With every update to ChromeOS, the folks at Google continue to break the stereotype that “Chromebooks are perfect for your grandmother because they can only surf on the internet”. ChromeOS 75.0.3759.4 was released last night and packs a few useful changes as well as several enhancements:
ChromeOS 75.0.3759.4 is currently being rolled out to users in the dev channel. Unfortunately if you have chosen to enable the GPU, your Crostini instance may no longer function. You may get the following error message when launching Termina via crosh
There are a few pre-made distributions to allow you to run a version of ChromiumOS on existing hardware such as CloudReady and FideOS however there are several benefits to building your own distribution from scratch. ChromiumOS is the open source of the popular ChromeOS operating system. By following this guide, you will get a version of ChromiumOS that should boot on most hardware (with a 64 bit Intel or AMD Processor). This version will also give you access to Linux Apps via Crostini and even enable the same OTA upgrade service that users on ChromeOS enjoy.
Is that a Chromebook in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? I am a huge fan of Chromebooks and absolutely love ChromeOS, this should really come as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog. I have been the owner of a first generation GPD-Pocket Laptop for a while now and was wondering if it would be possible to get ChromiumOS to run on the GPD-Pocket. Sadly it is not as simple as downloading one of the pre-made forks of ChromiumOS and booting as essentially nothing works out of the box (but it does boot). I rolled up my sleeves this morning and started building my own custom fork of ChromiumOS.
Over the past few days, instructions to install Debian Packages (.deb) files on ChromeOS via the Chrome OS File Manager have been floating around many major tech sites. I was originally not planning to cover this story as it was already covered so many times however I changed my mind after following the steps on these sites and was not successful. It turns out that they were missing a step – the .deb file needs to be placed in the “Linux Files” mount first. Here are the instructions:
Discord has been one of the fastest growing communication platforms on the planet right now but unfortunately they do not publish an official client for Chrome OS so Chrome OS users are stuck using the web application. While the web application is pretty good, some would wish to have access to the desktop application. Fortunately it is pretty easy to install, here are the steps.
ChromeOS 68.0.3437.0 was released for Pixelbook owners on the “dev” channel on Wednesday and it brings several changes and bug fixes. I have spent the past few days playing around with this release and here is what has changed:
The Steam platform is one of the most popular distribution platforms for PC Gamers and it turns out that you can indeed run the Linux version of Steam on your Pixelbook. I cannot say for sure that all games will run on it but you should be able to install any game that supports “Linux” on your Chromebook. I apologize in advanced for lost productivity caused by following the steps in this guide – you have been warned!
If you were like me who found their Terminal application completely broken after upgrading to ChromeOS 68.0.3431.0, you are likely irritated and mashing the update button for a fix to be delivered a few times a day. I got to thinking this afternoon of a workaround, why not replace it with something a bit more reliable – like Gnome Terminal? It turns out that it works flawlessly and is pretty easy to setup. Here are the steps;
Heads up all Pixelbook Owners, ChromeOS 68.0.3431.0 is currently being pushed to those who are in the “dev” channel. It seems like Google has made several changes to the bottom dock (shelf) such as removing the Profile Photo, moving persistent notifications and allowing the ability to pin Linux applications to the shelf.