Dell demos Chromium OS on the Mini 9, Mini 10v & Latitude 2100 netbooks [Video]
December 3, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Dell’s Doug Anson has given his impressions of Google’s Chromium OS as well as demonstrating it in action on a number of Dell netbooks including the Mini 9, Mini 10v and Latitude 2100. With the latter, he even times how long it takes to boot to the login screen (15 seconds). It looks very quick and that’s just using a standard 250GB hard-disk drive rather than SSD.
His impressions so far are mixed. On the one hand it feels nimble and fast and uses new web technologies, but on the other hand, it is only really useful when connected to a strong fast network. Without a continuous network connection it’s pretty redundant.
If you want to try it out for yourself, the image has been recut and now comes in a 302MB download (rather than several GB). You can download it here, where you’ll find both the image and ReadMe text instruction files. I have also included Doug’s installation instructions after the break along with the video.
Chromium OS installation instructions onto a Dell Mini 10v netbook
Below are the instructions to transfer your Chromium OS onto your Mini 10v HDD from your USB flash key.
You will need a USB-connected CD/DVD player to do this.
!!!!WARNING!!!! THIS WILL *COMPLETELY* ERASE YOUR HARDDRIVE – SO, DON’T PROCEED UNLESS YOUR ARE OK DOING THIS.
These instructions & actions come with ABSOLUTELY NO SUPPORT from DELL of ANY kind and are for SERIOUS TECHNICAL users ONLY – IF UNSURE, DON’T DO IT.
IT WOULD BE WISE TO ENSURE YOU KNOW HOW TO RECOVER YOUR EXISTING OS & DATA BEFORE CONTEMPLATING THIS.
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.
1). Download and install onto a suitably sized USB flash key an image of Chromium OS
2). Verify that your USB key is functional by booting your Mini 10v with the USB key – ensure it boots OK and functions as expected.
3). Procure a LiveCD image from http://www.ubuntu.com for Desktop Ubuntu – create a bootable CD/DVD with this image.
4). Reboot your Mini 10v via the LiveCD image created in step 3). Choose the “try Ubuntu before installing it” option at the Ubuntu boot prompt 5). Once the desktop is up, Insert your USB flash key. Unmount any partitions that may be mounted from the USB key 6). Open up a terminal window 7). Type: “sudo fdisk -l” and note which device is your HDD/SSD and which is your USB key. For sake of example, my HDD is “/dev/sda” and my USB key is “/dev/sdc”
8). (!!!THIS STEP WIPES YOUR HDD!!!) Type “sudo dd if=/dev/sdc of=/dev/sda” – BE CAREFUL THAT the “if=/dev/sdc” references your USB KEY and “of=/dev/sda” references your HDD.
9). Once the command in 8 ) has completed, you can shutdown the Mini 10v, disconnect the USB key and CD/DVD drive.
10). Power on your Mini 10v – your Chromium OS image should now be on your HDD/SSD.
Via Dell Blog.
December 4th, 2009 4:59 PM
Chromium OS can be installed on laptops with hard drives?
December 4th, 2009 5:34 PM
I noticed that you booted up a latitude 2100, but never logged in. I’ve had some difficulty turning on the wifi adapter. If you know how to fix this please PM me
December 5th, 2009 3:27 PM
Yes i understand it can be used on laptops with HD, but i have a latitude 2100 with a SSD so its very small, i boot off a usb and it runs very quickly, but i dont know how to get the WIFI adapter working. When i click “turn on wifi” it freezes for a few seconds, then stays disabled without seeing any wireless networks. When i try to do my fn F6 to turn on my wireless nothing happens and my wifi light stays off. I guess all i’m trying to say is do you know if there are any drivers out there, and if so, how do you install them.
April 26th, 2010 6:16 PM
dell mini 9 wifi doesnt work, can’t login ether.