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
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