4 ms·

They should also guarantee that OEMs will not leave the Chromebook bootloader locked once those 10 years of automatic updates are over and they should release t

by Zuiii 3y ago

They should also guarantee that OEMs will not leave the Chromebook bootloader locked once those 10 years of automatic updates are over and they should release the source code for their drivers. My android is useless after 3 years because google doesn't do what microsoft does with x86 OEMs.

tonfa 3y ago
Are chromebooks bootloader locked?
- londons_explore 3y ago
  No. Chromebooks have all open source drivers, and you can compile it yourself if you like. The only closed source bits are third party code (usually due to patent reasons - eg. mp3 codecs). If you want to run all your own stuff, you do need to have the machine in dev mode, which will warn you on every startup.
  - colecut 3y ago
    That warning screen is the most awful thing... Not because of the warning, but because if you press Spacebar on that warning screen (which is the only key that the screen suggests you might want to press), it re-enables OS Verification, removing your ability to boot anything but ChromeOs until you run some more terminal commands do set it all up again.. If at any point a child, or pretty much anyone else besides you turns on your laptop, this is guaranteed to happen. I hope they had good reason for making this design decision because for me it was one of the most frustrating aspects of trying boot outside of ChromeOS
    - pgeorgi 3y ago
      It's to ensure that you, the user, know when the boot process has changed substantially, and that you have a simple way to get back into familiar territory. If you want to get rid of Chrome OS and all its user protection measures entirely, that's possible with official and relatively standardized means. The open source firmware community provides documentation and tested firmware images for that (of course: no warranty), most prominently https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/
      - colecut 3y ago
        But I don't want to get rid of it. ChromeOS tends to provide the best experience for anything that ChromeOS is able to do. I want to be able to choose at bootup, and not have that configuration be "easily obliterated" as someone else described. The warning is fine. The way back is a bit too simple...
    - Steltek 3y ago
      I went to a lot of trouble to set up my kid's Chromebook in unlocked mode with Linux+Steam installed. It all got obliterated by one naive keypress after it ran out of battery and rebooted. That self-destruct button is ridiculously easy to push.
      - colecut 3y ago
        Yes, I had nearly the same exact experience.
    - hedora 3y ago
      Do OEMs still release modified versions of their Chromebooks with a standard BIOS? I used to have an x86 Acer "CloudBook" that shipped with Windows and a nice EFI bios. It boots Linux well, and even has an option to disable the windows trusted boot keys, and to use user installed (i.e., grub) keys instead. The hardware seems to be designed to run chrome os, except that it has a standard keyboard. My only complaint is that I'd like a higher-end version of it.
popchat 3y ago
Google Pixel phones have unlocked bootloaders[0] (see the excellent projects GrapheneOS[1] and Calyx[2]), so if that's something that is important to you (it's good that it is), then you should purchase your next phone with that in mind. 0. usually, but not always. Sometimes you need to install, for example, a T-mobile app for some previously GoogleFi phones in order for the phone to check with T-mobile's servers and get unlocking approved, but the phone can be purchased unlocked directly from Google as well. 1. https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/ 2. https://calyxos.org/ https://calyxos.org/ from https://www.calyxinstitute.org/ https://www.calyxinstitute.org/
- p1mrx 3y ago
  Sometimes there is no known way to unlock a Pixel bootloader: https://jacobhall.net/2022/01/29/000177/ https://jacobhall.net/2022/01/29/000177/
- Projectiboga 3y ago
  Graphene only supports the same time frame as Google, 3 years from launch for the #a series models. Calyx goes about an extra year. I really got hosed by not reading the fine print, I just bought Google 5a, and it runs out of support in a year now, its a 5G phone, I'll have to use Calyx or Lineage OS to go beyond. I wish I had just gotten an LG V50 or V60 and gotten better audio quality and a nicer screen.
pgeorgi 3y ago
The only one who can lock the boot process is the device owner: school/company laptops might be locked down and they might not bother resetting that. By default it's locked-but-user-unlockable (presence test, user data removal), with various levels of trade-offs between "degrees of freedom to replace stuff" vs. "ability to recover without external hardware tools". When user and owner differ (e.g. schools or companies), the owner gets to decide. As for source code, go wild: https://review.coreboot.org/plugins/gitiles/coreboot/+/refs/heads/main/src/mainboard/google/ https://review.coreboot.org/plugins/gitiles/coreboot/+/refs/...

by Zuiii 3y ago

tonfa 3y ago

Are chromebooks bootloader locked?

londons_explore 3y ago
No. Chromebooks have all open source drivers, and you can compile it yourself if you like. The only closed source bits are third party code (usually due to patent reasons - eg. mp3 codecs). If you want to run all your own stuff, you do need to have the machine in dev mode, which will warn you on every startup.
- colecut 3y ago
  That warning screen is the most awful thing... Not because of the warning, but because if you press Spacebar on that warning screen (which is the only key that the screen suggests you might want to press), it re-enables OS Verification, removing your ability to boot anything but ChromeOs until you run some more terminal commands do set it all up again.. If at any point a child, or pretty much anyone else besides you turns on your laptop, this is guaranteed to happen. I hope they had good reason for making this design decision because for me it was one of the most frustrating aspects of trying boot outside of ChromeOS
  - pgeorgi 3y ago
    It's to ensure that you, the user, know when the boot process has changed substantially, and that you have a simple way to get back into familiar territory. If you want to get rid of Chrome OS and all its user protection measures entirely, that's possible with official and relatively standardized means. The open source firmware community provides documentation and tested firmware images for that (of course: no warranty), most prominently https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/
    - colecut 3y ago
      But I don't want to get rid of it. ChromeOS tends to provide the best experience for anything that ChromeOS is able to do. I want to be able to choose at bootup, and not have that configuration be "easily obliterated" as someone else described. The warning is fine. The way back is a bit too simple...
  - Steltek 3y ago
    I went to a lot of trouble to set up my kid's Chromebook in unlocked mode with Linux+Steam installed. It all got obliterated by one naive keypress after it ran out of battery and rebooted. That self-destruct button is ridiculously easy to push.
    - colecut 3y ago
      Yes, I had nearly the same exact experience.
  - hedora 3y ago
    Do OEMs still release modified versions of their Chromebooks with a standard BIOS? I used to have an x86 Acer "CloudBook" that shipped with Windows and a nice EFI bios. It boots Linux well, and even has an option to disable the windows trusted boot keys, and to use user installed (i.e., grub) keys instead. The hardware seems to be designed to run chrome os, except that it has a standard keyboard. My only complaint is that I'd like a higher-end version of it.

popchat 3y ago

Google Pixel phones have unlocked bootloaders[0] (see the excellent projects GrapheneOS[1] and Calyx[2]), so if that's something that is important to you (it's good that it is), then you should purchase your next phone with that in mind. 0. usually, but not always. Sometimes you need to install, for example, a T-mobile app for some previously GoogleFi phones in order for the phone to check with T-mobile's servers and get unlocking approved, but the phone can be purchased unlocked directly from Google as well. 1. https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/ 2. https://calyxos.org/ https://calyxos.org/ from https://www.calyxinstitute.org/ https://www.calyxinstitute.org/

p1mrx 3y ago
Sometimes there is no known way to unlock a Pixel bootloader: https://jacobhall.net/2022/01/29/000177/ https://jacobhall.net/2022/01/29/000177/
Projectiboga 3y ago
Graphene only supports the same time frame as Google, 3 years from launch for the #a series models. Calyx goes about an extra year. I really got hosed by not reading the fine print, I just bought Google 5a, and it runs out of support in a year now, its a 5G phone, I'll have to use Calyx or Lineage OS to go beyond. I wish I had just gotten an LG V50 or V60 and gotten better audio quality and a nicer screen.

pgeorgi 3y ago

The only one who can lock the boot process is the device owner: school/company laptops might be locked down and they might not bother resetting that. By default it's locked-but-user-unlockable (presence test, user data removal), with various levels of trade-offs between "degrees of freedom to replace stuff" vs. "ability to recover without external hardware tools". When user and owner differ (e.g. schools or companies), the owner gets to decide. As for source code, go wild: https://review.coreboot.org/plugins/gitiles/coreboot/+/refs/heads/main/src/mainboard/google/ https://review.coreboot.org/plugins/gitiles/coreboot/+/refs/...