompt on the chromebook (See first image). Note: these first 3 shell images were captured via cloudready which is a chromeos workalike not an actual chromebook but are identical for our purposes here.
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Use the "shell" command to get to the shell prompt. Just type "shell" into the prompt and press enter (see second shell screen image).
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Type the following (or cut and paste into a single command line... see third shell screen image). I include the full command in the next bullet point...
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cd; curl -LO https://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh
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Press enter on above command line when you are ready to start converting your chromebook to a fully functional general purpose personal computer.
This worked for me. Must follow instructions precisely. There’s a difference executing the script as root versus chronos ?
Acer CP311-2H series, Intel-based Chromebook. Got this message:
curl: (6) Could not resolve host: mrchromebox.techAny thoughts?
Sounds like your internet connection is down. Can you browse with the standard chromebook user interface?
tcagle53 -
When I entered the
shellcommand, it returned "bad command or file name".Acer C710-2815 Chromebook.
This link has some basic crosh tips that may help you move in the right direction. This tip also applies for @sagebakhra56213 question immediately above.... Try "ping google.com" and see if that is working.
Here is the link... https://www.alphr.com/crosh-commands/
tcagle53 -
I received an error message:
Error mounting boot partition; cannot proceed
Unable to download cbfstool; cannot continue
You might try going here (see link below) and post an issue. Include as much detail as possible about what model CB you have etc. Be as accurate as possible. He (Mr. Chromebox) is still responding to issues. May not be instant help but you can't knock the price either.
https://github.com/MrChromebox/firmware/...
Note: probably requires a login to post there.
tcagle53 -
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You should get that menu (see graphic) with appropriate device data for your particular Chromebook. Select option 3 to flash a full UEFI capable rom onto your system. Note this is the end of your chromebook effectively once you pass the clearly identified "point of no return".
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Note: Some chromebook architectures are unsupported (notably ARM cpu systems). You may get a error message if your system is unsupported.
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You can either perform the chromeos rom backup or not as the option presents itself (your choice). You will need that extra USB stick if you choose to backup the original rom. Do you feel lucky punk? Sorry :D
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Once it is finished it will prompt you to power off and restart the device. At that point you can insert your new linux boot/install USB stick. From there you simply install like you would on any typical laptop.
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I opted to go the full UEFI route on mine but it is optional. Follow the instructions under the FAQs (https://mrchromebox.tech/#faq) The fifth question there is answered with how to proceed to setup your UEFI boot option files correctly.
Ahhh…. Mine produced a different menu and from here I need help…
ChromeOS Device Firmware Utility Script [2021-09-08]
(c) Mr Chromebox <mrchromebox@gmail.com>
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** Device: HP Chromebook 11 G6 EE (SNAPPY)
** Platform: Intel ApolloLake
** Fw Type: Stock ChromeOS w/RW_LEGACY
** Fw Ver: Google_Snappy.9042.253.0 (06/30/2020)
** Fw WP: Enabled
*********************************************************
** 1) Install/Update RW_LEGACY Firmware
** 2) Install/Update UEFI (Full ROM) Firmware
** [WP] 3) Set Boot Options (GBB flags)
** [WP] 4) Set Hardware ID (HWID)
*********************************************************
Select a menu option or
R to reboot P to poweroff Q to quit
^C
chronos@localhost ~ $ ^C
chronos@localhost ~ $ ^C
Is the #2 option greyed out (I suspect it is)? Your device is not UEFI compatible with the current version of the mrchromebox scripts. You can run it with the RW Legacy firmware. But I see here: ( https://wiki.galliumos.org/Hardware_Comp... ) that your particular chromebook has/had issues with both the sound device and the suspend/resume functionality at least in GalliumOS. I use debian on my ancient chromebook so don’t know much about your “Apollo Lake” device. You may find some hope here: https://github.com/GalliumOS/galliumos-d...
Disclaimer: that last looks like it may entail some advanced fiddling with special cables and devices you might not want to risk using. Is this device still getting google updates?
Option 2 was grayed out.
I have no idea about updates. I bought the pesky thing on sale about 2 weeks ago and have had nothing but bad luck trying to get it to do anything meaningful outside of the Google prison.
As far as I can see, that thing has been so hobbled by Google and HP that it is to all intents and purposes a costly frisbee. As I need to use a laptop with Raspbian fairly urgently, I’ll just go out and buy a real laptop and toss this junkbook into the closet. Maybe when I fish it out in a few months there’ll be a fix that’ll work or maybe it’ll just get thrown in the back of the pickup with the household trash on a dump run.
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I have installed cairo-dock and now my hardware is off the leash. I now have the poor man's friend... the free-open-source- software macintosh work-alike.
merci pour le tuto , j'ai remplacé sur un Chromebook Asus de 2017 le système d'exploitation par un Linux et c'est parfait j'ai opter pour l' U E F I et la mise en place c'est très bien passée
Glad you found it useful. Feel free to translate if you so desire.
tcagle53 -
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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12 comentarios
Thank you very much for the detailed information. I have successfully converted my ASUS C302C chromebook to Linux laptop.
A better and safer way to install Linux on Chromebooks exists :) https://cb-linux.github.io/breath/
Thanks for the useful input Cameron. I added a follow up note to the heading here. Now I am going shopping for a more modern used chromebook.
tcagle53 -
hello, thank you for sharing
i want to ask for lenovo chromebook slim 3, can it install linux?, cause when i reboot and start to mode developer not found properly
Did you read "Note2" in the above introduction? If not and if your device is supported by "breath" that may be a viable approach. It is a fairly complicated process that I have not tried so beware if it is out of your comfort zone.
tcagle53 -
it doesnt work. command not found.
To make an intelligent response we need to know.
1. Chromebook manufacturer and model
2. Which command was not found:
a. Ctrl-Alt-T (should put you into the crosh shell)
b. shell (should put you into a true command shell)
c. or this: cd; curl -LO https://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.s... && sudo bash firmware-util.sh
tcagle53 -
I can confirm this works on a Acer CB3-431 The Acer CB3 has a fantastic screen! Anyway, I followed the directions and used Busenlabs Linux.
Careful how your create the USB. My first try was with Anti-x in the Live environment the keyboard didn't work. This was when I used Rufus on Windows 10. Similar issues with Busenlabs. I then used Linux MINT USB maker. Success! I did look at using 'breath' It seems a bit complex.
Because Chromebooks are low powered and have limited storage I wanted a light Linux distro. My first attempt was with slitaz linux. It wouldn't boot at all. Last I found that Gallium Linux worked the best. Sadly its not being developed anymore. My planned uses for my Chromebook are watching films and looking at photos. Oh.. well the installer is crashing so its Bunsenlabs after all.
Hi, I'm very inexperienced in these matters, but I'm trying to convert an old Samsung Chromebook 3 to Linux (yes, I know these are to be avoided, but it says avoid not impossible). I'm having some trouble, though, with the steps provided. I tried the command for the mrchromebox firmware utility in the terminal, but I get the error "This script only supports 64-bit OS on Intel-based devices; ARM devices are not supported." I guess there isn't much ambiguity in that error, but what are my options. All I want is to replace the ChromeOS with Fedora. This is the course of action...I need this for school. What do I need to know to make this happen?
I tore apart the unit looking for the WP screw, but I legitimately couldn't find it after a thorough search. When I run <sudo flashrom --wp-status>, it lists the WP as disabled (my doing). If you're interested in helping me, please reach out and I can provide any technical info you need. PS. I'm not interested in dual boot or boot from stick as permanent options. Thanks.
bob, have you tried the "breath" option outlined in the Note2 section of the introduction at the top of this article? That is probably the best option for an ARM based chromebook. I have not tried it however, so your mileage may vary. Yes write protect screws were an early kludge for chromebooks before they moved all the write protect stuff to NVRAM (security by obscurity). I don't think I can provide much actual help. The scripts referenced in this how-to have long since stopped being actively supported at about the time they did away with write protect screws. Good luck with your endeavor.
tcagle53 -
Thanks for your tutorial,
i have a acer chromebook r13, screen removed, battery removed, i can plug a monitor into its hdmi port and still use it like a normal chromebook, but what i really want to do is turn it into a linux based mini server, my problem is its an arm device, is there any chance your skript could work on it somehow?
I am sorry you got the impression it is "my script". It is most definitely not mine. The authors of the script at mrchromebox.tech domain is who you need to have this conversation with.
tcagle53 -
