The Elder Ottlet gave me an Acer Chromebook — specifically, a C710 — for casual use. It’s ten years old, and while it appears to be working as well as ever I’m finding more and more instances where its browser won’t render pages properly. And Google is, understandably, not issuing updates to a model that old. So I figured I’d try a Linux install to see if that would extend its useful life. (ISTR that there was a thread on a similar subject a while back, but I can’t seem to find it so I went looking on my own. Not the best idea I’ve ever had.)
My first stop was ChrUbuntu, which at least appeared somewhat straightforward. I got the system in developer mode and tried following the instructions on several websites, but whichever script I tried to use — tnyga or 9sgchs — returned syntax errors. This led me to dig deeper, where I discovered that ChrUbuntu seems to have been deprecated and is no longer supported. Phooey and suchlike words.
Next option would be to boot from a USB stick and install from there, but it appears that Google won’t condone such a heretical action and has to be fooled into allowing it. Doing this apparently involves altering the BIOS, and the methods for doing so border on the arcane. While I wouldn’t curl up into a fetal ball and whimper if I bricked the system, I’d rather not chance it; so the prudent action is to stop and present the matter to the Dope on the chance that someone could guide me or point me to a usable reference.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s specific information required, so fire away. As ever, thanks in advance for any and all insights and advice.
Not sure about that Chromebook, but I’ve installed some light linux distros, such as LXDE, on some Chromebooks. I usually use a shell, though, so I can toggle between Chrome and Linux. I used Crouton and followed directions I found on the web.
It’s been a long time since I switched my Chromebook to GalliumOS but I would start with their documentation. I think I used MrChromebox’s firmware script to update the (UEFI) firmware initially, and I keep it up to date now with the same script. I believe that script comes with GalliumOS by default, but I think the recommendation is to upgrade the firmware before installing GalliumOS.
I did see something on Crouton, but either the information on the site was incorrect or — more likely — I misread it. At any rate, I was left with the impression that Crouton installs a Linux shell over the Chrome OS rather than setting up a kindasorta dual boot which allows toggling between Chrome and Ubuntu. And Gallium looks like what I will eventually use if/when I decide to scrap Chrome altogether.
At the moment though, I’m dealing with a semi-brick: after the “OS verification is off” (red exclamation point) screen I got a plain blue screen with no provision for doing anything. Eventually I powered it off, and now the “Chrome missing or damaged” (yellow exclamation point) screen won’t respond to Ctrl-D or anything else. I do have a Chrome recovery USB stick somewhere, but it seems to have gone into hiding and taken any others I might have used with it. When I track it down I’ll restore the OS and try again.
"First, it sounds like the hard drive may be disconnected. This talks about fixing that (sounds easy):
first post from November.
"Second, the write enable pins should be jumpered. This allows completely replacing ChromeOS and the bios which will allow a much newer kernel, no annoying message on start, etc. This has a reference and links to the necessary software:
"I don’t know which distro will be best, but this seems reasonably up-to-date:
"Lightweight will be the name of the game no matter what.
"If the journey is enjoyable then this could be quite rewarding. Getting it going may be enough, but this laptop could do real work.
“In that case, it seems there are upgrade options. A cheap SSD would likely be the best first change, but get it running first, then see if upgrading makes sense.”
@gnarator, I thank you — again — for your advice (and your brother’s). Unfortunately, at the moment this puppy would be better used as a doorstop.
I created a new ChromeOS recovery USB, being very careful to specify the model on the “yellow exclamation point” screen. When I put it in a port, the following happens:
The activity light on the USB stick flashes briefly;
The screen goes black;
The activity light flashes briefly again;
Nothing.
I’ve tried all three ports with the same result. So I have to conclude, at least tentatively, that the HDD has indeed rung down the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible. I’m contemplating getting one of these (which isn’t something that I would entrust with a system I depend on, but would be sufficient for the current project) to see if that solves the problem, but beyond that I have no idea.
I’m going to let this thread topic go dormant unless I have something to report (in which case I’ll flag you); until such time, thanks again.
Well, that didn’t last long (the dormancy, that is). Just for shites&giggles I decided to unseat and reseat the HDD cable, and lo&behold I’m back online. Why it decided to malfunction at that point in that manner is something I’ll probably never know; I’ll just have to add it to the mile-high stack of mysteries I’ve accumulated during 42+ years in IT.
Anyway, I decided to turn OS verification back on and start over. But once again, when I let the “OS verification is OFF” screen sit until it rebooted — as specified by this page — I got another empty blue screen which wouldn’t respond to anything. So to quote the Wizard of Id, “Somewhere in my magic there is a basic flaw.”* But for the moment I’m content to have a functioning system.
Would you happen to have a link to a set of instructions that works? I’m not sure where I’m going awry, but there’s definitely something amiss.
And at the risk of sounding like a stuck record … thanks.
* I said this more times than I care to remember during my career.