Chromium OS is Google's open-source project which houses the code that eventually becomes ChromeOS and is installed on Chromebooks and boxes. However, Chromium can be freely downloaded and manipulated to run on various platforms.

The work I present here started back in 2014 when a colleague of mine was working on a way to install Chromium OS on some old laptops. At the same time, I had found ArnoldTheBat's website. Through the work of ArnoldTheBat and some instructions from my colleague, I've been testing and retesting with lots of reading. I will try to give details here.

Last year I created a video, right. It shows the steps I will outline below. Head over to arnoldthebat.co.uk and do a bit of reading. I will outline the details here.

You will need:
  • A USB disk of 4Gb or greater (and willing to lose all data on it)
  • A computer to test it on (I have successfully tested this on many Toshiba Tecra and Satellite models as well as Dell 2120 netbooks)
  • Either a Linux-based computer (Mac is fine) or a Windows computer with an Internet connection
Step 1 - Download and create a USB disk image:
You will download a disk "image". It is a bit-for-bit copy of a usable ChromiumOS setup.
Windows (easier)
* Download Win32 Disk Imager (and install it)
* Insert your USB drive into your Windows machine
* Load the disk image and click on 'Write'
* Wait for it to finish and then eject the disk

< Screenshots coming but watch my video for exact steps >		 Mac & Linux (easy but slow)
* Open a terminal (up to you to figure that out)
* Find out where your USB drive is (insert it!)
   $ diskutil list   (on Mac - see here for Linux)

* It will be something like /dev/disk1 or /dev/disk2 but copying to the USB is faster if we use rdisk instead of disk. (Why? <- thanks to Chris Atkinson for that.)
* To copy the image to your USB, you will use:
   $ sudo dd if=folder/chromiumos_image.img of=/dev/rdisk# bs=4m
    Where # is the number of your USB drive.

* Enter your password and wait (a long time - be patient, mine took 30 min)
* Once the command prompt is back, it's done. Eject the disk
    Note: I'm curious if you can use UNetbootin to do this faster...

Step 2 - Boot from the USB:
Booting from the USB drive depends on your model of computer. Google it with your model for help. (FAQ. Can I install from a burnt disc?  A. Nope)

Now you'll start finding out if your device is compatible!

When you boot from the USB, you will see some text and then the screen should turn grey with the blue Chromium icon. Eventually you should see a setup dialog. If this doesn't happen, your device might not be compatible. <Screenshots coming - watch video>

If you don't get the setup window, you might have a lot of reading to do (or you might be out of luck). The video drivers might not be supported for your device - Google only includes a select few. ArnoldTheBat is trying to insert as many as he can to broaden compatibility.