• nomad@infosec.pubEnglish
    1064·
    8 months ago

    Install Linux and have updates for the Rest of your life. And more performance.

    Edit: typo

    • NoneYa@lemm.eeEnglish
      46·
      8 months ago

      I have a Chromebook and it’s ridiculous how difficult they made it to install another OS.

      I eventually did, but I needed to get something to flash a third party boatloader and at first I was told my laptop was not supported.

      But getting an actual Linux distro has been so much better than ChomeOS.

      • no banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
        29·
        8 months ago

        Back when I had a Chromebook I actually had to open it up and remove a screw to be able to do it.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.todayEnglish
              3·
              8 months ago

              No Cap, I used to have an old HP Pavillion where the case had to be pried apart for servicing and there was a screw on the Battery connector that would keep the computer from starting unless it was put back after battery removal. They work fine without batteries, but not without the screw. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        • kspatlas@lemm.eeEnglish
          17·
          8 months ago

          The new chromebooks need special cables to unlock, either you have the skills and supplies to build a cable and adapter board or you buy a cable from a random company that is rarely in stock

      • taiyang@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        8 months ago

        I didn’t think it too hard but it ended up being kind of fruitless, those things have almost no harddeive and I mostly did it to fuck around with Linux. Chromebooks, at least that one, had something like 16gbs and equally weak CPU to match (granted it might have changed since then but woof.)

        • invertedspear@lemm.eeEnglish
          13·
          8 months ago

          The whole point of a chrome book is to push you to use Google’s online services. I think you are still better off if you can do that with Linux running the machine.

        • The Assman@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          3·
          8 months ago

          Same, I did this back in college because my Windows laptop shit out and I couldn’t afford another proper computer. I ended up duct taping an external drive to the back.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        8 months ago

        thankfully, once you get a proper UEFI bios on it, it’s free, forever.

        But yeah, i agree, total bullshit how much work they put into not using UEFI from the get go lmao.

      • davidgro@lemmy.worldEnglish
        32·
        8 months ago

        It’s a Chromebook. That’s just the real answer to OP’s issue regardless of where they ask about it.

        • frezik@midwest.socialEnglish
          15·
          8 months ago

          Right. If it’s not getting updates, then it’s only a matter of time before it has a critical security vulnerability. If not Linux, then what? Will GNU Hurd run on it?

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      7·
      8 months ago

      I don’t usually like all the Linux posts on Lemmy, but this is 100% the correct answer here. The computer will likely run a lot better if you do everything right!

  • foofiepie@lemmy.worldEnglish
    864·
    8 months ago

    Came here to recommend nuking it with Linux to get a much slicker experience but I see everyone else had the same idea.

    Also gtf off chrome.

    • thanevim@kbin.social
      7·
      8 months ago

      Running xfce4 Fedora brilliantly on an old Dell Chromebook thanks to this, fully recommended!!

    • thantik@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      8 months ago

      I use this bios on CN62 Chromeboxes as an alternative to a Raspberry Pi; it’s faster, can be found cheaper, is available widely on ebay cheap, has proper NVME ports, and has an X86 processor. They make great little reverse proxies, etc.

    • Lemmy@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      I’m pretty sure two gru_bob and gru_kevin have Libreboot support. I forget the name of the exact laptops, it should be in their documentation

  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    32·
    8 months ago

    I’ve got this huge fancy samsung tablet from 2015. It’s made to be like a table top display. Has a mount on the back to keep it standing up.

    It can’t really do anything now. The android version on it stopped being supported by anything. No youtube or Netflix or nothing. There was a bit of homebrew effort to get root and a newer version of android on them about 4 years ago, but it kind of fizzled out. Now it went from a great portable streaming mini TV (what I used it for, anyhow) to e waste.

    • TimeNaan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      8 months ago

      Try alternative apps such as NewPipe for YT, they might still run on your outdated android.

      Otherwise, there’s always LineageOS and other custom ROMs

      • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        4·
        8 months ago

        Nope. It’s essentially a samsung tablet with about 2014 samsung tablet specs, only way larger screen. They were made more for retail stores to have set up for customers than for consumer sales, almost. Basically, they missed their mark, so not many were sold. Imagine back in 2015. A nexus tablet was like $100. These things were $600. Galaxy View 18.4" tablet.

        There was a custom that I had found from like 4 years ago, but when the project stopped it was still left with a lot of issues/bugs.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    27·
    8 months ago

    give it the mrchromebox treatment, and then install linux on it. Good shit.

    Now my chromebook is an extremely low power idling node for anything i need it to be, with incredibly like UPS standby times.

  • yogi_pogi@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    201·
    8 months ago

    Asus 202c from 2016. They’re EoL, so they don’t get chrome OS updates. Which means the Play Store is also outdated.

    Overall, they’re pretty nifty. Battery life is still solid. Keyboard and case is pretty durable.

    I actually have a few of these chromebooks! (You can buy them from schools) I’ve reformatted one with Linux. Another is Chromebook + side loaded for coding. This one is just for browsing and taking notes.

    But just the thought that some old person buying a computer and going, “Lemme pick up these Google Things that are $100” only to end up with these errors makes me sad.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      8 months ago

      Maybe an unpopular opinion around here, but getting 8 years out of a $200 laptop is a fucking steal.

      I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect more.

      Had this been a $1200 laptop, the expectation would be different.

      • assa123@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        8 months ago

        For me it’s not about the price, it’s about owning your hardware in ways that allow you to easily install whatever you want. As for chromebooks, that’s not the case and you need to hack your way around. In the case of phones, many vendors don’t allow unlocking the bootloader. This kind of practices means that in many cases, completely useful (maybe old) hardware goes to the dumpster.