C H R O M I U M / C H R O M E OS GUIDE
The focus of this guide is to
walk you through installing Chromium and/or Chrome OS for educational or
tinkering reasons. This guide references a lot of good material already found
on the internet and I've included links at the end of the guide. I would like
to thank all of those writers for making my approach easier and laying good
groundwork for the basis of this guide. A good reason to try out Chromium is
aging hardware. You might find that an old computer is quickly brought back to
the life via Chromium. If you are interested in learning more about the install
process or just want a few general tips about Chrome, you've landed at the
right spot.
Let’s get rolling.
Things to acquire:
A computer. This guide
assumes you will be using Windows-platform hardware and have access to software
on a Windows machine.
A Gmail account (Free)
A Google Drive account (Free)
A USB drive (Preferably 4 GB
or >)
Hexxah Chrome build, found
here:
or
Arnold the Bat Chrome build,
found here:
or
Dell’s Chromium OS builds,
found here:
or
Chrome OS-Lime build, found
here:
also
Win32 Disk Imager, found
here:
7-Zip file manager used to
unzip image files, found here:
Optional:
The Chrome Recovery Tool,
found here:
Note: The
above tools: Win32 Disk Imager and 7-Zip are just recommendations. There are
many other programs that will perform the same task. Check out the “Links”
section for more information on software and additional downloads.
Note: Chrome
OS needs a reliable internet connection to function properly. Part of the
appeal for the OS, is that all apps back up their data to the cloud allowing
peace of mind. This is why I mentioned getting a Google Drive account above.
You will be able to save documents, photographs, movies, and other media to
your Google Drive account. These items can then be accessed when you sign into
Chrome OS or when signing into your Google Account through a any browser on any
operating system.
MAJOR NOTE: Before continuing, please back up any data from your device that you
would not want to be lost forever. I am providing this guide with no liability
for data loss. A lot of the software builds are still in the early stages of
development. I take no responsibility for what happens. With that said J
Minor Note: Dual-booting with
Chromium/Chrome OS is supported, but will not be covering in detail in this
guide. I have included some great resources in the links portion where you can
find more about dual-booting systems. Also, be aware that dual-booting with
Chromium/Chrome OS requires 2 separate hard drives as installing Chromium
formats the entire drive with no way to partition until after it is formatted.
With that said,
To Test Out Chromium:
1 Download a Chrome
build from the links above. I'm using a Hexxeh build.
2 Unzip and locate
the .img file.
3 Use Win32 Disk
Imager and put the file onto your USB drive.
4 Put the USB drive
into the computer you wish to have Chrome on and while starting your computer,
go into the boot setup and make sure you chose to boot from the USB drive
first.
5 Chromium will now
boot and you can play around and check it out.
To Install Chromium to your hard drive:
MAJOR WARNING!
Doing these operations will erase all data on your hard drive. Only perform if
you have everything backed up and are ready to experience a new operating
system full time.
1 Press ctrl + alt
+ t on the keyboard to bring up Crosh command prompt.
2 Type install and
hit enter.
3 You are then
prompted for the username/password or just for the password in some cases. They
are:
a.
Username: chromos
b.
Password:
facepunch
Note: Passwords for different image builds can vary.
Please check documentation or site where image comes from.
4 Chromium will ask
you if you’re sure you want to make these changes and then will install to your
hard drive.
5 When it’s
finished installing it will tell you you can power off computer, take out the
USB drive, and then reboot to make sure it worked.
To Upgrade Chromium to Chrome OS:
Warning! It
is possible that wireless and other device drivers won’t be installed or they
might not even be available for your specific hardware yet. Use caution. If you
get stuck or something doesn’t work you can always start back at the beginning
of the guide.
1 Log into
Chromium. Make sure you’re not under a guest account.
2 Bring up the
developer mode by pressing ctrl + alt + F2 on the keyboard.
3 The developer
console will now open.
4 Type: sudusu and
hit enter.
5 You will be
prompted for username/password. Same as before:
a.
Username: chromos
b.
Facepunch
7 This will pull
down a list of available Chrome OS builds (22 as of my testing) that can be
installed. The list might take a while to load. Try to pick a build that
matches your brand of hardware, but experiment around to see which build works
best with your hardware as the install process doesn’t take a lot of time.
Note: For 64-bit users, try a Samsung 550 or Series 3
image
8 You will then be
prompted to pick what build you want to install. Type in the corresponding
number off the list that comes up and press enter.
9 Chrome OS will
then download and install.
Installing Codecs in Chromium:
You
might want to install codecs if you find a build you have doesn’t come bundled
with support for things like: Adobe Flash and .mp3 playback.
To Install codecs:
1. Gain su permission. Bring up developer
terminal by hitting: ctl + alt + F2.
2. Type: sudosu and press enter.
3. You will be prompted for
username/password: facepunch
4. Now you have permissions, type the
following command and hit enter:
curl -L http://goo.gl/reX3Z |
bash
5. Codecs will download and install.
Restart your Computer after that.
6. To check which plugins are installed,
bring up a chrome window and type: chrome://plugins and hit enter. You
will then see a list. I have set mine to be 'always allowed'.
To check plugins, open a chrome window or
tab and type: chrome://plugins into the address bar and hit enter. You will see
a list of the installed plugins and you can check always-allowed which I
normally do.
Caution: Auto-updates do not work on these builds! You will
need to update occasionally if builds become available. Know that the recovery
image versions lag behind the current stable versions of Chrome OS. Hopefully,
as Chromium ages device support will continue to get better and auto-updates
can be added.
Default Chrome OS Applications
Most Chromebooks come with a default set
of applications already installed. Many of the Chromium and Chrome OS builds
that you can install online do not come bundled with or sync any applications.
Below is a list of default applications that came bundled on a Chromebook.
Note:
This list is taken from an Acer Chromebook C720.
Chrome
Google
Web Store
Google
Search
Youtube
Gmail
Google
Calendar
Google
Maps
Google
Drive
Google
Docs
Google
Sheets
Google
Slides
Google+
Hangouts
Google
Play
Google
Play Books
Google
Play Movies
Calculator
Camera
Chrome
Remote Desktop
Chrome+
Photos
Google
Keep
Chromium/Chrome OS Wallpapers:
Most of the default builds come with
minimal wallpapers. If you have one of the newer builds you can chose a custom
wallpaper using the following method. If you are using regular Chromium or a
version of Chrome that doesn’t the wallpaper you want, you can download them
from:
and
This will give you a nice start. You can also chose
any image online that you want. Using
your Google Drive account, upzip all images you want to keep into a folder.
Right-click on the desktop and chose set wallpaper. You can then chose your
Google Drive and make Chromium appear more like regular Chrome OS or use any
custom saved image.
Chromebook Enterprise Enrollment:
1.
Hit ctrl + space
+ F2 (Let go of space, hit F2 while holding ctrl the entire time).
2.
Type: sudosu –
echo ‘serial_number=”1234567890”>tmp/machine-info restart ui and then hit
enter.
Note: replace 1234567890 with whatever serial you chose.
3.
Then do the
normal ctrl + alt + E method of enrolling a Chromebook device.
Chromebook OS Recovery Tool:
There is a built in function to make a
recovery image of your Chromium OS install. To access this, have a SD Card or
USB drive with capacity of 4GB or greater available. Then open a Chrome window
or tab and type: chrome://imageburner and then hit enter. This will allow you
to go through the process of making your own custom recovery device. Just
follow the on-screen prompts.
Links Section
Some of the best and most useful links I’ve found for
all things regarding Chromium/Chrome OS. Links cover a wide variety of topics
and some are aimed at educational environments.
Chromium/Chrome OS Builds/Guides:
Hexxeh
Builds:
Arnold
the Bat Builds/Guides:
Seth
Tech Guide:
Chromium
OS Lime Guide:
Install Java, Flash, .mp3, .mp4 to
Chromium OS:
Chrome
Wallpapers:
Chromium/Chrome OS Useful Links:
Samsung Google OS User Guide:
ChromebookEdu Blog:
Chromebook Tips & Tricks:
100 Best Chromebook
Tips, Tricks, & Time-Savers:
Guardian for Chrome OS:
The Always Up to Date Power
User’s Guide to Google Chrome:
Google Chromebook Developer
Mode:
Kathy Shrocks’ Guide to
Everything: Chromebooks (Great k12 educator resources)
Google Chrome Web Store:
Chromebook System Recovery
(For Official Chromebook models):
Running Chrome OS in
VirtualBox:
Chrome OS* Architecture:
Introduction to Google
Chromebooks and Chromeboxes:
iFixIt Samsung Chromebook
11.6 Teardown:
Chrome devices for education
technical planning guide:
IT Ideas: ChromeOS Printer
Deployment:
Chrome USB Recovery Knowledge
Base:
Chromebook Troubleshooting
& Tips:
Intel-Based Chromebooks in
Education:
Chromebook k12 Resources:
Troubleshoot Chrome Devices:
Chromebook Enrollment:
Chromebook Enrollment Tips:
Powerwash (reset) a
Chromebook:
GNU Bash Reference:
Google Cloud Print:
This guide brought to you by:
pghcomputertech @ gmail.com
