Zorin installation on old chromebooks

Hello,

Is installing Zorin on an old chromebook a viable option? Does it really work?
Google is ending support on updates for chromebooks on a time schedule.

There is information about converting to Ubuntu but most of it is old.
Has anyone found conversion to be successful?

Billy wrote:Hello,

Is installing Zorin on an old chromebook a viable option? Does it really work?
Google is ending support on updates for chromebooks on a time schedule.

There is information about converting to Ubuntu but most of it is old.
Has anyone found conversion to be successful?

I have not done it and cannot answer your question directly... But the topics about installing Ubuntu using "Crouton" most likely still apply since they are as old as what you are working with. The one on "It's Foss" looks viable.
Whether you can install Zorin directly by that method, I am not sure. However, I do know that you can install Zorin 12.4 Lite from terminal from the repository as I have done that.
So, if you installed Xubuntu using the It's FOSS website guide, then installed Zorin desktop using the terminal, you would probably get the same effect.
Hopefully someone chimes in soon with more detailed experiences.

Thanks for that.

A friend's chromebook has gone off updates and is getting unreliable. I suppose that I will wait until the chrome quits working to try an install. I'm not confident enough to try it now, lest I brick his machine.
It seems the new machines (chromebooks) he can afford are also stale and will go off support soon.

Billy wrote:Thanks for that.

A friend's chromebook has gone off updates and is getting unreliable. I suppose that I will wait until the chrome quits working to try an install. I'm not confident enough to try it now, lest I brick his machine.
It seems the new machines (chromebooks) he can afford are also stale and will go off support soon.

Oh, you won't brick it. Worst case you might have to attempt installation a few times.
Microsoft might brick products. Samsung might brick products. You won't brick it.
But I do hear you about wanting to be confident in what you are doing. You can cross 'confidence in not bricking it' off the list.
I know you can install Zorin 12.4 on a Tablet and I installed 12.4 Lite on a Tablet Notebook and it runs Great.
I am not confident enough to try to offer any pointers, not because I fear causing damage but I fear sending you off on a wild goosechase. But if no one else chimes in knowing full well how to do it, I am a stubborn cuss with a good solid mediocre success rate at accomplishing a goal if I set my mind to it.
When it comes time to for you to make an honest effort to save his Chromebook, feel free to speak up and we'll get it figured out and have that Chromebook running better than it ever was before. Or, at least as good as.


Maybe...Just okay, if you catch me on one of my dumb days...

Just a comment which is worth nothing, but my view has always been that Chromebooks and eMMC machines should have been buried at the point of conception!

On Acer C710:

I used Crouton and xfce and it worked fine but you still have to boot the old chrome and the os is very bare bones.
Not so useful.

The script from mrchromebox.tech reflashes the bios to UEFI. The bios write protector has to be shorted with tinfoil
first (remove after).
This gets the chrome right off the machine.

Zorin os 15 booted, loaded and seems work fine so far. I will try the lite version later.
It is a finicky job but goes well if you follow the steps.

So far this looks like a great salvage method for a machine that is otherwise junk.

Billy wrote:On Acer C710:
The script from mrchromebox.tech reflashes the bios to UEFI. The bios write protector has to be shorted with tinfoil
first (remove after).
This gets the chrome right off the machine.

Zorin os 15 booted, loaded and seems work fine so far. I will try the lite version later.
It is a finicky job but goes well if you follow the steps.

So far this looks like a great salvage method for a machine that is otherwise junk.

Thanks for the info; interesting about the write protector. I remember I used to use a jumper on old winodws machines back in the day to control the HDD. Never occurred to me that it could be employed as a weapon of mass construction.