C710 Firmware Package

For anyone lacking a valid backup of their original Chrome OS firmware, I've constructed a ROM image with an invalid serial number from my C710-2847 (the launch model).

C710 Firmware.zip

I've included instructions on how to modify the image to match your actual device before you flash it, which I strongly recommend.  I can't predict how Google functionality may be effected by an invalid serial number or the default  firmware hardware ID.

Also, please note that these instructions may be specific for the C710-2847 so pay attention if you have another model.  There's only one recovery image for the C710, so I'm confident the firmware will work on all models.  But, you may need to change more than 8 digits of the serial number with other models, IDK.

[Edit]  If you have a C710-842G32ii, then I recommend using the BIOS.BIN contained in the shellball (which is also included).  For an explanation & discussion of the implications - see the comments below - specifically, my conversation with Schokobecher.

C720 News

According to Jay Lee (Author of the Chrubuntu Script), "Ron Minnich has confirmed all the post-Pixel x86 Chrome devices should do SeaBIOS CTRL+L legacy boot."  Reference

Makes one wonder why the pre-Pixel 3rd generation Intel devices haven't been given this ability.  I realize that upgrading the firmware isn't something most people would want to do, but the slot in the C710 firmware was left full of zeros anyway, so ... why not?

General Advice on Flashing Firmware

I guess relatively few people are as paranoid as I am, but given the ease and speed of flashing from CrOS or Linux on the C710 itself, I suggest the following process:

1. Before you flash an image, create a backup (BACKUP.BIN) of the current firmware and generate an md5sum for it.
2. Now, generate an md5sum for the image you're about to flash, let's say NEW_FW.BIN.
3. Flash the image.
4. Even if everything appears to go perfectly, create a backup of the firmware again, i.e. READBACK.BIN and either compare it to NEW_FW.BIN  or (I prefer to) generate an md5sum for READBACK.BIN and compare the md5sums of the two.

This will allow you to revert to the state of the firmware before you started (with your BACKUP.BIN) and guarantee that the EEPROM now contains what you intended.

How To ... Reconstruct your Firmware from an Invalid Backup

If you're stuck with an invalid backup of your factory firmware because you followed some other geek's flawed instructions ;), the best solution is to reconstruct your firmware by replacing the first 2 MB of code in your backup ROM image with the first 2 MB of code from the default C710 firmware (bios.bin in the shellball). This replaces the Intel Management Engine, which is the part that's trashed in the backup, but keeps the rest of your original ROM intact.

You want to keep the rest intact because the firmware contains the serial number of your C710 which is used by Google in some manner - I don't know exactly how.  So, anyway, here's the Intel Management Engine:

Download

Un-zipped, this file should be exactly 2048 kb or 2 MB. You need to replace the first 2 MB of your ROM backup with this 2 MB. So, the resulting COMBINED.ROM file will still be 8 MB in size. Then you can flash the COMBINED.ROM and you should be back to factory (or close enough).  

There are many ways to accomplish this, I used a Hex Editor to open my BACKUP.ROM and 01_SI_ALL.BIN, selected all of 01_SI_ALL.BIN, copied it to the clipboard, pasted it over the first 2 MB of BACKUP.ROM and then saved the new combined file as COMBINED.ROM.  Describing the process was more difficult than performing it, trust me.  And there are much simpler methods using the command line, but I hate typing, so you're on your own there! ;)

Special thanks to Chusheng Zheng for giving me a push to finally document this stuff!

Promote C7 Development Efforts

If you can spare a few bucks for the cause, John Lewis is accepting donations for the purchase of an Acer C7 and other gear in his Coreboot+SeaBIOS project.  He's already come a long way in his quest to "open up" Chromebooks and is certainly deserving of our support.  If you'd like to have the option of using your  Chromebook as a more all-purpose laptop, he's definitely the horse to bet on in this race!

http://johnlewis.ie/

How To ... Turn a Brick back into a Chromebook!

As long as you have a valid backup of your original firmware, you can restore your C7 by following these instructions.

But, before you go any further, double check the contents of your backup at address 0x00001000 (like with a Hex Editor).  If that byte contains 0xFF, then your backup is invalid and will brick your C7 again, so STOP!  I will address this situation in another post soon.

OK now, first of all, you'll need the following gear:
1. A Bus Pirate
2. A Bus Pirate Probe cable
3. A Pomona 5250 SOIC Clip
Do not substitute the 3M part for the Pomona, as it won't work.  The Bus Pirate is an inexpensive hacker's tool that can serve as an external chip programmer.  It's supported by flashrom and although painfully slow, it does the job quite well.  It all cost me ~$60 including shipping.

This presentation will provide a good step-by-step guide to disassembling your C7 to get access to the EEPROM which is on the top side of the  motherboard (MB), under the keyboard.  It looks like a horrible nightmare, but thanks to these guys, it really isn't too difficult.  However, I do recommend disconnecting both the keyboard and the trackpad, their cables and connectors are too fragile to risk leaving connected, IMHO.  I will admit that reconnecting them is a royal PITA, though.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzig09VSdjW1azRKaEtqZk5MZW8/edit?usp=sharing

Here's an ASCII diagram detailing how to connect the Bus Pirate (BP) to the C7's EEPROM.

TXT
PNG

On my MB, the chip is a Macronix MX25L6406E, but yours might differ.  You should also be aware that there's more than one probe cable design and the color schemes vary.  I'm using the Seeed Studio probe cable design.  For more info on the BP, consult:
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Bus_Pirate

For instructions on programming the EEPROM, consult this authority:
http://johnlewis.ie/unbricking-a-samsung-series-5-550-chromebook/
He's using a Samsung 550 Chromebook, but the procedure is the same.  The C7's battery pack is, of course, removable.  So, as long as the battery is disconnected, it's already "cut."

Important Discovery to Prevent Bricking

Through rigorous application of the experimental method, I have discovered that (at least on the C7) a valid backup of the firmware is only possible with hardware (HW) write-protect (WP) disabled.  In this context, software (SW) WP seems to be irrelevant.

To clarify, if you use flashrom to read the EEPROM without bridging the WP jumper on the motherboard first, that backup copy of the firmware will be invalid.  If you subsequently flash that backup (or a modded version of it) onto the EEPROM, it will brick the device.

Does this make any sense?  No, but it appears to be a fact.  Apparently, with HW WP enabled flashrom just silently (no error messages) fails to read the Intel Management Engine (and possibly other) code in the firmware image.  I have found references to the fact that Google patched flashrom so that it would not crash under these conditions, but have no idea why.  I would have preferred that it crash, rather than silently create an invalid image of the firmware.  Of course, I must acknowledge that these tools were never intended for use by the consumer.

With this knowledge, I have successfully enabled the Dev Mode Boot Screen bypass with the stock firmware.  So I can now confirm that "the hack" can be performed safely, as long as you keep this fact in mind.  But, be aware that some of the instructions on the web do not take this into account and if followed to the letter, will brick your C7.  I recommend only this source:

http://johnlewis.ie/neutering-the-developer-mode-screen-on-your-chromebook/

John's information was essential in my effort to de-brick my C7.  He's using a Samsung 550 Chromebook, but the platforms are similar enough in this case.

Acer Chromebook TNG

Looks pretty sexy, right?  No, I do not mean the guy in the background or the commentator.

What The ... ?!?

The situation with CrOS firmware is apparently more complex than I thought.  Now that I'm running the default Recovery firmware with both hardware and software write-protect disabled, I'm able to read the Intel Management Engine code with flashrom!

I'm completely baffled by this bizarre behavior, although it may begin to explain why "the hack" doesn't always brick the device.  Under current conditions, software write-protect can be enabled only temporarily, since it resets to disabled when I reboot.  It appears to me that only the CrOS version of flashrom supports the software write-protect feature.

C7 Default Firmware

I should also report that the default firmware for the C7 (contained in the recovery image) also has "the hack" enabled.  Given the CrOS developers consistent refusal to help anyone bypass the 30 second delay at the scary boot screen, I'm guessing that this may have been how it was discovered.

One consequence of "the hack" is that with only a 1.5 second pause at the scary boot screen, it's rather difficult to boot from USB.  It can still be done, but you've got to be quick.

"It's Alive!" The Resurrection of a Chromebook

Thanks to Bill Richardson (ChromeOS developer) my C7 has regained consciousness!

It boots again, although it's personality seems subtly different somehow.  It's currently running the default Parrot firmware - which I believe is responsible for the difference.  I'm still trying to figure out how to reconstruct the factory firmware, but I'm fairly confident that I'll get there eventually.

The problem, as I understand it, is that part of the firmware (the Intel Management Engine) is actually "cloaked" by the time the CPU is initialized.  As a result, a backup copy of the firmware read by Flashrom is invalid.  To conceal this code, the EC (Embedded Controller) returns 0xFF for every byte in this region.  Since Flashrom is unaware of this trickery, it merely writes the fake data (0xFF) to the backup copy.  If this backup is then written back to the EEPROM, it writes 0xFF over the entire Intel ME and Viola!  You just turned your Chromebook into a brick!

I have confirmed all of this information to my satisfaction by examining multiple firmware images.  Given these facts, what I can't understand is why "the hack" doesn't produce a brick every time it's attempted!

I'll post further details on de-bricking as time permits.

Death of a Chromebook

It's time for me to swallow my pride and admit that I killed my Chromebook. Oh, okay, so maybe it's not really dead, but it might as well be. I guess, technically speaking, it's in a persistant vegetative state - like a coma.

For those who don't yet know, there's a hack circulating the web that will supposedly allow you to shorten the 30 second delay at boot that comes with developer mode to 2-3 seconds with minimal risk of problems. You just have to flash the Read-only firmware. Well, verily, I say unto you, "Don't believe the pipe!" (RIP, Richard). It's a lie!

I wish to state for the record that I'm not exactly a noob at flashing EEPROMs. I've been flashing devices of some sort for probably 35 years and have never bricked anything that I couldn't recover ... until this Chromebook! I flashed the patched firmare and everything seemed to go perfectly. There was no indication of any sort of problem, so I rebooted and ... nada. It hasn't booted up since. It powers on and after 20 seconds or something, the fan kicks in, but thats all it ever does. Now, perhaps, you get the coma analogy.  The light comes on, but there's nobody home.

So 2 weeks, $60 in gizmos and probably 120 hours of research and hacking later, all I can say is: Kids, don't try this at home! Please!!

Compatability Work-Around & Spreadsheet Update

Just a quick note to let folks know that a few more distros may prove to be compatable with Chromebooks. In particular, distros that refused to be installed on GPT media or failed to boot from such media, can be installed to media with an (old & archaic) MBR-style partition table.  Then, the rootfs partition can be cloned to (new & improved) GPT media.  I haven't had time to do much with this yet, but I did manage to get Fedora 19 booted & working with this method.




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USB Bootable Media Toolbox

First, let me acknowledge that this is not ready for prime-time!  I have only tested it with 2GB, 4GB, 16GB & 32GB media, although theoretically, it should work for all bootable media 512MB and larger.  It still contains the CrOS kernel from June 2013, because I haven't had time to debug the issues with the updated kernel.  At this point, you will need access to another machine running Debian (or Ubuntu or their progeny) or a working ChrUbuntu install on your Chromebook.  You'll still need another machine to install a distro on the media anyway, so I gave up on trying to eliminate this requirement.

The archive contains a "ReadMe.txt" with detailed instructions.  In the end, you'll feel like you just did 16 cartwheels to move only a meter, but it works.  Be aware that everything I have tried to streamline or clarify the process has failed to produce bootable media, so substitutions or shortcuts of any kind are definitely not recommended.  Follow the instructions exactly, and you should end up with a piece of bootable media that you can install a Linux distro on.  Without further ado, here's the download:

Toolbox
MD5

Once you have bootable media, but before you install a distro on it (Step 10), you can create a backup of the disk with gdiskdump (included) and then restore it to this condition easily in the future.  Once a distro is running from USB, moving it to the HDD or SSD (say to to replace ChrUbuntu) is a relatively simple task.

Ooo...Boo...Who?

My final excuse for sticking with Ubuntu despite Canonical's descent into GUI madness is finally gone!  It turns out that "tap-to-click" can be enabled in Debian.  Find out how by looking here (Thanks Bob!).  Now, I will admit that I'll probably keep the ex-OS around to remind me exactly why I hate Unity with a passion.  But, having more options for the C7 is definitely a good thing!

Heads Up!

FYI, the latest CrOS kernel pushed out by Google (my C7 updated yesterday) breaks WiFi when combined with a pre-existing Ubuntu 12.04.2 install.  I don't have time to investigate the issue ATM, but be prepared to revert if you decide to give it a shot.

Spreadsheet Updated

I've updated the spreadsheet with my last few test results.  Still a few gaps to fill in, but my time is limited these days.



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New & Radically Improved ChrUbuntu!

If you abandoned ChrUbuntu some time ago, as I did, then you may have missed Mr. Lee's recent blog update.  Not only has he completely rewitten his ChrUbuntu script, he's conceptually changed his approach in several ways.  I haven't tried it out yet because I've got a number of things in-progress ATM, but I would definitely have to say that the new script looks "Impressive ... Most impressive!"  

New C7 with 16GB SSD at BestBuy for $199

BestBuy now has the revised model C710-2833 Acer C7 Chromebook with a 16GB SSD available for $199 with free shipping.  Otherwise, it appears to be identical to the original model C710-2847 sold by Google.  Don't miss the fact that BestBuy is selling it for $30 less than Acer's M.S.R.P.  I'm very curious if the SSD has a significant impact on battery life but haven't seen any reports yet.  No kickbacks here, I'm just trying to do my part to promote Chromebooks.

Media Player for Crouton

As an alternative to XBMC on Crouton, I am pleased to report that SMPlayer (a front-end for MPlayer) seems to work very well and that the visual quality of the video displayed is second to none.  My next candidate is VLC, primarily because I prefer multi-platform solutions.  That way, I have some reason to expect that a file I'm building or testing on Linux will play similarly on Windows (or vice-versa).