

Google sent him a CR 48 with Windows 7 On It - bcrawl
http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post808237

======
bcrawl
tl;dr Guy receives a CR48 with windows 7. Contacts google/google groups. No
one has any real answer how this could have happened. Google product guy sends
him an email with RMA details. Participant complies. But before sending it
back he dumps the BIOS out. Some one from chromeOS forums successfully flashed
their BIOS with this one. So this works.

I fully understand that one should use these CR 48 laptops for what they are
intended to be for. That is testing purposes.

ChromeOS forums: [http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-
notebook/607-wind...](http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-
notebook/607-windows-7-installed-cr-48-then-shipped-user-6.html#post3458)

Youtube link: www.youtube.com/?v=sy9JzYTP4xc

Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images
will be bootable. More info on this process here.
[http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-
docs/v...](http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-
docs/verified-boot)

CR48 doesnt have a regular bootloader like grub or lilo. Some more info on
CR48 BIOS from their site.
[https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-
os/deve...](https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-
information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-
information/how-to-boot-ubuntu-on-a-cr-48)

 _initrd is typically handled by the bootloader, which reads the specified
image from the disk into RAM and passes the address to the kernel as it's
invoked.

The Chrome OS BIOS is a modified EFI BIOS. The bootstub is a standard EFI
Application, but it's embedded in the kernel image in a dedicated partition
type, rather than accessible through a FAT filesystem. To decrease boot time,
the BIOS does not discover or pass the standard disk drive handles to the
bootstub, so the bootstub doesn't know anything about disks or filesystems.
There is also no Compatibility Support Module in the BIOS. In theory elilo or
grub2 could replace the bootstub, but they would have to reimplement some of
the device discovery functions normally done by an EFI BIOS.

If you want to take this on, go for it. That would let us create a kernel
partition that just contained an EFI bootloader, which could then chain-boot
to external USB drives, etc. That might be kind of cool._

~~~
Zak
_Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images
will be bootable_

Yes, but there's a switch to turn it off. I hope that continues to be true
with production devices.

~~~
bcrawl
Oops. I reread what I wrote and now I am confused. Maybe you are right. In
developer mode, self signed images work. But I will leave the post.

\--------------------------------

If you are talking about developer mode, Yes. I am pretty sure they intend to
have that option in production devices. No. I think, even in developer mode
the boot process checks for google signature.

From their site; "The first time a Chrome Notebook boots in Developer Mode
after leaving Normal Mode it will: \- Show a scary warning that its software
cannot be trusted, since verified boot is disabled (press Ctrl-D or wait 30
seconds to dismiss). \- Erase all personal data on the "stateful partition"
(i.e., user accounts and settings - no worries, though, since all data is in
the cloud!). Make you wait between 5 and 10 minutes to while it erases the
data. \- Boot from any self-signed image on its SSD, _negating the security of
verified boot._

[https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-
os/deve...](https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/developer-
information-for-chrome-os-devices/cr-48-chrome-notebook-developer-information)

------
Bud
Wow. The site this link takes one to is perhaps the most annoying website I've
seen all month. Possibly all year.

~~~
bcrawl
Apologize. I even screwed up the URL. I cant edit it. Its my first thread.

~~~
aw3c2
Don't worry. :-)

Just for the record, the best url to submit would have been the permalink to
the first post in this case. So
[http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post80823...](http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f99/t284626/#post808237)

Welcome to Hacker News!

------
bcrawl
ok, I think the chromeos forums deleted the thread. They are not in any way
affiliated with google btw. Here is the screenshot which has instructions from
the guy who said he flashed. <http://imgur.com/TN21R>

Here is the BIOS which came with that CR48 Windows 7 laptop.
<http://www.sendspace.com/file/wp9nb6>

This guy flashed his regular CR 48 bios with the above one and was able to
boot back into Chrome.
[http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcoun...](http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10302232&postcount=407)

 _Ok, just got done with this. I can verify 100% working. Instead of
installing another OS though, I just rebooted after the BIOS flash and
surprisingly Chrome started up! It erased the stateful partition and then
reboot and voila I am back in Chrome -- with the notable exception -- of now
being able to get into the BIOS.

Simply awesome._

~~~
dragonfli
Naw. They just merged the two threads.

~~~
bcrawl
Hey, Thanks for testing out the dubious image.. Happy new year.!

------
donniefitz2
Here's more: [http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-
di...](http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-
discuss/browse_thread/thread/aace309e727ec5c3/2f3e9811f48801ea?show_docid=2f3e9811f48801ea&pli=1)

------
EwanG
Figures. No CR-48 over here, and I was even planning to really and truly only
run Chrome OS on it.

Then again, maybe Google is waiting to send me their gTablet... yeah, that's
got to be it :-)

------
drdaeman
(Off-topic) On the last screenshot in Ubuntu section, the guy had accidentally
photoed his own credit card, laying near CR48, with number and expiry date
almost clearly readable. I don't know whenever this is secure (his bank may
disallow CNP transactions), but, maybe, someone should notify him about this.

------
rbanffy
That's the downside of basing the Cr-48 on an Atom or other non-Windows-proof
processor... ;-)

I find the x86 space very boring.

