Installing/Preparing

If you have already used Linux on your Chromebook in the past (Crouton does NOT count), you probably don't need to do this. This article will cover the very minimal requirements for making it work on each generation of Chromebook. This means we won't flash any firmware if we don't need to. If you want instructions for flashing firmware, see Flashing Firmware. Please note that this process can be very dangerous, so please carefully read everything and do not skip any steps. We are not responsible if you brick your Chromebook, even though we think it sucks that you did. Dispite the fact that the Chromebook Pixel and 2015 Chromebook Pixel are Sandy Bridge and Broadwell respectively, you should use the Haswell process for both of them. We know this doesn't make any sense, but just trust us.

Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge

With the exception of the original Chromebook Pixel, on Sandy Bridge Chromebooks, you will have to flash your firmware. Luckily, John Lewis' script makes it a very straight forward process. Unfortuantely, you'll have to open up your Chromebook. Also note that after completing this porcess, you will no longer be able to run Chrome OS on your Chromebook, so no dualbooting for this one I'm afraid.

First, you need to put the device in developer mode. You'll know if you're in developer mode because you will see the "scary white screen" before you are able to boot the computer. If you are not in developer mode, you can get there by shutting down your computer, holding Esc and Refresh (F3), then powering on the computer. You will see a screen that says "Chrome OS is missing or damaged.". Don't panic! This is normal. You need to press Ctrl-D. Your computer will reboot a few times and you will see a few prompts. Please note that this will wipe your data (similar to a powerwash) so make sure you have backed everything up first. Now that you're in developer mode, proceed to the next step.

Now your Chromebook is rooted. Now, we need to flash the firmware. Unfortunately, this means you will need to open your Chromebook. You need to open your Chromebook and either bridge the jumper with a piece of tin foil, or remove the screw that governs hardware write protection. This process varies from model to model, so you should look up how to do it on the internet. We do hope to have a guide for all models here at some point, so you don't have to go searching, but it's not ready yet, so you'll have to do some googling.

Once you've disabled the write protection, we can really get started. First, log into your Chromebook and make sure it's connected to the internet. Next, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a crosh session. Now, you can open bash by simply typing

shell

and hit enter. Now you should be in bash. You'll have a prompt that looks something like this.

chronos@localhost / $

Now, you just need to download and run John Lewis' script. Again, make very sure you have a stable internet connection before doing this. When you're positive you're ready, run

cd; rm -f flash_chromebook_rom.sh; curl -L -O https://johnlewis.ie/flash_chromebook_rom.sh; sudo -E bash flash_chromebook_rom.sh

and follow the onscreen prompts carefully. Hopefully, if everything went well, you should be good to go. Reboot your computer, plug in your GalliumOS USB, and start installing! Note that after completing this process your computer will be unable to boot. You must insert a USB drive with an operating system on it (hopefully GalliumOS :P) and install it to the hard drive.

Haswell

Haswell Chromebooks are mostly incredibly easy to work with. There is no additional firmware needed. You just need to enable developer mode, enable a couple boot flags, and you're good to go!

First, you need to put the device in developer mode. You'll know if you're in developer mode because you will see the "scary white screen" before you are able to boot the computer. If you are not in developer mode, you can get there by shutting down your computer, holding Esc and Refresh (F3), then powering on the computer. You will see a screen that says "Chrome OS is missing or damaged.". Don't panic! This is normal. You need to press Ctrl-D. Your computer will reboot a few times and you will see a few prompts. Please note that this will wipe your data (similar to a powerwash) so make sure you have backed everything up first. Now that you're in developer mode, proceed to the next step.

Now your Chromebook is rooted. Now you need to enable a couple boot flags, and you're good to go. Log into your Chromebook and connect it to the internet. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a crosh session. Now, you can open bash by simply typing

shell

and hit enter. Now you should be in bash. You'll have a prompt that looks something like this.

chronos@localhost / $

Now, you just need to enable a couple boot flags. You can skip this step if you plan on using chrx to dualboot GalliumOS with ChromeOS.

sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_legacy=1

If everything went smoothly, you should be ready to go. Just reboot your computer, pop in your GalliumOS USB, press Ctrl+L at the scary white screen, and install away! If you want to remove the scary white screen, or boot to Linux by default, see Firmware Flashing.

Broadwell

With the exception of the 2015 Chromebook Pixel, Broadwell is the same basic process as Haswell, but it doesn't come with SeaBIOS, so we'll have to install it before we can use it. Luckily, we don't have to open up the Chromebook, and the process is very simple.

First, you need to put the device in developer mode. You'll know if you're in developer mode because you will see the "scary white screen" before you are able to boot the computer. If you are not in developer mode, you can get there by shutting down your computer, holding Esc and Refresh (F3), then powering on the computer. You will see a screen that says "Chrome OS is missing or damaged.". Don't panic! This is normal. You need to press Ctrl-D. Your computer will reboot a few times and you will see a few prompts. Please note that this will wipe your data (similar to a powerwash) so make sure you have backed everything up first. Now that you're in developer mode, proceed to the next step.

Now your Chromebook is rooted. Now you need to enable a couple boot flags, and you're good to go. Log into your Chromebook and connect it to the internet. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a crosh session. Now, you can open bash by simply typing

shell

and hit enter. Now you should be in bash. You'll have a prompt that looks something like this.

chronos@localhost / $

Now, you need to download and run John Lewis' script. Again, make very sure you have a stable internet connection before doing this. When you're positive you're ready, run

cd; rm -f flash_chromebook_rom.sh; curl -L -O https://johnlewis.ie/flash_chromebook_rom.sh; sudo -E bash flash_chromebook_rom.sh

and follow the onscreen prompts carefully. If everything went smoothly, you're almost ready to go. Now, you just need to enable a couple boot flags. You can skip this step if you're planning to use chrx to dualboot GalliumOS with ChromeOS.

sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_legacy=1

If everything went smoothly, you should be ready to go. Just reboot your computer, pop in your GalliumOS USB, press Ctrl+L at the scary white screen, and install away! Unfortunately, there is no way to remove the scary white screen on Broadwell (yet!), but you can set it up to boot Linux by default. For more information, see Firmware Flashing

Bay Trail

On Bay Trail Chromebooks, you will have to flash your firmware. Luckily, John Lewis' script makes it a very straight forward process. Unfortuantely, you'll have to open up your Chromebook. Also note that after completing this porcess, you will no longer be able to run Chrome OS on your Chromebook, so no dualbooting for this one I'm afraid.

First, you need to put the device in developer mode. You'll know if you're in developer mode because you will see the "scary white screen" before you are able to boot the computer. If you are not in developer mode, you can get there by shutting down your computer, holding Esc and Refresh (F3), then powering on the computer. You will see a screen that says "Chrome OS is missing or damaged.". Don't panic! This is normal. You need to press Ctrl-D. Your computer will reboot a few times and you will see a few prompts. Please note that this will wipe your data (similar to a powerwash) so make sure you have backed everything up first. Now that you're in developer mode, proceed to the next step.

Now your Chromebook is rooted. Now, we need to flash the firmware. Unfortunately, this means you will need to open your Chromebook. You need to open your Chromebook and either bridge the jumper with a piece of tin foil, or remove the screw that governs hardware write protection. This process varies from model to model, so you should look up how to do it on the internet. We do hope to have a guide for all models here at some point, so you don't have to go searching, but it's not ready yet, so you'll have to do some googling. Also note that this process is very complicated on the Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2014 version) because of Toshiba's poor design.

Once you've disabled the write protection, we can really get started. First, log into your Chromebook and make sure it's connected to the internet. Next, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a crosh session. Now, you can open bash by simply typing

shell

and hit enter. Now you should be in bash. You'll have a prompt that looks something like this.

chronos@localhost / $

Now, you just need to download and run John Lewis' script. Again, make very sure you have a stable internet connection before doing this. When you're positive you're ready, run

cd; rm -f flash_chromebook_rom.sh; curl -L -O https://johnlewis.ie/flash_chromebook_rom.sh; sudo -E bash flash_chromebook_rom.sh

and follow the onscreen prompts carefully. Hopefully, if everything went well, you should be good to go. Reboot your computer, plug in your GalliumOS USB, and start installing! Note that after completing this process your computer will be unable to boot. You must insert a USB drive with an operating system on it (hopefully GalliumOS :P) and install it to the hard drive.

Braswell

We know nothing about Braswell yet. We'll let you know as soon as we have information about running GalliumOS on Braswell.