[meganoob]

Hi, I mostly don't know what I'm doing.  I have an old Asus Chromebox CN60.  Everything was cool except recently I was no longer able to launch the plex player from chrome so I've started to look for alternatives.

I'm attempting to use the E-Z setup script and everything is mostly going okay until a point.

I first put the system into dev mode.  From here I was seeing if I could boot from a USB thumb drive to Ubuntu just to see if I could stream over plex that way.  As I'm sure many here are aware the Chromebox won't let me boot from USB.  Then I discovered MrChromebox.tech.  Great!

I updated the BIOS to the MRChromebox BIOS (RW_LEGACY).  I tried Ubuntu but it was pretty slow and buggy so I started looking for alternatives.

Then I noticed the Kodi E-Z setup script and I thought this sounded like just the ticket for a guy like me

So I ran script from the command line.  I created a 4GB partition, let the repair happen and then installed LibreELEC alongside my Chrome OS.  So far everything was going fine.  But now when I boot the system and press CTRL-L I hang at boot.  The screen just shows "booting from hard disk..."  and it hangs there forever.  Chrome still boots up fine and I can see that I'm short 4 GB of storage when I check from Chrome OS.

After this I tried to install GalliumsOS/Ubuntu using the E-Z script but there is an error/warning about needing to use something else so it never installed.

At this point I did a powerwash and tried installing LibreELEC again.  I didn't expect this to matter but I figured I'd try.  Still the same thing where I press CTRL-L at boot and it hangs.

What do I need to do here?  Hopefully I've provided enough information.  I'm sure somewhere in the 100s of pages of this thread the answer is there but I haven't found it yet!  Thanks for all the hard work that some folks out there have already done just to get me to this point.

dang it forgot to add this tag:  /u/MrChromebox

[meganoob]

Hi, I mostly don't know what I'm doing.  I have an old Asus Chromebox CN60.  Everything was cool except recently I was no longer able to launch the plex player from chrome so I've started to look for alternatives.

I'm attempting to use the E-Z setup script and everything is mostly going okay until a point.

I first put the system into dev mode.  From here I was seeing if I could boot from a USB thumb drive to Ubuntu just to see if I could stream over plex that way.  As I'm sure many here are aware the Chromebox won't let me boot from USB.  Then I discovered MrChromebox.tech.  Great!

I updated the BIOS to the MRChromebox BIOS (RW_LEGACY).  I tried Ubuntu but it was pretty slow and buggy so I started looking for alternatives.

Then I noticed the Kodi E-Z setup script and I thought this sounded like just the ticket for a guy like me

So I ran script from the command line.  I created a 4GB partition, let the repair happen and then installed LibreELEC alongside my Chrome OS.  So far everything was going fine.  But now when I boot the system and press CTRL-L I hang at boot.  The screen just shows "booting from hard disk..."  and it hangs there forever.  Chrome still boots up fine and I can see that I'm short 4 GB of storage when I check from Chrome OS.

After this I tried to install GalliumsOS/Ubuntu using the E-Z script but there is an error/warning about needing to use something else so it never installed.

At this point I did a powerwash and tried installing LibreELEC again.  I didn't expect this to matter but I figured I'd try.  Still the same thing where I press CTRL-L at boot and it hangs.

What do I need to do here?  Hopefully I've provided enough information.  I'm sure somewhere in the 100s of pages of this thread the answer is there but I haven't found it yet!  Thanks for all the hard work that some folks out there have already done just to get me to this point.

dang it forgot to add this tag:  /u/MrChromebox

I see that tag is for reddit LOL.  sorry about that.

I'd also like to add I tried to make a bootable USB drive of LibreELEC using the E-Z tool but that failed.  I can't recall the error now.

[Matt Devo]

Hi, I mostly don't know what I'm doing.  I have an old Asus Chromebox CN60.  Everything was cool except recently I was no longer able to launch the plex player from chrome so I've started to look for alternatives.

I'm attempting to use the E-Z setup script and everything is mostly going okay until a point.

I first put the system into dev mode.  From here I was seeing if I could boot from a USB thumb drive to Ubuntu just to see if I could stream over plex that way.  As I'm sure many here are aware the Chromebox won't let me boot from USB.  Then I discovered MrChromebox.tech.  Great!

I updated the BIOS to the MRChromebox BIOS (RW_LEGACY).  I tried Ubuntu but it was pretty slow and buggy so I started looking for alternatives.

Then I noticed the Kodi E-Z setup script and I thought this sounded like just the ticket for a guy like me

So I ran script from the command line.  I created a 4GB partition, let the repair happen and then installed LibreELEC alongside my Chrome OS.  So far everything was going fine.  But now when I boot the system and press CTRL-L I hang at boot.  The screen just shows "booting from hard disk..."  and it hangs there forever.  Chrome still boots up fine and I can see that I'm short 4 GB of storage when I check from Chrome OS.

After this I tried to install GalliumsOS/Ubuntu using the E-Z script but there is an error/warning about needing to use something else so it never installed.

At this point I did a powerwash and tried installing LibreELEC again.  I didn't expect this to matter but I figured I'd try.  Still the same thing where I press CTRL-L at boot and it hangs.

What do I need to do here?  Hopefully I've provided enough information.  I'm sure somewhere in the 100s of pages of this thread the answer is there but I haven't found it yet!  Thanks for all the hard work that some folks out there have already done just to get me to this point.

so, the CN60 is now EOL (end of life) for ChromeOS, and will no longer get updates (security or otherwise). I also seem to recall Google breaking legacy boot mode in one of the last few updates. My recommendation is to follow the instructions to install the UEFI firmware, then boot whatever OS you want to run from USB and install to the internal SSD, be it LibreELEC, Ubuntu, etc. That will give you the most capable/flexible device. If you want to run ChromeOS still, you can install a newer build via Brunch (after flashing the UEFI firmware) and then run another OS from USB/SD. But for straight Kodi use, I'd just install LE.

The EZ Setup script was previously trying to install an older version of LE, which is why the download failed. It should be fixed now.

Also, no need to tag me, I'm notified on all posts to this thread

[meganoob]

So to update to UEFI firmware I can use the EZ Setup script or the ChromeOS Firmware Utility Script?  It seems like they both might support it.

After I do this will I still have chrome OS or will I now be going down the path of needing to install LibreELEC?

I think the answer to that question is "no more chrome OS" so assuming I'm right about that are there instructions on creating a LibreELEC/Kodi bootable USB drive so I can get that installed?

I'm not very familiar with LibreELEC or Kodi.  Is LibreELEC a fully fledged OS on it's own that has good driver and browser support?  If I can continue to use this box to browse the internet, stream amazon prime, plex, youtube, etc. that would be great.  I currently use this box as an "HTPC" with an old 60" plasma (space heater!) TV.

Thanks for the response and help

[meganoob]

I did a little reading and it seems like LibreELEC might not support much in the way of browsers.  Originally I was thinking I'd still have ChromeOS if I needed it but if I go down this path I'd prefer to just run one OS for simplicity.  Is there another good option that is pretty easy to setup on the CN60 that would fulfill my wants?

[Matt Devo]

I did a little reading and it seems like LibreELEC might not support much in the way of browsers.  Originally I was thinking I'd still have ChromeOS if I needed it but if I go down this path I'd prefer to just run one OS for simplicity.  Is there another good option that is pretty easy to setup on the CN60 that would fulfill my wants?

after flashing the UEFI firmware, you can run any OS you want on the box without issue for the most part. For a remote-controlled media center, LE is hard to beat. And you can use the Chromium browser add-on as well as others for streaming

[meganoob]

I did a little reading and it seems like LibreELEC might not support much in the way of browsers.  Originally I was thinking I'd still have ChromeOS if I needed it but if I go down this path I'd prefer to just run one OS for simplicity.  Is there another good option that is pretty easy to setup on the CN60 that would fulfill my wants?

after flashing the UEFI firmware, you can run any OS you want on the box without issue for the most part. For a remote-controlled media center, LE is hard to beat. And you can use the Chromium browser add-on as well as others for streaming

after I flash UEFI will I still be able to get into the Chrome OS so I can run the EZ-setup again?  Will I also have an opportunity to remove the partition on the HD so I just have the one large partition?

[Matt Devo]

after I flash UEFI will I still be able to get into the Chrome OS so I can run the EZ-setup again?

 no, unless you reinstall a newer ChromeOS build using Brunch. But there's no need to run the script again afterwards. If you need to create LE Install media, just use their homemade tool from another device. The EZ setup script just offers that function for convenience.

 Will I also have an opportunity to remove the partition on the HD so I just have the one large partition?

Your do that as part of your OS install (most OS will do this as part of a clean install), nothing to do with firmware. Generally speaking you should just accept the OS installer defaults for partitioning, creating your own is not advised

[Soli]

You might know this but I was pleasantly surprised:

Chrome OS on the first generation of boxes can display 1080p/120hz on a proper HDMI 2.1 input. (I know.. it’s technically possible with a 1.4 input..but no TV has offered a 120hz mode until HDMI 2.1.

It’s very smooth and should be possible with LE or plain ubuntu too. A 120hz GUI would be smooth as silk.

[meganoob]

I flashed the UEFI on my CN60.

I also created a bootable SD card using the windows utility found here: https://libreelec.tv/downloads/

I selected generic (listed Intel) when I created the bootable SD card.

When I use this SD card (in a USB adaptor) in the Chromebox I am able to start the process of installing LE but when I get to the point of selecting a place to install it my only option is the SD card.  There is no option to choose the internal HD in the Chromebox.  What am I doing wrong here?

[meganoob]

My mistake, that was the internal hard drive I was seeing. All installed, now I'm wondering how to use this OS lol!

[meganoob]

Thanks for all the help.  After messing with LE/Kodi it was a little more light weight than I'm comfortable with.  Mostly lack of experience on my part.  I tried Ubuntu again but again it was immediately crashing and required some work to get things like Plex or Amazon prime streaming to work.  Then I remembered cloudready which I have successfully used on old PCs in the past.  That seems to work pretty well.  A very similar experience to just using Chrome but now Plex works again.

[Matt Devo]

Thanks for all the help.  After messing with LE/Kodi it was a little more light weight than I'm comfortable with.  Mostly lack of experience on my part.  I tried Ubuntu again but again it was immediately crashing and required some work to get things like Plex or Amazon prime streaming to work.  Then I remembered cloudready which I have successfully used on old PCs in the past.  That seems to work pretty well.  A very similar experience to just using Chrome but now Plex works again.

I'm not sure why you'd have issues with Ubuntu, their OOTB config is sane and there aren't any known issues with the 5.x kernel/i915 drivers on Haswell of which I'm aware

[meganoob]

Thanks for all the help.  After messing with LE/Kodi it was a little more light weight than I'm comfortable with.  Mostly lack of experience on my part.  I tried Ubuntu again but again it was immediately crashing and required some work to get things like Plex or Amazon prime streaming to work.  Then I remembered cloudready which I have successfully used on old PCs in the past.  That seems to work pretty well.  A very similar experience to just using Chrome but now Plex works again.

I'm not sure why you'd have issues with Ubuntu, their OOTB config is sane and there aren't any known issues with the 5.x kernel/i915 drivers on Haswell of which I'm aware

yeah - first thing there would be some kind of crash.  Ubuntu would recover. FF opened very slowly and then I couldn't get Amazon or Plex to stream out of the box.  I'm sure it can be made to work but I'm going the path of least resistance here.  I'll stop cluttering up this thread now.  again, many thanks!

[NoLimit99]

Thanks for all the help, great forum for noobs. I'm a long time user of an Asus CN60 with few issues till i decided to update from OpenELEC to LibreELEC, yeah I know I'm about a decade late. A little knowledge is dangerous and I ended up corrupting OpenELEC. All my recovery media was created from a Windows 10 PC after getting the the write error on the chromebox due to insufficient space while created from the chromebox. My issue was I couldn't restore ChromeOS, I had a few different outcomes from black screen to nothing happening at all, all along i suspected the recovery media wasn't right. After making many recovery USBs and LibreELEC USBs I managed to get it working with a LibreELEC USB , changed boot order ETC. I stumbled across a post about similar issues and suggested downloading the image from a third party website , then use the local image option in the recovery setting menu. Worked spot on and after running scripts and re partitioning HDD was working perfect again on Kodi 18-Leia. Cheers hope I save someone a few days.