ReactOS on a Chomebook?

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tomleem
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ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by tomleem »

http://liliputing.com/2013/12/acer-c270 ... d-200.html
If one could install Ubuntu on a Chromebook (assuming one waits till one can load via the USB optical disk or flash drive), could one install ReactOS on one? :?:
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Tom Lee M / BigGoofyGuy
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karlexceed
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by karlexceed »

In the link you posted, it says that there is difficulty in installing Windows on Chromebooks, and that one would be better off buying a laptop with it pre-installed. It even says that the trackpad won't work with Ubuntu as the drivers are missing.

I'd take this as a fairly decisive answer to your question. Especially considering the difficulty of getting ReactOS to run well on 10 year old desktop hardware. Of course, I'm sure it's possible, but why would you want to do that anyway?
tomleem
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by tomleem »

Thanks for the information. I can see how difficult it could be and might not make it worthwhile to try. I thought it would be interesting if it could be done on a Chromebook since they are usually less expensive than notebook computer running Windows. 8-) If one has a Chromebook that one can risk it with, it would be neat to give it a try. :ugeek:
Last edited by tomleem on Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tom Lee M / BigGoofyGuy
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MadWolf
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by MadWolf »

hi
you can install windows 8 on a chromebook pixel but this guide may help in installing windows 8 or ReactOS
http://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-insta ... el.350111/
tomleem
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LG Chromebase all-in-one Chrome desktop does America for $35

Post by tomleem »

http://liliputing.com/2014/05/lg-chrome ... a-350.html
Perhaps when one can install ROS from an USB optical drive, one could install it on this Chrome all-in-one computer?
:?: It looks really nice. 8-)
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Tom Lee M / BigGoofyGuy
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tomleem
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s C200 Chromebook: Enabling dev mode, installing Ubuntu

Post by tomleem »

http://liliputing.com/2014/06/asus-c200 ... buntu.html
Perhaps helpful installing a different operating system? Once ROS can be installed using USB, perhaps this information could be helpful? :ugeek:
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:geek:
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Tom Lee M / BigGoofyGuy
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tomleem
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HP Chromebook 11 G3 replaces ARM with Bay Trail

Post by tomleem »

http://liliputing.com/2014/08/hp-chrome ... trail.html
Since it replaces the ARM processor with an Intel one, it would make easier to install ROS onto it? :?:
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Tom Lee M / BigGoofyGuy
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Z98
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by Z98 »

If the bootloader is unlocked maybe.
PurpleGurl
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by PurpleGurl »

Z98 wrote:If the bootloader is unlocked maybe.
And even then, I hear that much of the BIOS is gutted, so I don't know what impact missing BIOS routines would have on ROS being able to load. A Chromebook is much more efficient in booting because it makes a lot of assumptions. Since the hardware for those is rather standard, scanning for a lot of possible devices on boot is not necessary. And since the full set of BIOS routines geared to DOS are not needed, I assume they are left out. Plus their BIOS code might be all 32-bit, so the OS won't start in 16-bit and then change modes like most 32-bit OS's do. So I guess I am saying that to port ROS to that, there may need to be some adjustments made in our kernel. But still, the biggest concern is like what you said. Locking access to the boot loader can be a security measure, not just an anti-competitive one.
Wierd
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Re: ReactOS on a Chomebook?

Post by Wierd »

I know this is a moldy old topic, but I am also curious.

There have been developments on opening up chromebooks, even though they have some very non-standard hardware inside them.
Take for instance, the support for full bios replacements on many models, via coreboot (and the maintained easy install scripts and precompiled coreboot images thanks to MrChromebox). This completely converts a chromebook into a minimally powered (and provisioned) sub-notebook with some slightly non-standard hardware inside, capable of running windows, linux, and in some cases, OSX.

There are various communities on Reddit and the like that offer how-to documents, driver download mirrors, etc-- for various chromebook models.


The keyboard and mouse will almost certainly not work with ReactOS, since the hardware is connected to either the I2C or SPI bus on these systems, and not to something more x86 standard, like PS/2 controller, or USB port. However, there are suitable drivers for windows, so with a little loving, perhaps ReactOS could one day support those drivers. (I doubt that there has been much work on implementing the needed hooks the drivers need, since there is not really a compelling reason to devote those resources at this time, when there is much more important stuff to do.) That might be fixed due to the updates MrChromebox has rolled in on some models his maintained images support, as he has rolled in updates to the embedded microcontroller (the thing that the keyboard, mouse, and pals are actually connected to) so that it emulates a PS/2 controller to the host operating system on supported models (even though a real PS/2 controller does not actually exist.) It might allow these systems to work with reactOS immediately, then again, it might not.

I have a "legacy boot enabled" chromebook (Celes) that I could attempt to boot the liveCD on via USB (no native optical disk, but the legacy boot package I installed via MrChromebox's handy script does support optical boot via USB) but the chromebook lacks a hardware serial port, and so any diagnostic data that might be of interest to developers cannot be easily retained. I suppose network based debugging might be possible assuming reactoOS works well enough to enable the integrated wifi chip and connect to an access point... but I doubt it. I think I have a USB to Serial cable floating around someplace, but I would need two of them to collect logging data that way. (One for the chromebook and one for the system I am collecting logs with.) There is a planned full UEFI replacement package that MrChromebox is currently testing that supports my model, which might give me better results.

The unit I own also lacks anything even resembling a SATA controller, and instead uses eMMC based storage. That might also complicate matters as far as what the liveCD expects to find.

Targeting chromebooks would be an interesting proposition, as they are hardware well suited to ReactOS's core goals (Low power, low space consumption, low memory needs), but they are very nonstandard/proprietary hardware. On the other hand, the hardware out there is fairly consistent, as there are few models in the wild.

Has anyone already tried to do this?
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