I purchased an older EOL Asus C740 Chromebook. EOL means that it will no longer receive updates. That means the chrome browser version will be out of date. So I decided to try and update it with Flex OS.
Install Chromebook FLEX OS on your Acer C740 in only 200 easy steps!
This process will wipe all the data on the internal hard drive. Backup data if you need to.
I used Flex OS. You can boot other bootable USB sticks, but not all will work. Venroy, Ubuntu, and Zorin are three that I have managed to boot from. But a Chrome OS (Flex OS) is likely to work best.
References:
Broad Strokes
- If original OS is not installed, load original OS on a USB, put chromebook in recovery mode and install the original OS
- Turn off OS Verification
- Get to Developer Mode Terminal
- Change settings so you can boot a different OS
- Install a compatible OS
Create a bootable USB FLEX OS
https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11541904?hl=en
Make an Acer C740 recovery USB
Note: The Acer C740 image from the Chromebook Recovery Utility (a chrome plugin) did not work for me. Others have reported the same.
I had to download the image from: https://cros.tech/device/auron-paine
Install with Chromebook Recovery Utility (a chrome plugin) or usbimager.exe or linux dd
Get to Recovery Mode
- Hold Esc-F3 while powering on
Install the Original OS
- With OS Verification Off or On
- Get to Recovery Mode
- Install USB with the original ChromeOS
Turn OS Verification Off
- Get to Recovery Mode
- Ctrl-D allows us to turn off OS Verification
- IMPORTANT: wait when it states ‘OS verification is disabled’. It will switch to a black screen and factory reset then reboot. Then it is disabled
Turn OS Verification On *IMPORTANT: If you do this with a a third party OS (FLEX), it will wipe that installation and you will need to Install the Original Chrome OS again
- Power on
- If OS Verification is off, it will ALWAYS allow you to enable OS Verification by hitting Space then Enter. Be careful.
Get to Developer Mode Terminal
- Original OS must be installed
- Turn Off OS Verification
- After a reboot Ctrl-D
- Ctrl-Alt-F2 to get to terminal
Change settings so we can boot from USB and install FLEX OS
- Install the Original OS if it is not installed
- Get to Developer Mode Terminal
- login as: chronos
- sudo su –
- enable_dev_usb_boot
- crossystem dev_boot_usb=1
- crossystem dev_boot_altfw=1
- reboot (with FLEX usb in)
- Ctrl-L
- Esc
- Then choose to boot from FLEX usb stick
- Install FLEX on your chromebook.
- After it is installed, remove your FLEX usb boot stick.
- After flex is installed, each time you reboot you MUST Ctrl-L to go to boot menu right away. If you wait 30 sec it should boot on it’s own.
- Warning: Do NOT HIT SPACE BAR! If you turn OS Verification On again, you will not be able to boot to FLEX OS and you will need to do all these steps again!
Note that https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/ has other options. They involve taking the back off the back of your Chromebook and removing a screw so you can overwrite the firmware. There is a lot of information on that site, and it can be quite daunting. THIS IS A ONE WAY PROCEDURE if your chromebook is EOL. The Acer C740 is. So only do this if you do not want to revert your chromebook back to the original configuration. I want to be able to revert back to the original state. So that is why I stopped here. Mr. Chromebox has taken the stance to not support EOL chromebooks with all the features that he provides for newer chromebooks. That is his choice. But I find it an odd decision.
Hard reset your Chromebook
For most Chromebooks, follow the steps below:
- Turn off your Chromebook.
- Press and hold Refresh
and tap Power
.
- When your Chromebook starts up, release Refresh
.
Tips:
- You can also press and hold Back
+ Refresh
+ Power
for at least 10 seconds.
- On tablets: Press and hold the Volume Up and Power buttons for at least 10 seconds, then release them.