I now have an old EOL chromebook that runs Linux. My kid is 9 and not a power user but they can use the browser & watch youtube and I’ll be getting minecraft added. And it’s not as agonizingly slow as it was. I work in tech, but haven’t touched any type of unix in many years. Here’s what I had and what I did (as much as I can remember).
I have a macbook air and an old EOL chromebook, KEFKA Intel Braswell. I didn’t have a usb stick when I started (kids = everything is lost) so I forged ahead without a backup, not recommended unless you are ok with bricking it.
- Found mrchromebox
- put the chromebook in developer mode
- logged in as either my kid or guest (don’t remember)
- found the terminal
- figured out how to get the VT2 shell instead of penguin
- ran the firmware utility script and Install/Update UEFI (Full ROM) Firmware
- opened the case and removed the write screw (yes, out of order, doesn’t seem to have mattered?)
- discovered I still needed a usb stick LOL so went to the store
- spent a stupid amount of time figuring out how to get a working linux distro on the stick from my mac, including finding the adapter for the usbc ports on the mac. Got help here (carefully used dd) and then had to switch distros.
- Finally was able to install Mint/Cinnamon.
Kid is happy! I can move on to other projects.
I love the open source community. Thank you!