Write-protect can be disabled jumper/removing a screw but since this jumper/screw is located on the main board, you need to open up the Chromebook.Īlthough ripping apart my Dell Chromebook 11 wasn’t difficult (needed to open a dozen on screws) but the difficulty level can vary for your Chromebook. Chromebooks have a write protection mechanism put in place to avoid flashing its ROM. This is the messy part and you’ll be needing screw driver.

But I haven’t tested any other Chromebook except for Dell Chromebook 11 (Intel i5 processor).

Note – This guide might also work for the Chromebook listed under “RW_LEGACY” or “BOOT_STUB”. In my case, the Dell Chromebook 11 (WOLF) is present. If you can see your Chromebook listed under specified column then you should be okay to proceed. Head over to the ROM download page located here and look for your Chromebook under “Supported Models Matrix” table ( FULL ROM column). Alright then, let’s get started! Check Compatibilityīefore attempting to flash the custom firmware, it is very important to check if your Chromebook is supported by John Lewis’s ROM (SeaBIOS). SeaBIOS and making sure it is ready for installation of any other OS. To help you through the process of preparing your Chromebook for flashing a custom firmware i.e. And this is precisely the purpose of this article. Awesome, this is what I want but the problem here is you would have to get your hands messy. The other alternative is to completely replace Chrome OS with the operating system of your choice. It works really well but I don’t want the dependency on Chrome OS. Indeed there are hacky ways to run Ubuntu atop Chrome OS using Crouton but that’s not a real deal. Now, Chrome OS, by its nature, isn’t as useful as you would expect it to be. Fast forward to year 2017, its battery is dead and I have been searching for a way to convert it into a more useful machine. It had 4 GB RAM and i5 Intel processor, which were way beyond what Chrome OS required. Being a university student (at that time), the Chromebook served me well. I bought Dell Chromebook 11 about 1.5 years ago.

Flash for chrome linux