[mpmp]

I'm in the same boat as Tyler. This Asus Chromebox has never worked.

I am using the HDMI cable that came with it. I had the place I bought this from test out the Chromebox before they sent it out. They said it was working. So I plugged in the power supply, plugged in the HDMI that came with the unit (that the store I had test said that it worked), then I connected the other end of the cable to my Samsung monitor.

Never having used Chrome operating system I did not know what display I should/would get, but I know it is not supposed to be a blank screen. This is what I ended up getting.

I then thought I would put the end of a paper clip in, plug in the power cable and release the paper clip. Surely something should come up. No joy! Nothing is displaying.

Have I done something wrong? Should I do something differently?

I am not a total noob at these type of boxes. I have Kodi up and running on an Apple ll, Tronsmart 808B, and a Minix Neo X7. Those were pretty much straight forward. This Asus Chromebox does not seem to be. I'm thinking it was not tested right and return it. I already contacted the vendor, but I am not so sure I did everything right and certainly don't want to end up with a second box to try out like Tyler. If I cannot get this baby to go I'll resort to a Chinese box again as a last resort.

Any help appreciated.

[Matt Devo]

I'm in the same boat as Tyler. This Asus Chromebox has never worked.

I am using the HDMI cable that came with it. I had the place I bought this from test out the Chromebox before they sent it out. They said it was working. So I plugged in the power supply, plugged in the HDMI that came with the unit (that the store I had test said that it worked), then I connected the other end of the cable to my Samsung monitor.

Never having used Chrome operating system I did not know what display I should/would get, but I know it is not supposed to be a blank screen. This is what I ended up getting.

I then thought I would put the end of a paper clip in, plug in the power cable and release the paper clip. Surely something should come up. No joy! Nothing is displaying.

Have I done something wrong? Should I do something differently?

I am not a total noob at these type of boxes. I have Kodi up and running on an Apple ll, Tronsmart 808B, and a Minix Neo X7. Those were pretty much straight forward. This Asus Chromebox does not seem to be. I'm thinking it was not tested right and return it. I already contacted the vendor, but I am not so sure I did everything right and certainly don't want to end up with a second box to try out like Tyler. If I cannot get this baby to go I'll resort to a Chinese box again as a last resort.

Any help appreciated.

if you're not getting anything out of the box (prior to modding / setting up OE/Kodi), and you've tried connecting to multiple displays with multiple cables, then it sure sounds like a hardware issue well outside of the ability of anyone here to help. Best I can do is either suggest you exchange it or, if you're in the US, send it to me for evaluation. PM me if that's something you're interested in

[mpmp]

if you're not getting anything out of the box (prior to modding / setting up OE/Kodi), and you've tried connecting to multiple displays with multiple cables, then it sure sounds like a hardware issue well outside of the ability of anyone here to help. Best I can do is either suggest you exchange it or, if you're in the US, send it to me for evaluation. PM me if that's something you're interested in

Thanks Matt.

This box is going back.

Thanks for your help.

[Boulder]

Could be another HDMI handshaking issue. My receiver doesn't like the Chromebox, I need to use an EDID cloning device between the two devices to get a picture on my TV. If the Chromebox is plugged directly to the TV, no problems whatsoever.

[brohawk]

Mpmp, you do know there's also a power button on these, right? Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but you didn't make mention of it. The button has an odd feel and look to it, and coming from a RPi previously, I didn't realize that it even had one myself until I'd played around w/ it for (admittedly) too long.

[Matt Devo]

Mpmp, you do know there's also a power button on these, right? Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but you didn't make mention of it. The button has an odd feel and look to it, and coming from a RPi previously, I didn't realize that it even had one myself until I'd played around w/ it for (admittedly) too long.

huh, I completely missed that in his post. Yeah, it's a PC, you have to turn it on lol

[fma965]

Which chromebox has no effect. If I had to guess, it's either an issue with your input for the usb question or the headless one before it, or something weird with Ubuntu. Try running again but instead of answering N for the headless firmware just hit enter

Tried that already, i even checked the file contents of the firmware before flashing with the print command, it showed the bootorder file was added, i still think it's related to slight hardware differences, but you seem sure it isn't despite HP chromeboxes in standalone and dual boot mode not needing the MEI driver and not booting with it.

Well i'm out of ideas, im using a HGST usb3.0 enclosure with a crucial SSD in if that matters, the internal SSD is a liteon 16gb drive.

I tried it with chromium aswell

[pattuspl]

Hey guys I own a HP Chromebox (Blue Color) will I be able to setup xubuntu/openelec on it?
is there any video with some easy instructions? I am kind of confused by the OP so I hope someone can help me out want to turn this chromebox into Kodi box

[Freetvhound]

I received my Chromebox today. Got everything installed, rebooted a few times and all was well.
After about an hour, I rebooted again after a repo install and it went dead and didn't come back up.

I unplugged it and left it unplugged for about 5 minutes, plugged it back in and still nothing. Ugh....

Some kind of hardware failure I am guessing. Anyone else had issues with the box dying after the install?
Am I possibly missing something?
Shipping it back tomorrow for a replacement I guess.

[nickr]

Hey guys I own a HP Chromebox (Blue Color) will I be able to setup xubuntu/openelec on it?
is there any video with some easy instructions? I am kind of confused by the OP so I hope someone can help me out want to turn this chromebox into Kodi box

I don't think there is a video. If you can't follow the instructions then it might not be the box for you?

But really just step through the 1st post and the wiki instructions.

[calev]

Hey guys I own a HP Chromebox (Blue Color) will I be able to setup xubuntu/openelec on it?
is there any video with some easy instructions? I am kind of confused by the OP so I hope someone can help me out want to turn this chromebox into Kodi box

This guy does a pretty good job of showing how to dual boot. https://youtu.be/9gQgSDdZuLY

Watch that video and follow along the instructions on this thread and it wont be that hard. Just remember to remove the screw on the inside and do a stand alone set up of openelec, thats the easiest way to get up and running. If you need any help along the way, we can help answer any questions you have.

[Matt Devo]

Tried that already, i even checked the file contents of the firmware before flashing with the print command, it showed the bootorder file was added, i still think it's related to slight hardware differences, but you seem sure it isn't despite HP chromeboxes in standalone and dual boot mode not needing the MEI driver and not booting with it.

Well i'm out of ideas, im using a HGST usb3.0 enclosure with a crucial SSD in if that matters, the internal SSD is a liteon 16gb drive.

I tried it with chromium aswell

I'm 100% sure it's not due to some slight hardware difference. The bootorder file specifies the devices in order which they should be searched, structured as a PCI device tree listing. The USB ports are fixed at specific PCI addresses, there is no way for this to vary between different manufacturer's boxes. Have you tried with a USB stick to ensure it's not an issue with the enclosure? I'll test myself on an HP tomorrow or the day after to ensure my own sanity.

I received my Chromebox today. Got everything installed, rebooted a few times and all was well.
After about an hour, I rebooted again after a repo install and it went dead and didn't come back up.

I unplugged it and left it unplugged for about 5 minutes, plugged it back in and still nothing. Ugh....

Some kind of hardware failure I am guessing. Anyone else had issues with the box dying after the install?
Am I possibly missing something?
Shipping it back tomorrow for a replacement I guess.

that's not something we've seen much of at all here. When you power on, does the power light come on? after 5-10s, does pressing the power button immediately power the box off?

Hey guys I own a HP Chromebox (Blue Color) will I be able to setup xubuntu/openelec on it?
is there any video with some easy instructions? I am kind of confused by the OP so I hope someone can help me out want to turn this chromebox into Kodi box

This guy does a pretty good job of showing how to dual boot. https://youtu.be/9gQgSDdZuLY

Watch that video and follow along the instructions on this thread and it wont be that hard. Just remember to remove the screw on the inside and do a stand alone set up of openelec, thats the easiest way to get up and running. If you need any help along the way, we can help answer any questions you have.

Honestly, that video confuses things more than it helps, which is why I removed the link I had in the OP. The OP lists the exact steps, in the exact order, for both standalone and dual boot setups. Some of those steps refer back to the wiki, while others reference sections of the script listed in the OP itself, but outside of that there shouldn't be any confusion.

@pattuspl if something in the wiki/OP isn't clear, ask a specific question so I can edit the OP/wiki to make things more clear for future ChromeBox users

[pattuspl]

Hey guys I own a HP Chromebox (Blue Color) will I be able to setup xubuntu/openelec on it?
is there any video with some easy instructions? I am kind of confused by the OP so I hope someone can help me out want to turn this chromebox into Kodi box

This guy does a pretty good job of showing how to dual boot. https://youtu.be/9gQgSDdZuLY

Watch that video and follow along the instructions on this thread and it wont be that hard. Just remember to remove the screw on the inside and do a stand alone set up of openelec, thats the easiest way to get up and running. If you need any help along the way, we can help answer any questions you have.

Honestly, that video confuses things more than it helps, which is why I removed the link I had in the OP. The OP lists the exact steps, in the exact order, for both standalone and dual boot setups. Some of those steps refer back to the wiki, while others reference sections of the script listed in the OP itself, but outside of that there shouldn't be any confusion.

@pattuspl if something in the wiki/OP isn't clear, ask a specific question so I can edit the OP/wiki to make things more clear for future ChromeBox users

Yea I am sorry if you guys think I might be lazy asking for video but I am confused by few things.
Do I need to open up the box and really remove that screw which is the write protection thingy?

And yea I saw the video many people in comments actually didn't get it to work because he skipped much stuff.

[Matt Devo]

Yea I am sorry if you guys think I might be lazy asking for video but I am confused by few things.
Do I need to open up the box and really remove that screw which is the write protection thingy?

And yea I saw the video many people in comments actually didn't get it to work because he skipped much stuff.

if you want to run a standalone setup, absolutely. Otherwise, you can't flash the box with the custom firmware (since the firmware write-protect would be enabled). It literally takes 2 mins to remove the rubber feet, the 4 screws holding the bottom cover on, the WP Screw, and reassemble.

[rafisher79]

Just wanted to say thanks! I have 3 of these mounted to different tvs around the house and they're great. The best part is that once I had one set up with OE, I just needed to restore backups on the other two.

Thanks again. Wish I knew how to rep people!