I’m writing this post from my Dell D630 which is a computer I use for hacking, development, and general Linux play. What is unique is that I am running the ChromeOS from the Dell D630. I have done my own ChromeOS builds before but never made much of a fuss over it. Considering the current Chromebook craze that is going on I thought it would be beneficial to point out the Chromium Project has some easy to follow directions on getting your own build of ChromeOS on to your computer.

A few notes to that. First, it doesn’t work on all computers. I tried it on a few different models that I have available to me and found that both Acer netbook models I tried it on failed. One wouldn’t boot at all and the other had no drivers for the network or wireless cards which means I couldn’t get beyond the first screen. I tried it on the Dell D630 that I’m on and I ran into two issues. The first is that the wireless doesn’t work. The wired network does work so I was able to connect to the Internet. However, the main touchpad does not work. This isn’t a total loss because the scrolling button works as a mouse for me. The newest laptop that I tried it on is the Lenovo T420 laptop. Everything but the wireless worked and man did blaze.

There is a list of hardware that works and doesn’t work on the Chromium site. I noticed that the Samsung NC10 is listed as fully compatible. I have about 20 of those lying around the district and that is almost enough for a pilot. A very low-cost pilot. I installed ChromeOS on to the NC10 and everything seemed to worked. It isn’t as powerful as the Samsung Chromebook but feels sturdier. My biggest issue is the touch pad. It is touchy regardless of the settings and it can be flaky. Simple scrolling is especially frustrating. I like to use Simple (also known as Australian Scrolling) Scrolling because it imitates what I have on my MacBook. If you are looking for the setting click on the clock area, choose “Settings” and click on “Touchpad Settings”.

If you are looking to put the ChromeOS on your own device but you are not up for building your own head over to Hexxeh’s website and download the Vanilla image. Easy instructions on the website.