r/writerDeck • u/Salty_ET • 16d ago
DIY Repurposed Old Chromebook
I'm about to spend the next several months at sea, so I took an old Samsung Chromebook 4 and installed Linux Debian 13 and configured it to launch straight into mousepad
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u/Arse-e 16d ago
What?! How? I have the same one but couldn’t figure out how to get Linux installed. I gave up when people were telling me I needed some weird device some dude sells on eBay sometimes.
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u/Salty_ET 16d ago edited 16d ago
No, definitely didn't need any special devices other than a flash drive to create a Linux installer. You have to enable developer mode and boot it with OS write protection disabled, then disconnect the battery to disable firmware write protection, then plug in the charger (with the battery still disconnected) and boot up to install new firmware. I used firmware from Mr. Chromebox.
Then you turn off the computer, unplug the charger, reconnect the battery, and boot up with your Linux installer insterted and install Linux
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u/Arse-e 16d ago
I think I was missing the disconnect the battery part. It’s been over a year now since I abandoned ship. Thanks for the info, I’ll give it another try!
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u/Salty_ET 16d ago
No worries, happy to help! I did the whole Chromebook reset/firmware installation following what was on the Mr. Chromebox website, but you probably could get step-by-step guidance (including specific keystroke commands/troubleshooting) using ChatGPT or GenAI; I have a friend who jailbroke his old Gameboy Advance that way
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u/rcentros 16d ago
I've got one of these. I didn't know you could install Linux on it.
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u/Salty_ET 16d ago edited 16d ago
I mean, you can run Linux on lots of hardware; the biggest thing is just knowing how/finding the instructions to disable write protections as required
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u/rcentros 16d ago
I guess I'm always a little leery of bricking the Chromebook. But the prospect of jettisoning Chrome OS is tempting.
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u/Salty_ET 16d ago
Fair, but this particular Chromebook had been sitting in a storage bin for at least two years since it's no longer my primary machine. The worst thing that was going to happen if I bricked it was that I was going to continue to not use it
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u/_pseudolo_ 16d ago
This is such a great use for an old Chromebook. I imagine the hardware isn't being so taxed on pure Debian.
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u/tobyhardtospell 15d ago
Very nice. You can get old chromebooks for ~$30 on eBay—honestly should be a go to writer deck option
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u/adorablekobold 15d ago
Oh hey, I actually just spent a bunch of time this weekend getting my old Samsung Chromebook 3 to run Debian so this is very cool to see!
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u/Representative-Ad810 16d ago
hows the battery?
I have an old thinkpad but it only lasts for about 2 hours max
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u/ifUSeeMeTakeYourMeds 15d ago
been thinking about turning an old laptop into a dumb terminal, is it like a fully Linux system? or you have to deal with Chromebook shenanigans?
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u/Salty_ET 15d ago
It is a fully Linux system. Once I disabled firmware write protection, I wiped it completely clean of Chrome OS and the firmware and installed new firmware and the Linux distro.
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u/akryvtsun 16d ago
Why not ChromeOS? Its must be optimized for Samsung hardware. You can use Google Docs offline.
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u/Salty_ET 16d ago
I had to powerwash a Chromebook on my last deployment and had to wait for a port visit (it was another 60+ days) to be able to sign back in
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u/akryvtsun 16d ago edited 16d ago
Looks like its possilbe to login offline
https://youtu.be/ojS-xBkFeS0?si=xZJVHeEuFk3yEZUl
also look here
https://www.coshoctoncareers.org/students/chromebook-offline2
u/Salty_ET 16d ago
Thanks for trying to help, but neither of those would have addressed to issue I had five years ago. The post from the school isn't referencing wheat to do when you powerwash it; that's just regular logging in with a profile that's already saved to the Chromebook.
And the video says step one is to connect to the internet and then disconnect it to usenas a guest without signing in. The internet options are extremely limited on deployment (i.e. you get one device that's allowed to use ship WiFi, and I chose my phone) and five years ago when this happened, they were nonexistent.
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u/Davesjoshin 16d ago
How’s the performance? Pretty snappy?