Chromium OS Special Builds

Chromium OS Special Builds are an enhancement to the default vanilla builds of Chromium OS to allow support for as many  devices as possible.

All downloads are located at http://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/index.php?dir=special and will be updated as new functionality is brought into the build as well as regular maintenance releases to keep the UI up to date.

amd64 (64 bit) builds are currently supported. They are based on the amd64-generic overlays but have the following additional support:

The builds also allow Over The Air (OTA) updates from dev servers. From the browser, just go to Settings > About > Check for and apply updates and magic will happen. Updates will be automatic for builds after R46-7323 and will allow for development tools update with a single shell command:

sudo stateful_update


Install is exactly the same as http://arnoldthebat.co.uk/wordpress/chromium-os/


Have fun testing and using it. Feel free to feedback with whatever isn’t working as expected and I’ll try to build in to the next release!


Known Issues/Bugs: https://github.com/arnoldthebat/chromiumos/issues




In addition to the Special Builds, there are now enhanced Vanilla builds. These allow Google Drive integration and certain enhanced media codecs. This should allow the users with working daily builds more functionality and usability.


These Vanilla builds will also update automatically as and when I get the Update Server ready.


Please do not log issues with the Vanilla build since they are a courtesy build and will only work on devices with Freon supported graphics and CMT supported touch pads. WiFi and Ethernet will also have reduced support.

592 thoughts on “Chromium OS Special Builds”

  2. Hi I got an error of
    gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
    tar: Child returned status 1
    tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
    Successfully downloaded update.
    Missing var or dev_image in stateful payload

    Any ideas? Also when I try and convert it to full chrome os I get a funny error about invalid config files, any thoughts?

    Reply

  4. Hi, I have an HP stream 11 that I am trying to use the Special Build Camd64OS_R46-7323.0-Special with. the wifi works however I have a problem with the trackpad, which is not working. Oddly enough it’s backwards on the weekly builds where the trackpad works and the wifi does not. I don’t understand why this is. Can you help?

    Reply

      1. Thanks 🙂 Is normal that the special build doesn’t go over chromium screen? the normal build go over, but after didn’t see my interent connection (ethernet) :/

        Reply

          1. If i make a usb bootable with special build, When I boot it, it doesn’t go over the Chromium start screen (the one with logo) and remain forever on that screen :/

          2. I think he means that the special build is stuck at the splash screen for him. Sounds like the normal builds make it to the setup screen but the special build hangs at the Chromium splash screen.

  6. Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11a/b/g (rev 01) Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1490 Dual Band WLAN Mini-Card not work.

    lspci -k show me blank kernel driver in use.

    Reply

  7. 2015-09-29T23:49:02.567234+00:00 WARNING kernel: [ 49.565151] wl: module license ‘Mixed/Proprietary’ taints kernel.
    2015-09-29T23:49:02.567274+00:00 WARNING kernel: [ 49.565156] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
    2015-09-29T23:49:02.633183+00:00 WARNING kernel: [ 49.632263] malloc in abgphy done
    2015-09-29T23:49:02.635027+00:00 WARNING kernel: [ 49.634526] malloc in abgphy done
    2015-09-29T23:49:02.635039+00:00 WARNING kernel: [ 49.634892] wl driver 6.30.223.248 (r487574) failed with code 21
    2015-09-29T23:49:02.635044+00:00 ERR kernel: [ 49.634896] [wl_cfg80211_detach()] in ndev=eaf72000: IEEE80211ptr= (null)

    Reply

  9. so we are trying to get this on some dell lat 2110 netbooks. I installed the first Broadcom build Cx86OS_R33-5111_broadcom and it was not picking up the wifi but I had Ethernet working. I ran updates and now I have no Ethernet and it shows wifi working but its not picking up any SSID. any idea on that?

    Reply

    1. You should really try the latest special build. I have the Dell Latitude 2120 and it works flawlessly on that. The release you mentioned is a much older version and the browser in it is no longer supported. I think we’re up to version 46 or 47 on the latest and that release you mention is version 33.

      Reply

  10. Exactly, MrPlow 🙂 The normal build go until setup screen and after doesn’t recognize my lan connection, the special build is stuck at splash screen (it disappear one time and re-appear :/ )

    Reply

  11. I try setup ubuntu on my Dell D630. If i load from USB, is see b43 for my WiFi started and wifi work fine. But if i install ubuntu on HDD i see wl started and WiFi dont work.

    Any solution for start Chromium OS with B43 drivers for my wifi?

    PS. I try build Chromium OS with ‘CONFIG_B43=
    ​m’​ in chromeos/config/base.config , then grab b43.ko and put it on D630 with Arnold’s latest s.build. But if i try insmod b43.ko – invalid module format.

    If b43 inmpossible in Arnold’s builds i can try swith wifi module, but any1 know Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Mini-PCI Express Adapter (compartable with d630) work fine?

    Reply

  12. Works absolutely fine from USB, wifi and everything. When I install locally to the machine wifi stops working. Could you provide any assistance please Arnold?

    Reply

      1. Can you link to the post referencing this technique?

        I’m having the same issue utilizing an Acer Aspire One ZE6

        Reply

  13. Flash AND PDF working great. Listening to Spotify at play.spotify.com as I type this.

    ZIP files downloaded are not decompressing?!?!

    MP4 video not working 🙁 via Video Player

    MP3 doesn’t appear to work 🙁 via Music Player

    Still, an amazing achievement to date!!!

    I did not install the Special-U version, and update server is failing – “Update failed, current operations is UPDATE_STATUS_IDLE” – dang it!

    Reply

    1. Never mind about UNZIP, I have found another method… ZIP Extractor… dunno why it doesn’t show in Files?

      Reply

  14. Hi Arnold.

    Got almost everything working well, EXCEPT for MP3/MP4. I know MP4 worked before running the script you mention on this blog (Flash/PDF/MP3), but only Flash/PDF work, MP3/MP4 is broken. I know MP4 used to work in the virgin USB, but since the update… I just get nothing.

    I assume these both use ffmpeg build, just wondering whether you knew where to find this. I have downloaded a very recent dev channel version of Chromium for Debian, and will check the contents of that with 7Zip.

    Many thanks for your great work so far… got touchpad-tap and webcam working nicely now 😀

    Flash is prone to pauses, but I reckon that is running from USB2.0

    Any help on MP3/4 would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  15. I tried CloudReady (which is now free for individuals), and Flash & MP3 work nicely, even toucpad tap and BLUETOOTH work… but MP4 video is a no-go… DANG.

    Going to try your 32bit build, reinstall touchpad-tap, and then do the codec trick from Seth Tech.

    If I can get Flash/PDF/MP3/MP4 working, I will convert this laptop to a 4GB RAM/500GB HDD – ChromiumOS only laptop 🙂

    Reply

  16. I have now given up on ChromiumOS as a workable alternative. I have gotten pdf/flash/mp3/mp4 all working on different builds, but never together. All the scripts for installing these seem to be 18months old (or older). I wish there were a simple way of copying ffmpegXXXsumo.so from another linux distro?!

    Anyway, thanks for the ride, it has been informative and (almost) fun…

    Reply

  18. I got MP3 and MP4 working on CloudReady via h265 HEVC Player. Does this version of Chromium sound up-to-date?

    Version 43.0.2357.134
    Platform 43.1.37

    Also, the AR9285 WIFI is not the most reliable on startup :-/

    Reply

    1. I liked the CloudReady solution when I tried it but ver.43 is a bit behind. Current release from Google on a Chromebook is 45.0.2454.98 (as of this post).
      Platform is listed as 7262.57.0 (Acer C720P)

      Reply

      1. And, of course, that was incorrect… the Chromebook is currently updating… Sorry.

        ChromeOS: 46.0.2490.71
        Platform: 7390.61.0

        Reply

  19. Yeah, now I know the solution for MP3/MP4, I’m sure it will work in AtB’s builds. Gonna try a very recent Special U build, and see how it goes!

    I know the AR9285 WIFI works first go with AtB’s R46 build!

    Reply

    1. Hey Mac,
      Did you have any luck getting MP3/MP4, Flash, PDF working on the most recent special build? I’ve tried every script from the last 18 months and have luck with flash and PDF, but no mp3 and most scripts seem to cause a hang at boot. Any advice for at least flash and mp3 would be awesome.

      Reply

      1. Hey Chromed&Confused, I stopped after CloudReady, as I bricked my laptop removing UEFI boot entries (went a bit too far). Replaced with new laptop (running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5) so lost interest with ChromiumOS (shame).

        I needed to do serious AdobeBridge photo tagging, and that was never going to happen with ChromiumOS 🙁

        I would go with CloudReady, or play MP3 through HEVC player?!

        Can’t remember which way I went, but I usually listen to music via Spotify (which worked the moment Flash did).

        Reply

  20. Hi! Thanks for some great work, ArnoldTheBat!
    I’m trying to install on an old Compal CL56 laptop (Pentium M, NVidia, needs forcepae). I tried the latest special build, but boot halts trying to load IPW2200 firmware. Any chance this can be fixed, or something I can do myself?

    Reply

    1. A Google search suggested copying /lib/firmware/ipw2200* from Ubuntu – I tried on my current Linux Mint install (on the same CL56, so I know the Wifi works). I copied with “sudo cp” to the USB stick with the Chromium build. However, upon rebooting to the USB, the boot now complains that it can’t find a ext4 file system… Did I do this the wrong way?

      Reply

  22. Using the cs86os_7549.0.u-special build on dell 280 desktops for a project,they are dinosaurs and with older builds had issues verifying enterprise names. Any solutions?
    Thanks

    Reply

  25. Can you give me a little help with building special builds the way you do it? I’ve looked around on your site a little and I can’t find anything that talks about your build environment or exactly what you’re doing to include the drivers and additional functionality. Generally all I need is a good shove in the right direction over coffee. Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply

      1. @ArnoldTheBat – unfortunately no. I’ve setup Ubuntu 15.04 and I’ve followed along with setting up the build environment, syncing the repo successfully, but the compile fails after a long time of churning.

        Reply

          1. Arnold, I will re-do what I’ve done and supply the exact errors. I’ll even supply my exact steps. I’ll post a google Doc on here for you to look at – I’ll do this next week.

  26. Hi Guys — I need to find someone to help me on a project. My interactive projector does not work properly with Chromebooks. The digital pen with the projector acts like a mouse, but doesn’t communicate properly over the HID interface. Works perfectly on Win/Mac. Anyone on the forum interested in a paid project? email me at “[email protected]”

    thanks
    rajeev mishra

    Reply

      1. Thank you so much for your effort on this project, can you help me out on how to install drivers… I want to try the latest build but is missing the wireless driver, the special build run smooth on my laptop except for the backlit keyboard.

        Reply

          1. -Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
            -http://projects.flogisoft.com/asus-keyboard-backlight/
            (I don’t know how to install it)

  28. How do you install packages – for example apt-get or dpkg or similar? (I have a .deb file I would like to install) – -I tried sudo apt-get , sudo su then running apt-get and it says command not found. I am running the latest download as of yesterday.

    Reply

  29. Just wanted to say thanks. Your latest build installed on my acer aspire s7 touchscreen and everything works like a chromebook.
    It is a much better machine now. Thanks again.

    Reply

  31. Thanks for these special builds. Works great on my Acer Aspire s7 . One issue, had to disable new way of handling zip files in chrome://flags in order to unzip zip files.

    Reply

  32. I have a Dell Mini 9, I know its old, but hoping I can load a more recent version of Chromium on it (most instructions refer me here or to Dell’s 2013 build). With the latest special build I get the following kernal error when booting from the USB “drm/i810 does not support smp”. I was going to load a previous build but thought I’d ask if anyone knows how to get the latest build working or at least which previous version is compatible.

    Reply

      1. Hi, I’m getting the “i810 does not support SMP” – and it does stop my boot from USB. What should I do to work around this?

        Reply

  34. I’m going to try latest special-U build on my HP ProBook 6550b (8GB) with 1st Gen Intel HD Graphics. I have replaced Intel WiFi with Broadcom BCM943224HMS, so hoping it is supported.

    Creating USB drive now with dd on Mac OS X. I just realised I am using an 8GB USB thumbdrive, this might be an issue :-/

    Reply

  35. Has anyone figured out a script that works to add Flash / mp4 etc. plugins to the special builds reliably? I’ve tried several methods and the system is actually saying that I’ve got flash 15.0.0.223 installed but it isn’t working on spotify music or netflix 🙁 I’m on build Cx86OS_R48-7549.0.U-Special. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice. Everything else is working awesome!

    P.S. Also in this build once the unit goes into suspend it is impossible to wake up.

    P.P.S. I’m on a 2007 13″ Intel Macbook if that makes a difference.

    Reply

  37. Thank you for all your works. I’ve just installed 25Oct2015 special chromium img on my ‘old’ Acer Aspire One. All is working well, except upgrading. I mean, using Setting->Chromium Info I see that using Upgrade button it seems to start elaborating, then after a while it asks for a reboot. After reboot the OS ‘release’ is the same (48.0.2540.0). I tried also via shell commands (update_engine_client,stateful_update) but nothing …
    I’m using x86 release.Perhaps I’m using a wrong omaha_url

    Reply

    1. Hi

      No you are using the right URL. Clicking the upgrade button will download the same version again. Its not a problem however since your data will be safe. Its something I need to figure out!

      Reply

  38. Hi

    Daily builds will boot, but no wifi.

    Special builds will go to splash screen, then blacks out (backlight on). My laptop is a Dell Latitude e5450. Is there a fix – or is my hardware incompatible?

    Thanks

    Reply

  39. Hi,
    I’ve been working with your builds for potential use in a school district. I’ve had some success on a few devices, but I have one set of devices giving me trouble. When I use the Special builds on them (Cx86OS_R48-7549.0-Special both U and non-U versions), I can connect to WiFi and progress through the login screens. However, the process hangs after authentication. This happens whether I use the standard login or the Enterprise Enrollment ones. I’ve also tried the latest vanilla build ( Cx86OS-20160124010102.img), but that one doesn’t support the touch pad.
    Any suggestions? Thanks for a great product!

    Reply

    2. Hi Dan

      Im what sort of numbers of machines are we talking about (and what model)? Im happy to create a special build to suit a educational requirement if that would suit your needs. You will need to send me a device however so I can build against it!

      Reply

  40. Also have troubles. Daily builds will boot just fine, but no wifi. Special builds work well, but I see they haven’t been updated. Do you still make these? Can I install an older build, and then run an update to get to a newer system, while still retaining the “special” drivers? I wouldn’t mind downloading the Oct 31 build, so long as I know once I do, it’ll be automatically updated from Google Servers.

    I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga convertible.

    Reply

  41. Seeking help on the latest special build. I am using Asus Transformer TP300LD notebook. Booting special build via USB is mostly fine while trackpad is the problem. single tap or navigating do work, but the 2 finger gestures cannot be performed. It is also unrecognized in the chrome setting. ‘No touchpad or mouse is detected’
    To resolve the issue, I tried tons of method. I tried changing the 50-touchpad-cmt.conf file from this site. but no luck
    I tried using another the method from ‘https://gist.github.com/zhaostu/4552236’ and it returns ‘no touchpad recognized’
    Any idea would be helpful.

    Reply

  42. Howdy arnoldthebat

    I have struggled with installing chromeos with a HP stream 11-r008tu model laptop. I am guessing the driver for the ssd 32gb drive does exist for the operating system [12 hours googling/trying] . I have then booted direct form the usb disk , and alas a new issue , the wifi card ‘intel device 3165’ driver does not exist as the wifi is not detectable [another 8 hours falling into linux holes]. Any suggestions. OS is 4.0.5+ . I want a new version with a chance of working. What do you recommend? Any special instructions that you can share that may possibly help.

    Reply

  43. Hi, I have installed special build Cx86os_R44-7015.0-Special to revive an old Samsung netbook NP NF110 and it all works fine apart from the sleep/wake on lid close.

    If the machine goes to sleep after inactivity then it wakes up fine but if I close the lid to make it go to sleep, when I open it the screen dims and the computer switches off within a second. The only way to revive it is to turn off and reboot.

    Is there a cure?

    Reply

      1. I have found a clumsy workaround with an pinned chrosh tab and repeating the ‘powerd_dbus_suspend’ command each time I want to send it to sleep… then I can close the without the system having spasms.

        If someone can create WebStore app with the relevant script, I could then pin the app icon to the bottom shelf. At least it would look neater even if the lid close is not working right.

        In the meantime, I’m enjoying ChromiumOS, Thanks

        Reply

  44. hi arnold,
    just wanted to say i’m running my dell 2120 using special build R44-7015 and was wondering if i am able to update using your server and if i need to; it’s running really nice. wifi worx out of the box, it installed once i pointed it at the dev.
    nice build, thank-you.

    Reply

  45. I am trying to install Camd64OS_R50-7881_0-Special on two (2) Dell Latitude e6400s. I was successful with one but the other, after signing in, I get the “Please wait…” message and then the cursor spins forever.

    I have tried browsing as guest, logging in as another Google, and creating a new Google account but all to no avail.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  46. It doesn’t recognize my ethernet card or network when I first boot from USB, message says “No network available” even if it’s plugged in. My ethernet card is “RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller”. I would like to install it on my PC but I need to make sure first it will recognize my ethernet connection or else I will not be able to log in.

    Reply

  47. Hello.
    I want to change the display resolution. It is only 1024×768 selectable instead 1280×720 (for old TV) .
    Unfortunately /etc/X11/xorg.conf is writeonly .
    How can I change the xorg.conf???
    Thankx!!!
    Michael

    Reply

  48. Hi, I am a total newbie at this. I am trying Cx86OS_R50-7881.0-Special using a 32BG Lexar SDHD4 card plugged into an IOGear card reader. Laptop is Compaq V5000. Mobile Sempron processor (= weak). 512mb ram.

    I get everywhere until “Loading Kernel.” The light on the card reader flashes for a short while after that. Then it just stays solid and nothing happens. I waited at least 5 minutes. Should I wait longer? Or is my system just stuck because it sucks?

    Any suggestions welcome…

    Reply

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