Anyone who knows Chrome, knows Hexxeh- the fellow behind pretty much every open source Chrome OS build available on the net. If you’ve used a Chrome build, and it wasn’t on a Chromebook- you probably used on built by him. You probably get the idea by now- he’s kind of a big deal, guys-at least when it comes to the Chrome open source community.  Now, you’re probably wondering what Hexxeh has to do with this story, right?

Turns out, he’s been busy- on top of developing new Chromium builds for all of us to fiddle with; he’s also managed to do something very interesting with Apple’s new Macbook Air- he’s jammed Chromium into it.

I’m not just talking virtualization, either-Hexxeh’s tossed OSX out the window for this one. The Macbook seen here is one hundred percent Chrome. Pretty spiffy, no? Now, unfortunately, the Macbook Air isn’t going to have all the same features one might find in a Chromebook- it’s simply not built to accommodate some of the features that are standard fare for Chrome- such as verified boot or boot speed optimization. According to Hexxeh, his jury-rigged Macbook Chrome takes around twenty two seconds to start up- pretty damned fast, but left in the dust by a traditional Chromebook.

Aside from a massive leap in hard drive space and slightly improved graphics hardware(which you’ll need to do some BIOS tweaking to get up and running); Hexxeh’s Macbook Chrome isn’t all that different from a traditional Chromebook. I mean, you could have double the RAM if you shelled out extra for the 4 GB model, and about .24 GHz more processing power, but that aside…not a whole lot to see here. Still, Hexxeh says it’s pretty awesome-we should probably take his word for it. After all; he is the expert here. Anyway, those of you who enjoy tinkering with code are probably clamoring to find out how to do this yourself, aren’t you?

How to Do It Yourself

image via http://facts.i.ph/photo/v/Photos/

Here’s the process, straight from Mr. Mcullough himself:

Step One: First things first, you’ll need to download the Chromium install image.

Step Two: Next up, extract the archive using a decompression tool. Hexxeh recommends Unarchiver for Mac.

Step Three: Burn the image to a USB stick using dd. Check the Wiki for instructions on how to do this, as it’s the same as Flow/Vanilla instructions.

Step Four: Insert both the USB stick and the OSX install drive into your Macbook Air while it’s powered off.

Step Five: Hold the “C” key down and press the power button, letting go of the “C” key once the Apple logo appears.

Step Six: After selecting your language; click “Utilities” on the bar at the top of the install wizard, then click “Terminal”

Step Seven: Type “unmount/dev/disk*” without quotations.

Step Eight: Type “dd if=/dev/rdisk1 of=/dev/rdisk0 bs=4m count=512.” without quotations

Step Nine: Type “bless –device /dev/disk0s2 –setBoot –legacy” without quotations.

Step Ten: Once it says its finished, power off your machine.

Step Eleven: Remove both your USB stick and the OS X install drive.

Step Twelve: That’s it! You’re done!

Dual Booting Chromium And OS X

Now, those of you reading this are probably wondering why you need to wipe OS X from your system just to run Chromium on it. Basically…there’s currently no way to boot from the USB drive on the Air. It’s certainly possible to dual boot the two, if you’re savvy enough- but Hexxeh has, for some reason, stated that he will not support that practice. Just the same, he offers some rudimentary instructions on how to do it, if you’re feeling daring. Do note that this is one of those “perform at your own risk” procedures:

1: Make sure that the first partition on the CrOS image is the first partition on your SSD.

2: Make sure that the third partition on the CrOS image is the third partition on your SSD.

3: Make sure that you have a bootloader configured in the same way as the one on the second partition of the CrOS image.

For now, that’s all we’ve got- I’m sure someone will post a more in-depth explanation of how to do it at a later date. I’ll keep you folks posted.

via Hexxeh’s Blog, Ubergizmo

While Chrome OS keeps things beautifully simple, it does have a crosh shell which gives the user some powerful features. One of these features is SSH which allows you to exchange data between another computer and your Chromebook, giving you secure access to other computers on your network.

For example, lets say you are working on your Chromebook and you decide you want to upload some pictures into Picasa, but they are in your other computer. All you need to do is use ssh to access those pics, transfer them to your Chromebook via SFTP or SCP protocols. Once they are transferred, you can upload them into Picasa. And you didn’t even need to get up from your comfy chair and you saved some wear and tear on your sneakers.

Step 1: Access the Chromebook terminal.
Ctrl + Alt + T

Step 2: Access the SSH sub-shell.
Type “ssh” in the command line

Step 3: Log into your the target host.
You will have to know the host IP to do this. If you don’t know the IP of the host you are trying to access use “ipconfig” in the host system and keep a record of it for future reference. (I’m assuming the computer you are trying to access is in fact yours and is easily assessable.) The basic form of a ssh login is “ssh [] (port is usually port :22)” In crosh, this is entered by the following:

Type “host” and the ip address you want to connect to, then press “enter”.
Type “user” and type the user login name, then press “enter.”
Type “ls”, and you’ll be able to see all the files in the user home directory and browse the host file system with a range of terminal commands.

Step 4: Log out of the host system.
To quit the session, type “quit” and you’re done. Type “exit” to quite the crosh shell.

So there you have it. SSH is a pretty simple and handy tool to know, and Chrome OS gives you access to it.

The Samsung Series 5 is not built like the Cr-48 in the respect that you can just swap out the battery. Because of this, Google and the designers from Samsung decided to put the developer toggle switch in a different spot for this device. It will be interesting to see where they put it in the Acer Cromia, which is reportedly getting a name change and being delayed until July. We’ll see about that, since the first delay was extremely abrupt and suggests that Acer wants a lot more information about Chromebook sales before they sell them. But without further ado, check out where to find this switch.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll need create a recovery USB drive to load a new image of Chrome OS on the machine. This image will not be verified, and therefore you’ll be able to root the device using the normal Linux commands. First, you’ll need to go into the terminal by hitting CTRL+ALT+T. Then type “shell” to drop to a full bash shell. You’ll be the special user named chronos. Type “sudo su” and your rooted!

Did you have any problems doing this on your Chromebook? Let us know in the comments.

Since I rely on my Google Account for so much, I decided to give Google’s two-step verification process a try. I didn’t want one day to come to the unpleasant realization that my Google account had been hacked. Just recently Google disclosed a phishing attack originating from Chinese hackers. As mentioned in the Official Google Blog, 2-step verification is a highly recommended way to protect your account.

Basically, the way it works is this: two-step verification generates a unique 6 digit code. You then sign in with your regular Google account password then you will be asked to verify. You enter the number you previously generated and bingo! You are in your Google account. It just takes an extra few seconds and a hearty second level of security is added.

Google 2-step verification uses your mobile phone – something you likely have with you all the time – as a tool to give you an extra level of security to your account. Any mobile phone which has the Google Authenticator app can be used. Any phone you have access to really can grant you a second level of security for your Google account, but a phone of the mobile variety is obviously more convenient.

If for some reason, you don’t have access to your mobile phone, you can use a backup phone number to generate the numeric code, or a code from a sheet of 10 codes you’ve printed out previously. What the application does is generate a one-time verification code. Then, you sign in with your regular password and are prompted to enter that one time only code. It’s pretty simple. This code will apply to all your Gmail services until you sign out of your Google account.

Set up time for this feature is 10 to 15 minutes. Here is the run down on the steps to login to your Google account once this feature has been implemented:

Any computer:
(1) Enter your regular password. You will be prompted for your verification code.
(2) Generate new verification code.
(3) Enter verification code.

How it works with your Google Account in your smartphone:
(1) You will need to generate an application specific password. Note that this application only password is different from a numeric verification code.
(2) Enter the application specific password. You will need to do this only one time. You will not be asked for an application only password or a numeric verification code on your mobile phone ever.
(3) Revoke the password should you lose your device via your Google account settings.

For those of you curious on how it will work on your Cr-48 or the upcoming Chromebooks:
(1) Logging into Chromebook is normal. Just use your Google password.
(2) Once you’ve logged into your Chromebook, you will need to generate a one-time only application specific password when trying to login to a Google service.
(3) From then on, you will be asked to enter your numeric code when you sign into your Google account via Gmail or other Google application.

My experience with this feature has been pretty good. No real complications. The trickiest part was that there are some applications that require that one-time application specific password.

One thing that confused me a bit in the process was realizing that I had to generate an application specific password for Chrome Sync. Note: you’ll be prompted anytime you’ll need such a password and you only need to do it once. Under your two-step verification settings, you’ll have the option to revoke it.

Google’s two-step verification isn’t for everybody. It may be a tad too much trouble for some to enter to generate that verification code and enter those digits every time you log in. However, I find Google two-step authentication very much worth the trouble. For me, investing a few more seconds in securing my Google account is a good investment of my time.

For Google’s full instructions on how to activate 2-step verification, click here.

Are you using 2-step verification?

Chrome session syncing is a rather useful function that allows you to access your open tabs and browser windows across multiple platforms and systems. Say you’re on your desktop computer, and you’re looking at a few web pages in Chrome. With session syncing, you can open up the exact same web pages on your laptop with the click of a button.  What’s more, it’s incredibly easy to set up. Well, easier than it used to be. You used to either have to use command switches or download a plugin. Now, however; you simply have to do the following:

Step 1: Open The Chrome Options Menu

See that little wrench in the upper right hand corner? Click on it, and then select options from the dropdown menu that appears. That’ll load your Chrome options page in a new tab.

Step 2: Access The “Personal Stuff” Tab

Pretty self explanatory. You’ll see three links on the left hand side of the page: Basics, Personal Stuff, Under The Hood. Click on Personal Stuff.

Step 3: Click on the “Set up Sync” Button

It’s right at the top of the page. Can’t miss it.

Step 4: Log In With Your Google Account Information.

If you don’t have a Google account, create one here.

Step 5: Configure Syncing

Here’s where it gets a bit more complicated- but not much. You’ll be presented with two tabs- Data Types and Encryption. The first tab’s pretty self explanatory- you can customize what you want Chrome to sync between browsers. The second tab merits a bit of explanation, however. Basically, Encryption adds a bit of extra security to the syncing process, generating a cryptographic key from your Google account. You can also choose to set up your own sync password/passphrase, seperate from your Google Account password.

That’s it! You’re done!

That was pretty easy, wasn’t it?

But What’s The Point?

Now, granted,this functionality is more of a novelty if you’re not using a platform centered around cloud computing; or at the very least, if you’re not using web apps.  It’s when cloud computing comes into the picture that it’s way more useful. See, I always carry around a USB stick with me. It’s got all my most important files on it, everything I happen to be working on at any given point in time. I do this so that I can plug it into any computer, wherever I am, and resume working on any of my projects whenever I see fit.

Session syncing kind of makes it obsolete. Pretty much any system that has the Chrome or Chromium browser installed on it is fair game, and can be used to access any files I’ve stored on the cloud. Pretty useful, no?

Although Google has released the source code for Chromium OS, Chrome OS requires specialized hardware to run- hardware that, at the current juncture, will only be available on the Chromebooks which are slated to release in June. For many of us, this means that we’ll have to wait until June to give Google’s newest platform a whirl.

There are a few ways of getting around the whole specialized hardware hurdle; one of them is to use VMware and run Chromium OS via virtual machine. It’s actually not all that difficult to do:

Step 1: If you don’t already have a Google Account, create one. You’ll need it to log in.

Step 2: Download the VMware version of Hexxeh’s Chrome OS Vanilla. Do note that in some of the newer versions, there are bugs with networking. Hexxeh recommends either downloading an older version, or waiting a few days for a new build to release. 

Step 3: If you’re running Windows or Linux, swing by VMware’s website to nab yourself a copy of VMware player or VMware vSphere Hypervisor. You’ll need to create an account to download, but don’t worry- both products are free.  If you’ve a bit of money in your pocket, you could shell out a bit extra for one of their premium Virtual Platforms, but it’s not strictly necessary. If you’ve got a Mac, you’re going to need VMware Fusion, instead. If you’re running Linux, look here for further instructions on how to install VMware Player.

Step 4: Configure VMware Player with vmware-config.pl

Step 5: Place the downloaded image in the VMware folder. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it’s a good idea to keep organized, as a general rule.

Step 6: Open the image in VMware Player, by using an existing virtual disk, ensuring that the VMware Player is configured to use Bridged Networking instead of NAT.

Step 7: Log in with your Google Account information. Enjoy!

That’s…basically all you need to do. Rather simple, isn’t it?

I recently had a run a recovery of my Cr-48, and to my surprise the Google support pages don’t offer a how-to for Windows, only Mac and Linux. If you’ve ever loaded a bootable USB image you’re probably familiar with this process, but here are the steps for those who have not done this before.

You’ll need a USB drive that is 4GB or larger.

Part 1: Writing the Image to a USB Drive

You will then need to download the image: https://dl.google.com/dl/chromeos/recovery/latest_mario_beta_channel. Once the file has downloaded; extract the .bin file

You will need to rename the file to an .img extension. Here is an example:

ChromeOS_0.9.128.8_x86-Mario_beta-channel_RECOVERY_MP.bin
to
ChromeOS_0.9.128.8_x86-Mario_beta-channel_RECOVERY_MP.img

Download Image Writer for Windows from here.

Insert a 4GB USB or larger memory stick into your Windows machine. (Note: a commenter has said that 2GB is enough)

Once downloaded, extract and run the win32diskimager.exe tool on your windows machine.

Inside Win32 Disk Imager; select the image of the file to browse to find: ChromeOS_0.9.128.8_x86-mario_beta-channel_RECOVERY_MP.img

Select Device (using drop down to find USB drive letter)

IMPORTANT: Make sure you’re using the drive letter for the USB stick or you risk corrupting other drives on your system.
Choose “Write” (which will write data in image file to the USB Stick)

Select Yes when prompted

Writing to the drive should take less then 5 minutes

Part 2: Running the Recovery Image for Chrome OS

You will need to be in developer mode for this. Instructions are here. When the “Chrome OS is missing or damaged” screen appears, insert the USB Flash drive you created into the USB port on the right side of your notebook.

Wait for the notebook to boot up from the Flash drive.

Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

On successful reinstall, the system will automatically restart.

Remove the USB Flash drive from your notebook. You may need to hit CRTL-D at the recovery screen because you are still in developer mode.

So, what did you do over your holiday break? Spend time with friends and family? Maybe relax a little bit? Flash your Cr-48 BIOS?

Ok, so most of you probably wouldn’t dare make an attempt to do this, but some devoted techies spent some time recently doing so, enabling them to load operating systems such as Windows 7 and Mac OS X on their test pilot machines. We can’t condone your activities here, because we’re just passing on the information. If you’ve worked in support or development, however, you probably know a bit about how to do this already but here it is specifically for the Cr-48. Best of luck!

Installing Ubuntu on your Cr-48

1. Put your Cr-48 into developer mode by flipping the switch under the battery. More info here.
2. Let the Cr-48 to boot into setup. This could take 5-6 minutes because it completes a system wipe.
3. You know this part. Select your connection and accept the license.
4. Get to the terminal by hitting CTRL+ATL+T
5. Login at the prompt by typing “chronos” then hit Enter.
6.  Type “sudo su” then hit Enter.
7. You must now download and install Ubuntu by typing “wget -O – http://goo.gl/DlmZS | sh -” then hit Enter.
8. Wait until the computer reboots and follow steps 2-7 to start downloading and installing Ubuntu.

Flashrom Installation and Downloading the New BIOS

1. Once you have Ubuntu is running go to system>administration>synaptic package manager
2. Click on “search” in the Synaptic Package Manager and then type in “flashrom”
3. Go through the flashrom install.
4. Once flashrom is installed download the alternate bios from here: http://www.multiupload.com/2XVXPKS9C9
5. Now set ubuntu as the default os by opening applications>accessories>terminal and typing: sudo cgpt add -i 6 -P 5 -S 1 /dev/sda
6. Now shut down your Cr-48

Taking Apart the Cr-48

You must take the back cover off in order for this to work. Otherwise, the BIOS will not flash.

1. There are twelve screws on the bottom of the laptop. Don’t forget the two located under the rubber feet.

2. You must very carefully remove the bottom once the screws are removed. Remove the side without the sound port first so you can work the side with the sound port off.
3. Plug in the machine with the bottom off and boot up Ubuntu.

Flashing your Cr-48 BIOS

1.  Make a backup of our current BIOS. Open applications>accessories>terminal and type in “sudo flashrom -r backup.bin”. This will create a backup in your home directory – choose an external one.
2. Extract the bios downloaded previously to the home directory. In the terminal type “sudo flashrom -w cr48.bin”
3. You will see two SPI erase errors. You can ignore these errors. You should then see that the flash has completed and verification that the BIOS has been written correctly.
4. Barring any weird errors, shut down the laptop and install your favorite operating system from an external drive! Don’t forget to set this as first boot in the BIOS.

via xxthe3dmanxx

Many people don’t realize that the Cr-48 has Bluetooth built in. That’s because it doesn’t exactly work right out of the box. The hardware is an Atheros AR5BBU12 Bluetooth V2.1 EDR if you want to get technical by the way. You can play around with it if you’re interested, and here are the steps to do so.

1. Enter developer mode.

2. Get to the terminal by hitting CTRL+ALT+T.

3. Open up a bash shell. Just type “shell” in the terminal.

4. You’ll need to put your Bluetooth device into discovery mode. If you don’t know how to do this with your device you’ll need to consult a manual or Google it.

5. Type “hcitool scan” to have the Cr-48 scan for Bluetooth devices. You should see device(s) with their addresses listed.

6. Type in the command “hcitool cc xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx” to connect the device, using its address.

7. Depending on your configuration, you may need a key. You can enter this by using  ”hcitool auth xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx”.

While these are the steps to complete the process, the rate is limited for this working. Let us know if you’re able to connect your Cr-48 to Bluetooth devices.

via ChromeOS-Cr48

Here is a video on how to get into developer mode and to the shell in order to root your Cr-48.

Steps:

1. Turn off the Cr-48. Make sure you have a pen nearby or this is going to be difficult.

2. Flip the Cr-48 over.

3. Remove the battery.

4. Right beside the battery contacts there is a small bit of black tape. Take the tape off. Check my picture below.

5. There is a white switch under the tape. For user mode, the switch is away from the battery contacts. Use your pen to switch it towards the contacts.

6. Put the battery back in and start the machine. There’s an ominous message but you can hit CTRL+D to get past it. If you do nothing the device will eventually beep and start the process into developer mode.

7. The C-48 will wipe itself and replace the image with a developer copy. This takes 5-6 minutes.

8. You’ll need to go though the initial setup process again.

9. Once you get logged in, you can hit CTRL+ALT+T to get to the terminal.

10. While you can get to this shell in user mode, this terminal offers an extra command to use. To see all commands type “help”.

11. Type “shell” to drop to a full bash shell. You’ll be the special user named chronos.

12. Type “sudo su”

Rooted!

Photo of taped location in the battery compartment.