Chromium OS is an open-source project that aims to build an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web.
All downloads are located at https://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/. This will be updated daily where builds compile succcessfully..
Build Instructions for USB
- Linux
- Use p7zip to extract the IMG file from the downloaded file.
- At the shell, run the following (where sdX is your USB stick and ChromeOS.img is the path to the IMG file you extracted):
dd if=ChromeOS.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M - Boot from USB stick
- Windows
- Use 7zip to extract IMG file from the downloaded file.
- Use Win32 Image Writer, then select the IMG file and select the USB device from the menu.
- Click on “Write”.
- Boot from USB stick
All builds based on amd64 and ARM generic board.
If you want to install to your hard drive, follow the instructions here and here. Heed the warnings noted in the links!
Please note: there is a new behaviour with the chronos user password. The password has been removed from build R55-8777 onward and will continue to be removed for better overall security. Older builds have the password of ‘password’.
This means you need to use ‘chromeos-setdevpasswd’ from either shell or console to set your own password from build R55-8777 onwards.
By default, this also disables SSH access so if you also need this level of access, you will need to set a separate password using ‘sudo passwd chronos’. This allows the password for dev access and SSH access to remain separate if needed.
You can also just set a password using ‘sudo passwd chronos’ and this will allow for both dev and SSH access if you need to keep them the same. Do not use ‘chromeos-setdevpasswd’ if you want to keep the passwords the same.
Once installed, you can update from the Dev Server noted here.
Thanks to The Chromium Projects
Chromium OS GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Hey Arnold, outstanding work my friend! Just getting into Chromium, you make it easy for us numpties!!
Cheers
Davarious
Laptop: Acer Aspire Switch 11 SW5 11.6-Inch Convertible Notebook PC, Processor: Intel Atom Z3745 1.33 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Wifi: Realtek RTL8723BS Wireless LAN 802.11n SDIO Network Adapter,
Cannot get off the first screen because it cannot connect to wifi:
Camd64OS_R54-8659.0-Vanilla – wifi – no network – wifi is turned off
Camd64OS-20160823010101.img – wifi – no network – taskbar -type thing (bottom right) disapears.
Cx86OS_R54-8659.0-Special – no network – taskbar -type thing (bottom right) disapears. no touchscreen
i do not know what to do 🙁
Hello , Please use my manual to fix problem…
Access to cli : CTRL+ALT+F2 -> chronos+password -> sudo su “password” ,then perform all according to my manual.
http://arnoldthebat.co.uk/wordpress/2016/08/07/chromiumos-special-build-r54-8659/comment-page-1/#comment-70611
Hi Stas,
I got stuck on step one, my wifi adapter is not an intel, as per my previous post it is a Realtek (RTL8723BS Wireless LAN 802.11n SDIO). I tried to search for similar drivers and found this: https://github.com/hadess/rtl8723bs. To be honest the rest of your instructions didn’t make 100% sense to me either. I’m keen to learn but somewhat confused which file should i download and how to follow your instructions.
Or faster workaround is :
1.Enter shell (CTRL+ALT+F2) -> sudo su
2.mount -o ,remount rw /
3.dmesg + “shift+pgup” to find exact “wifi-module-name.ucode” that throwing error.
4.ls /lib/firmware – I bet you dont have this module name in list of file you will get from output.
5.so just go to /lib/firmware and copy latest .ucode module but with name of “error loading module” name.
6.reboot computer – wifi should start working.
Hello Anrold,
How do I get .iso file instead of .img. I need to put into my EASY2Boot usb ( contains multiple distributions) , so I can select the one I need ( example ubuntu, Chromium, Mint). I require .iso file. How do I get it or is there a way I can convert .img to .iso?
I Tink that you cant. the .img file is a image formated in ext4, iso images (that are cd/dvd/bd/gd/etc… images) have iso9660/jouliet file system. you can try, but…
PS: if you can do it, tell me =)
Sorry for my bad english, im brazilian =P
hi arnold the bat, i have question, I install adobe flash by benjaminpeters site, always install Adobe Flash version 15, how do I update the adobe flash that your operating system.
Try this script I made instead: https://gist.github.com/07c19d007c50f21291c5d1dec041fdc6
I tryed all of the releases and some things don’t work, like WiFi, LAN, GPU…
I came accross this https://www.neverware.com/freedownload
Everything works.
What is the difference? Am I doint something wrong?
You aren’t doing anything wrong. Neverware are a business so have infinitely more funding than I do, plus a LOT more time.
when i installed it on usb. only 1.1 gb storage is useable instead of 16 gb
A known limitation until I get around to altering the build partitions
You can resize the last partition to fill the usb key with gparted for example.
You should fix the gpt first, but gparted does that automatically.
Hey Everyone,
I need a little help here. I’m very new to Chromium but have a good amount of experience with multiple Linux platforms and OS’s. I’ve been asked to try and load Chromium on to an HP Pavilion 10 TS Notebook PC running Windows 8 with an AMD A4-1200 APU (1.0 Ghz) and 1 Gig RAM. It may be a system requirement issue but I can get to the Chrome logo screen then it goes blank and nothing else. I am able to get to a command line but that is it. I have also tried a myriad of releases from newest to oldest to specials. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am with all community source builds.
Cheers,
Jon
Likely a lack of graphics support. What card is it using?
lsusb/dmesg/lspci will tell us more if you want to post it to pastebin
Hi Arnold,
I use Lenovo s205 with it’s APU AMD E-350, Radeon HD 6310
I have the same problem, with showing logo on installation and then just blank screen. I wonder if it will be ever possible to fix it. Thanks.
Hi Nahara,
I’m running an x120e with HD6310 graphics as well. Same issue with the blank screen after showing the chromium logo.
Hi,
Love your work on this, but I am trying to install this on a PC (Compaq Presario LGQ1515) and I can get it booting, and I don’t know if I am being too impatient but I can’t get past the splash screen, and when I list all of my drives using lsblk and sudo fdisk -l it only comes up with my 2TB USB expansion drive and the bootable USB drive. Help?
Hi, Arnold! Can you make speciall build for a Raspberry Pi 3 model B?
Not on my plans right now. Others are doing it however.
If I get time, Ill give it a go.
I have special needs that create problems with handwriting, your Chrome OS builds have helped my a lot with school work!!!
Keep Going with the server!
Hi Arnold,
You rock! Thanks a trillion for all your hard work on Chromium OS!
Well, I have a question. You see, I have a touchscreen laptop (HP Spectre x360 G1) and I want to ask you: if I use the special build, will the touchscreen work?
Thanks 🙂
Hi
You would need to try it and see if it worked!
Any chance the chromium builds will be able to run Android apps? I’ve read that functionality is being rolled out on some Chromebooks and was just curious. Keep up the great work.
If google open source it, then Ill include it.
It seems, that everything is opensourced https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-os-discuss/OfBln-hl7ug
Hi Arnold, I have been trying to reinstall linux after installing chromium on my computer (completely wiping it). I have tried getting into developer mode by using touch /mnt/stateful_partition/.developer_mode without any luck in order to change the boot order with crossystem dev_boot_usb=1, since my grub boot seems to be lost in translation (uninstalled when i installed chromium). I have also tried the ESC + F3 + power combination, but my computer does not display anything at all. I have a desktop and can’t seem to find a solution on how to be able to boot from my trusty Ubuntu USB drive and reinstall Ubuntu.
I can’t change crossystem dev_boot_usb=0 dev_boot_signed_only=1 because it is stating that those parameters are read-only.
I also tried to press F12 (my bios default button to select the default boot order, but this does not work).
I am stuck with chromium and want to be able to double boot.
I also installed cruton to see if i could possibly install grub from that frontend but when i initialize it through chron, I get a black screen.
Is there any other way you could think I could install grub in order to select USB as the default boot method?
Hi
To allow the edit you need, you need to set the OS to read/write with command ‘mount -o remount, rw /’
Wishing there was a universal driver for Wi-fi. The core that would be set as standard for all manufacturers whether Atheros, Realtek and what not. Otherwise, searching for the Wi-fi driver during install is a pain in the ass.
Hello all,
When I install this on a x120e (lenovo), I get a mouse pointer, but the screen is black with no icons or taskbar. I think this is a driver issue because when I move the pointer around it changes to a hand in some places. Am I right? Is this a driver issue, and if so, how do I get the right drivers?
As a follow up to my own question above, curiously, on wake from sleep when the pointer does not show up, if I CTRL-ALT-F2 then CTRL-ALT-F1, the pointer returns. Does this help narrow the problem?
hi Arnold,
how can i use The Android apps no Chromium OS? i read anything internet thay its possible Just Chromium 55. is it true?
i get one pendrive stick with 30 Gb but close just 1 Gb adicional. is there write the iso in The pendrive but remaining 25 Gb?
Thanks a lot!
I need to fix the space issues. Feel free to install to hard drive, then space issues are fixed. It ‘might’ be possible to install to another USB drive as well by setting the install path.
Hello, can someone tell me which image should work on a Lenovo Miix 2 11″ running a core i3 4012y processor? Already tried the Acer c720 and Dell chromebook 11 images and they didn’t boot. Any suggestion? Thanks
Its working for me. Running fine on USB but having some problem trying to install on ssd.
Hi Arnold
Firstly thank you for the great work you’ve put into this. Just wanted to check with you in regards to the ChromiumOS Special Build – R54-8659 32bit version, I’m trying to setup openVPN through chrome but am unable to as the import option for certificates is greyed out. Do you know if this is supposed to be like this or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
Do you have TPM on your BIOS? If so, switch it on and certs will magically appear. Its on my list of things to fix for older laptops.
wifi not working 🙁 . My Card is Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN. I tried to put b43 drivers from neverwares couldready but not working. (same kernel version) error: modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘b43’: Exec format error. Sorry for my bad english.
Hey Arnold,
Could you somehow add the iwlwifi-3160-17.ucode file into your special builds? That’s the one I need for my wireless drivers to work (using an Acer Cloudbook 14). If you can’t, is there some way I can add it to your existing builds for myself? Like unpacking the img, etc? Thanks
You can add it yourself by logging onot console and mounting the OS read write using “mount -o remount, rw /”. Then you can copy whatever files you need.
I am really interested in trying the Chromium OS but have an issue.
When I copy the image to a USB disk the process completes successfully but the process creates 12 additional drives on the stick.
When I try to boot with the USB stick it isn’t recognised.
Hope you can help!
Love the site by the way!
its not 12 additional drives, it is the uefi partitions required to boot in a uefi system. I don’t believe that you can boot these images in an old bios system (without uefi), Neverware.com has an image for older systems, but i have not tried it….good luck
bob
Hello!
I installed the newest Special build onto my USB. I tried to install it on two laptops: Asus and HP. Both laptops give me the same problem: after booting from USB i pass the first screen choosing language, time zone, etc. and on the second screen I am getting a sad face.
I am connected via ethernet cable to my router – internet should be OK, because it is letting me into the second screen, but why this sad face?
I tried it with the newest special builds both 32- and 64-bits – same thing.
Any suggestions?
i just installed it to a 32Gb USB and for some reason on start up it gives me the message that the disk is full. After looking into storage, it shows that it only has 1.1 Gb available with 800mb used. is there a way to make the system recognize the rest of the drive?
Yes, I need to fix that!
Hi,
I’m trying to install on an old HP compaq 6710b for my 5y old son.
I installed the 3.4.0 Broadcom resease to get the wifi going… Without success. Wifi seems to be working, but there are no networks detected.
The touchpad also doesn’t function. I tried following the instructions to get it going, but the etc/X11 directory seems to be unexisting, replacing files is a bit difficult.
Any help would be great!
Thanks!
Koen
Try the later special builds please.
Hello Arnold,
Thank you for your work! You’re amazing!
I’m having a problem trying to boot from a pendrive I burnt. Sometimes, it freezes with a “Booting the kernel.” message, sometimes with the Chomium logo. I downloaded “Cx86OS_R54-8659.0-Special.7z”.
Thanks!
Does it ever actually work though?
Hi, I’m running an Asus X205TA and I can get it to boot Cx86OS_86R54-8659.0-Special and it’ll get to the setup screen, but there’s no keyboard, trackpad or wifi. I’ve noticed the same problem with a fresh Windows 10 install and it turned out to be chipset drivers. Is there anything I could do to get it running Chromium? Thanks.
When you say setup screen, that sounds promising since the graphics are working. Could you plugin an external keyboard, get to console and then post the output of lsusb, pspci and dmesg to pastebin please?
Just installed Version 54.0.2815.0 (64-bit) – works fantastically well on my Lenovo X1 Carbon. The only issue I’m facing is that the touchpad won’t accept tap to click, only a ‘full’ button press. Anyone know how this can be resolved?
Thanks in advance.
TO INSTALL
USER chronos
PASS password
Look your HDD in lsblk
if your disk is sda, then “/usr/sbin/chromeos-install –dst=/dev/sda
”
thats all
HI.
I am trying to kick life in an old ASUS EEE PC 1001HA. I have tried several images, bit always the WIFI is “off”. Do you have a suggestion to an Image that would work? (sorry if this is a n00b question… I am one…)
how to get access to the google-drive in filemanager?
In browser tab I see all my files, but in filemanager firstly it offers to redeem 100Gb for two years and then it’s empty 🙁
If you are using the special builds, just reboot and it will start working.
Hi Arnold, thank you for all your hard work. I am trying to get this to work on an Acer eMachine eM250, however, every time I boot from USB I just get a blank black screen saying “Missing OS”. The USB is set as primary in BIOS boot order. I have tried a number of your releases including x86 and special. Any thoughts?
I hear there is a way to enable android apps on Chrome os once in Developer mode… So does this allow Android apps aswell??
Im looking at this for the next release. Its likely closed source however so dont hold your breath!
Hi I have an HP 215 G1 with an AMD A4-1250 APU with Radeon HD graphics, and an AMD Radeo HD8210 graphics display adapter when I boot to the USB stick I get the Chromium display for a second or two then nothing I can get to the command prompt but no further, any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have an older laptop which does not support booting from USB. I had considered taking my bootable usb and making an ISO with dd like this: “dd if=/path/to/bootable/usb of=/path/on/local/disk.iso” and then burning the resulting image file to CD/DVD. Do I even have to bother with using dd, or can I just burn a disc straight from one of the the builds found here?
Thanks for all the hard work
Hi,
Im having some issues! When I boot from the USB image, I dont get the GUI, just the ‘booting kernel’ screen, but I can login to a shell using CTRL ALT 2. I ran the install from there, but now when I boot from HDD, I’m getting the same behaviour, no GUI.
Any suggestions
Graphics more than likely. What build are you using and what are your device specs?
Hi Arnold,
I Just wanted to let you know your work is fantastic! I have successfully created a FULLY functional “Chromebook” out of my Dell 3452 Inspiron 14 with Braswell N3700 processor. I’ve even managed to overlay a ChromeOS over it and have Play Store functionality along with Netflix and Skype working flawlessly! Thanks for all your work with Chromium!
Glad its working out for you!
@Troydev: how you get play store?
I installed the chromium build from Arnold, and then I updated it to a chrome recovery using;
bash <(curl -s -L http://goo.gl/8v1ZkV)
I selected a build with the same processor in my laptop (Acer Chromebook R11). Once it completed, the update the play store was available in my settings. Also, I have Chrome Browser now which supports Netflix.
@Troydev: Thank you. How did you install the drivers (wifi – in my case is Broadcom MBP). Is there some script to install wifi and trackpad?
Unfortunately, I have an Atheros wifi which worked out of the box. My trackpad also worked out of the box as well, so I have no script for install, sorry..Broadcom always seems to give a lot of people trouble
For blue tooth, it did not work out of the box, so I use a mini bluetooth USB adapter for headphones and mouse.
Sorry I can’t help you more
Can’t wait to try this script! The trick is finding the matching hardware profile. That means tinkering and research – Love it!
When the script gives the list of available recovery images, it zips through them without giving a break. We should adjust the script to output that list using the “more” bash function or something to pause after each page. Gives the user a chance to see all the options.
Just my 2 cents. Whoever found / made this script – it’s awesome. I’m going to spend some time going through the code in it to make sure it’s not including some nasty stuff first, but at first glance I’m excited.
Frozen at “unpacking the zipfile”. Tried two different recovery images, same results (machine seems to hang). Oh well…
Are you sure it was hung? I thought it was hung as well but waited and rebooted after about 20 mins and it worked fine and Chrome was installed. A for the list of recoveries, I just used my scroll mouse to scroll up the list. Hope you can get it working!
Where do you install the update?
I’m new in chromium os, sorry.
Flint OS Will be presented with the Play Store. So, all the components are open source. The problem, if I understand correctly, is that in the moment of build will be necessary gather the various components (containers ie. android rotfs , suplementary files). Send an email to the Flint OS would be a great idea.
https://flintos.io/
I found a old Fujitsu / Siemens Stylistic Tablet and I installed Chromium on it. It took 15 Minutes in total with a USB key. It Works wonderfull.
This device has a touchscreen and it is the only thing that doesn’t work. Is there a way to activate this.
Penabled WACOM is written on the device
Hi Arnold,
Have you been following Google’s Arc++ project? And do you foresee Android apps coming to your build of Chromium OS?
Thanks,
GizmoChicken
P.S. Here are a few links to pages discussing Arc++ that may be of interest:
https://lwn.net/Articles/701964/
https://www.x.org/wiki/Events/XDC2016/Program/Arcpp_Graphics.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PflCyiULO4&t=2h10m22s
https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/?hl=en#!topic/chromium-os-discuss/OfBln-hl7ug
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/the-play-store-comes-to-chrome-os-but-not-the-way-we-were-expecting/
Im at the step where you insert the bootable usb, turn on computer, chromium loads… However, the boot up is stuck on the screen with chromium and white background.
I tried pressing all the keys on the keyboard, nothing happens.
Im very new to this. Please explain lightly.
Likely graphics. What laptop are you using?
Behaviour with passwords only count for special build right?
Because I can login with user chronos and user root from cli just fine without any password at all.
Using the weekly build. And for that how do I disable ssh after setting these passwords.
Same behaviour for all builds. The default is not no password (and ssh disabled). If you need ssh, you need to then set a password yourself.
You can try it yourself
ctrl alt f2 after installing to hdd
login: chonos
Doesn’t ask for password..
sudo, again doesnt ask for password
login: root
Doesn’t ask for password..
Hows it not the default the default then? Default password is empty for both accounts.
And by empty I mean not that I need to set a password first because you can login with both users without a password AT ALL and run code.
Sshd is running in top and i suspect that login behalfs the same. I dont want my laptop being able to be remote executed by anyone who knows the defaults user chronos with no password needed to login in and be in suid.
SSHD may well be running but have you tried logging in via SSH without setting a password first?
That’s the default behaviour. You cannot use SSH without setting a password.
I dont know if anyone else has this issue, but Smart Lock doesn’t work 🙁 When I first hit the ‘Set Up’ button for Smart Lock, it asks for my password. Then once entered correctly, nothing happens.
If I press it again, nothing happens. I have to reboot to get the password prompt up again.
I ran ‘dmesg’ in the CLI, and I got this log when I clicked the button and entered my password.
[ 338.595568] DEBUG: tsm_screen: new screen
[ 338.595604] DEBUG: tsm_vte: new vte object
[ 343.575922] DEBUG: tsm_vte: unhandled DA: 4 0 -1 -1…
Bluetooth is on and paired to a Nexus 6P
Any ideas?
Hi,
Im having some issues! When I boot from the USB image, I dont get the GUI, just the ‘booting kernel’ screen, but I can login to a shell using CTRL ALT 2. I ran the install from there, but now when I boot from HDD, I’m getting the same behaviour, no GUI.
AMD A4-1200 APU with Radeon(TM) HD Graphics 8180
Any suggestion?
thanks
Likely graphics. Can you post dmesg and xorg logfiles to pastebin?
Only photos to log files. (sorry)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/52syxp4iqvy8z04/AAAbpqqNiG6sy4DSPXzAr0BAa?dl=0
Fantastic builds here Arnold, fantastically useful! I have used them many times on many computers with great success.
Lately I have been trying to get them running on some nice little wyse 7020 machines (which are basically PCs with AMD GX-420CA SOC, https://www.amd.com/Documents/AMDGSeriesSOCProductBrief.pdf)
These have radeon 8000 series GPUs
These seem to require specialbuild versions.
They boot up ok, but the screen just goes black – I can get to the console, however cannot get any gui to start. I have noticed a few different AMD users are seeing similar on the last special build.
I wonder if you may be able to respin a new special build, in case it fixes the issue? it has been a while since a special build came out.
Thank you, and happy new year!
Hi Stu
Im working on some additional support for AMD GPU as part of the next special build. Please bear with me therefore as I work to get this sorted!
Can your arm builds be used to install onto an Android tablet? Specifically a nexus9. All Google pulls up is andromeda stuff. Thanks.
Unlikely! Feel free to try it however
i did try but the img is bigger than the system partition on the n9. i wasn’t able to find an easy solution to resize the partition. but if and when i do i will be giving it a shot. do you know of anyone or anything that is porting chromium os to tablets?? thanks bat
not able to enroll the chromium os on my laptop on special build 8777 error is= “The device is lovked in a mode that prevents enterprose enrollment .if you want to enroll the device you need to go through device recovery first.
No matter what I do I cannot get wifi working on my wife’s Lenovo Miix 3 Tablet.
The wifi is RTL8723BS which seems to half work, its greyed out but thinks its active and lsmod | grep r8723bl shows its loaded but in red so I think a driver is still missing and/or not working.
Anyone got this tablet or can provide any hints on getting wireless to work?
Forgot to say tried x86 and x64 special builds, latest nightly builds and vanilla builds.
not able to share the hangout screenshare from latest update.Version 55.0.2853.0
Platform 8777.0.2016_10_30_1349
Hi,
How do i increase the internal memory if i am running from a 16Gb USB stick. The total memory its showing available is 1.1Gb.
Thanks in advance
Hi Arnold!
Thanks for this project. I work in education and we were wondering a couple things. How do I get in contact with you (if at all) regarding development questions?
Thanks
Hi
Can you pop your details of your school here or DM me via Twitter (I am easy to find). Then we can exchange emails and have a chat about what you are trying to do
Arnold
I am trying to install Chrome Os on a Hp Stream 11.
it will install fine.
and Boot Fine but that is where it go’s down hill fast.
No matter what Boot image I choose it never Boots into the Interface just go’s to a Black screen with a LED back light.
If I Cancel out of the standard Boot Sequence. And Choose to boot to the Hard Drive it boots fine and works like a charm.
any ideas please and thank you for your time
wanting to roll out Chrome OS on Several hundred Hp Stream 11 we have given to the Students in my local school system.
thank you for any idea you can offer.
Hi
What graphics card do the devices have? Have you tried the special builds?
Yes I have tried the Special Builds.
I do believe it may be a Video issue. But I was confused with them booting fine and running if I choose to boot to the hard drive. SySlinux then boots and they run fine. If I let them just boot EFI they never boot the Video card I believe. It is just a Black screen and it will wake and go to sleep just no video.
Information Requested:
Processor :Intel Celeron N2840 (2.16GHz, turbo up to 2.58GHz), 1333MHz/1MB L2, Dual Cores*
Chipset : Integrated SoC PCH
Memory : DDR3L-1333 MHz Single Channel Support
Supports 2GB max on-board system memory (256M x 16 x 4)
Internal Storage Device : Solid State Drive, 32GB eMMC
Graphics : Intel HD Graphics
Support HD Decode, DX11, and HDMI
https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-stream-11-pro-notebook-pc/7527384/model/7527388/document/c04551691
Injecting a Video Driver May fix this issue
I have a Lenovo that I’m trying to get running also and I’m sure that its SSD Driver is not Working with the Builds.
If you can point me to or explain how to add needed drivers to the Builds that may fix both issues.
Thank you for your help and time.