Turning a Chromebox Into a Proper Power-Efficient PC
1 min read
Summary
An evaluation of Acer’s CXI3 Chromebox mini PC shows that it can run standard x86_64 PC software if the BIOS is altered, as it runs on a locked-down version of the Linux kernel, incumbent ChromeOS.
YouTube channel Hardware Haven demonstrates in a video how the device’s write-protect screw can be removed and replaced with MrChromebox’s replacement BIOS, to enable it to run other software such as Proxmox.
However, the hardware’s reusability is limited by the fact that it only supports 32-bit apps, and there is no data on whether it can run 64-bit apps.
The device runs on an Intel Core i3-8130U processor and has modular SODIMM RAM, an NVMe storage M.2 slot and a slot for a WiFi card or SATA adapter.
