Installing Ubuntu Linux on your ChromeBox/ChromeBook

NOTE: THIS WILL WIPE YOUR BOX! (but you only store stuff in the cloud, right?)
  1. Switch the developer switch on your machine (it's in a little hole on the back of the Chromebox. Use a paper clip and BE CAREFUL - it's not a strong switch)
  2. Switch the machine on. The unhappy face means you are in developer mode (sweet!). You can wait (and put up with the loud double-beep) or press Ctrl+D to continue
  3. Log into ChromeOS as normal
  4. Open a browser window and press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up the mildly rubbish in-browser crosh terminal
  5. type "shell" to get a decent bash shell
  6. type "sudo bash" to get an even better root shell!
  7. type "chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=todev" to update and properly enter developer mode
    1. Note: switch back later by typing the reverse into an Ubuntu shell, e.g. "chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=normal"
  8. type "reboot" and follow steps 4,5 and 6 again
  9. The next steps are a bit convoluted, but here's a handy shell script that does it for you!:
    1. wget http://www.klikhome.co.uk/tools/install-chrubuntu.sh
    2. sudo bash ./install-chrubuntu.sh
    3. Wait for the script to run and choose your Ubuntu partition size (assuming you have a 16GB machine, 8GB is OK)
  10. Let the machine reboot (still into ChromeOS) but this time at the login prompt press Ctrl+Alt+f2 to get a shell (Chromebooks don't have an f2 - so press the button with the right arrow -> where the f2 should be) and give the username "chronos" (no password)
  11. Kick the script off again (because it's not finished) by typing:
    1. wget http://www.klikhome.co.uk/tools/install-chrubuntu.sh
    2. sudo bash ./install-chrubuntu.sh
  12. After the next reboot you're in Ubuntu! Note: the default Ubuntu user is "user" with password also set to "user"
  13. To make it always boot into Ubuntu, go into Terminal and type: "sudo cgpt add -i 6 -P 5 -S 1 /dev/sda"
Footnote: if you switch the developer switch back off YOU WILL LOSE YOUR UBUNTU INSTALL and go back to a completely reset ChromeBox/ChromeBook! It's far better to just change the boot order back to (developer) ChromeOS. To do this, open Terminal in Ubuntu and type: "sudo cgpt add -i 6 -P 0 -S 1 /dev/sda"

Next Steps:
Get a LAMP server running under Chrubuntu: http://webonaut.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/installing-lamp-apachemysqlphp-on.html

Comments

Matt Kastendieck said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
24 November 2012 at 20:24
Matt Kastendieck said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
28 November 2012 at 20:04
Yochai Gal said…
"chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=normal"

Should be:

"chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=tonormal"
28 December 2012 at 18:00
andrewmikewilson said…
tried it 3 times. every time i rebooted it went back to google and lost my ubuntu. did everything correct.
28 February 2013 at 12:21
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Installing LAMP Apache/MySQL/PHP on Chromebook/Chromebox

Google Chromebook / Chromeboxes make excellent mini web-servers for development/testing/office use, or for using in kiosks / taking to tradeshows etc. Amazingly there is enough space on them for a reasonable sized web-site and database, and the oomph is comparable to a medium-size virtual server from one of the popular web-hosts. Firstly, get your Chromebox / Chromebook running Linux by installing Chrubuntu: Follow this guide here ->  http://webonaut.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/installing-ubuntu-linux-on-your.html Bring up a Terminal. (Remember, your user is called "user" with password "user" by default). Type: sudo apt-get install tasksel sudo  tasksel Use the cursors to select "LAMP" (dom't deselect the default options or you may take away your desktop!) then hit return. (BTW: Now is a good time to try Edubuntu as it is cool, and openssh-server is useful too ;) Give the mysql root user a password when prompted. Test it out! Try this ...
Read more

Changing your Mac OSX Terminal's default text editor

For just this session, simply type: export EDITOR=emacs (or replace emacs with vim , nano or whatever) Personally, I like to use emacs on servers, but on my Mac TextWrangler is way more helpful. One of the great things about TextWrangler is that you can get it to magically pop edit requests out of the Terminal simply by installing it and typing "edit". To make all other programs use this method try: export EDITOR="edit -w" For a more permanent fix, add the same line to your .bashrc file. If you've not already got one of those, type: edit ~/.bashrc (The one exception is git, which you'll need to configure thus:) git config core.editor "edit -w"
Read more