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Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I foolishly purchased my parents a "reconditioned" Google Chromebook f

by chasil 4y ago

Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I foolishly purchased my parents a "reconditioned" Google Chromebook from Lenovo. The device was covered in black plastic sheets to conceal scratches and markings on the casing. When we activated the device, it was out of support. I gave them a fresh HP Chromebook to replace it. Avoid "reconditioned" Chromebooks.

matheusmoreira 4y ago
> Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I'd like that but it appears this software could damage devices if not properly implemented. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573 I wonder what's the best way to mitigate these risks.
- _cenw 4y ago
  And also, it doesn't change that in the case of ARM Chromebooks, they run one hard branched Linux tree from 5+ years ago (more if you're dealing with Mediatek) and nothing else.
- qbasic_forever 4y ago
  It's no different than the risk of upgrading your motherboard's bios. If the update fails to finish writing (like if the power goes out during the update) it will leave the firmware in a broken state and won't boot. Some systems mitigate this risk by giving you two different bios regions so you can write to one and leave the other pristine as an emergency backup if the update fails. Other systems put the bios on a removable chip so if an update fails you can pull it out and rewrite it with dedicated hardware or another working computer. For inexpensive laptops that are built to the cheapest price possible and where 99% of users will never mess with the bios they don't include those kind of features. So you just have to accept the risk that you could destroy the machine if the update fails, and try to take reasonable precautions like making sure the battery is charged up and it's plugged in while updating the firmware.
qbasic_forever 4y ago
They are generally unlocked, you can easily get into developer mode and flash a new coreboot bios on most of them: https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript Once flashed they can boot right into Linux natively and are a regular old EFI booting laptop. You will never be able to run ChromeOS on it again though (and could perhaps permanently brick or destroy the device) so it's not something Google is going to tell people to do.
- nimbius 4y ago
  yup. this "arent built to last" quip feels like a reinforcement effort from on high to ensure planned obsolescence doesnt encounter any defeat along the way. total malarkey. I run arch on a couple of chromebooks with wayland. the install path was pretty easy because under the hood these things are just computers. They last as long as you want them to because you decide what they do, not Google.
  - qbasic_forever 4y ago
    Yep and Linux usually runs perfectly well on Chromebooks since chrome OS is based on it so you rarely get weird bleeding edge opaque binary driver peripherals. My Acer Chromebook runs Arch too and everything works out of the box--wifi, sound, media buttons, etc. It's way better than getting Linux on a super cheap Windows laptop IMHO.
    - jeffbee 4y ago
      Wait. The whole reason that ChromeOS works correctly is because they are not doctrinaire about binary drivers. ChromeOS has working touchpads and working wifi and working webcams due to their acceptance of the need for vendor blobs.
      - qbasic_forever 4y ago
        Yeah but the peripheral has to have a Linux driver or support, and for a cheap laptop a manufacturer is definitely not going to hire someone to custom port a Windows driver to Linux. They're going to pull something off the shelf that already works with Linux.
Aaron2222 4y ago
The firmware's already open source, and you can reflash it by either opening the device to remove a write-protect screw (for older models) or with a debug cable. https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/ has UEFI firmware for many models, and many also support BIOS boot without needing to remove a write-protect screw or use a debug cable. Also, all support running custom Chromium OS builds via the usual ChromeOS boot mechanism.
jones6ofMont 4y ago
[dead]

by chasil 4y ago

matheusmoreira 4y ago

> Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I'd like that but it appears this software could damage devices if not properly implemented. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573 I wonder what's the best way to mitigate these risks.

_cenw 4y ago
And also, it doesn't change that in the case of ARM Chromebooks, they run one hard branched Linux tree from 5+ years ago (more if you're dealing with Mediatek) and nothing else.
qbasic_forever 4y ago
It's no different than the risk of upgrading your motherboard's bios. If the update fails to finish writing (like if the power goes out during the update) it will leave the firmware in a broken state and won't boot. Some systems mitigate this risk by giving you two different bios regions so you can write to one and leave the other pristine as an emergency backup if the update fails. Other systems put the bios on a removable chip so if an update fails you can pull it out and rewrite it with dedicated hardware or another working computer. For inexpensive laptops that are built to the cheapest price possible and where 99% of users will never mess with the bios they don't include those kind of features. So you just have to accept the risk that you could destroy the machine if the update fails, and try to take reasonable precautions like making sure the battery is charged up and it's plugged in while updating the firmware.

qbasic_forever 4y ago

They are generally unlocked, you can easily get into developer mode and flash a new coreboot bios on most of them: https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript Once flashed they can boot right into Linux natively and are a regular old EFI booting laptop. You will never be able to run ChromeOS on it again though (and could perhaps permanently brick or destroy the device) so it's not something Google is going to tell people to do.

nimbius 4y ago
yup. this "arent built to last" quip feels like a reinforcement effort from on high to ensure planned obsolescence doesnt encounter any defeat along the way. total malarkey. I run arch on a couple of chromebooks with wayland. the install path was pretty easy because under the hood these things are just computers. They last as long as you want them to because you decide what they do, not Google.
- qbasic_forever 4y ago
  Yep and Linux usually runs perfectly well on Chromebooks since chrome OS is based on it so you rarely get weird bleeding edge opaque binary driver peripherals. My Acer Chromebook runs Arch too and everything works out of the box--wifi, sound, media buttons, etc. It's way better than getting Linux on a super cheap Windows laptop IMHO.
  - jeffbee 4y ago
    Wait. The whole reason that ChromeOS works correctly is because they are not doctrinaire about binary drivers. ChromeOS has working touchpads and working wifi and working webcams due to their acceptance of the need for vendor blobs.
    - qbasic_forever 4y ago
      Yeah but the peripheral has to have a Linux driver or support, and for a cheap laptop a manufacturer is definitely not going to hire someone to custom port a Windows driver to Linux. They're going to pull something off the shelf that already works with Linux.

Aaron2222 4y ago

The firmware's already open source, and you can reflash it by either opening the device to remove a write-protect screw (for older models) or with a debug cable. https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/ has UEFI firmware for many models, and many also support BIOS boot without needing to remove a write-protect screw or use a debug cable. Also, all support running custom Chromium OS builds via the usual ChromeOS boot mechanism.

jones6ofMont 4y ago

[dead]