Hacker enables dual boot with Windows on Chromebooks with AMD chips

A Reddit user managed to dual-boot a Chromebook with an AMD Ryzen CPU with Chrome OS and Windows 10 and 11. That only works with a limited number of models and socs. Most features work, except for the fingerprint scanner.

redditor coolstarorg describes how he manages to make a dual boot of a Chromebook with an AMD CPU in it. According to him, that only works on a few models: the HP Chromebook 14b and Pro C645 Enterprise, the Lenovo Yoga C13 and the ASUS Chromebook Flip CM5. Those models use an AMD Athlon 3015ce, Ryzen 3 3250C, Ryzen 5 3500C or Ryzen 7 3700C. Not all Chromebook models can dual boot because eMMC storage is not supported with coolstarorg’s method. Windows can read and write to eMMC drives, but not boot UEFI. Users who want to dual boot should therefore use a Chromebook with an NVMe SSD. When Windows is started, only the fingerprint scanner will not work on it. All other features, both hardware and software, work.

The hacker also has an installation guide put online. Users receive specific instructions about dual booting per model. The dual booting works by repartitioning Chrome OS via the chrx tool. After that, it is necessary to update the RW_Legacy firmware. Coolstarorg has written a script that then enables the dualboot.

According to the hacker, his method makes it possible to install both Windows 10 and 11 alongside Chrome OS. It was already possible to dualboot Chromebooks with an alternative operating system, but for the time being that was only possible on Chromebooks with Intel chips. Coolstarorg says other Chromebooks with AMD chips will be able to dual-boot once the problem with eMMCs is resolved.