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Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#410255

Postby Infrasonic » May 8th, 2021, 12:52 pm

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/news/chrom ... ge-windows

Google’s “Works With Chromebook” program already helps you avoid the pain of buying accessories that end up not working with your machine. Now that label is coming to docking stations.

Because there are plenty of times when you have to use a larger workspace and the smaller laptop screen just won’t cut it, the “Works With” program means you know a dock has been “validated to work seamlessly with current and future Chrome OS devices."
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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#410788

Postby Infrasonic » May 10th, 2021, 3:05 pm

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ho ... hromebook/

Jack Wallen walks you through the process of using DNS-over-HTTPS on your Chromebook for a more secure experience.
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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#425245

Postby Infrasonic » July 6th, 2021, 2:05 pm

https://chromeunboxed.com/the-new-andro ... -surprise/
While not fully rolled out just yet, Google is at work on implementing a new Android container on Chrome OS that takes more cues from the work that was done on the Linux Crostini container for Chromebooks than the current ARC++ container we’ve had since 2016. Dubbed ARCVM, this new container is already on the road to hitting over 100 current Chromebooks and is here on a handful that we have in the office right now. Overall, ARCVM will make for a more-stable, more-advanced Android app experience on Chrome OS.
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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#426544

Postby Infrasonic » July 10th, 2021, 9:07 pm

https://chromeunboxed.com/chromium-os-i ... -installer

...Today, the big news is that Chromium OS is about to get a lot easier to install. As it stands right now, installing it is not intuitive at all. When booting up the installer from a flash drive, it acts like a brand new Chromebook ready to be setup for initial use. Every time. There’s only a brief mention of the installer seemingly hidden in the developer documentation. Even worse, it’s a command line program that’s complicated to get to. Not exactly a great user-friendly experience.

Things are about to change. Again, Google recently bought Neverware, the company behind a popular and commercially supported Chromium OS fork named CloudReady. The goal behind these projects are to create a free operating system that can be installed on almost any computer (except Chromebooks/boxes, ironically). That means that you can bring new life to an old computer by wiping your old copy of macOS or Windows and replacing it with Chromium OS. CloudReady comes into the scene by providing a more polished experience on-top of Chromium OS and even provides enterprise support for those who need it. It has some nice quality-of-life features such as a graphical installer via the “Install OS” icon in the system tray. Now that’s finally being merged upstream into Chromium OS proper...
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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#446450

Postby Infrasonic » September 29th, 2021, 11:05 pm

https://chromeunboxed.com/crossover-21- ... romebooks/

It’s been a while since we’ve touched on CrossOver. It’s a commercial product from CodeWeavers, the developers behind Wine and Proton, which allows Windows applications and games to run natively on Linux and macOS. Thankfully the janky old days of CrossOver running on Chromebooks through limited Android integration is now behind us. They have moved to having it instead run in the Linux (Crostini) environment which provides an enhanced experience. A lot of changes have been made under-the-hood since we last had a look at CrossOver just 4 years ago. Installation is easier, compatibility has gotten a lot better, and even the user interface has received some more polish. Check out all the new updates in CrossOver 21 over on the CodeWeavers blog.
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Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453267

Postby Infrasonic » October 26th, 2021, 4:08 pm

Windows 11 on a low powered Chromebook?

Here you go..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXxQ7jmtU4

Installing Windows 11 on acer 14 Chromebook!! and the results might surprise you! thanks for the view!

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453298

Postby Breelander » October 26th, 2021, 6:27 pm

Infrasonic wrote:Windows 11 on a low powered Chromebook?

Here you go..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXxQ7jmtU4

Installing Windows 11 on acer 14 Chromebook!! and the results might surprise you! thanks for the view!


Not that surprising that 11 works well. Once you have bypassed the requirement checks 11 will run on almost anything as long as it has a 64-bit processor. I've had it running on a netbook with an Intel Atom and 2GB RAM.

But don't try this at Home... sorry, I mean don't try this with Windows 11 Home. Only Pro allows you to skip connecting to the internet, 11 Home won't proceed any further unless you connect, and then will insist you use a Microsoft account. There is a workaround for this, but it requires you to have an Ethernet connection that you can pull at a strategic point in the install. Not sure a Chromebook will have Ethernet ;)

And once installed on that particular Chromebook there's little room to do anything else. Its 16GB of storage is barely enough to hold Windows, my install of W11 occupies 15.8GB. A 64GB drive would be the smallest that's practical, 32GB at a pinch. Newer Chromebooks tend to come with 64GB storage though.

Oh, and there will be no existing Windows digital licence for a Chromebok so you'd have to buy a licence to activate it ;)

A fun experiment though :D

Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453323

Postby Infrasonic » October 26th, 2021, 7:14 pm

Breelander wrote:
Infrasonic wrote:Windows 11 on a low powered Chromebook?

Here you go..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXxQ7jmtU4

Installing Windows 11 on acer 14 Chromebook!! and the results might surprise you! thanks for the view!


But don't try this at Home... sorry, I mean don't try this with Windows 11 Home. Only Pro allows you to skip connecting to the internet, 11 Home won't proceed any further unless you connect, and then will insist you use a Microsoft account. There is a workaround for this, but it requires you to have an Ethernet connection that you can pull at a strategic point in the install. Not sure a Chromebook will have Ethernet ;)


You don't get Ethernet on many laptops these days outside business class - but there are USB to ethernet adapters...

Breelander wrote: once installed on that particular Chromebook there's little room to do anything else. Its 16GB of storage is barely enough to hold Windows, my install of W11 occupies 15.8GB. A 64GB drive would be the smallest that's practical, 32GB at a pinch. Newer Chromebooks tend to come with 64GB storage though.


I was amazed he managed to get it installed on 16GB! - but yeah completely impractical for day to day use. My Chromebook is 64GB eMMC + 128GB SDXC + I've got my 500GB Samsung T5 multi partitioned with a Chrome OS compatible file format. NTFS can be done with free Paragon Software.

Breelander wrote:, and there will be no existing Windows digital licence for a Chromebok so you'd have to buy a licence to activate it ;)

A fun experiment though :D

That was the first thing I wondered about - but Don mentioned getting it licensed with an existing W10 one - so not sure how legit that was or whether he's using (ahem) a workaround... :D

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453339

Postby Breelander » October 26th, 2021, 8:04 pm

Infrasonic wrote:
Breelander wrote:, and there will be no existing Windows digital licence for a Chromebok so you'd have to buy a licence to activate it ;)

That was the first thing I wondered about - but Don mentioned getting it licensed with an existing W10 one - so not sure how legit that was or whether he's using (ahem) a workaround... :D


Well he did say he'd previously installed W10 on it. And both W10 and W11 can be activated with any unused W7/W8 key you may have to hand, even a CoA key from a dead W7 PC. And as 11 shares the same digital licence as 10 it would have activated from the existing digital licence.

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453345

Postby Infrasonic » October 26th, 2021, 8:12 pm

Breelander wrote:
Infrasonic wrote:
Breelander wrote:, and there will be no existing Windows digital licence for a Chromebok so you'd have to buy a licence to activate it ;)

That was the first thing I wondered about - but Don mentioned getting it licensed with an existing W10 one - so not sure how legit that was or whether he's using (ahem) a workaround... :D


Well he did say he'd previously installed W10 on it. And both W10 and W11 can be activated with any unused W7/W8 key you may have to hand, even a CoA key from a dead W7 PC. And as 11 shares the same digital licence as 10 it would have activated from the existing digital licence.


Aha - I thought you had to take the free upgrade from W10 to W11 to trigger the license being valid for W11 - so that opens up some possibilities for my non W11 compatible W10 desktop then... :)

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#453347

Postby Breelander » October 26th, 2021, 8:17 pm

Infrasonic wrote:Aha - I thought you had to take the upgrade from W10 to W11 to trigger the license being valid for W11 - so that opens up some possibilities for my non W11 compatible W10 desktop then... :)

Activation hasn't change for W11, what works for 10 works the same in 11. There is nothing specifically '11' or '10' in the digital licence, it will activate whichever one you install. Home or Pro, now that is specific to the digital licence. What you can't do in 11 (but can with 10) is to upgrade direct from W7 and keep your files and installed apps.

Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#455259

Postby Infrasonic » November 3rd, 2021, 8:53 am

https://www.zdnet.com/article/chromeboo ... es-of-age/

Chromebook Linux comes of age
Linux is officially no longer a beta on Chromebooks, and more functionality is coming...

...But, now that Linux is officially supported, you can run multiple Linux instances at once on your Chromebook. This will be a big deal. Do you want to compile your code in one container while playing Tux Racer in another? You can do that...
Cont.

Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#480894

Postby Infrasonic » February 16th, 2022, 9:25 am

https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/

Try the cloud-first, fast, easy-to-manage, and secure Chrome OS for PCs and Macs. Chrome OS Flex is a free and sustainable way to modernize devices you already own. It’s easy to deploy across your fleet or simply try it to see what a cloud-first OS has to offer.


More here on the background and +/- when compared to ChomeOS..https://www.androidpolice.com/chrome-os ... -for-free/

Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#485527

Postby Infrasonic » March 10th, 2022, 8:57 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5symRnhRFxU

Chrome OS Flex : Turn Old Computers into Chromebooks and Chromeboxes! How to Install It
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - System Requirements
02:15 - Certified List
02:49 - How to Install
06:31 - Booting from USB Drive
07:55 - CloudReady vs Chrome OS Flex
08:24 - Try vs. Install
09:54 - Old Mac Test
10:48 - No Android Apps on Flex
11:12 - Linux on Flex
12:03 - Installing to Hard Drive
15:24 - Windows Laptop Test
16:45 - Note: Trial Mode Not Completely Portable
17:29 - Conclusion

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#496846

Postby Fluke » April 27th, 2022, 10:51 am

Infrasonic wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5symRnhRFxU

Chrome OS Flex : Turn Old Computers into Chromebooks and Chromeboxes! How to Install It
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - System Requirements
02:15 - Certified List
02:49 - How to Install
06:31 - Booting from USB Drive
07:55 - CloudReady vs Chrome OS Flex
08:24 - Try vs. Install
09:54 - Old Mac Test
10:48 - No Android Apps on Flex
11:12 - Linux on Flex
12:03 - Installing to Hard Drive
15:24 - Windows Laptop Test
16:45 - Note: Trial Mode Not Completely Portable
17:29 - Conclusion



Thanks for pointing me to this thread infrasonic. OK I've got an old 2010 MacBook and I've got as far as 'Try v Install'. The biggest problem I'm encountering while running it from the USB is that the screen keeps going all pixelated (lots of black and white horizontal lines) in-between actions. So for example I'll click on the + sign to open a new browser tab and it goes into that pixelated state for a second or 2, or I just move the cursor across the screen and it seems to trigger it.

Anyone else had this problem or could it be that it's just a problem related to running from the usb?

Infrasonic
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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#496857

Postby Infrasonic » April 27th, 2022, 11:24 am

Fluke wrote:
Infrasonic wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5symRnhRFxU

Chrome OS Flex : Turn Old Computers into Chromebooks and Chromeboxes! How to Install It
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - System Requirements
02:15 - Certified List
02:49 - How to Install
06:31 - Booting from USB Drive
07:55 - CloudReady vs Chrome OS Flex
08:24 - Try vs. Install
09:54 - Old Mac Test
10:48 - No Android Apps on Flex
11:12 - Linux on Flex
12:03 - Installing to Hard Drive
15:24 - Windows Laptop Test
16:45 - Note: Trial Mode Not Completely Portable
17:29 - Conclusion



Thanks for pointing me to this thread infrasonic. OK I've got an old 2010 MacBook and I've got as far as 'Try v Install'. The biggest problem I'm encountering while running it from the USB is that the screen keeps going all pixelated (lots of black and white horizontal lines) in-between actions. So for example I'll click on the + sign to open a new browser tab and it goes into that pixelated state for a second or 2, or I just move the cursor across the screen and it seems to trigger it.

Anyone else had this problem or could it be that it's just a problem related to running from the usb?


Did you watch those videos all the way through as they all had issues installing Flex on old Macs and not on Windows machines. Running from USB worked (from the vids I've seen so far anyway - don't forget it is very early Beta days).

The assumption was that there was something in the Apple firmware/BIOS that was causing the install issue and that 'hopefully' it would be resolved with further tweaks to Flex. If the advancements in the porting of Linux to M1 (ARM) chips on recent Macs is anything to go by then it should be resolved at some point.

Have a look at live USB/installing Linux on your Macbook if Flex proves an issue currently. There are 'Mac like' distros available for free and also some that are more like ChromeOS operationally (or even 'Windows like'...).

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+d ... e&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+d ... e&ie=UTF-8

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#496872

Postby Fluke » April 27th, 2022, 12:09 pm

Infrasonic wrote:
Did you watch those videos all the way through as they all had issues installing Flex on old Macs and not on Windows machines. Running from USB worked (from the vids I've seen so far anyway - don't forget it is very early Beta days).


No I read through the whole thread but some of it went over my head a bit, I didn't follow all the links, I'll do that shortly. Your last post pointing to the video for which you listed the steps was what I needed. I did the steps along with the presenter, exactly how he describes and it all worked until I gave it a test run from the usb. Accept that it's still unstable but the presenter encountered none of the problems I was having and his Mac looked even older than mine. Apart from the screen breaking up every few minutes, I kept getting kicked out of my google account back to the guest user, then I'd have to start again. So as it stands it isn't much good.


Have a look at live USB/installing Linux on your Macbook if Flex proves an issue currently. There are 'Mac like' distros available for free and also some that are more like ChromeOS operationally (or even 'Windows like'...).

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+d ... e&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+d ... e&ie=UTF-8


Thanks this might be my next port of call.

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#496881

Postby Infrasonic » April 27th, 2022, 12:45 pm

The thing to remember with Macs is the hardware/firmware (EFI)/OS and apps are all tightly integrated - which is why it works so well if you are into their ecosystem lock in philosophy.

When it comes to putting other OS' on to them the locked down nature of the EFI means it can be more hit and miss - If you don't mind experimenting (and possibly bricking the Macbook) you might be able to reflash it with alternative firmware that is less restrictive. I don't know for sure as it's not something I've ever investigated on Macs, having only ever used other peoples as a guest.

There's full time Mac users on here so if you opened up a separate thread they could probably advise on what is feasible and where to look for relevant tutorials etc.

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#499880

Postby Infrasonic » May 11th, 2022, 4:17 pm

Bit of an odd one but it's happened several times over the past few months.

When turning #flags on or after an OS update restart I've noticed the CPU getting pegged at 100% for long periods and then only dropping to 60-80% subsequently - which makes it run like treacle.

The cure seems to be a manual restart using the refresh key and power button combo. Performance goes back to normal after that.

I can only assume there's some sort of bug in the autorestart routine.

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Re: Chrome OS (Chromebooks/boxes).

#500092

Postby Infrasonic » May 12th, 2022, 2:43 pm

^^ This CPU issue appears to be related to the recent update to 101.0.4951.59 part of which was an update from 9 to 11 for the Android container.

Having had a look in crosh with top it appears the Android VM is pegging the CPU at boot. The Android VM autoboots, whereas the Linux one is manually invoked.

Currently searching to see if I can turn the Android VM off to run A/B tests - I'll post again if I find any solutions.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/12 ... uggishness

Upon startup, some Chromebooks take a while to fully respond to user inputs. It may sound like a small problem, but that sluggishness is part of what makes Chromebooks feel like a step down from other types of machines. But according to a commit on the Chromium Gerrit spotted this week by About Chromebooks, Google is working on a fix.

The unresponsiveness is at least partially due to the virtual machine used to run Android apps on Chrome OS laptops (though the limited memory in many Chromebooks could also contribute to the problem). It seems that the Android Runtime for Chrome Virtual Machine (ARCVM) can hog the Chromebook's CPU when you first log in. The commit blames ARCVM for eating up to 300 percent (three cores times 100 percent) of the processor's resources "for several minutes."

Cont.


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