Install Google Chrome OS Flex on Old Macs [2009-2015] MacBook Pro!

[@danimourinho]

Linux Mint + Twister Os is an amazing alternative. Ive installed it in my old macbook and runs like a new one. And with twister themes you can have the big sur interface with a click. Just awesome!

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Great info @danimourinho !!! I'm looking into mint now as another alternative 👍

[@danaeckel]

I have a late 2008 MacBook with Mint Cinnamon desktop. Works great! I did have some issues with the nVidia drivers, but got it worked though.

[@bloxycola8272]

@@Mr.Macintosh it won’t boot on my 2012 15 inch MacBook Pro

[@mw7967]

Do all of your peripherals work? Camera, USB, thunderbolt, etc?

[@pilljr.3331]

Thanks to your video I was able to sell a couple of old iMacs!

[@PeiyushSharma]

I am stuck at first boot with chrome logo, not moving, no mouse or other things moving, should I restart it or leave it as it is and wait until the main window comes where I can choose try or install plz suggest

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Peiyush, did you reboot? I would try that and see if it continues or not. Let me know.

[@PeiyushSharma]

@@Mr.Macintosh thank you for your reply, yes I tried the same USB on other computers but on some it is moving little more and on some it stucks at installation window, even I tried it on AMD Ryzen 5, chosen try without installing, didn't work for me, apart form this stuck on another thing, I updated my hakintosh from catalina to big sur to montery till big sur accept wifi everything was working fine, but on Monterey my NVIDIa GT630 isnt working, rest everything is working fine. it isHP Haswell intel i3 CPU with 16gig ram, tried open core pathcer it isn't working even after SIP disable... total clueless now, plz help

[@MarcelHuguenin]

Let's keep supporting old hardware!

[@globalgypsy7913]

I have followed your directions to the letter, 3 TIMES!!! I also tried the install on a Mac Mini 2010. Everything went smoothly but after the actual install on to the hard drive, it would not go further than the Chrome screen. It just sat there until I shut it down. Then, I went to reboot using the same SD card, it did startup but was not as smooth. So, I started from scratch and the exact same thing happened all over again. This time, I am going to reformat the SD card once again, boot it up like I have been doing but I'm not going to install on the hard drive, I'm going to just use the version on the SD card and wait for a more stable version to come around. I appreciate all your efforts, if you can think of anything to help me out, that would be great. Have a good one!

[@licorice03]

the list of certified models only lists macmini7,1 which is a 2014 mac mini.

[@kyleyates7730]

You may have forgotten to remove the usb drive after the restart. If you leave it in, you will only repeat the installation first steps.

[@saisatik]

This is a great alternative for my old mac. Thank you!

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Agreed! thank you Sai 👍

[@omega_instinct1859]

i gotta say chrome os has come a long way ik chrome os isnt rlly the best but it has its perks and id say it has potential or its the underdog of operating systems lol

[@vegard2000]

2011 Macbook Air A1369 with 2gb ram runs flex os just fine for basic use, tested youtube, netflix and browsing.

[@ryanK0m1ch]

Thanks for the video! I am running into an issue on my mid 2010 macbook pro when trying this process. It can't seem to find any wireless networks and when I enter the SSID and password it still does not find it. Any tips the fix this?

[@aysuzz]

Will it run on macbook pro 2009? Model identifier is macbookpro5,5

[@nathanwind_0]

Did you tried?

[@mr.techie8565]

Awesome video, I'm glad that this is an option for older Macs. Personally, I like the Apple ecosystem, but I see why this would work well for some people.

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Thanks Mr. Techie. I do agree and would go OCLP, Windows or Linux first. What I've learned is, many people use chrome os at work and school and might find this very useful just like you pointed out. 👍

[@orbulat]

after EFI boot, just saw a dark screen with ChromeOS Flex title, and a voice "No current chromebook focus, press alt plus shift plus L to launcher" i am trying it on macbook pro mid 2010 version

[@Neozoon69]

I have a problem with my early 2011 13 inch macbook pro and the peckard Bell Laptop from my wife. Its works from USB but after installation i got a freeze at the Chrome logo or a black screen. Today i upgrade the old HDD from my macbook to a new SSD and it works. No black screen and no freeze. Now i changed the HDD from my wifes PC and it works too. Greats from Germany.

[@ivanjuarez1412]

I installed it on a A1181 Black macbook it works pretty good.

[@ytmizz19]

I like your video but there is something you mentioned on your video that is incorrect. For example, if you have an apple mac device that isn't upgradeable to the latest mac OS release, apple WILL provide 2 additional years of security updates to the prior OS release. I own a 2013 MacBook air that only was updated to Big Sur. Its still being used and will get one more year of security updates. Once this last period of updates ends I plan on installing chrome OS Flex to extend its life. For iOS devices apple usually forces people onto the next version of iOS to maintain up-to-date security; although, on occasion apple might issue an out of the blue update especially if its crucial to the usability of an older iDevice.

[@mw7967]

I'll Stick with legacy patcher, running Monterey on my mid 2014 MacBook pro. Does all the hardware work running chrome OS? Camera, thunderbolt port, etc? Love your content. Your legacy patcher tutorial was a lifesaver. Thanks to you, I' can hold off on a new Mac for a few more years.

[@LuciferMorningstar-bj4oi]

Not working on mid-2009 13inch

[@alexquencholara33]

I have a fleet of old computers at work, I get to the efi boot screen bit after clicking it I get all black and nothing 😢

[@msbdevil]

Hey is there any way to get back to macos after installing chrome flex?

[@DennyKong]

Will it work on a 2006 Black MacBook Intel T7200 / 3 GB of RAM?

[@vuvanhieuable]

how to boot directly into chrome os on mac mini, when booting, if you do not press the option key, the mac will show a flashing folder image

[@MrAeblekind]

How does i enter the recovery mode on Chromebook flex on a macbook. ?

[@TechMex27]

Hi there. Were you able to turn on the backlit function on the keyboard? I'm running FlexOS on my 2012 Macbook Air and can't figure out how to get the backlit function to work.

[@agropoliusa]

Me too! Pls let me know how to get backlit keyboard!

[@mcal27]

So this is the rebranded Cloudready huh?

[@yasirelec]

Of course, it even says so during install, it’s cloudready 2.0

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Yes thank you @Yasir Javed. For @Alan Bailey sorry I did have a section in the video that talked about Neverware and Cloudready but realized the video was getting too long 🤣

[@mcal27]

@@Mr.Macintosh no problem, was just curious :)

[@WooaahhGaming]

I installed it onto my 2012 macbook pro but when I start the computer it'll show the google logo and then after that disappears nothing happens. I'm not sure what is wrong.

[@orbitztlc]

Thank you very much. Just a question...What if I have windows 11 along with Mac OS High Sierra as dual boot, will Chrome OS delete Windows 11 or just the partition with Mac OS HighSierra?

[@thedumbdino9224]

Could you make a video how to install linux beside macos with oclp That would also be a good idea to keep your macs up to date

[@divinaorillo8793]

I am trying this for 2010 mac book pro 6.2 but my only option is chrome flex stable. Long term enterprise and the enterprise candidate. I choose the STABLE? Is that safe 😅?

[@rackmanager]

There is no screen showing up after holding option key. it is just have some sound only strange. (IMAC)

[@bdek6558]

Can you do a similar install with out of date iPads? Or is there a way to update with open core legacy?

[@t3h_M05]

I am on 2012 MacPro5,1 with GTX680 Mac Edition. I was struggling to get video until I realized that the installer doesn't like display port. Install booted after switching to HDMI. Also, make sure the keyboard is supported. I have to plug a second basic keyboard in order to select the boot device as I use Corsair, which have firmware and under use on macs, are not immediately available at boot.

[@YouTube2ndOfficial]

can you please show me how to get macOS back

[@freetheworld247]

Hi, can you confirm if this will support crostini, i.e Linux on chrome

[@itsØUmusic]

This is so good! Thank you for this! ❤❤

[@kevinkpagan2439]

my mac cannot connect to wifi to complete the installation. any idea why?

[@macinman]

I have considered ChromeOS, as well as Linux as alternatives. I have a couple of Google smart speakers, and a Sony TV that runs android TV, plus I use a few Google services. So I've invested in Google's ecosystem, as well as Amazon's and Apple's. I don't have a particular reason to do this currently, but appreciate the option being available. For a while, I think ChromeOS was locked to certain machines designed specifically to run it. This no longer seems to be the case now. A tip for you Mr. Macintosh, if you do a video about Google stuff, don't say "Hey Google", or "OK Google" together if the person watching has google speakers, it will trigger the assistant. Thankfully it woke up and went back to sleep without problems.

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Hahaha! I did not think about the Hey Google thing triggering other devices! I might go try and edit that part out. If you do try out chrome os let me know how it goes Clinton!

[@ivan_is_sam.]

@@Mr.Macintosh Hiii, hey when restarting my Mac, holding the option key will do nothing and take me back to the Mac, what can I do?

[@ivan_is_sam.]

@@Mr.Macintosh Just fixed it but now have a bigger issue, my Mac is on a black screen! The Chrome logo appears and then goes black, help what do I do????

[@elenamiramontes88]

Everything worked, but when it comes to signing in to a network, it doesn't do anything.. uh oh. What do I do??

[@agropoliusa]

Pls let me know how to get backlit keyboard on MacBook Mid 2010 Please!

[@fazezerothehero9746]

I need help I’m stuck on a screen and it just says chrome on it

[@AlexSanchez-gu2ib]

Can you use an external hard drive if you don't have a flash drive?

[@jerichoaragones4003]

in this installation does it have a google play support on it can i install android apps does it have google playstore??

[@jaysonperez8304]

Yo lo instalé en mi iMac 2014 y no le funcionan los altavoces

Thankfully. I from Brazil and your video will save my computer. I have the iMac 2007, it’s works?

[@oldtechnology]

How is Chrome working on those old Machines? Is it comparable to native Chromebooks?

[@showw1337]

Im assuming this doesnt work the on mbp mid 2009 right? i think its the 5,5

[@harrythecoolb3280]

Love your content

[@popy_op]

I have installed chrome os flex on MacBook but brightness control is not working before chrome os i have also used win10 on MacBook and some things happened on win10 i don't why this is happening on both os

[@jorgecarvajal5357]

Damn I did exactly this and now my PC is not turning on 😢. Can someone help me please

[@harrythecoolb3280]

Hey mate love your content as always but out of curiosity how do I boot to the recovery screen to enable developer mode?

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Great question! I don't think google has developer mode enabled yet www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/stl9fq/enabled_developer_mode_on_chromeos_flex_by/

[@keaton7349]

I tried this on my mid 2009 iMac but it loads to a white screen and I see the Wi-Fi bar at the bottom then it glitches out and shows the chrome logo messed up

[@extemos6476]

Great Video!! I tried installing on a mac mini late 2012. for some reason it freezes after the first Chrome screen. But it runs no probblem of the thumb drive, is there any particular way I have to format or partition the Hard Drive? It's a 500GB HD with 16g RAM. Thank you.

[@eidiotwind2084]

Amazing work from Google!! So glad they did this!

[@naseeev]

Can you tell me ChromeOS Flex show 5ghz in Wifi? I have mac-mid-2012 2.4ghz.

[@trytofindme00]

My 2017 MacBook Air doesn't detect any wireless networks when setting up Chrome OS. What should I do to fix the connection problems? I cannot set up Chrome OS without some sort of connection to the internet. Please help me out

[@incognito_user]

Im interested to use this for my daily driver os. But the only problem is tht it does not hv playstore and apk file support.

[@blinddog1212]

Really cool! But some Macbooks like the 2012 are listed with a 2025 EOS. Does that mean they won't get updates beyond next year?

[@partheon]

When I inserted the USB drive in the MB 2009 , the drive isn't showing in the startup disk! Any solution?

[@rickdavis5593]

Has there been any known updates or fixes for the internal speaker issues in ChromeOS Flex? The last I heard was that any device with Linux 5.15+ should have internal audio working. I have multiple devices with ChromeOS Flex (v124.x) Linux 5.15.151 and still no sound from the internal speakers.

[@ripe_apple]

Excellent alternative to keep the landfills clear of e-waste by Keeping this machines alive. Mr. Macintosh "Simply the best"

[@Mr.Macintosh]

You got it Julio! I know Chrome OS is not the most popular OS to install on a Mac, but I wanted to offer it up a an alternative.

[@ripe_apple]

@@Mr.Macintosh I used Linux Mint on a MBP 9.2 2012, it worked really good, however, I had a hard time making the WiFi work. Then I found OPCL and now it runs BigSur. Thanks again Mr. Macintosh, keep up the good work.

[@ivand297]

i tried this on my Macbook 12 inch 2015. at first everything seems working fine until the booting stage. won't show up the mouse cursor so I cant select anything while on OS Flex.

[@JeffWilliamson1]

Thank you this was very helpful. Thinking about setting it up on my 2011 MBP.

[@Triggas]

That is too bad. Your mac wont work as it has dual graphics.

[@AdeelMuhammad]

Thanks but could you kindly help me with removal of chromeOS from mac and go back to MacOS on macmini 2014. I do not see any apple logo when i start mac mini, its all grey for few seconds and then it goes to chromeOS and runs chromeos normally. How can i go back to macOS.

[@beligiannis]

Any help? I have also the same problem

[@shavockiphea]

I have an old 2009 Mac mini with an SSD in it. When I boot from the USB, I get the Chrome splash screen, then get some pixelated lines on the top of the screen, then it goes dark. Any suggestions? The Mac has a Core 2 Duo. I wonder if that’s the issue. Thanks in advance.

[@AniltonAndrade]

Same problem

[@johnayap6861]

noob question: does it work with Ipad mini 2???

[@bellevillehills8771]

I installed chrome flex on my macbook pro mid 2010 and I wanted to know if I could go back, if so how? Thank you

[@swastikdasgupta4373]

Can I switch it back to a normal mac

[@BeejadiNagraja_Praveen]

This was done. Now I’m searching for info on how to uninstall this and get back to a max os. Anyone? Any ideas?

[@hashmook]

I have heen trying to boot using the usb but can get through :/

[@hashmook]

The chrome logo appears and followed by a black screen.

[@chrisblumarten]

is it possible to reverse the process and go back to mac os?

[@MorbidGod391]

Also if you have an Android phone apparently you can send and receive texts from your chromebook.

[@etie007]

Does your key backlighting on the mabook work under chromeos Flex?

[@HalXV]

Damn I tried to install it on a super old Macbook 2,1, when booting from the USB it was slow but worked so since it was super slow I select install to the internal hdd right away, the installation was complete. but then after installing on first boot I saw the chrome logo and then the screen just goes black and it doesn't do anything from there

[@ethanshevalier2044]

Hi Mr Macintosh do you know when they are adding in The backlight support for the nonmetal MacBooks in the Opencore patcher Thanks.

[@ronitsaraf]

I followed all the steps but after pressing EFI boot, a black screen appears and nothing is happening further. I have kept it for more than 2 hours.

[@andrewschwartz22]

Is your 2010 Mac Mini the server edition? The server included a second 2.5" hard drive instead of the optical, and I'm interested in finding out how it'll behave. I have one and will try to update you on my results.

[@Nintendann64]

Great video, I am hitting an issue when using the Chromebook Recovery Utility to make the bootable USB. I'm working with an early 2011 Macbook Pro 8,1. When it comes to the Recovery Utility writing the USB, the progress bar gets to around 50% and then fails saying Unknown error: Failed to read image..Try again. Any suggestions would be really helpful!

[@leroyjethrogibbs]

Sadly my iMac 21.5in (10.1) isn't listed. I've tried flex on it and the graphics bug out causing the OS to basically reset itself.

[@giddeonlazarus2093]

Does dual booting mac os and chrome have issues?

[@姚小新]

I donno if my old iMac 2007 mid could or couldn't run this.

[@AryanSingh-rs2nw]

In newer Macs, it won't work. Will chromeos flex run on an old Mac running new macOS?

[@AshwinSKumar]

My WiFi is not working chrome is flex?

[@luisggutierrez5059]

Trying manjaro Deeping on MBP Mid 2012 got terrible crash and a lot issues

[@danyk726]

Thats a GREAT Video. Would that work with my White MacBook 2010 8GB / 120 GB ? ... does NOT with 101.0.4937.0 :/

[@yongjian0917]

I'm trying to install right now but it goes to a page saying your system is repairing itself, please wait.

[@turbolenza35]

Does it work for powermac G4?

[@smartphonecomputerundmehr]

Sadly, no

[@mrjpg8517]

Work on MacBook white 2009?

[@KIDIYOfficial]

Mine freezes when i click efi boot, i have a 2010 13 inch macbook pro

[@lilboricua94]

I installed chrome os flex and it worked perfectly. I decided later I wanted to change and go back and install Monterrey. I am having trouble installing Monterrey. How do I uninstall chrome os flex? Thanks!

[@Mr.Macintosh]

Hello Latina Guide, to remove Chrome OS Flex you can boot to internet recovery or use a USB installer. The key is to erase the entire volume so all the parts of ChromeOS flex are removed. From there you should be able to install a fresh copy of macOS.

[@incognito_user]

Tried installing on my 2010 13" MBP 7,1 but I can't continue the setup as it can't detect any WiFi networks.

[@Mr.Macintosh]

I just checked and it looks like your MBP should be covered. Hmm I wonder if it is an issue with drivers for that wifi card.

[@incognito_user]

@@Mr.Macintosh Maybe i should just wait till the stable build comes out

[@ajl8203]

Dual boot??

[@jsyaprudin4294]

Is the Linux and Android part works?

[@m4t1m4c2]

When i open EFI BOOT the screen stuck in black. 30m and nothing. Something to do? Thx

[@m4t1m4c2]

I will do the usb booteable again.

[@gabrielhung3612]

I've just installed Chrome OS Flex on my Macbook Air Mid 2011. Everything works great and smooth. The only downside is I am unable to adjust/turn on the keyboard backlight. Hopefully there is a workaround for activating the keyboard backlight.

[@BCcatBruce]

This was my experience as well. I’m glad to have my MacBook Air 11 back as a useful device, but I don’t see any way to activate the keyboard backlight. Anyone got a suggestion or solution?

[@KLTan]

Does ctrl or alt plus brightness work? That's how Chromebooks work

[@agropoliusa]

@@KLTan Nothing works for me at all.

[@alxreds4593]

Hello Have a Powerbook G4 Which is the best option Try Deviant 8 but it goes very slow does anyone have a link to get mac os 10.5 for g4?

[@dadabooey]

Hi. I followed all the steps on the installation guide, as well as your video. But I am not able to complete installation on my macbook air 11 2014. It keeps prompting, something went wrong and unable to complete installation. What am I missing? But I am able to boot from usb and test the chrome os flex. It just wont install onto the macbook.

[@xztdxztd]

Hi Mr. Macintosh, I created the usb stick for Google Chrome OS Flex and I can boot from it but I only get a black screen. The boot stick is booting because I can hear it but only black screen. I have a iMac Mid 2010 model nr. 11.2 and with an ATI video card. That's the problem I guess. Any idea how to solve this ? Many thanks for your great videos.

[@1shaggy123]

Same issue on 2011 imac

[@latitudeash]

Nice. Can get a cheep Mac and install

[@florider_hd]

so this wont work on my 2007 macbook a1181?

[@senzen2692]

Great, useful video; I'm weary of depending so much on Google and other vendors but this is a genius move; almost a no brainer if you could dual boot or boot it from USB.

[@jimmillington]

I have a iMac 2009 and upgraded to Montery 12.16.1. Video still glichy after waking up. Then I saw your Linux install on a Mac but during the reboot with USB in the screen is split into 4 mirror images and it looks like the fonts are messed up and backward. So then I saw the Google Flex and thought I would just run the trial with the USB stick but it boots up to the same 4 mirrored imaged screen with messed up fonts so I can't see the trial button and am afraid to go further. At least I can still boot to Montery but it is always after a hard restart. Any ideas how to fix so in can install Chrome OS. ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB. 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?