Window 11 is on the verge of taking down Windows 10 and former variations of the Windows running machine. Most folks have already upgraded to Windows eleven and feature followed the brand new environment, at the same time as there are numerous ups and downs with the brand new changed running machine. Other running structures have become upgrades, too, with quite interesting features, including the Chrome OS.
Chrome OS is one of the lightest running structures, and any machine with 2GB RAM can take care of it easily. The OS is Linux-primarily based totally, this means that you could do quite plenty whatever with the Linux commands. However, Chrome OS is a chunk exceptional from different Linux distros as it’s far primarily based totally on the running machine that we typically use on Android smartphones and different devices. In Chrome OS, you furthermore might get the guide to put in the Google Play Store that gives a huge variety of apps and video games for free.
Install and Dual Boot Chrome OS and Windows 11
Before we begin, I would really like to say that this education entails complicated operations and a prolonged procedure. Go in advance simplest in case you are desirable with working more than one systems. Apart from that, this manual won’t contact any of your Windows documents, however, I distinctly propose which you lower back up all of your essential documents due to the fact you by no means recognize whilst matters move wrong.
Pre-requisites
- A USB flash drive with a minimum of 16GB of storage space is a must.
- UEFI Firmware support is another requirement for Brunch to work. It also works with legacy BIOS, but there are a few limitations. You can read them on the Brunch development page.
- To check whether your PC supports UEFI or MBR/BIOS, search System Information in the start menu and open it.
- Look for the BIOS mode. You’ll find your PC firmware type mentioned against it.
- Intel hardware (CPU and GPU) starting from 1st generation Nehalem architecture. Note that Intel first-generation graphics do not work with ChromeOS versions above r81.
- AMD Ryzen CPU and GPU. Currently supports AMD Ryzen and AMD Stoney Ridge processors only.
Downloads & Requirements
We need the following components for flashing Chrome OS on your Windows PC hard drive.
1. Linux Mint
We’ll use the Linux Mint Cinnamon photograph for dual-booting Chrome OS and Windows 10 or Windows eleven PC. You can use different Linux distros like Ubuntu or Debian too. However, I won’t propose the usage of them given that many customers suggested that they’re going through diverse mistakes even as putting in and booting Chrome OS.
Download Linux MintCinnamon Edition
2. Rufus
Rufus is a windows utility that helps create bootable USB flash drives. Here, the purpose of using Rufus is to flash the Linux Mint image on the USB storage.
3. Brunch Framework
The cause of the brunch framework is to construct an established Chrome OS photograph from an authentic healing photograph. It makes use of a 1GB ROOTC partition (containing an initramfs, a custom kernel, the swim binaries, userspace patches, and config files) and a selected EFI partition in addition to it.
Warning: As Brunch isn’t always the supposed manner for Chrome OS to work, thus, at a few points, a few Chrome OS scripts may want to behave extraordinarily with Brunch and delete statistics unexpectedly, inclusive of Windows / non-Chrome OS partitions. I might particularly suggest which you use Chrome OS on a tool having much less touchy statistics.
- Chrome OS Recovery Image
Now, it’s time to get the authentic Chrome OS healing photograph. Click on the download button underneath. When the website opens, search for the phrase rammus. In the healing column, hit at the trendy healing photograph to begin the download. While scripting this guide, the cutting-edge model is 94, however, it is able to alternate subsequently.
The cause we selected rammus is that it really works on maximum contemporary-day generations of Intel processors. However, I advocate you undergo the underneath listing and download the unique photograph primarily based totally on your processor.
Download Chrome OS Recovery ImageMirror #1
Intel Processors
AMD Processors
5. Shell Script
Finally, download the multi_install.sh shell script, which helps install Chrome OS on a Windows partition. Click on the download button below and press Ctrl + S to save the file.
Download multi_install.mirror (Github)
Now that we have acquired all the necessary files – let’s get going to the steps!
Organize Files in One Place
Step 1 – First off, gather all the downloaded files in one place. Let’s consider you have placed all the files in the Desktop folder.
Step 2 – Now, Create a folder named Chrome OS on the Windows Desktop. You can also create it in any other place having sufficient storage.
Step 3 – Using WinRAR, extract the Brunch package by selecting the ‘Extract Here’ option. As a result, you’ll get four files out of the archive. Now, move these four files to the Chrome OS folder.
- chromeos-install.sh
- efi_legacy.img
- efi_secure.img
- rootc.img
Step 4 – Next, extract the Chrome OS recovery image file.
Step 5 – Upon extraction, you’ll get a file having a .bin extension. Rename the .bin file to rammus_recovery. Now, move the rammus_recovery.bin file to the Chrome OS folder. Note that even if you have downloaded any other Chrome OS image like volteer, grunt or Zork, make sure you rename it to their respective name + _recovery.bin. For example, volteer recovery filename would become volteer_recovery.bin, and grunt recovery would become grunt_recovery.bin, and so on.
Step 6 – Move the shell script file multi_install.sh into the Chrome OS folder.
Step 7 – By this time, you should have six files in the Chrome OS folder. Do note the path of the Chrome OS folder as we’ll need it for performing further steps.
Flash Linux Mint Cinnamon
Using the Rufus utility, we’ll flash the Linux Mint ISO photograph at the USB garage. Linux distro set up is important due to the fact ChromeOS is a Linux-primarily based totally running system and the shell scripts that we downloaded require a Linux surrounding to work. The steps for putting in Linux Mint at the USB garage are as follows.
Step 1 – Plug in the USB storage device such as Pendrive or microSD card and open Rufus utility.
Step 2 – In Rufus, under Device, you shall see the plugged-in USB storage. Here I am using a 32GB Pendrive.
- Under Boot selection, select the Linux Mint ISO that we downloaded earlier.
- If you are using a Hard drive, tick the List USB Hard Drives option to see your connected hard disk.
- Keep all other settings unchanged and now press the Start button.
Do note that flashing the USB storage will wipe out all the data present on it. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you back up all the necessary data before pressing the Start button.
Step 3 – When you press the Start button, a popup will appear. Select Write in ISO image mode option and press OK. If you choose DD Image boot, the USB drive won’t be accessible for you to operate in Windows. If you have a legacy BIOS and an old CPU, then DD Image mode is useful.
Step 4 – Here, Rufus will warn you that it will erase all the data stored on the USB device that we are using to flash Linux Mint. If you have taken the backup, press OK.
Create Unallocated Space for Chrome OS
Now, we want to create an Unallocated partition with the usage of the Windows Disk Management tool. You want to have at the least 14 GB or extra unfastened area at the tough pressure for growing an unallocated partition. I actually have given a 100 GB of area, however, you could pick your partition length.
On a facet note, allow me to let you know something. Chrome OS calls for partition length in multiples of twenty-two GB, for example, 22000 MB (22 GB), 44000 MB (44 GB), and so on. But here, you could assign any length you want. Later, earlier than flashing Chrome OS the usage of Linux Mint, we can offer the perfect partition length.
Let’s cut back the present pressure and create an unallocated area. Here are the steps.
Step 1 – Open Windows Explorer and right-click on This PC icon. Select Manage to open Computer Managemen tools.
Step 2 – Select the Disk Management option from the left. Now, click on the partition from which you want to create unallocated space. I am using an external SSD for space creation. Right-click on the selected drive and click Shrink Volume.
Step 3 – As discussed at the beginning of this section, I will create a 100 GB (100000 MB) partition. Press the Shrink button to proceed.
Step 4 – Now, in the disk management, you will see that the unallocated space is separated from the selected drive and marked in black.
All good so far? Now we have completed all the required operations on Windows OS. Let’s boot the Linux Mint Cinnamon image from the USB flash drive.
Boot Linux Mint from USB Storage
For Linux Mint bootup and Chrome OS installation, we will have to perform a few operations in PC BIOS.
Step 1 – Shut down the Windows PC if running. Boot into the BIOS menu. For doing that, start your PC and continuously press the F2 or DEL key on the keyboard. Your PC might have a different key set for booting into the BIOS. Refer to the below table and find out the right key.
| Brands | BIOS Key |
|---|---|
| Acer | F2 or DEL |
| ASUS | F2 for all PCs, F2 or DEL for motherboards |
| Dell | F2 or F12 |
| HP | ESC or F10 |
| Lenovo (Laptops) | F2 or Fn + F2 |
| Lenovo (Desktops) | F1 |
| Lenovo (Thinkpads) | Enter + F1 |
| MSI | DEL for motherboards and PCs |
| Origin PC | F2 |
| Samsung | F2 |
| Sony | F1, F2, or F3 |
| Toshiba | F2 |
BIOS Menu keys for various Brands
Step 2 – In the BIOS, navigate to the Boot tab and disable Fast Boot. Also, check if you have CSM (Compatibility Support Module) option. If present, set it to Disabled because we are using a UFEI mode. If you want to use Legacy mode, you can keep the CSM option enabled.
Step 3 – Now that we want to boot Linux Mint instead of Windows, we need to change the boot order. Move USB Storage at the top so that BIOS will boot our USB flash drive.
Step 4 – Navigate to the Security tab and look for Secure Boot Control or a similar option. If enabled, change it to Disabled. Without disabling the secure boot function, you can’t boot the Chrome OS even after a successful installation.
Step 5 – Finally, press the F10 key to save the changes and exit the BIOS. Your PC shall restart, and you will see the following Linux Mint Menu. Press Enter to proceed.
At this point, you should have entered into the Linux Mint Cinnamon OS.
Install Chrome OS
Step 1 – Once you see the Linux Mint interface, connect your PC to the Internet using ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. The Chrome OS installer requires an active internet connection to fetch necessary libraries and dependencies.
Step 2 – Now, double-click the Computer icon on the desktop and navigate to the drive where you have kept the Chrome OS folder.
Step 3 – Right-click on the blank white space and select the Open in Terminal option. A terminal window pointing to the Chrome OS folder shall open.
Shell Commands
Step 4 – Enter the following command in the Terminal window.
sudo sh multi_install.sh
Step 5 – The installer will ask you whether to download the required files and continue the installation. Press y and hit Enter key.
Step 6 – Following the installation, a window will appear, and it’s nothing but a Linux disk partition tool GParted.
- If you have multiple drives connected to your PC, then make sure that the correct hard disk is visible at the top right side.
- Select the entry named unallocated.
- Click on the plus icon located at the top left to create a partition.
Making NTFS Partition for Chrome OS
Step 7 – Enter 44000 (or any multiple of 22000) in the New size field. Enter Chrome OS in the partition name field and choose File system as NTFS. Press Add button.
Step 8 – Click the check icon located at the top to start the partitioning process. It will take hardly a few seconds to complete.
Step 9 – Note the partition name, as we’ll need it in the next step. My partition here is sda3. Now, close the partition creation window so that the script in the terminal proceeds further.
Step 10 – The installer script will ask for the partition name. Enter the one that you noted in the previous step.
Partition writing process and Errors
Step 11 – Check the size and name of the entered partition. It is a confirmation. If everything looks ok, then type yes and hit the enter key. The script will start creating various volumes, and you should see the progress bar arrows as it writes.
Now, don’t panic if you get this error – grub-install: error: failed to get canonical path of ‘/cow’. Head over to the troubleshooting section located at the of this guide and get it fixed.
Step 12 – One partition creation finishes, a grub customizer window will pop up. You don’t need to perform any actions here so, close the window.
Step 13 – Now, the final thing in the Linux Mint is to copy the brunch code as shown in the image below. To do that, select the code using the cursor and press Ctrl + Shift + C key combination to copy it.
Step 14 – Navigate to the Chrome OS folder. Create a notepad file by right-clicking and selecting Empty Document. Paste the code that you copied in the previous step.
Step 15 – Finally, shut down Linux Mint, remove the USB, and hit Enter key.
Dual Boot Windows with Chrome OS
You have effectively hooked up Chrome OS along with Windows, however, to run it, we want to feature its boot access for it to be bootable. We’ll use the Grub2win software for this job.
Step 2 – Open the Grub2Win application and make sure it says Secure Boot is Not Enabled.
Step 3 – Now, click on the Manage Boot Menu button and perform the following steps.
- Select Type as Submenu.
- Enter Title as Chrome OS.
- Click on the Edit Custom Code button.
Step 4 – Go to the Chrome OS folder and open the text file we saved before shutting down Linux Mint OS.
Step 5 – Paste the text in the “Custom Code” field as shown below. Click on Apply and close the window.
Step 6 – Move the Chrome OS position upwards as it will be easy to select it at the startup. Close the Grub2win application and restart the system.
Booting into the Chrome OS using Grub2Win Menu
1. When the system restarts, you’ll see the Grub2Win menu. Press down the key to select Chrome OS as a highlighted row.
2. BIOS will execute the code that we pasted while creating a Chrome OS boot entry in the Grub2Win application, and eventually Brunch framework will fire up.
3. Woohoooo! There you go, guys! You have successfully booted into the Chrome OS.
You can now set up your Google account and have fun using Chrome OS alongside your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. Move to the Troubleshoot section if any hardware device or WiFi is not working on the Chrome OS.
Keep in mind, before you log into the Google account, you are officially not allowed to run Chrome OS with Play Store support on non-certified machines. In some ways or the other, you might be violating Google’s terms and conditions. So, we recommend you sign in with a secondary Google account so that your primary account remains safe.
Chrome OS Screenshots
Uninstall Chrome OS From Windows PC
Installing Chrome OS on Windows partition is one lengthy procedure. But when we talk about its uninstallation, it is simple. Just boot into Windows OS and open the Disk Management tool. Locate the Chrome OS partition we created at the beginning of this guide, right-click on it, and select format.
Similarly, open the Grub2Win application. Delete the Chrome OS entry we added and save the changes.
Troubleshooting (Updated November 2021)
1. Fix grub-install: error: failed to get canonical path of ‘/cow’
So, you do come across this error, eh? That’s no problem. We’ll fix it by writing some quick commands in the terminal.
Step 1 – Since there is already one instance of the terminal running, keep it as it is. Open another Terminal window and enter the following commands one by one.
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=1 of=cowfile
mkfs -t vfat cowfile
su mv cowfile /cow
Step 2 – After finishing all the commands, close the second instance of the Terminal. Click on the Environment settings button, a dialogue with various options shall appear. Click apply.
Step 3 – Upon applying the Environment settings, the Grub Customizer windows will show up. We don’t need to do anything here so, just close it.
2. Fix Chrome OS Wifi, Bluetooth, Touchscreen Display not working
If you face issues with specific hardware components while using the Chrome OS, you can try Chrome’s Crash terminal to make them work.
Fix Chrome OS Bluetooth issue
Step 1 – Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Crosh Terminal and enter the following commands one by one.
shell
sudo edit-grub-config
Step 2 – Now, you can add support for your specific device hardware. You can find the complete set of commands from here. For instance, if you have an RT3289LE or RT3290 Bluetooth device, then you can add “options=rtbth” (with quotes) at the end of cros_debug and before the loop.max.
Step 3 – Now, press Ctrl + X, hit the Y key, and then press enter to save the file. Restart your PC, and this time Bluetooth should work fine.
Fix Chrome OS WiFi issue
Step 1 – Find out the manufacturer of your WiFi card.
Enjoy Chrome OS and Windows together on a Single Machine
So, that’s how you may defloration Windows and Chrome OS at an identical difficult disk and boot each OS from an unmarried machine. The steps can be complicated and prolonged for novices however if you’ve handled Linux before, it’s a smooth mission that will twin boot Windows eleven and Chrome OS.
That’s all from us on this guide. I desire you loved it! If you face any troubles whilst acting the above steps, then publish your feedback below. We’ll attempt out excellent that will help you out.
