6 ms·

Google sent him a CR 48 with Windows 7 On It

46 points by bcrawl 16y ago

bcrawl 16y ago
tl;dr Guy receives a CR48 with windows 7. Contacts google/google groups. No one has any real answer how this could have happened. Google product guy sends him an email with RMA details. Participant complies. But before sending it back he dumps the BIOS out. Some one from chromeOS forums successfully flashed their BIOS with this one. So this works. I fully understand that one should use these CR 48 laptops for what they are intended to be for. That is testing purposes. ChromeOS forums: http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-notebook/607-windows-7-installed-cr-48-then-shipped-user-6.html#post3458 http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-notebook/607-wind... Youtube link: www.youtube.com/?v=sy9JzYTP4xc Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images will be bootable. More info on this process here. http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/verified-boot http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/v... CR48 doesnt have a regular bootloader like grub or lilo. Some more info on CR48 BIOS from their site. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-information/how-to-boot-ubuntu-on-a-cr-48 https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/deve... initrd is typically handled by the bootloader, which reads the specified image from the disk into RAM and passes the address to the kernel as it's invoked. The Chrome OS BIOS is a modified EFI BIOS. The bootstub is a standard EFI Application, but it's embedded in the kernel image in a dedicated partition type, rather than accessible through a FAT filesystem. To decrease boot time, the BIOS does not discover or pass the standard disk drive handles to the bootstub, so the bootstub doesn't know anything about disks or filesystems. There is also no Compatibility Support Module in the BIOS. In theory elilo or grub2 could replace the bootstub, but they would have to reimplement some of the device discovery functions normally done by an EFI BIOS. If you want to take this on, go for it. That would let us create a kernel partition that just contained an EFI bootloader, which could then chain-boot to external USB drives, etc. That might be kind of cool.
- Zak 16y ago
  Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images will be bootable Yes, but there's a switch to turn it off. I hope that continues to be true with production devices.
  - bcrawl 16y ago
    Oops. I reread what I wrote and now I am confused. Maybe you are right. In developer mode, self signed images work. But I will leave the post. -------------------------------- If you are talking about developer mode, Yes. I am pretty sure they intend to have that option in production devices. No. I think, even in developer mode the boot process checks for google signature. From their site; "The first time a Chrome Notebook boots in Developer Mode after leaving Normal Mode it will: - Show a scary warning that its software cannot be trusted, since verified boot is disabled (press Ctrl-D or wait 30 seconds to dismiss). - Erase all personal data on the "stateful partition" (i.e., user accounts and settings - no worries, though, since all data is in the cloud!). Make you wait between 5 and 10 minutes to while it erases the data. - Boot from any self-signed image on its SSD, negating the security of verified boot. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-information https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/deve...
- est 16y ago
  Hmm, it's Simplified Chinese version of Win7. I highly doubt it's even a pirated version.
  - bcrawl 16y ago
    Someone really screwed it up somewhere. They should update this page section of "out of scope" by including "Alternate bios images". http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/firmware-boot-and-recovery http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/f... just kidding.
Bud 16y ago
Wow. The site this link takes one to is perhaps the most annoying website I've seen all month. Possibly all year.
- bcrawl 16y ago
  Apologize. I even screwed up the URL. I cant edit it. Its my first thread.
  - aw3c2 16y ago
    Don't worry. :-) Just for the record, the best url to submit would have been the permalink to the first post in this case. So http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post808237 http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post80823... Welcome to Hacker News!
  - Bud 16y ago
    We all have to learn somehow! :)
sagerhreh 16y ago
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EwanG 16y ago
Figures. No CR-48 over here, and I was even planning to really and truly only run Chrome OS on it. Then again, maybe Google is waiting to send me their gTablet... yeah, that's got to be it :-)
donniefitz2 16y ago
Here's more: http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-discuss/browse_thread/thread/aace309e727ec5c3/2f3e9811f48801ea?show_docid=2f3e9811f48801ea&pli=1 http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-di...
bcrawl 16y ago
ok, I think the chromeos forums deleted the thread. They are not in any way affiliated with google btw. Here is the screenshot which has instructions from the guy who said he flashed. http://imgur.com/TN21R http://imgur.com/TN21R Here is the BIOS which came with that CR48 Windows 7 laptop. http://www.sendspace.com/file/wp9nb6 http://www.sendspace.com/file/wp9nb6 This guy flashed his regular CR 48 bios with the above one and was able to boot back into Chrome. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcount=407 http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcoun... Ok, just got done with this. I can verify 100% working. Instead of installing another OS though, I just rebooted after the BIOS flash and surprisingly Chrome started up! It erased the stateful partition and then reboot and voila I am back in Chrome -- with the notable exception -- of now being able to get into the BIOS. Simply awesome.
- dragonfli 16y ago
  Naw. They just merged the two threads.
  - bcrawl 16y ago
    Hey, Thanks for testing out the dubious image.. Happy new year.!
rbanffy 16y ago
That's the downside of basing the Cr-48 on an Atom or other non-Windows-proof processor... ;-) I find the x86 space very boring.
drdaeman 16y ago
(Off-topic) On the last screenshot in Ubuntu section, the guy had accidentally photoed his own credit card, laying near CR48, with number and expiry date almost clearly readable. I don't know whenever this is secure (his bank may disallow CNP transactions), but, maybe, someone should notify him about this.

46 points by bcrawl 16y ago

tl;dr Guy receives a CR48 with windows 7. Contacts google/google groups. No one has any real answer how this could have happened. Google product guy sends him an email with RMA details. Participant complies. But before sending it back he dumps the BIOS out. Some one from chromeOS forums successfully flashed their BIOS with this one. So this works. I fully understand that one should use these CR 48 laptops for what they are intended to be for. That is testing purposes. ChromeOS forums: http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-notebook/607-windows-7-installed-cr-48-then-shipped-user-6.html#post3458 http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-notebook/607-wind... Youtube link: www.youtube.com/?v=sy9JzYTP4xc Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images will be bootable. More info on this process here. http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/verified-boot http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/v... CR48 doesnt have a regular bootloader like grub or lilo. Some more info on CR48 BIOS from their site. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-information/how-to-boot-ubuntu-on-a-cr-48 https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/deve... initrd is typically handled by the bootloader, which reads the specified image from the disk into RAM and passes the address to the kernel as it's invoked. The Chrome OS BIOS is a modified EFI BIOS. The bootstub is a standard EFI Application, but it's embedded in the kernel image in a dedicated partition type, rather than accessible through a FAT filesystem. To decrease boot time, the BIOS does not discover or pass the standard disk drive handles to the bootstub, so the bootstub doesn't know anything about disks or filesystems. There is also no Compatibility Support Module in the BIOS. In theory elilo or grub2 could replace the bootstub, but they would have to reimplement some of the device discovery functions normally done by an EFI BIOS. If you want to take this on, go for it. That would let us create a kernel partition that just contained an EFI bootloader, which could then chain-boot to external USB drives, etc. That might be kind of cool.

Zak 16y ago
Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images will be bootable Yes, but there's a switch to turn it off. I hope that continues to be true with production devices.
- bcrawl 16y ago
  Oops. I reread what I wrote and now I am confused. Maybe you are right. In developer mode, self signed images work. But I will leave the post. -------------------------------- If you are talking about developer mode, Yes. I am pretty sure they intend to have that option in production devices. No. I think, even in developer mode the boot process checks for google signature. From their site; "The first time a Chrome Notebook boots in Developer Mode after leaving Normal Mode it will: - Show a scary warning that its software cannot be trusted, since verified boot is disabled (press Ctrl-D or wait 30 seconds to dismiss). - Erase all personal data on the "stateful partition" (i.e., user accounts and settings - no worries, though, since all data is in the cloud!). Make you wait between 5 and 10 minutes to while it erases the data. - Boot from any self-signed image on its SSD, negating the security of verified boot. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-information https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/deve...
est 16y ago
Hmm, it's Simplified Chinese version of Win7. I highly doubt it's even a pirated version.
- bcrawl 16y ago
  Someone really screwed it up somewhere. They should update this page section of "out of scope" by including "Alternate bios images". http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/firmware-boot-and-recovery http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/f... just kidding.

Bud 16y ago

Wow. The site this link takes one to is perhaps the most annoying website I've seen all month. Possibly all year.

bcrawl 16y ago
Apologize. I even screwed up the URL. I cant edit it. Its my first thread.
- aw3c2 16y ago
  Don't worry. :-) Just for the record, the best url to submit would have been the permalink to the first post in this case. So http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post808237 http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post80823... Welcome to Hacker News!
- Bud 16y ago
  We all have to learn somehow! :)

sagerhreh 16y ago

=== http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== New era cap $12; Air jordan(1-24)shoes $30; jordan air max oakland raiders $34a€“39; Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini $25; Christan Audigier BIKINI JACKET $25; Tshirts (Polo ,ed hardy,lacoste) $15 coogi DG edhardy gucci t-shirts $18; gstar coogi evisu true jeans $35; coach chanel gucci LV handbags $36; === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ==== === http://ta.gg/4wt http://ta.gg/4wt ====

EwanG 16y ago

Figures. No CR-48 over here, and I was even planning to really and truly only run Chrome OS on it. Then again, maybe Google is waiting to send me their gTablet... yeah, that's got to be it :-)

donniefitz2 16y ago

Here's more: http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-discuss/browse_thread/thread/aace309e727ec5c3/2f3e9811f48801ea?show_docid=2f3e9811f48801ea&pli=1 http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-di...

bcrawl 16y ago

ok, I think the chromeos forums deleted the thread. They are not in any way affiliated with google btw. Here is the screenshot which has instructions from the guy who said he flashed. http://imgur.com/TN21R http://imgur.com/TN21R Here is the BIOS which came with that CR48 Windows 7 laptop. http://www.sendspace.com/file/wp9nb6 http://www.sendspace.com/file/wp9nb6 This guy flashed his regular CR 48 bios with the above one and was able to boot back into Chrome. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcount=407 http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcoun... Ok, just got done with this. I can verify 100% working. Instead of installing another OS though, I just rebooted after the BIOS flash and surprisingly Chrome started up! It erased the stateful partition and then reboot and voila I am back in Chrome -- with the notable exception -- of now being able to get into the BIOS. Simply awesome.

dragonfli 16y ago
Naw. They just merged the two threads.
- bcrawl 16y ago
  Hey, Thanks for testing out the dubious image.. Happy new year.!

rbanffy 16y ago

That's the downside of basing the Cr-48 on an Atom or other non-Windows-proof processor... ;-) I find the x86 space very boring.

drdaeman 16y ago

(Off-topic) On the last screenshot in Ubuntu section, the guy had accidentally photoed his own credit card, laying near CR48, with number and expiry date almost clearly readable. I don't know whenever this is secure (his bank may disallow CNP transactions), but, maybe, someone should notify him about this.