One cannot deny that Chrome OS gives outdated machines a new lease on life, even though it is undoubtedly not as feature-rich as Windows 10. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Chrome OS is superior to Windows 10 for general users because of its incredible performance and battery life. You can actually run Android and Linux apps on your PC thanks to Play Store support. What a cool thing!
As a result, we provide you with a thorough tutorial in this article on how to instal Chrome OS on a PC that supports the Play Store. Additionally, you can access Linux GUI apps on your PC, which is another benefit. With that said, let’s move on to learning how to instal Chrome OS on a computer with support for the Google Play Store.
Install Chrome OS on PC with Play Store Support (2022)
Let’s finish up the prerequisites and downloads before we begin our tutorial. The setup will go smoothly once you fulfil all the requirements and download the necessary files. To switch between the various menus, simply click on the links below.
Requirements for Installing Chrome OS on Windows PC
- UEFI support in the motherboard
- Support for legacy BIOS has also been added, but there are a few limitations. You can read the documentation here.
- Intel-based CPU and GPU
- Support for AMD CPU and GPU has also been added, but currently, it only supports AMD Ryzen 3XXX and AMD Stoney Ridge processors
- A USB flash drive with at least 16GB of storage space
Install Chrome OS on Windows: Required Downloads
Download the Linux Mint Cinnamon image first. Although you can use other Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Debian, I’m choosing Linux Mint in this lesson because it is quite lightweight.
2. After that, get Rufus (Free) to flash Linux Mint Cinnamon onto the USB drive.
3. Next, get the official Chrome OS recovery image by clicking here. You can get the image from here if the link above is down. Enter “rammus” into the search bar of the webpage. To download the most recent recovery image, do so now (right now it s 87, but it may change in the future). Rammus is here recommended since it runs on current Intel processors. However, you should adhere to the following guideline and download the appropriate image for your CPU.
- rammus is the recommended image for devices with 4th generation Intel CPU and newer.
- samus is the recommended image for devices with 3rd generation Intel CPU and older.
- zork is the image to use for AMD Ryzen 3XXX.
- grunt is the image to use for AMD Stoney Ridge.
4. Now download Brunch, which is the most crucial file. A big thank you to developer Sebanc for creating the framework that allowed for the completion of this project. The framework produces a universal Chrome OS image that can be installed on any Windows PC from the official recovery image. Click here to download the file, then select Assets after finding the most recent stable build. Download the tar.gz file at this time.
5. Download the install.sh script, which magically instals Chrome OS without requiring you to explicitly type commands, to complete the process. Kedar Nimbalkar has authored the script. Click here and then press Ctrl + S to save the file and download it. You can use this alternate link to obtain the install.sh script if the preceding site is down.
After finishing the downloads, let’s go on to the steps, shall we?
Install Chrome OS on PC with Play Store Support
I want to quickly go over how to instal Chrome OS on PC with Play Store support before moving on to the installation procedures. In order to instal Chrome OS on our PC, we must first boot Linux Mint from the USB device on our Windows machine. After that, we can run the script. Remember that your hard drive will be fully erased throughout this operation, including any personal data and folders. So before you move on, make a backup. Let’s get to the steps now that that is over.
Flash and Manage Files
1. Start Rufus and connect your USB flash drive. Next, select the Linux Mint Cinnamon image by clicking the Select button. Now simply click Start. You’ll see a couple prompts; select Yes or OK to keep the flashing going.
2. Close it after Rufus has finished blinking. On your desktop, make a folder called Chrome OS. The install.sh file should be moved to the Chrome OS folder.
3. Select Extract to Brunch by performing a right-click on the Brunch file. The extracted files will all be placed in a desktop folder.
4. Transfer all of the extracted Brunch files to the same Chrome OS desktop folder.
5. When you extract the official Chrome OS recovery image, you will receive a desktop folder. Rename the file to Rammus recovery.bin after opening it. If you downloaded another image, give it a new name. If you downloaded the Samus image, for instance, change it to Samus Recovery.bin.
Move the rammus recovery.bin file to the Chrome OS folder to finish. By the time you’re done, the Chrome OS folder should include these 6 files.
Move the whole Chrome OS folder to the USB drive that you just flashed with Linux Mint Cinnamon at this point.
Boot into Linux Mint Cinnamon
1. Connect the USB flash drive to the PC that will be running Chrome OS. Keep the PC plugged in if you’re installing Chrome OS on the same machine.
2. After restarting your computer, continue press the boot key to enter the UEFI/BIOS menu. If you don’t know your computer’s boot key, you can find it in the table below.
3. After logging into the BIOS, pick UEFI from the Boot List option under the Boot menu. Don’t worry if this choice isn’t available; just go on to the next.
4. Next, select the Security option and turn Secure Boot off. Remember that each BIOS has a unique interface, therefore the positioning of the menus may vary from PC to PC. To make the necessary modifications, however, seek for UEFI and Secure Boot under the Security, Boot, or System Configuration tabs. Remember that deactivating Secure Boot is a requirement.
5. Select Exit Save Changes from the Exit tab to finish. Start pressing the boot key once more right away. Your boot device selection will be prompted. Once you’ve made your selection, press enter.
6. Linux Mint Cinnamon will launch automatically after booting. If a splash screen appears and prompts you, select Start Linux Mint as the default option.
Install Chrome OS on PC
1. Once Linux Mint has started, click the network icon in the lower-right corner to connect to WiFi or Ethernet. An active internet connection is required for the Chrome OS installer to download some dependencies and missing libraries.
2. Next, go to the File Systemtab after opening the Home folder on the desktop.
3. To find the folder that we moved previously, click the search icon and enter Chrome OS.
4. Next, enter the folder and use the right-click menu to launch the Terminal. Enter the command typesudo sh install.shand. It will begin downloading some dependencies and libraries.
5. You will be prompted to continue the installation after a while. You should be aware that doing this will totally erase your hard drive. Enter yes and continue with the installation. Your PC will now begin to instal Chrome OS.
Please refer to the Troubleshoot section below if you encounter any syntax errors while installing.
6. Once the installation is complete, click the Turn off button in the bottom-left corner of the Linux Mint start menu. Here, select Shut Off to shut down your computer.
7. After removing the USB flash drive, start your Windows computer. This time, Chrome OS will launch right away as your computer boots. Follow the troubleshooting instructions below if Chrome OS is installed on your USB drive rather than your computer’s hard drive.
Remember that you are not permitted to run Chrome OS with Play Store support on non-certified devices before entering into your Google account. You may be breaking Google’s terms of service in one way or another. In order to keep your primary account secure, I advise you to sign in with a different Google account.
8. How wonderful is it that you can now run Android apps directly from the Play Store on your PC? Not to add that Android 9 is the foundation for the Android framework, therefore you are also pretty updated.
Note: For assistance, refer to the Troubleshooting section if you are experiencing problems with WiFi, Bluetooth, or any other hardware device on Chrome OS.
9. In addition, you can instal Linux on a Windows computer that has been converted to run Chrome OS. The linked page lists the top Linux apps for Chrome OS.
Troubleshooting Chrome OS on PC
Follow this straightforward technique to fix the problem if Chrome OS ended up being installed on the incorrect device, such as a USB stick. The hard drive is typically referred as assda, however on some older computers, it may also go by the names asmmcblk0 or something else. And as a result of this uncertainty, Chrome OS ends up on the incorrect gadget. So, this is what you need to do to solve the issue.
On Linux Mint, open the GParted programme (from the start menu) and look up the name of your hard drive (on the top-right corner). It ought to besda. If it’s something different, write it down and use Linux Mint’s Vim editor to access the install.sh file (just search in the start menu). In the final line, swap out da for the actual hard drive name.
For instance, the last line should change from /dev/sdain to /dev/mmcblk0 if the hard drive’s name is mmcblk0. As soon as you save the file and run the install.sh script, Chrome OS should be installed on your hard drive. Alternatively, return to Windows and download Notepad++ if you are unable to modify the install.sh file on Linux Mint (Free). You may easily edit the file from there. Make sure to select EOL Conversion after opening Edit from the menu bar. Next, select Unix and save the file. You may now run install.sh in Linux Mint without any problems.
If you see a brand-new error while executing the script, such as “Syntax error near unexpected token ‘$ r,” open the chromeos-install.sh file in Notepad++ on Windows 10.
You can find chromeos-install.shfile in the Chrome OS folder you transferred to the USB drive. The formatting choice on Notepad++ should then be changed to Unix using the same procedures as before. Save the file by selecting Edit -> EOL Conversion -> Unix. Go ahead and complete the installation now.
Try adding support for your particular hardware device via the Crosh terminal if you are experiencing problems with WiFi, Bluetooth, touchscreen displays, etc. To open the Crosh terminal, simply launch Chrome and press Ctrl + Alt + T. Entershell next, then press Enter. Runsudo edit-grub-config after that. Here you can add support for your hardware device. You can find the complete list of commands fromhere.
For example, if you have an RT3290/RT3298LE Bluetooth device then you can add options=rtbth (with quotes) at the end of cros_debug and before loop.max . Now, press Ctrl + X and press Y . Next, hit enter to save the file. Finally, restart your computer, and this time Bluetooth should work fine.
Install Chrome OS Flex
Similarly, if you want tofix WiFithen first you need to find out the manufacturer of the wireless card. If it s Broadcom then add to the same line like this: options=rtbth,broadcom_wl . This will fix both Bluetooth and WiFi issues. You can removertbthif Bluetooth is already working for you. Similarly, if it s Realtek then add options=rtbth,rtl8188eu or options=rtbth,rtl8821ce . Basically, you can add support for hardware devices in this fashion: options=option1,option2, (without spaces) to activate them.
Install Chrome OS on PC in 2022 and Enjoy Android and Linux Apps
If the reason you re thinking of installing Chrome OS on your Windows 11 PC is that your laptop is getting bogged down with age, you should definitely take a look at Chrome OS Flex. We have a dedicated guide onhow to install Chrome OS Flex on Windows PCthat you can follow to get Chrome OS running on any laptop out there.
So that is how you can install Chrome OS on PC and get all the perks including Google Play Store and Linux support. I tested Chrome OS on my decently-specced Windows laptop (Intel i5) and it was simply flying without any hiccup. The performance difference was amazing, to say the least. To learn more about the advantage ofChromebooks over Windows laptops, you can go through our in-depth article.