--- breadcrumbs: - - /chromium-os - ChromiumOS - - /chromium-os/developer-library/reference/development/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices - Developer Information for ChromeOS Devices page_name: samsung-arm-chromebook title: Samsung ARM Chromebook --- [TOC] ## Introduction This page contains information about the [ARM Samsung Series 3 Chromebook](https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/samsung-chromebook.html) that is interesting and/or useful to software developers. For general information about getting started with developing on ChromiumOS (the open-source version of the software on the Chrome Notebook), see the [Chromium OS Developer Guide](/chromium-os/developer-guide). ### Specifications * CPU: [Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250)](http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/product/application/detail?productId=7668) (Cortex A15; 1.7GHz dual core cpu) * GPU: [ARM Mali-T604](http://www.arm.com/products/multimedia/mali-graphics-hardware/mali-t604.php) (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 * Power supply: 12V image ([DC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_current)) 3.33A image ([positive polarity tip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols)) * No [Kensington Security Slot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Security_Slot) * [Servo header](/chromium-os/servo): 1x42 header (now obsolete) ## Developer Mode **Caution: Modifications you make to the system are not supported by Google, may cause hardware, software or security issues and may void warranty.** 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. ### Introduction Enabling Developer mode is the first step to tinkering with your Chromebook. With Developer mode enabled you can do things like poke around on a command shell (as root if you want), install ChromiumOS, or try other OS's. Note that Developer mode turns off some security features like verified boot and disabling the shell access. If you want to browse in a safer, more secure way, leave Developer mode turned OFF. Note: Switching between Developer and Normal (non-developer) modes will remove user accounts and their associated information from your Chromebook. ### Entering 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 (F3) 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. ### USB Boot By default, USB booting is disabled. Once you are in Dev-mode and have a root shell, you can run: ```none sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 ``` and reboot once to boot from USB drives with Ctrl-U. Use the USB port next to the HDMI connector. Note: Only CrOS formatted images will boot via USB. Other Linux distros will not work. ### Legacy Boot Sorry, but this device does not support a legacy BIOS mode. It has an ARM cpu, so there is no such mode anyways. ### Leaving 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. ## Firmware This device uses [Das U-Boot](http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot) to boot the system. You can find the source in the [ChromiumOS u-boot git tree](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/third_party/u-boot/+/firmware-snow-2695.B) in the `firmware-snow-2695.B` branch. 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](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/firmware-snow-2695.B) (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! ### Flash Layout You can show the SPI flash layout on your device by using [flashmap utilities](http://flashmap.googlecode.com/). It'll be the same on all devices though so the example below should be applicable as well ```none $ flashrom -r bios.bin $ fmap_decode bios.bin fmap_signature="0x5f5f464d41505f5f" fmap_ver_major="1" fmap_ver_minor="0" fmap_base="0x0000000000000000" fmap_size="0x400000" fmap_name="FMAP" fmap_nareas="23" area_offset="0x001af000" area_size="0x00051000" area_name="RO_UNUSED"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00000000" area_size="0x00200000" area_name="WP_RO"          area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00000000" area_size="0x0019f000" area_name="RO_SECTION"     area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00000000" area_size="0x00002000" area_name="BL1 PRE_BOOT"   area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00002000" area_size="0x00004000" area_name="BL2 SPL"        area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00006000" area_size="0x0009a000" area_name="U_BOOT"         area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x000a0000" area_size="0x00001000" area_name="FMAP"           area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x000aff00" area_size="0x00000100" area_name="RO_FRID"        area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x000b0000" area_size="0x000ef000" area_name="GBB"            area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x001a0000" area_size="0x00010000" area_name="RO_VPD"         area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00200000" area_size="0x000f0000" area_name="RW_SECTION_A"   area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00200000" area_size="0x00002000" area_name="VBLOCK_A"       area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00202000" area_size="0x000edf00" area_name="FW_MAIN_A"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x002eff00" area_size="0x00000100" area_name="RW_FWID_A"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00300000" area_size="0x000f0000" area_name="RW_SECTION_B"   area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00300000" area_size="0x00002000" area_name="VBLOCK_B"       area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x00302000" area_size="0x000edf00" area_name="FW_MAIN_B"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003eff00" area_size="0x00000100" area_name="RW_FWID_B"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003f0000" area_size="0x00008000" area_name="RW_VPD"         area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003f8000" area_size="0x00004000" area_name="RW_SHARED"      area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003f8000" area_size="0x00004000" area_name="SHARED_DATA"    area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003fc000" area_size="0x00004000" area_name="RW_PRIVATE"     area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" area_offset="0x003fc000" area_size="0x00004000" area_name="RW_ENVIRONMENT" area_flags_raw="0x01" area_flags="static" ``` You're a good robot and can parse that right? :) Here's a highlight of the parts you'll care about. #### Read-Only section (first 2 MiB)
offset size content details
0 KiB 8 KiB BL1 Samsung first stage bootloader
8 KiB 16 KiB BL2 Samsung second stage bootloader
24 KiB 616 KiB U-Boot Main (open source) bootloader
536 KiB 16 KiB U-Boot env Embedded runtime environment used by U-Boot
640 KiB 4 KiB Flashmap Specification for flash layout and such
704 KiB 956 KiB GBB Google Binary Block to hold various flags
1664 KiB 64 KiB VPD Vital/Vendor Product Data (part numbers/serial number/etc...)
The U-Boot environment can be found embedded inside the U-Boot image itself. Normally the flash is read-only which means you can't change it. But if you were to disable the write protect, you could update the environment to do whatever you like. ## 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): [image](./arm-chromebook-inside.jpg) [image](./snow-bottom-guts.jpg) [image](./snow-top-guts.jpg) 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 #### Firmware Write Protect It's the screw next to the USB 3.0 connector (see the pictures above for more details). There should also be a conductive piece of plastic attached to the screw hole.