Tag Archives: Mini 10v
Dell Chrome OS Build Has Been Updated
Posted on 18. Feb, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 
0 Comments
The Linux team at Dell has been periodically releasing builds that are focused on testing what Chrome OS can do for their line of Mini netbooks. A few days ago, they put out a build based on the latest Chromium Project version from February 11. Also in this is support for the latest Broadcom drivers, however there is a user that has reported that they are having issues with wi-fi with their Mini 9 netbook.
Regardless, this has been tested by Dell for the Mini 9, Mini 10, 10v and Latitude 2100. It’s pretty cool to see them doing this, and prior to releasing these builds I had not idea that they had dedicated support for the Linux platform. In the public eye, Dell is showing us that they are preparing for a time when they will sell commercial products that are loaded with Chrome, and there are several benefits for them to do this.
This is especially true in terms of being competitive on cost for netbooks and eventually tablets or other gadgets as well. With every computer manufacturer moving into smaller devices, expect to see a mobile computing market have an array of devices that people can choose from.
You can get more information here:
• README: http://linux.dell.com/files/cto/README-Feb11.txt (please read this FIRST)
• Image: http://linux.dell.com/files/cto/ChromiumOS_Mini10v_Feb11.img.gz
DISCLAIMER: This image is totally UNSUPPORTED with no WARRANTY – USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
New Chromium Build from Dell Out
Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
In late November, the Linux support team over at Dell were one of the first folks to release a custom build of Chromium, set up with the Dell Mini line of netbooks in mind. Now, they have released a new version:
I have posted a new ChromiumOS for Mini10v.
DISCLAIMER: This image is totally UNSUPPORTED with no WARRANTY – USE
AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Updates in the Jan09 Image:
• Smaller! 188MB download now (compressed, I believe you can use a
4GB USB key now)
• Re-built off of latest git tree
• Added script to simplify installing the wl wireless driver – /etc/
install_wl.sh
• Seems to also work OK with the Mini 9 and Latitude 2100
• “chronos” user password has been set to “dell” (no quotes)
• See the README-Jan09.txt for more details/instructions
Note that this image *requires* a wired connection for your initial
login. You must use a valid gmail account.
Current Issues:
• Still having delays in wifi connectivity for the Broadcom wifi
driver
• DNS name resolution is slow for the Broadcom wifi driver
• Touchscreen in the Latitude 2100 is not calibrated correctly
• Mini 10v touchpad is very twitchy
Regards,
Doug
Native Tests of Chrome OS on Netbooks Successful
Posted on 29. Nov, 2009 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
I was browsing the Dell website recently, trying to see what existing netbook models in their lineup would best fit the Chrome OS. Since Chrome would ideally be distributed free to manufacturers, I was surprised to not see Dell’s name on the list of manufacturers that were planning on working with Google in developing devices that worked with Chrome since without licensing fees that are tacked on to Windows netbooks, a comparable netbook sold by Dell would be competitive as it would surely sell for less.
Well, as it turns out the Dell Linux team has put an install on a Dell Mini 10v and they have released the image file as well. An interesting item of note about the install is that the team was unable to get the wireless hardware to seamlessly talk to the OS. As a consequence, it takes quite a bit of time to actually get connected wirelessly. This is despite the fact that the wired connection tested solid. I was pondering this issue the other day, as the ability for users to be able to easily get connected to the net is going to become a big deal when running Chrome, and while the Dell Linux team reported a native hardware start-up of about 12 seconds, its not a good thing when it takes the OS’s connection manager over five minutes to make Chrome useful unless there is a wire around – and who wants to deal with that?
What motivated the folks over at Dell to try this experiment was Engagdet’s install of the Chrome source code to a Vostro A860 netbook, booting the machine natively from a usb device. This is the same method with which the Dell techies used to boot the Mini 10v. I also came a across this video of the first touchscreen device with a native Chrome OS install on an Asus EeePC Tablet T91 by a Brazilian blog called Techguru. It is certainly something worth noting:
All of this is coming out less than seven days after the release of the source code from Google. This makes things pretty exciting about what’s probably coming next, whatever that may be.
