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McButton · (This post was last modified: 2014-04-30, 07:29 by McButton.)

All done. That took minutes from factory to OE. What the heck?
Now it boots to OE in about 2 seconds. Blammo! Win to the win.

I still had to hit ESC-F3 right when I got down with the boot flags and put the OE stick in. It just kept booting to the legacy and freezing with no option. I hit that, it immediately asked which drive, I picked the stick. 1min later, done.

I'll probably get an MCE. The receiver is huge. I had one and gave it away with my PC thinking I'd never use it....because I didn't. My PC came with 2 remotes too. Dang. Now I have a keyboard. Unless I can get my game controllers or something to pair. No biggie. :\

knives of ice · 2014-04-30, 09:01

FLIRC is the way to go especially if you are using a harmony remote. the IR reception on the flirc is fantastic and its really simple to get up and running quickly for xbmc

McButton · 2014-04-30, 14:53

Nice. I have IR for my cable box...and TV. At least it would get me by until I figured out something better. The MCE remotes look like my cable one anyway..... I guess thats cool. I do always have my phones to fall back on.

Hostirad · 2014-04-30, 23:44

Just went through an experience similar to McButton's. Thought I had everything set up: installed Ubuntu alongside Chrome, installed XBMC, and tried watching a show via Icefilms. Seemed to work although audio was messed up. But when I rebooted I got stuck in the black screen / booting the kernel hangup. Was finally able to restore to factory and am trying again, following each step more closely. Stuck now on making the ChromeOS backup. I run the chromeos-install command as per the wiki, and start getting messages about partitions being installed to the removable media:
Installing partition 12 to /dev/sdb
Installing partition 11 to /dev/sdb
etc. until
Installing partition 5 to /dev/sdb
then there is a very long wait, screen goes black, system reboots. Ctrl-U does not boot USB or SD card (I've tried both), but Ctrl-L followed by ESC allows me to choose 2, the removable device. But then system says booting from hard drive.
It would seem that the ChromeOS is not being completely installed on the USB stick or SD card. Suggestions?

McButton · (This post was last modified: 2014-05-01, 02:52 by McButton.)

Yes! Something I can answer!

Go HERE and down to step 2. Download the program to your PC. Pick your ChromeOS version and install to your stick or sd. If you check in Windows, the drive will show 0mb and ask you to format. This is ok.
Put the sick in Chromebox, power on, put it on the missing/error OS screen and go.

IF, Chromebox says the media file is invalid or not a Chrome backup, you must do it again in your PC while in SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING . I don't know why. It should work fine that way. Pretty much boots you back to start.

Also, if you're such on the black screen, you can hold esc+f3 seems to get you to the OS verify screen while the BIOS boots. I also found holding crtl-D works in some case, but only when turning it on.

Hope that helps.

I like how most of us have had accounts for years but only now start making posts. Me included.

We should compile a troubleshoot guide for this thing now. I feel like I can program it with my eyes closed now. So frustrating. Thanks to Matt Devo for being awesome!

Hostirad · 2014-05-01, 15:27

Thanks for responding, McButton. As far as I can determine, the reason I ended up trapped in the black screen is that I had used the following command from the wiki, sudo set_gbb_flags.sh 0x489, which sets the default boot to legacy BIOS and the delay time to one second. I guess for most people this is not a problem, but if the legacy BIOS fails to work (as it did in my case), there is no obvious recovery. With only a one-second delay, there did not seem to be a way to intervene. Perhaps Esc-F3 would have worked if I had known about it--I'll have to make a record of that. The way I finally escaped was to hold down Ctrl-D *before* I powered on the machine, which took me to the Chrome screen and gave me an opportunity to reset the gbb_flags.

I don't think I was clear enough on the problem I had with making a ChromeOS backup. The problem is not with creating a restore USB stick--I did that no problem and that is how I restored my machine back to factory specs. The problem is with creating a copy of the ChromeOS from the Chromebox hard disk to a USB stick or SD card in order to be able to boot the operating system from one of those external media. I followed the instructions exactly as described in the wiki, http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=ASU...SB.2FSD.29 . When I execute step 3,

sudo chromeos-install --skip_src_removable --skip_dst_removable --skip_vblock --dst /dev/sdb,

It looks like the copying process starts just fine. I get a number of messages indicating that partitions are being installed to /dev/sdb, starting with partition 12 and counting down. There is one warning after the installation of partition 11:
WARNING; DOING A SLOW ddOPERATION. PLEASE FIX.
but there is no indication that this is a fatal error, as the process continues. I get a message
16384 + 0 records in
16384 + 0 records out
8388608 bytes (8.4MB) copied
after the warning.
After messages indicating installing partitions 10, 9, and 8, there is a message
8 + 0 records in
8+ 0 records out
16777216 bytes (17MB) copied
and then further messages about installing partitions 7, 6, and 5.

It is after the message "Installing partition 5 to /dev/sdb" that there is a long period of no reported activity, the system reboots, and I find that Ctrl-U just causes a beeping noise, and Ctrl-L followed by ESC and choosing the USB stick or SD card does not run the OS from these media. Instead, a message about booting from the hard disk appears. That is what leads me to think that the process of copying the OS to the external media failed at partition 5.

I've followed directions to that point scrupulously, including flashing the BIOS with John Lewis's version that is supposed to enable Ctrl-U and setting the developer boot flags as described in step 1.4 in the wiki. Because the wiki says, "It is highly recommended that you create a backup/USB copy of ChromeOS," I am reluctant to proceed past step 1.5 until I successfully create the bootable USB stick or SD card. Again, suggestions on completing this step successfully would be appreciated.

McButton · 2014-05-01, 16:04

Yes. Ctrl+D worked here too. You can restore everything. I did the same steps. I was right there and got mine back to factory.

Now, to boot the OS from usb, I've never got. I wonder if there are Chromebox versions that won't allow it? I got there 3 times, and wouldn't boot from different devices. Just click then nothing. I only cared about OE anyway, so I let that part go. I have no use for Chrome OS. OE works fine =/

Netix · (This post was last modified: 2014-05-01, 19:41 by Netix.)

I Oh man.. that was tedious.. Installed Ubuntu 14.04, Xbmc had stutter while playing file so I downgraded to Ubuntu 13.10 (Files looks way better in this version) with the help of McButton's save mode trick to create the Chrome Backup.. (I was going mad at home, I ended up trying 4 usb key..)

One advice to everyone dual-booting chrome os & ubuntu.. just set the firmware bootflag after you're done tinkering with Ubuntu because you're gonna have a hard time get back to the Chrome OS Terminal afterwards.

I got one problem now, my tv is an old 2009 panasonic plasma and I can't remove the overscan on the TV so I have to find a way to fix the problem within Ubuntu, I've tried to update nvidia driver to get a nvidia control pannel to fix the screen size but when I installed those drivers after I rebooted the screen went all black. I had to install bumblebee something to get my screen back. Any of you know which drivers should I install from Nvidia that could work with the ChromeBox ?

I also tried to fix the overscan with custom xrandr command and to make those commands stay with ~/.xprofile but It ended up screwing my XBMC resolution everytime I reboot.

I can fix the overscan within XBMC, I just want to be able to properly see Ubuntu desktop.

Any idea guys ?
i
Edit : Any idea what's causing those stutter ? Only on the right side of the screen : http://imgur.com/o8XeQJD The square are only visible when I switch from right to left but the line going from top to bottom are always there

Matt Devo · 2014-05-02, 03:20

(2014-04-30, 23:44)Hostirad Wrote: Just went through an experience similar to McButton's. Thought I had everything set up: installed Ubuntu alongside Chrome, installed XBMC, and tried watching a show via Icefilms. Seemed to work although audio was messed up. But when I rebooted I got stuck in the black screen / booting the kernel hangup. Was finally able to restore to factory and am trying again, following each step more closely. Stuck now on making the ChromeOS backup. I run the chromeos-install command as per the wiki, and start getting messages about partitions being installed to the removable media:
Installing partition 12 to /dev/sdb
Installing partition 11 to /dev/sdb
etc. until
Installing partition 5 to /dev/sdb
then there is a very long wait, screen goes black, system reboots. Ctrl-U does not boot USB or SD card (I've tried both), but Ctrl-L followed by ESC allows me to choose 2, the removable device. But then system says booting from hard drive.
It would seem that the ChromeOS is not being completely installed on the USB stick or SD card. Suggestions?

This puzzles me, as I don't see any messages like that ('Installing partition x to /dev/sdb') when doing the backup. The ChromeBox should not reboot automatically when complete, it should instruct you to do so.

(2014-05-01, 02:46)McButton Wrote: Yes! Something I can answer!

Go HERE and down to step 2. Download the program to your PC. Pick your ChromeOS version and install to your stick or sd. If you check in Windows, the drive will show 0mb and ask you to format. This is ok.
Put the sick in Chromebox, power on, put it on the missing/error OS screen and go.

IF, Chromebox says the media file is invalid or not a Chrome backup, you must do it again in your PC while in SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING . I don't know why. It should work fine that way. Pretty much boots you back to start.

Also, if you're such on the black screen, you can hold esc+f3 seems to get you to the OS verify screen while the BIOS boots. I also found holding crtl-D works in some case, but only when turning it on.

When the firmware boot flags are set for a short boot delay, you have to time your CTRL-D/U/L presses properly, often before the monitor has a chance to come out of sleep and sync up.

(2014-05-01, 16:04)McButton Wrote: Yes. Ctrl+D worked here too. You can restore everything. I did the same steps. I was right there and got mine back to factory.

Now, to boot the OS from usb, I've never got. I wonder if there are Chromebox versions that won't allow it? I got there 3 times, and wouldn't boot from different devices. Just click then nothing. I only cared about OE anyway, so I let that part go. I have no use for Chrome OS. OE works fine =/

All ChromeOS devices allow boot from USB with a signed ChromeOS kernel (ie, a ChromeOS backup) in developer mode with the dev_boot_usb flag set to 1. If it doesn't work for you, then either your USB stick doesn't have a valid signed ChromeOS kernel on it (in which case it will beep) or you have mis-timed your CTRL-U press, or your keyboard is one that isn't working well on the dev boot screen.

(2014-05-01, 17:27)Netix Wrote: I Oh man.. that was tedious.. Installed Ubuntu 14.04, Xbmc had stutter while playing file so I downgraded to Ubuntu 13.10 (Files looks way better in this version) with the help of McButton's save mode trick to create the Chrome Backup.. (I was going mad at home, I ended up trying 4 usb key..)

One advice to everyone dual-booting chrome os & ubuntu.. just set the firmware bootflag after you're done tinkering with Ubuntu because you're gonna have a hard time get back to the Chrome OS Terminal afterwards.

I got one problem now, my tv is an old 2009 panasonic plasma and I can't remove the overscan on the TV so I have to find a way to fix the problem within Ubuntu, I've tried to update nvidia driver to get a nvidia control pannel to fix the screen size but when I installed those drivers after I rebooted the screen went all black. I had to install bumblebee something to get my screen back. Any of you know which drivers should I install from Nvidia that could work with the ChromeBox ?

I also tried to fix the overscan with custom xrandr command and to make those commands stay with ~/.xprofile but It ended up screwing my XBMC resolution everytime I reboot.

I can fix the overscan within XBMC, I just want to be able to properly see Ubuntu desktop.

Any idea guys ?
i
Edit : Any idea what's causing those stutter ? Only on the right side of the screen : http://imgur.com/o8XeQJD The square are only visible when I switch from right to left but the line going from top to bottom are always there

Are you sure you can't remove the overscan via the service menu? That's going to be a lot easier than trying to do it via Ubuntu.

McButton · 2014-05-02, 03:21

When doing the backup, mine stopped at 5 as well..then did nothing. The Safe Mode thing was the only way I could do mine.

Netix · 2014-05-02, 03:27

Well my tv model is TC-P50C1 I've looked everywhere and it doesn't seem there's a way to remove overscan. I can live with the overscan but any idea about the glitch you can see in the picture? It does that when I switch the menu from left to right

Matt Devo · 2014-05-02, 06:02

(2014-05-02, 03:21)McButton Wrote: When doing the backup, mine stopped at 5 as well..then did nothing. The Safe Mode thing was the only way I could do mine.

what does Windows safe mode have to do with creating the backup?

(2014-05-02, 03:27)Netix Wrote: Well my tv model is TC-P50C1 I've looked everywhere and it doesn't seem there's a way to remove overscan. I can live with the overscan but any idea about the glitch you can see in the picture? It does that when I switch the menu from left to right

are you outputting the native panel resolution of 1366 x 768? That's what it needs to be set to. Also, in the menu, Menu --> Picture --> Advanced Picture --> HD Size, set it to 2 (1 is default).

Netix · (This post was last modified: 2014-05-02, 07:30 by Netix.)

(2014-05-02, 06:02)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2014-05-02, 03:27)Netix Wrote: Well my tv model is TC-P50C1 I've looked everywhere and it doesn't seem there's a way to remove overscan. I can live with the overscan but any idea about the glitch you can see in the picture? It does that when I switch the menu from left to right

are you outputting the native panel resolution of 1366 x 768? That's what it needs to be set to. Also, in the menu, Menu --> Picture --> Advanced Picture --> HD Size, set it to 2 (1 is default).

I tried to output the resolution to 1366 x 768, Ubuntu doesn't have that choice. It's either 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080.

H size is grayed out at Size 1 on the Panasonic Advanced Picture menu.. any idea how to ungray it ?
Edit : I was able to ungray it by changing the format size of the image but it makes the overscan worst..

- I think I just have to find the correct Nvidia driver for the Chromebox that does work and I will be able to use nvidia tools to reduce the overscan..

- So i'm using MySQL database and everything is working fine but when I launch something in Tv Show it's instant but in Movie it take like 20-35 sec to launch the movie. Any idea ? Is it because i've got more movie in the movie folder then tv show in the tv show folder ?

McButton · 2014-05-02, 07:44

Matt: The Chromebox would not backup to any flash drive or sd card. ANY. I tried about 7. I even used an external HD. Same result. It just froze and wrote nothing to the card.

I can use the Restore program provided by Google, but at the very last second, at 100%, an error pops up and won't push through. Both PCs did the same thing. Apparently this is a "thing" as I saw it online in many forums.

I put my PC in SAFE MODE w/ Networking, ran the program, it went through fine. I put the disc into the Chromebox, and it restored back to factory. Win.

Matt Devo · 2014-05-02, 09:13

(2014-05-02, 06:15)Netix Wrote: I tried to output the resolution to 1366 x 768, Ubuntu doesn't have that choice. It's either 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080.

H size is grayed out at Size 1 on the Panasonic Advanced Picture menu.. any idea how to ungray it ?
Edit : I was able to ungray it by changing the format size of the image but it makes the overscan worst..

- I think I just have to find the correct Nvidia driver for the Chromebox that does work and I will be able to use nvidia tools to reduce the overscan..

- So i'm using MySQL database and everything is working fine but when I launch something in Tv Show it's instant but in Movie it take like 20-35 sec to launch the movie. Any idea ? Is it because i've got more movie in the movie folder then tv show in the tv show folder ?

The ChromeBox has an integrated Intel HD4000 video chip, using Nvidia drivers/tools isn't going to help. You'll likely need to look into setting a custom video resolution in Ubuntu. Your TV should be set to 'Full' mode.

Not sure on the movie launch time, mine are instant regardless of type or file size.

(2014-05-02, 07:44)McButton Wrote: Matt: The Chromebox would not backup to any flash drive or sd card. ANY. I tried about 7. I even used an external HD. Same result. It just froze and wrote nothing to the card.

I can use the Restore program provided by Google, but at the very last second, at 100%, an error pops up and won't push through. Both PCs did the same thing. Apparently this is a "thing" as I saw it online in many forums.

I put my PC in SAFE MODE w/ Networking, ran the program, it went through fine. I put the disc into the Chromebox, and it restored back to factory. Win.

bizarre. What version of windows are you trying to make the recovery media from?