Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#1

Post by boros2me » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 3:28 PM UTC

Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server
tamas.dev

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#2

Post by NikolaeVarius » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:44 PM UTC

tldr: Install Gallium OS (AKA Ubuntu) and run arbitrary server

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#3

Post by teejmya » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:48 PM UTC

"[...]especially knowing it can run on batteries for 10 hours (allegedly), without having a UPS."

In my experience of trying the same, this is a swollen Li-Ion battery waiting to happen.

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#4

Post by josefresco » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

I have a working Chromebook with a broken screen. Sure would be nice to put it to work! Loved that little machine when it was working, perfect for the kids and to take to client meetings (all day battery). It's now in storage, because paying to fix a screen on a $200-something computer doesn't make sense.

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#5

Post by qz2 » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

I use a Lenovo M series Tiny for this. I have a fanless celeron unit running devuan.

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#6

Post by ianai » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

teejmya wrote: post #3

"[...]especially knowing it can run on batteries for 10 hours (allegedly), without having a UPS." In my experience of trying the same, this is a swollen Li-Ion battery waiting to happen.

So unplug it ever few days for an hour?

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#7

Post by pletnes » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:10 PM UTC

ianai wrote: post #6

teejmya wrote: post #3

"[...]especially knowing it can run on batteries for 10 hours (allegedly), without having a UPS." In my experience of trying the same, this is a swollen Li-Ion battery waiting to happen.

So unplug it ever few days for an hour?

Or use a timer, 0.5 h every night?

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#8

Post by lsiebert » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:11 PM UTC

teejmya wrote: post #3

"[...]especially knowing it can run on batteries for 10 hours (allegedly), without having a UPS." In my experience of trying the same, this is a swollen Li-Ion battery waiting to happen.

Given that the monitor is a big part of power draw, it will probably last longer than that with the lid closed. Of course if you lose power, you probably lose the wifi router it's connected to anyway.

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#9

Post by nfriedly » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #4

I have a working Chromebook with a broken screen. Sure would be nice to put it to work! Loved that little machine when it was working, perfect for the kids and to take to client meetings (all day battery). It's now in storage, because paying to fix a screen on a $200-something computer doesn't make sense.

When I end up with old hardware that I don't want to fix or re-purpose, I tend to put it on an ebay auction for $0.99 + shipping (or whatever), and hope that someone else can get some additional life out of it.

Re: Repurposing my old Chromebook to a low power home server

#10

Post by yjftsjthsd-h » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

ianai wrote: post #6

teejmya wrote: post #3

"[...]especially knowing it can run on batteries for 10 hours (allegedly), without having a UPS." In my experience of trying the same, this is a swollen Li-Ion battery waiting to happen.

So unplug it ever few days for an hour?

I don't know if it works on chromebook hardware, but some laptops let you manually control whether/when the battery is charging, ex. https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48534/how-to-adjust...