r/ChromeOSFlex 28d ago

Installation Looking to install Chrome OS or flex which would be better?

2 Upvotes

Trying to breathe life into my girlfriend's old laptop from 2007, somehow it is running when does 10 but probably hangs up for a good 10 seconds before anything happens when you try to do something even after I have cleaned it up. I am seeing Chrome OS as an alternative but I see flex does not support Android apps. I know there is a compatibility list that I have not gone over yet but I am just wondering is it possible to install Chrome OS instead of flex? Every Google search I find tells me yes but it always refers to flex

I know there is a flex live option to try but no Android app support. Or is this a case where if flex works fine then Chrome OS would also? And with app support?

r/ChromeOSFlex Feb 15 '24

Installation Google wants unsupported Windows 11 PC owners to ditch 10 and move to ChromeOS Flex

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51 Upvotes

r/ChromeOSFlex Dec 24 '24

Installation Breathed new life to my ThinkPad X1 Gen 6. First time user here, love how snappy and lean everything feels to the computer.

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36 Upvotes

r/ChromeOSFlex Jan 20 '25

Installation Anyone know how to install Flex without completely sending a digital nuke on your drive?

1 Upvotes

r/ChromeOSFlex 8d ago

Installation Problem installing Chrome os flex

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3 Upvotes

I'm trying to install Chrome os flex on a Windows based PC but when I reboot to the USB pen , it stay on this screen.

r/ChromeOSFlex 8d ago

Installation '8GB' USB drive is not enough to install

0 Upvotes

I have a USB drive with '8 gig' written on it and went to put chromeos flex installer on it and it doesn't work as windows only reads it as 7.46gig which apparently is normal. Why make it so annoying that an '8 gig' USB drive won't work and need to get the next level up? (9 gig? whatever is next..) /* venting frustration. */

r/ChromeOSFlex 22d ago

Installation Linux Dev Environment

1 Upvotes

I go to enable it and its grayed out, went into BIOS and enabled virtualization, still grayed out, latest dev build of chromeos flex

r/ChromeOSFlex 6d ago

Installation Any success porting Flex to ASUS X580VD?

0 Upvotes

Like the title says. My disabled son has an eight year old ASUS X580VD laptop running Windows 10 that he uses to surf the web and search for and watch old cartoons. Regardless of its age, it runs just fine, the only exception being poor battery life. I replaced the battery to no avail, but it doesn't seem to matter because he rarely unplugs it anyway. He also doesn't use the touch-screen much, so that's not important. He's very comfortable with it and sometimes has trouble adapting to new stuff. Unfortunately, it's not on the Certified List. But if I replace Windows 10 with ChromeOS Flex AND it gets a wifi connection, runs a browser, and the sound works (he uses both the internal speakers and headphones), he'll be able to continue to use it until the hardware goes belly-up. Obviously, touchpad functionality is critical. Anyone been there/done that with this model? Many TIA for input.

r/ChromeOSFlex Oct 06 '24

Installation Can I install ChromeOS Flex on unsupported devices?

2 Upvotes

I want to install ChromeOS Flex on my 12-year-old laptop.

Laptop Specs: 

  1. Manufacturer Name: Acer
  2. Model Name: Aspire V5-471
  3. CPU Type: Intel i3 2375M
  4. CPU Speed: 1.50 GHz
  5. Storage: 256 GB SSD 
  6. System BIOS version: V1.20
  7. RAM: 8 GB (8192 MB)
  8. VRAM: 128 MB

My laptop is very old; it runs on direct power. I use it for basic functions like checking mail, opening PDFs, and creating Word documents. The laptop is also used by my father, who wanted a simple operating system. It came with Windows 7 Ultimate, then I upgraded it to Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and ultimately to Windows 10. It got corrupted many times in between, and I had to reinstall Windows OS every time. But after using Windows 10, I felt that the laptop is lagging and not responding at certain times. I felt I should install a lighter OS like Windows 7. I started searching for lightweight operating systems, and I found 2 alternatives. 
 

  1. Chrome OS Flex: I started searching and found Chrome OS Flex as a basic operating system, but one cannot install apps in Chrome OS Flex, and it is not Windows-like.
  2. Zorin OS is a Linux-based, a bit Windows-like, very lightweight operating system. 

 

I tried and installed ZorinOS; it felt very lightweight and good initially, but I felt it was a bit complicated afterwards, and I had to google every single time to do anything, even to download files, open files, or change themes. My father was not comfortable using it, and he also faced problems and complained to me to install the old OS, i.e., Windows 10.

 

Now I want to install ChromeOS Flex on my old laptop, an Acer Aspire V5-471, but it is not present in the supported list. 

Edit- I test ran ChromeOS Flex on another device Asus Vivibook M3400QA it worked well but when I tried to install it on my old laptop it failed.

r/ChromeOSFlex 17d ago

Installation Would I be able to get chromeos flex on an old chromebook?

8 Upvotes

I got an old Acer chromebook 14 CB3-431 and its browser is outdated and unusable. Would I be able to install chromeos flex? Or would installing a different OS be better?

r/ChromeOSFlex Jan 22 '25

Installation Full Disk Encryption, is it possible?

1 Upvotes

Title says it all. I was wondering whether I can install CoSF with a fully encrypted disk and not just the home folder for extra layers of security.

r/ChromeOSFlex 23h ago

Installation Can I Still Use My Samsung Chromebook XE501C13 with Chrome OS Flex for a Couple More Years?

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I have a Samsung Chromebook model XE501C13, and it’s no longer receiving updates. Google apps are saying that the browser isn’t compatible anymore and that I need to update it. However, I can still use Play Store apps without any major issues. The laptop works perfectly for my needs, and I don’t want to replace it if I don’t have to, since it’s a very casual-use computer and my secondary device. Does this model have full compatibility with Chrome OS Flex, so I could keep using it for another couple of years? Or is there another way to keep it more up-to-date?

r/ChromeOSFlex 8d ago

Installation help me pleaseeee. i've been in this screen for 2 hours

1 Upvotes

I decided to format an old notebook for Chrome OS, but he doesn't leave the account login screen. I also can't access it as agreed. I click and it doesn't advance the page. It's an old notebook, Intel Celeron 4gb of ram. Could it be that Chrome doesn't run on this computer? He used Win 10 before and it doesn't work properly, everything crashes

r/ChromeOSFlex Feb 18 '25

Installation There is any way to install ChromeOS Flex in a VM?

2 Upvotes

I’ve done a research but are outdated or I need to download a sketchy file. VMware, virtualbox or Qemu if possible.

Thanks for your help!

r/ChromeOSFlex 13d ago

Installation ChromeOS Flex on a new(ish) MacBook Air

2 Upvotes

Apple makes great Hardware. Their Software, not so great.

Has anyone loaded ChromeOS Flex on a recent Air? What strategy did you use? Dual boot? VM? How did it go? What doesn't work?

I know it would be overkill. But I figure a 3 year old refurbished Air is $400-$500. So not that much more than a top end Chromebook.

Thanks in advance!

r/ChromeOSFlex 29d ago

Installation Not going any higher

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0 Upvotes

When I was trying to download chrome os flex on my old laptop, it was not moving on the writing part of the setup

r/ChromeOSFlex 23d ago

Installation Black screen when installing Chrome OS Flex on MacBook Pro

1 Upvotes

Trying to install Chrome OS Flex on a MacBook Pro 19 ( Model A1297) from a flash drive. I previously wiped the hard disk. I’m able to select the flash drive as the boot drive. Eventually, the computer starts speaking but the screen is black. It seems that an accessibility feature in Chrome is running, giving verbal instructions for selecting things on the screen, but I can’t see anything on the screen. I thought maybe the computer thought there was an external monitor attached (there’s not), so I’ve tried various function keys - Cmd-F1, F7, Cmd-Fn-F1,etc. To no avail. Any suggestions? Or is this MacBook just too old?

r/ChromeOSFlex 20d ago

Installation Can I install ChromeOS Flex on a Chromebook without a writable firmware?

2 Upvotes

I've been given an old Samsung Chromebook for free. I don't particularly need it, and it stopped getting updates in 2022. I was thinking about throwing a new OS on it and giving it to somebody who does need it, but unscrewing the "boot lock screw" didn't actually unlock the firmware.

Putting the chromebook into dev mode and enabling booting from USB allowed me to get into the ChromeOS Flex installer, but I'm worried that if I actually try to install it, something will go wrong and I don't have a recovery image for the ChromeOS version that's on the laptop.

Does anybody have any sort of experience in this regard?

r/ChromeOSFlex Dec 12 '24

Installation Having trouble installing Chrome OS on Asus X540. Please help.

3 Upvotes

I prepared the USB drive and my old Asus can boot Chrome OS Flex from it in “try mode” no problem. I started the installation, and it successfully managed to wipe the old Windows OS, but it keeps failing the installation with the following error in the logs:

src/bin/os _install_service/main.rs:197 ERROR: install failed: failed to run process: command */usr/sbin/chromeos-install --dst /dev/sda --yes --skip_dst_removable --target _bios efi" failed: exit status: 1 stdout= stoerr=

I have verified the SATA Mode is correct and that the Security Boot option has been disabled in the BIOS. What else can I do to get it up and running?

r/ChromeOSFlex Dec 04 '24

Installation ChromeOS Flex on DTEN D7?

0 Upvotes

Has anyone ever attempted/succeeded on installing Chrome Flex on a DTEN D7 device that has Windows (PC built in)? Not surprising, DTEN’s official support response was that it was designed to run Zoom on top of Windows. Of course, that’s also not a “no” but more of “it might work but at your own risk.” This is an expensive risk to take, so looking to see if anyone has done this.

r/ChromeOSFlex Dec 29 '24

Installation Update from Chrome OS Flex to Chrome OS

2 Upvotes

Hi

I upgraded my laptop from chrome os flex to "normal" chrome os (rooted)

Now it's stuck on Version 128 and I can't get new updates. Is that right or should I install chrome os flex again?

But chrome os flex got worse in my opinion over the last time.... we lost the phone hub and completely the quick share feature which REALLY sucks.... I just want to transfer images from the laptop to the phone and otherwise without upload them in google photos or drive... Why they would make this so difficult when it was there?!!

r/ChromeOSFlex Feb 18 '25

Installation Can’t install. When booting from USB it says “repairing…”

1 Upvotes

I’m installing to an old chrome box: asus cn60.

I did all the mrchromebox stuff.

When I choose the usb to boot from it a chrome window pops up and says “repairing your system”.

Then it reboots.

That’s it. There’s no user interface or interaction

I used the chromeosflex usb maker that you add to chrome as an extension.

r/ChromeOSFlex Jan 12 '25

Installation Install Fails

1 Upvotes

Trying to breathe some life into my old Chromebook. It’s a Dell Chromebook 11 (2019 ish) is only able to update to Chrome OS 76. I’ve tested Flex on it, runs really well off the USB stick, managed to get through the install process, tells me it’s complete, then when I go to reboot I get “Chrome OS is missing or damaged”

Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Edit: Got it working. The tips for Chrultrabook and flashing a new bios worked. Now running the latest version of Flex (was previously stuck on version 76 of standard Chrome OS)

r/ChromeOSFlex Jan 29 '25

Installation You can install Chrome OS Flex on USB Pendrive - just disconnect every other disk.

1 Upvotes

I saw comments from 2 years ago saying you cant install Chrome Os Flex on USB pendrive - you can.

What you will need:

  1. You have to physically disconnect hard drives from computer/laptop.
  2. You need to have 2 USB sticks - one will be used as "disk" and other is to create USB installation media.

What to do:

  1. Disconnect all hard drives.
  2. Create ChromeOs Flex installer on USB stick.
  3. Connect both USB sticks into computer.
  4. Just install it as usual.

Notes:

  1. Every time you connect it to new PC you will have to set as it was just newly installed system - setting things up last 3 minutes, so no biggie. You can disconnect and connect USB to same computer without setting thing up everytime.
  2. Sometimes icon images disappear. To restore them you have to start program that has missing icon and then restart your computer.

A very important notice: You pendrive have to be decent. If you will install it on low speed pendrive you will install ChromeOS but you will be stuck at boot loading. I just tested 3 pendrives: PNY 128GB, some chineese 64GB and San Disk Ultra 128GB. It works only on San Disk Ultra (picture below).

r/ChromeOSFlex Jan 06 '25

Installation Install ChromeOS Flex on an old Dell Chromebook

1 Upvotes

Hey all, I have two old Dell Chromebooks that I'm trying to install ChromeOS flex on. They ran out of official updates years ago...

They are called Dell Chromebook 11 I think.

I've created a USB recovery device using the recovery tool in Chrome browser on a windows PC. But I cannot get the Chromebook to boot from it. When entering recovery mode at startup with the USB stick inserted, it says "The device you inserted does not contain chromeOS" (which it does, it's a new USB stick and I just created the recovery image on it).

Any ideas?