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Samsung ARM Chromebook

Contents

  1. 1 Introduction
    1. 1.1 Specifications
  2. 2 Entering Developer Mode
  3. 3 Firmware
    1. 3.1 Boot Sequence
  4. 4 What's inside? 
    1. 4.1 Disassembly

Introduction

This page contains information about the ARM Samsung Chromebook that is interesting and/or useful to software developers.  For general information about getting started with developing on Chromium OS (the open-source version of the software on the Chrome Notebook), see the Chromium OS Developer Guide.

Specifications

  • CPU: Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Core (Cortex A15; 1.7GHz cpu)
  • GPU: ARM Mali-T604 (Quad Core)
    • 1366x768 screen & HDMI external connector
  • RAM: 2 GiB DDR3
    • The memory is not upgradable as it is soldered directly to the board
  • Disk: 16 GiB SSD (connected to eMMC)
    • SD & USB expansion slots
  • WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    • USB slot can handle Ethernet dongle

Entering Developer Mode

On this device, both the recovery button and the dev-switch have been virtualized. Our partners don't really like physical switches - they cost money, take up space on the motherboard, and require holes in the case.

To invoke Recovery mode, you hold down the ESC and Refresh keys and poke the Power button.

To enter Dev-mode you first invoke Recovery, and at the Recovery screen press Ctrl-D (there's no prompt - you have to know to do it). It will ask you to confirm, then reboot into dev-mode.

Dev-mode works the same as always: It will show the scary boot screen and you need to press Ctrl-D or wait 30 seconds to continue booting.

You'll still have to run "crossystem dev_boot_usb=1" and reboot once to boot from USB drives with Ctrl-U.

Caution: Modifications you make to the system are not supported by Google, may cause hardware, software or security issues and may void warranty.

To leave Dev-mode and go back to normal mode, just follow the instructions at the scary boot screen. It will prompt you to confirm.

If you want to leave Dev-mode programmatically, you can run "crossystem disable_dev_request=1; reboot" from a root shell. There's no way to enter Dev-mode programmatically, and just seeing the Recovery screen isn't enough - you have to use the three-finger salute which hard-resets the machine first. That's to prevent a remote attacker from tricking your machine into dev-mode without your knowledge.

An unrelated note: Holding just Refresh and poking the Power button hard-resets the machine without entering Recovery. That's occasionally useful, but use it with care - it doesn't sync the disk or shut down politely, so there's a nonzero chance of trashing the contents of your stateful partition.

Firmware

This device uses Das U-Boot to boot the system.  You can find the source in the ChromiumOS u-boot git tree.  The system actually boots two different versions.  The RO SPI flash uses u-boot from the firmware-snow-2695.B branch.  The read-write firmware comes from the latest chromeos-v####.## branch (the version number tracks the respective upstream u-boot release).

There is also firmware in a custom embedded controller (which handles things like the keyboard), but we won't cover that here as you generally should not need to modify that.  You can find the source in the ChromiumOS ec git tree (in the snow firmware branch).

Boot Sequence

  • power on
  • the CPU will execute u-boot from the read-only on-board SPI flash
  • u-boot will look at the GPT layout on the 16 GiB SSD (connected via eMMC)
    • search for the firmware partition marked active and try to boot the u-boot that lives there
  • u-boot will look at the GPT layout
    • search for the Linux kernel partition marked active and try to boot the kernel that lives there
  • Linux kernel boots from its corresponding rootfs partition
  • profit!

What's inside? 

WARNING: Opening the case and fiddling with the stuff inside could easily brick your system and make it unrecoverable.  DO NOT ATTEMPT if you are not familiar with this process.

Stop. Don't. Come back.

Really. Opening the case will allow you to modify the read-only firmware that makes recovery possible. If someone from teh internets says "You need to reflash your BIOS", they're almost certainly wrong. 

Disassembly

Taking apart your laptop is not encouraged.  If you have hardware troubles, please seek assistance first from an authorized center.  Be advised that disassembly might void warranties or other obligations, so please consult any and all paperwork your received first. If you just want to see what the inside looks like, gaze upon this (click for a high res version):

      

However, we acknowledge that some people like to tinker.  So here's a quick guide to taking it apart:

  • Shut the system down and close the lid
  • Flip the laptop over so the bottom is facing up
  • Remove the five visible screws from the bottom of the case
  • Remove the rubber feet  from the bottom of the case
    • Works better if you have fingernails as you can slide them under the edge and then peel up
    • Consider sticking them to the case near their original holes so they still function as grips on tables
  • Remove the four screws that were under the rubber feet
  • Starting at the side opposite of the hinge (where the trackpad is), use your fingernails to pry apart the case slightly
    • This is the best starting place as it does not have clips holding the top & bottom together -- all other locations do
  • As you pry it apart, wiggle it a bit so the plastic clips separate cleanly rather than break apart
  • Work your way evenly out until the whole edge has separated
  • Work your way along the sides towards the hinge (again, evenly rather than one side and then the other)
  • Once only the hinge side is still together, you can pull up carefully and then pull the bottom away from the hinge
    • This side has two sets of clips which makes separation from this side initially almost impossible to do w/out breaking
Then to reassemble:
  • Start at the hinge side and try to get all the loops merged first with the clips
    • You can pull on the back slighty so that the bottom falls into place
  • Once the back is snug, work your way along the edges and click the clips back into place
  • The edges should be nice and snug if everything is in the right place
  • Put all 9 screws back where you found them
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