[uomiarz]

@matt
Currently running xbuntu standalone I can:

1)Boot to ChromiumOS from usb
2)Use your script just to update bios to coreboot version.
3)Reboot back to xbuntu

Are these assumptions correct?
thx

[Matt Devo]

@matt
Currently running xbuntu standalone I can:

1)Boot to ChromiumOS from usb
2)Use your script just to update bios to coreboot version.
3)Reboot back to xbuntu

Are these assumptions correct?
thx

that is 100% correct for any standalone setup

[jsp1]

OP updated with v1.1 of script.

Includes option to flash custom Coreboot firmware for faster boot times and improved compatibility for all standalone setups.

Great work Matt, I love my Chromebox more and more every day thanks to your efforts. Thank you for being so generous!

[NxtGenCowboy]

Thank you for sharing.

[jpman]

I am having problems dual-booting OpenELEC, similar to the problems that AdamXBMC is having. When installed, it just goes to "booting from hard disk". However, I have installed Ubuntu and it seems to boot. So I'm not sure what the problem is.

[loki131]

Hi Matt,

I just updated my firmware and now have a working Chromium USB stick (YAY!) but I do have a couple of questions.

1. Now that my box boots stupidly fast how do I get to the boot menu? I can't seem to hit esc fast enough and I don't seem to have the 5 second delay with my USB drive connected...
2. There is an update to OpenELEC, should I be taking updates from them or waiting for a specific build you recommend?

As a side note I know next to nothing about Linux and aside from not being able to make a backup of ChromeOS (moot now), everything has gone smoother than any install I've done on Windows! Thanks for your hard work!!!

[Searlan]

@matt
Currently running xbuntu standalone I can:

1)Boot to ChromiumOS from usb
2)Use your script just to update bios to coreboot version.
3)Reboot back to xbuntu

Are these assumptions correct?
thx

that is 100% correct for any standalone setup

I also have xubuntu currently installed. This means I can update the bios without reinstalling xubuntu, right?

I'm also wondering if this firmware fixes the idle 60% cpu utilization on a single core. htop and the gnome system monitor report high utilization.

Thanks!

[Matt Devo]

I am having problems dual-booting OpenELEC, similar to the problems that AdamXBMC is having. When installed, it just goes to "booting from hard disk". However, I have installed Ubuntu and it seems to boot. So I'm not sure what the problem is.

when you installed OE in dual boot, had you installed Ubuntu in a dual-boot config before? If so, you need to do a factory reset before installing OE in a dual boot setup.

Hi Matt,

I just updated my firmware and now have a working Chromium USB stick (YAY!) but I do have a couple of questions.

1. Now that my box boots stupidly fast how do I get to the boot menu? I can't seem to hit esc fast enough and I don't seem to have the 5 second delay with my USB drive connected...
2. There is an update to OpenELEC, should I be taking updates from them or waiting for a specific build you recommend?

As a side note I know next to nothing about Linux and aside from not being able to make a backup of ChromeOS (moot now), everything has gone smoother than any install I've done on Windows! Thanks for your hard work!!!

1) there seems to be some weirdness with Chromium and USB3 sticks. If I boot to Chromium with a USB3 stick and power off or reboot, that USB stick won't be recognized the next time I boot (so no boot menu). But if I boot to the internal HDD (OpenELEC) and reboot, then the USB3 stick is detected and have 5s to bring up the boot menu. USB2 sticks seem to not have this issue.

2) with the Coreboot firmware, you don't need any specific builds anymore. You can even install OE using their standard Generic x86_64 download. So go ahead and set OE to auto-update and don't worry.

I also have xubuntu currently installed. This means I can update the bios without reinstalling xubuntu, right?

I'm also wondering if this firmware fixes the idle 60% cpu utilization on a single core. htop and the gnome system monitor report high utilization.

Thanks!

yes, just boot to Chromium via USB stock and update the firmware from there. Pretty sure the CPU utilization issue is kernel-related and not hardware/firmware-related, but LMK what you see.

[MrCrispy]

Is ChromiumOS identical to ChromeOS? Will the special offers (like Google drive 100GB) still work in it (I'm assuming yes since they are tied to Google account). And when I boot ChromiumOS from usb stick, does it still use the internal SSD? Or do all the apps etc I install go on the usb drive?

[Matt Devo]

Is ChromiumOS identical to ChromeOS? Will the special offers (like Google drive 100GB) still work in it (I'm assuming yes since they are tied to Google account). And when I boot ChromiumOS from usb stick, does it still use the internal SSD? Or do all the apps etc I install go on the usb drive?

yes. the 100GB is linked to your Google account, so as long as you've redeemed it, it's on your account.

booting Chromium from a USB stick doesn't touch the internal HDD, that's the whole point

[MrCrispy]

Thanks Matt, so let me see if I get this right - I buy Chromebox, sign in and redeem special offers. Then I do device prep, take backup of existing chromeos (even though it won't run later), install Coreboot, and then the entire SSD is devoted to OpenElec/Linux, and for dual booting I use a ChromiumOS usb.

What are the disadvantages to not installing Coreboot and continue to dualboot ChromeOS and OpenElec off the SSD? Besides a slower boot time. Or put another way, are there any disadvantages to using Chromium vs Chrome? As you can tell I'd also like to use the box as a computer.

[Matt Devo]

Thanks Matt, so let me see if I get this right - I buy Chromebox, sign in and redeem special offers. Then I do device prep, take backup of existing chromeos (even though it won't run later), install Coreboot, and then the entire SSD is devoted to OpenElec/Linux, and for dual booting I use a ChromiumOS usb.

What are the disadvantages to not installing Coreboot and continue to dualboot ChromeOS and OpenElec off the SSD? Besides a slower boot time. Or put another way, are there any disadvantages to using Chromium vs Chrome? As you can tell I'd also like to use the box as a computer.

I'm not sure there is any advantage to either approach, dual booting or dedicated + Chromium USB. It really depends on your specific use cases. The stock firmware is based on a very old version of coreboot, so in theory mine should be "better," but will take some time to be able to quantify that.

Either way, I'd probably skip the ChromeOS USB backup. Chromium makes it redundant, and it seems to fail+reboot half the time anyway. I'll probably update the script to remove that option and streamline it to just the 2 dual boot setups + a generic standalone option.

If you go the standalone route, all you need to do is flash the Coreboot firmware and reboot, with your USB installer ready. The device prep steps are only needed for the stock firmware. Another thing I will simplify in the next version of the script.

[Searlan]

yes, just boot to Chromium via USB stock and update the firmware from there. Pretty sure the CPU utilization issue is kernel-related and not hardware/firmware-related, but LMK what you see.

I successfully updated to the Coreboot firmware and the CPU Utilization issue is gone!!! htop and gnome system monitor now reports near 0% utilization on idle for both cores. This also fixed a USB 3.0 issue I was having as well. Thank Matt for your awesome work!

[Matt Devo]

I successfully updated to the Coreboot firmware and the CPU Utilization issue is gone!!! htop and gnome system monitor now reports near 0% utilization on idle for both cores. This also fixed a USB 3.0 issue I was having as well. Thank Matt for your awesome work!

guess it is at least a stock firmware bug then . Glad we have a fix, thanks for letting us know

[uomiarz]

I successfully updated to the Coreboot firmware and the CPU Utilization issue is gone!!! htop and gnome system monitor now reports near 0% utilization on idle for both cores. This also fixed a USB 3.0 issue I was having as well. Thank Matt for your awesome work!

guess it is at least a stock firmware bug then . Glad we have a fix, thanks for letting us know

+1
I can confirm that high CPU utilization is gone after updating BIOS to Coreboot version.
Xbuntu with 3.15rc2 kernel. Before Coreboot utilization on idle system was around 60% on one of the cores.
BIOS updated to Coreboot (with ChromiumOS). System reboot and utlization is around 2%

Where is donation button ?
Thx Matt !!!