j224 Posted June 21, 2019 Posted June 21, 2019 Hey guys, We've got a bunch of Chromebooks (42 to be exact) which we've shared around our junior school and had since 2015- they've been fantastic (The Toshiba CB30-B-104 model if anyone is interested) According to Google, the end of life is June 2020, so I'm thinking ahead and wondering what the best option is? How likely is it that Google will continue to roll out updates for them past the end of life date? How vulnerable will they be when they do stop receiving updates? Is it best to sell them off and replace them now because they'll be worthless when they do reach end of life? Any thoughts appreciated.
PotNoodleTech Posted June 21, 2019 Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) I'd probably keep running them as long as you can. They're not going to just suddenly stop working when they reach EOL, they may at some point in the future reach a stage where you won't get the latest chrome OS update. Tough decision on if to sell them as you'll already be losing a chunk of money when you sell them. Are they more valuable to you working in your classrooms for another few years? My advice, ping a few of the secondhand refurbishment companies and email and say your thinking of getting rid of them. You may well get an OK price as chromebooks are rare on the refurbished market. Most people (including me) plan to just run them till they die. Edited June 21, 2019 by PotNoodleTech 1
j224 Posted June 21, 2019 Author Posted June 21, 2019 Thanks for your thoughts. I have read online about other Chromebooks that have reached EOL and are still receiving updates. They're definitely running well enough to keep for a few more years. Perhaps we just buy some more (of a newer model) as we have space in our trolleys for an extra 40. We've got similar issues with our iPads. 16 of them are iPad 2's running 9.3.5 but still working quite well and the other 16 are Airs (1st gen) which won't be compatible with OS 13.
sted Posted June 21, 2019 Posted June 21, 2019 as i understand it the eol is just when they guarantee up to as long as the updates continue to work on that particular architecture you will probably get updates ( i also assume google have i fo on just how many of machine x actually get used which id imagine has some effect on it). From what i was reading a few days ago theres some chromebooks that are because of the chipset harder to support that will get dropped as soon as they can but others are still getting support well past their eol
TTG_Alice Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 if you do decide to recycle/sell laptops. this company does them - https://www.kocycle.com/
FN-GM Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I think you can load NeverWare onto some old Chromebooks. Might be worth giving them a ping.
Arthur Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) The Toshiba CB30-B-104 model if anyone is interested Since it's an Intel-based Chromebook you should be able to run CloudReady on them... How to beat Chrome OS EOL and carry on getting updates Chrome OS devices are great in loads of ways, but they have built-in obsolescence. Google will stop providing updates at a predetermined time according to the schedule you can find here. So the best you will achieve is 6.5 year if you buy the device on the launch day. In reality, it will be generally much less. It's something to watch as a good deal might not be such a good deal if the device only has two years left. Once a device reaches its "due" date, you get a red pop up telling you its time to update every time you log in. The update section tells you there are no more updates. Now the device will work fine - for a while. You might get another 6 months use out of it before core services like Gmail stop working. However, if you are prepared to do a little work, you can install the OS of your choice onto the device and carry on using the device and not accept this. If you want Chrome OS, then you can install Cloudready from Neverware. I'll outline the basic steps below: The board name of the 2015 Toshiba Chromebook 2 is Gandof which is supported by MrChromeBox's Firmware Utility Script... https://mrchromebox.tech https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices Firmware Update Types RW_LEGACY Updates/replaces the stock legacy boot payload (SeaBIOS) included on many models; supplements the ChromeOS / secure boot payload Leaves all stock functionality intact, including the Developer Mode boot screen and Recovery Mode functionality Allows device to dual-boot another OS alongside Chrome OS Does not require disabling the firmware write-protect Carries zero risk of bricking the device On many models, includes bugfixes and enables additional functionality The RW_LEGACY firmware is for users who want to dual-boot Chrome OS + Linux, or users who want to run Linux without having to open the device/disable the firmware write-protect (and are ok with the accompanying limitations). (UEFI) Full ROM A complete firmware image which includes updated/customized versions of the hardware init component (coreboot) and UEFI boot payload (Tianocore); Chromeboxes have the option of a Legacy Boot (SeaBIOS) firmware also, since some specialized Linux distros run on them are not yet UEFI compatible (e.g., roon) Removes the developer mode boot (white "OS verification is OFF") screen Completely removes the ability to run Chrome OS (and ChromeOS Recovery Mode), creating a small risk of bricking your device Offers the best support for booting all OSes besides Chrome OS Adds full hardware support for virtualization (vmx / VT-x) Fixes many bugs and/or idiosyncrasies associated with the stock firmware UEFI firmware contains updated EC firmware as well, which brings additional fixes on most Chromebooks (mainly keyboard related) Requires installation of a UEFI-compatible OS after flashing Essentially turns your Chrome OS device into a "regular" PC / laptop The (UEFI) Full ROM firmware is the best option for all users who no longer need/want to run Chrome OS (ie, want to run Linux/Windows exclusively), and who don't mind opening their device to disable the firmware write-protect. Edited June 24, 2019 by Arthur
j224 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Posted June 25, 2019 Since it's an Intel-based Chromebook you should be able to run CloudReady on them... The board name of the 2015 Toshiba Chromebook 2 is Gandof which is supported by MrChromeBox's Firmware Utility Script... Thanks for the info, but we don't have the 2015 model. I think I'll hang on to them for the time being. They're in good condition and are running fast enough. As others have said, it's likely the updates will continue past the EOL date.
Arthur Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Thanks for the info, but we don't have the 2015 model. The 2014 model also has firmware updates available for it. As others have said, it's likely the updates will continue past the EOL date. Not long after however. See @rogerdnixon's posts on GEG UK. https://plus.google.com/115528531300490898344/posts/Rh9BZQS1Nd2
PotNoodleTech Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 It's ironic isn't it that they were first marketed as "they'll just keep running and auto updating you don't need to worry" and yet actually they've got a shorter life than windows and apple devices. Some could say that we were mis-sold?
FN-GM Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 It's ironic isn't it that they were first marketed as "they'll just keep running and auto updating you don't need to worry" and yet actually they've got a shorter life than windows and apple devices. Some could say that we were mis-sold?Although a lot cheaper than Windows and Apple devices. Personally I wouldn't have seen it as an issue when I purchased them for the MAT. After 5 years they would have left service.
crc-ict Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Does anyone else find the same as us though? Never mind the EOL date, once they start approaching 3 years in service, we find our Chromebooks just start to fail and become unreliable. Mostly they seem to start black-screen crashing. This happens on a LOT of them. We've seen it with large deployments of both Samsung Chromebook 3s and Acer C730s. Maybe it's related to the way they are used here or something, but because of this, I don't worry about the EOL as long as its more than 3 years from purchase, and I just plan to scrap them at 3 years.
Ditto Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 We had HP 14 Chromebooks (G3 I think) which were 4+ years old when I worked on them. Apart from physical damage by pupils and physical wear on the power input, I saw very little hardware/firmware failures.
rogerdnixon Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 As an update to this (especially from my comments on the UK GEG) and as we have had Chromebooks since 2012, this is our take on it now: The only devices that we have had that have actually stopped updating at the Black Samsung Series 5's and Samsung Chromeboxes. The Black Samsungs we traded in with HP for some newer HP Chromebooks as few years ago. The Samsung Chromeboxes, we installed Cloudready on - I detailed the procedure here: https://wpsit.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-to-beat-chromeos-eol-and-carry-on.html - however, its time consuming and only works on Intel-based devices. Silver Samsung 303's from 2013 are now > 1 year past their end of support and are still getting updates and work fine (although a little slowly now). They look a bit battered - but are still going strong ~6 years down the line. The next devices that we have that will get to end of support are our Acer C720's and some of our Chromeboxes. I might try to do a trade-in deal with some of these in the coming year. But I'll keep them is service until they stop getting updates. I'd say the general advice I'd give is always by the newest device - to get the most of the 6.5 years of guaranteed updates. So we have just got HP G6A EE's for our new Y7 in September - these are good to June 2025 and very reasonably priced.
j224 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Posted June 25, 2019 Not long after however. See @rogerdnixon's posts on GEG UK. Hmmm, decisions decisions. Well for us to switch to CloudReady on our 55 devices, it would be $20 annually per device (about £15)- £825 pa total. Plus 55 new management licenses at about £20 each- £1100 total. Plus the time it'll take me to install on all of them.
rogerdnixon Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Hmmm, decisions decisions. Well for us to switch to CloudReady on our 55 devices, it would be $20 annually per device (about £15)- £825 pa total. Plus 55 new management licenses at about £20 each- £1100 total. Plus the time it'll take me to install on all of them. Never pay more than around £17 for ChromeOS licences. When you get to around 55 Cloudready devices - you might as well go for a site licences, I think it is 70p per year based on student numbers. Then you can use it on an unlimited number of devices. Personally, I'd not bother "hacking" a Chromebook and sticking on Cloudready on it as its quite time consuming to do. Took me quite a while to do our Chromeboxes and I borked one in the process. However, its a great thing to stick on old PC hardware. 1
j224 Posted June 26, 2019 Author Posted June 26, 2019 My advice, ping a few of the secondhand refurbishment companies and email and say your thinking of getting rid of them. You may well get an OK price as chromebooks are rare on the refurbished market. Most people (including me) plan to just run them till they die. Got a disappointing quote from one company of just £10 per Chromebook- apparently not as desirable in the refurbished market as Windows laptops. You'd think that would be starting to change in the last couple of years and that schools with small budgets would be looking for refurb Chromebooks. We'd definitely pick a CB over a laptop. Looks like we'll keep hold of them until they refuse to work.
PotNoodleTech Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 Got a disappointing quote from one company of just £10 per Chromebook- apparently not as desirable in the refurbished market as Windows laptops. You'd think that would be starting to change in the last couple of years and that schools with small budgets would be looking for refurb Chromebooks. We'd definitely pick a CB over a laptop. Looks like we'll keep hold of them until they refuse to work. Yes that really is a poor price. What company was that? Have you tried ICT Direct?
j224 Posted June 26, 2019 Author Posted June 26, 2019 Yes that really is a poor price. What company was that? Have you tried ICT Direct? Not yet. Worth a go, but I guess it shouldn't be surprising with a product that's near EOL. And Chromebooks are fairly cheap to buy new so most schools do that. Would it make more sense to lease the next ones we buy, or will we just end up paying more in the long run?
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