Are you tired of Chrome OS? Do you want a greater selection of apps and games? Well, running Android on your Chromebook is a practical option. The performance is without compromise and almost everything works (except for the touchpad). You will have access to the entire Google Play store so you can download games and thousands of apps. So here’s how to run Android on Chromebook.
What You Will Need:
- An Intel Powered Chromebook
- A USB with at least 2GB of free space
- Android X86 iSO
- Rufus
Step 1: Developer Mode
Before you can run Android, you will need to put your Chromebook in developer mode. Developer Mode allows you to get root access to the command shell. Be aware that activating developer mode erases all of your information. Of course, due to the nature of Chrome OS, you won’t really have to worry about backing up apps or anything.
The instructions for entering developer mode will differ for each chromebook. On the Acer C720, hold the the ESC and** ** Refresh (F3) keys and tap the Power button. This will put your chromebook into recovery mode.
Once you are inside of the recovery, press **Crtl+D **to activate developer mode. Your chromebook will reboot and you will hear two beeps, don’t panic. After the beeps, your chromebook will reboot again. It will erase your data and reboot you in developer mode.
While developer mode is activated, whenever you reboot your device it will show the recovery screen for 30 seconds before entering into Chrome OS. Just press **Crtl+D **on the recovery screen if you don’t feel like waiting for 30 seconds.
Now take a few seconds to reconfigure your Google account.
Step 2: Create Bootable USB
Next, it’s time to create a bootable usb of the Android x86 iso using a free program called rofus. Make sure your USB drive is inserted in your computer and launch rofus. All you need to do is select the location of the Android x86 iso and click start. It will unpack the image to your USB. You can disconnect it once it completes.
Step 3: Enabling Legacy Bios
In order to boot from your USB device, you will need to enable the legacy bios. On the Chrome login screen press Crtl-Alt-F2 to enter the shell window.
Once you are inside the shell window type in the following: (source https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Acer_C720_Chromebook)
**chronos **(for the username)
**sudo bash **(for Superuser privileges)
crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_legacy=1
sudo reboot
Your chromebook will reboot. Now, on the OS verification (recovery) screen, hit Crtl-L to bring up the legacy bios, then Esc to bring up the boot menu. Finally, choose your USB device and if everything goes well, Android should be booting.
In order to navigate the install menu, you will need to connect an external mouse because there are no trackpad drivers. Other than that, the performance is very fluid. You don’t have much internal space to work with though, so bare that in mind.