Chrome OS Chromebook woes ...

Location
Switzerland
Name
Matt
I only post this thread to let you all know about something rather annoying and potentially catastrophic:

My Acer Chromebook CB3-431, a 14" model with a really nice case and screen, started acting up a while ago. Twice before, it had ended up with a damaged OS already, and recovery took *everything* I had on that Chromebook with it. Of course, that could have been avoided by synching with the cloud, most notably Google Drive, which is the default method and is activated by default. However, if you work offline, that's not an option, and external storage becomes a must (when on the go, I do backups religiously).

So, dire consequences can be avoided - if and only if the Chromebook runs stable. But a couple of days ago, a really bad pattern emerged - essentially, the Chromebook now dies in mid-session, taking the OS with it, so full recovery, and hence, complete configuration and equally complete file loss ensues. It just did this again, for the fourth time in six days.

I've never seen another device type that makes it completely impossible to rescue data upon hardware and/or system failure.

I'll try again (twice, at the most) to get the CB3-431 back up and running, but frankly, it doesn't seem worth the effort in spite of the fact that there seems no real hardware issue - once it's up and running, it appears to work fine. Sadly, getting it fixed probably costs more than a new device, too (this is one of the downsides of living in Switzerland ...). Heck, even getting a quote might be too expensive (it's hardly ever free in this country).

So, guys, either do as Google tells you and sync to Google Drive - or face the consequences. For me, as much as I actually enjoy using these frugal machines, I have serious doubts whether I should continue doing so - I don't like being forced to use a service I don't want.

On the other hand, my resurrected first Chromebook, the Acer C720 I use to write this on, has encountered a comparable failure just once, and that was actually induced by a botched system update in its early days, and in spite of its minimal specs, continues to work just fine. The C720 is not able to run Google Play/Android apps though, and its screen is seriously subpar (narrow viewing angles, heavy colour casts ...).

Anyway, enough complaining; it's basically a self-induced ordeal I'm going through. But I hope it's worthy of other people's attention.

Basically, you've been warned ...

M.
 
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That is odd, and the only instance of this kind of thing I've heard of. I even run my 2 Chromebooks on the Beta versions of the OS and have never had this issue. I'm running an HP 15 and a Samsung Chrombook Pro.

In all honestly, I basically use the Chromebook as a screen/conduit for processing. I copy all images from the memory cards to an external drive when out on remote location. Worst case scenario there is that I cannot post process the images if I had to restore the Chromebook back to factory and no internet connection in sight.

Sorry to hear you are having issues and hope that you can get some kind of resolution.
 
That is odd, and the only instance of this kind of thing I've heard of. I even run my 2 Chromebooks on the Beta versions of the OS and have never had this issue. I'm running an HP 15 and a Samsung Chrombook Pro.

In all honestly, I basically use the Chromebook as a screen/conduit for processing. I copy all images from the memory cards to an external drive when out on remote location. Worst case scenario there is that I cannot post process the images if I had to restore the Chromebook back to factory and no internet connection in sight.

Sorry to hear you are having issues and hope that you can get some kind of resolution.
I'm fully prepared to acknowledge that there may be something wrong with my device exclusively - it sure feels like a hardware failure, even though it remains intangible.

However, it's still crazy that you simply can't choose to keep *any* files on the device upon recovery; why not only set up the system partition or whatever? Some may even consider this a safety feature (your files will be safe from prying hands), but it may mean total loss if you have something stored on the device itself - if only temporarily, for whatever reason.

Again, it's actually the (considerably) more expensive device that give me these troubles; the smaller, cheaper and older one seems immune to them so far (as long as Google do their homework before publishing a faulty system update like they did in 2015 - or so). Interestingly, the 14" machine sports an Intel architecture ...

I think I'm done with overly cheap laptops for travelling anyway. I'm actually testing another one of these frugal devices right now (I'm using it to post this), and the obvious compromises are amounting to just a bit too much trouble. So, I'll use everything I currently own to death in the next couple of months and years and then graduate to something more sensible. Cheap ain't everything ... but for my affliction with that kind of thinking, I only have myself to blame.

The Acer Chromebook CB3-431 is another matter - it's not a cheap machine in the Chromebook world (from the outside, at least), even though it's a cheap laptop ...

I guess, as always, YMMV. The only true issue is the fact the Chrome OS doesn't provide an offline emergency backup solution. This could even be part of recovery (before starting the setup process, offer to retrieve the files from internal storage to either cloud based or USB storage - it'd be a start, at least).

M.
 
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Perhaps a bootable USB thumb drive would be helpful in recovery?
That's what I use - Google provides a dedicated tool (a Chrome extension) to produce a suitable one. However, Chromebooks don't let you choose what OS to boot on them if they're not already "hacked" (i.e. converted to GNU/Linux or the like) - no BIOS access available that I'd know of. That's understandable, actually - it's interesting hardware to fiddle with, and if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

I'm actually pretty proficient when it comes to computers: I've done my share of hardware rescueing over the last 20 years or so; GNU/Linux is my favourite operating system. I'm back to using Windows 10 most of the time all the same - because I work in a Windows-only environment that makes using alternatives rather unpleasant (no direct access to cloud services, for one thing).

I use Chromebooks mostly for surfing and online posting (i.e. when I don't need much more than a browser) *because* they're frugal and don't consume lots of power; though since the arrival of Polarr, I've also used them for on-the-go image editing as well because it's feasible and often sufficient for online posting. Chromebooks *are* very useful that way.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your help and advive - I'll be fine in terms of solutions (I lost only five files in the last crash - and no originals). I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up as to what risks are involved when using Chromebooks.

It's that type of "ease of use" (read: prevention of user intervention) I actually hate and which drove me away from Windows back in 2002. As long as things work, it's fine (Windows 10 is better now most of the time, though by no means satisfactory in that respect). But if such systems fail in any significant manner, it's turning into a nightmare pretty quickly - at least if you're like me and hate having to set up everything all over again (that's the main reason why I never switched to an IT support position - even though I do a lot of that pretty much on a daily basis).

I just hope noone else runs into that kind of trouble.

M.
 
How abput an iPad? Files can be moved to and from the device without iCloud...

I've been thinking about that for a while now, but frankly, I've got too many devices/systems as it is. I'll make it work with what I have for the time being, but as soon as the second Chromebook's gone as well, and certainly once my old, but still much loved Nexus 7 from 2013 gives up the ghost, an iPad looks really promising, probably something along the line of the newly released Mini, but we'll see what's out when things happen.

Off-device storage is a must, though - it wasn't an issue with the Chromebook as long as things were working properly ... Thanks for the link, that looks feasible. Besides, I'm pretty sure I can find a way to access the iPad from a GNU/Linux device.

Yes, it's definitely time to rethink strategies ... but I'm not in a hurry, thankfully.

M.
 
Ouch. My sympathies! Data loss is tough, and keeping things backed up is something I would like to automate eventually, but I have this need to scrub it before it goes up. So we're all eventually burned in one way or another.

ChromeOS was something new to me as of last year, and I made a slightly (ok, immensely) paranoid decision that if I was going to get one, it would have to be as bulletproof as I could get. That meant a PixelBook, which I think is definitely an overkill, but peace of mind is something we'd all like if we can have it. When I want this thing to boot, it does. When I want it to do something, it does it with speed and vigor. Silly I know. And I don't want to futz anymore with bootloaders, files or anything else. Patches? Who's got time for that? Those IT days are behind me.

What I was most impressed by is how ChromeOS makes a copy (quickly, unnoticeably) of the OS when a patch is applied, tests it in background, and only when it passes internal self-checks does it prompt you to reboot. Makes my Windows machine look like amateur hour on Patch Tuesdays.

However, I've seen enough vexing problems.on the Google Groups, Reddit and Android forums to know when ChromeOS decides to mess the bed, it does so spectacularly. And often with little root cause. Ugh. But when it works, it really works.

Definitely sounds like something hardware related. I hope it gets resolved or you find something that works for you.
 
Moonmind,

Divergent thoughts from a guy who spent 17 years as a fulltime freelance writer utterly dependent on his computing hardware (as in: "if your computer is down, you're temporarily out of business." For me, downtime was a four-letter word!

1. Who supports the hardware? Contact them. Maybe there are error messages being generated that will tell you what is really going on.

2. Is there software that would make your Chromebook behave as if has a RAID drive, ie, a drive that constantly mirrors the main drive . . . possibly an external SSD drive?

3. I've had very good luck with a Dell Inspiron 13, 7000 series, with a solid state hard drive and Windows 10.

4. After I had two hard drives fail in a week (on my main desktop computer and on a second computer in the house that I used to save client files over network), I bought a Dell Precision workstation with a RAID drive and Xeon processors. A single hard drive failed once, but I lost no data and not a second's work. It is now 8 or 9 years old and used daily.

Feel free to PM me if that would be useful.

Cheers, Jock
PS I don't work for Dell.
 
@Covey22 @Jock Elliott Thanks for further insights; I do have a whole host of other (working) machines at my disposal, including two cascaded NAS system for automated backups and a workstation for my stationary needs - no shortage of alternatives in the house. Thanks anyway for the precise tips as to what devices actually do work well - I've had good results with many brands and models myself. I'm writing this on my work laptop, an ASUS ZenBook UX305 (not the latest model, though). And I own several other laptops as well, cheap to mid-range - most are or were used for some project or other and do work (some after a fashion - the cheap ones, mostly ...). So I'm good as fas as devices are concerned.

I only have issues with what could be called a "premium" Chromebook (though not "high end" by any means). And I feel disappointed because promises weren't kept. I was really hoping to fully switch to Chrome OS for my travelling needs - and I even had a specific device (the ASUS Chromebook C302) planned as my next purchase. But that won't happen now - in spite of the fact that the device it was meant to replace is now actually out of order.

To make myself clear: I do like what Chrome OS is trying to achieve, and in many ways, it's a success. But it's essentially *made* to be extremely simple and frugal - so I don't see them integrate more sophisticated functionality; you *can* now virtualise a GNU/Linux install on your Chromebook - but apart from offering a command line, there's not much in it, and disk space is usually so limited that playing around with that image is hardly advisable.

To sum up: As long as a Chromebook works, it's a fine tool, but if it doesn't, it turns into something terrifyingly useless.

All this is really annoying because many aspects of the system are really desirable, e.g. the updates - and the GNU/Linux based OS, of course (including a wide support of different file systems - it tops Windows (duh) and OS X in that respect!). Yet I'm still not ready to commit to the system again - I'll continue to use it because I still have a working Chromebook, but if I ever buy another one is doubtful (though the Pixelbook looks smashing, I have to admit - and so do the ASUS C302 and its successor). I also have to admit that when it comes to cheap computers, they outdo everything else on the market: I've actually tried some equally frugal Windows 10 laptops (when testing them for use in a student project), and the Chromebooks comfortably outperform them - and then some. But I guess it's still a case of "you get what you pay" for ... pity, really.

I think the issues with my own Chromebook are mostly caused by the fact that absolutely minimally specified, cheaply made components were used - so the outer shell appears much more high-class than the innards actually are. I suspect some minor breakage (maybe some wire or solder damage) that's nonetheless pretty hard to fix - or rather costly because they have to take everything apart and replace most of the electronics. Warranty has run out anyway. After all, I've used the device extensively for over two years - still, I have devices from 2013 that are still working more or less flawlessly (even though some of them are actually damaged; one older laptop even has a broken case - but it still does its job when needed).

M.
 
Sorry @MoonMind for your troubles with invaluable data. It's a bummer when this happens.

However, I can't fully understand the rant of ChromeOS, though. If I understood correctly, you were using a device and an operating system build and designed for utilizing fully connected workflows. Meaning that the whole ecosystem is designed for situations with constant connection to web and copying everything to there. Recovery of ChromeOS is meant to be cleaning everything on client side and start over, without any extra hassles accompanying the backups and OS batches.

Off-line data storage was then an extension to the system to make it suitable for wider audience. And if you use that right, there the data is, to recover when you re-build your ChromeOS device or buy a new one, or to use with other computers.

If your off-line data on external data storage became useless because of hardware problems, I didn't get it. Sorry for that and misunderstanding. Otherwise, this threat is useful reminder to use the systems what they were designed for, or be prepared to issues and accept it.

When steam escapes from my present computers, mainly Macs, I'm strongly thinking of jumping to ChromeOS wagon.
 
Sorry @MoonMind for your troubles with invaluable data. It's a bummer when this happens.

However, I can't fully understand the rant of ChromeOS, though. If I understood correctly, you were using a device and an operating system build and designed for utilizing fully connected workflows. Meaning that the whole ecosystem is designed for situations with constant connection to web and copying everything to there. Recovery of ChromeOS is meant to be cleaning everything on client side and start over, without any extra hassles accompanying the backups and OS batches.

Off-line data storage was then an extension to the system to make it suitable for wider audience. And if you use that right, there the data is, to recover when you re-build your ChromeOS device or buy a new one, or to use with other computers.

If your off-line data on external data storage became useless because of hardware problems, I didn't get it. Sorry for that and misunderstanding. Otherwise, this threat is useful reminder to use the systems what they were designed for, or be prepared to issues and accept it.

When steam escapes from my present computers, mainly Macs, I'm strongly thinking of jumping to ChromeOS wagon.
You're right in most ways. The only thing is: I don't like having to have my data - especially my images - ferried off-device just to keep them safe and/or available. I'm used to taking apart dead or dying systems and simply extract the hard drive in question. But once a Chromebook's system fails, there seems no way of doing that.

Everything else about the system (I'm using the temporarily resurrected culprit right this moment, but not for anything serious anymore since it'll die again - it's just a matter of time, and shorter and shorter periods of that, too).

I'm fully aware that my intention of using a Chromebook just like any other computer was misguided. But it *did* work for a very long time (and remember, my first, super-simple and cheap Chromebook is still going - without a hiccup for several years now). So I was fooled into thinking it was a safe thing to do. It isn't. You *have* to use off-device storage to make it work properly if you're into securing your data. That - and that alone - is what's a no-go in my view.

I know it's me who is to blame for not accepting the concept - but I won't. I will not be forced into relinguishing control over my data in order to keep it safe. That's counter-intuitive to me - dangerously so, in fact. If, on the other hand, you can live with that procedure, Chromebooks are very well positioned to give you just that.

That said, Windows 10 is set up to do exactly the same thing - just using OneDrive. The only difference is that you *can* prevent that - though you'll lose some (minor) functionality in the process.

For me, the appeal of Chromebooks is based on the fact that you get impressive performance from very frugal hardware - something I have liked from the beginning about GNU/Linux (the system Chrome OS is based on); I was even involved into providing a super-slim distribution of GNU/Linux that could make old and/or minimal machines run as fully capable computers. I think I was just delusional about the core mission of Chrome OS - I thought Google had achieved what we were trying to do back then. But the real price is essentially having to hand over all your data, the results of your productivity, for free.

I could go on about why this is potentially a very bad thing at some lengths, but I'll spare you the new rant. It's just not something I'm willing to put up with - the potential cost of losing full control over my content is way higher to me than any cheap computer could compensate me for. If you don't do any decisive and valuable work on your Chromebook, you'll probably be fine.

The funny twist of writing this very post on a virtually dead computer shouldn't be lost on anybody - no other system allows for such quick recovery that you can continue using a dying device. They *have* got a lot of things right with those Chromebooks ...

M.
 
Hi Moonmind,

these things are awful when they happen to you as there is nothing you can do about it. I've had quite some troubles since I started working with PCs in 1990. Interestingly enough always on PCs only once on a Mac. Being a bit of a sceptic I never was convinced of "clouds". I prefer having all my data "visible" before and next to me.

After two HD crashes with luckily only little loss but days of re-installing everything including endless updates, I bought Carbon Copy Cloner for my iMac 21'' and Acronis for the Windows Laptops of my wife and my son (Lenovo and Asus) several years ago. All our PCs are now "mirrored" on external HDs which are all bootable. So if anything happens again, I can go on working from the external HD and only have to re-transfer everything back. No more time spent with endless restoration and no more being unable to go on working. Around 45 € spent for PCs and 35 € spent for the iMac leaving me relaxed and sleeping sound.

From time to time I boot from the mirrored HD just to see (remember the little sceptic ?!) ... and enjoy having everything as expected.
The software makes one clone at the first start which takes longer. After that it transfers only new data that have been added (incremental backups).
Wishing you to be back to normal soon,
greetings from not far away,

Walter
 
Something must be going around - because my left side USB-C just went dead. :cautious: Now I get to find out how good Support really is for the hardware. Fortunately, I'm still a few months before my 1-year warranty.
 
It may, just may have been nothing but a - though rather bad - bug (or set thereof) after all: Shortly after recovery from the last crash, there was a system update, and since then, no more problems. But it's far too early to feel any sort of relief - this was only yesterday. However, all symptoms of imminent failure (flickering, freezes and the like) seem to have gone away. So I'll not give up hope just yet ...

And while maybe Acer can be left off the hook for this calamity, Chrome OS - in spite of all its merits - remains a risky choice for some, at least if they're non-conformists like me who don't trust the cloud ... Two fatal glitches in more than four years don't seem like a lot compared to other offerings - but they *were* fatal and not fixable by user intervention.

M.
 
Well, one quick and relatively painless chat with Google Support - and I've got an RMA label. Fortunately I had all the information they needed right at hand or stored on the Cloud. So now for the replacement wait.

As an aside, it's fascinating what kind of remote tools they've built to collaborate by sharing the end-user's device interface. On a different issue with my Pixel phone, the CSM could take it over, show me where to press, circle the right buttons etc. Amazon's MayDay support works the same way, albeit less showy than Google - I bought the missus a Fire Tablet so she could finally have her own that wasn't a hand me up from the kids.
 
A little addendum: The 14" inch Chromebook gave up again recently after sort of working for a couple of months; this time, I was very cautious and saved all my stuff in the cloud (not Google's cloud, though). I'm fed up with reconfiguring this thing again and again, so I've set it aside for the time being. However, my old 11" Chromebook that had been working flawlessly for so long refused to let me log in today - it didn't recognise my password anymore, and neither did all official recovery modes work. Finally, I had to reset the password - losing all my files in the process (but not all my settings - only most of them - duh ...). The files aren't that much of an issue because I have recent backups (I think I lost only two files - one PDF and yesterday's edited image I intended to upload with others today). But I found myself reconfiguring another Chromebook - it's faster than setting up a Windows laptop, but that's about it for the joy side of things ...

As much as I like the interface and overall experience for surfing and casual use, at least the Acer Chromebooks don't inspire confidence. And I still find it very annoying that Google more or less tells you: Do it my way - or die yours! They secure things for you and effectively lock you out if you're out of luck (for the record: I remembered my password correctly, the machine refused to recognise it!) - what kind of &%$! is that?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it perfectly foreboded the rest of a day that hadn't been too nice up to this point: After reconfiguring the 11" Chromebook, I went for a little stroll with the M 262 and a lens I'm enjoying immensely lately, the Voigtländer 21mm f/4. Just some recreational shooting, or so I thought ... When reviewing the images on my Chromebook in Polarr, I noticed *loads* of smudges - dirty sensor, and then some! Most images ruined because cloning out that amout of dirt takes ages and hardly ever yields completely satisfying results. To add insult to injury, one subject I had fun shooting and of which an image turned out to be usable suddenly appeared way too suggestive (and not in a good way) in order to be published on this board ... my goodness, what a turnout. I salvaged one shot in the end - one single shot out of maybe twenty. But at least, I got a Chromebook up and running again (for the umpteenth time - hooray ...) and the sensor cleaned (that at least did work out). Wow, what a deal.

Best to walk away from today's experience and forget about it ... and sorry for the rant ...

M.
 
A little addendum: The 14" inch Chromebook gave up again recently after sort of working for a couple of months; this time, I was very cautious and saved all my stuff in the cloud (not Google's cloud, though). I'm fed up with reconfiguring this thing again and again, so I've set it aside for the time being. However, my old 11" Chromebook that had been working flawlessly for so long refused to let me log in today - it didn't recognise my password anymore, and neither did all official recovery modes work. Finally, I had to reset the password - losing all my files in the process (but not all my settings - only most of them - duh ...). The files aren't that much of an issue because I have recent backups (I think I lost only two files - one PDF and yesterday's edited image I intended to upload with others today). But I found myself reconfiguring another Chromebook - it's faster than setting up a Windows laptop, but that's about it for the joy side of things ...

As much as I like the interface and overall experience for surfing and casual use, at least the Acer Chromebooks don't inspire confidence. And I still find it very annoying that Google more or less tells you: Do it my way - or die yours! They secure things for you and effectively lock you out if you're out of luck (for the record: I remembered my password correctly, the machine refused to recognise it!) - what kind of &%$! is that?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it perfectly foreboded the rest of a day that hadn't been too nice up to this point: After reconfiguring the 11" Chromebook, I went for a little stroll with the M 262 and a lens I'm enjoying immensely lately, the Voigtländer 21mm f/4. Just some recreational shooting, or so I thought ... When reviewing the images on my Chromebook in Polarr, I noticed *loads* of smudges - dirty sensor, and then some! Most images ruined because cloning out that amout of dirt takes ages and hardly ever yields completely satisfying results. To add insult to injury, one subject I had fun shooting and of which an image turned out to be usable suddenly appeared way too suggestive (and not in a good way) in order to be published on this board ... my goodness, what a turnout. I salvaged one shot in the end - one single shot out of maybe twenty. But at least, I got a Chromebook up and running again (for the umpteenth time - hooray ...) and the sensor cleaned (that at least did work out). Wow, what a deal.

Best to walk away from today's experience and forget about it ... and sorry for the rant ...

M.
I know it’s part of the script before you buy a Leica - fragile things, best fixed by an 8 month stay at the repairers in Germany at enormous cost n’all that - but I had a nasty episode over the weekend of the camera becoming dead after the first shot which could only be temporarily fixed by taking the battery out and then in again, plus the camera overheating - which appears to have been fixed by a simple replacement of the SD card. Of course, the hoops I had to jump over to get to that stage and establish that took the whole weekend. So while the subject matter is different, our frustrations appear to have been similar over the weekend.
 
A little addendum: The 14" inch Chromebook gave up again recently after sort of working for a couple of months; this time, I was very cautious and saved all my stuff in the cloud (not Google's cloud, though). I'm fed up with reconfiguring this thing again and again, so I've set it aside for the time being. However, my old 11" Chromebook that had been working flawlessly for so long refused to let me log in today - it didn't recognise my password anymore, and neither did all official recovery modes work. Finally, I had to reset the password - losing all my files in the process (but not all my settings - only most of them - duh ...). The files aren't that much of an issue because I have recent backups (I think I lost only two files - one PDF and yesterday's edited image I intended to upload with others today). But I found myself reconfiguring another Chromebook - it's faster than setting up a Windows laptop, but that's about it for the joy side of things ...

As much as I like the interface and overall experience for surfing and casual use, at least the Acer Chromebooks don't inspire confidence. And I still find it very annoying that Google more or less tells you: Do it my way - or die yours! They secure things for you and effectively lock you out if you're out of luck (for the record: I remembered my password correctly, the machine refused to recognise it!) - what kind of &%$! is that?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it perfectly foreboded the rest of a day that hadn't been too nice up to this point: After reconfiguring the 11" Chromebook, I went for a little stroll with the M 262 and a lens I'm enjoying immensely lately, the Voigtländer 21mm f/4. Just some recreational shooting, or so I thought ... When reviewing the images on my Chromebook in Polarr, I noticed *loads* of smudges - dirty sensor, and then some! Most images ruined because cloning out that amout of dirt takes ages and hardly ever yields completely satisfying results. To add insult to injury, one subject I had fun shooting and of which an image turned out to be usable suddenly appeared way too suggestive (and not in a good way) in order to be published on this board ... my goodness, what a turnout. I salvaged one shot in the end - one single shot out of maybe twenty. But at least, I got a Chromebook up and running again (for the umpteenth time - hooray ...) and the sensor cleaned (that at least did work out). Wow, what a deal.

Best to walk away from today's experience and forget about it ... and sorry for the rant ...

M.

How about that iPad... maybe a Pro?
 
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