Not that I'd ever do that, but I'm wondering if it'd be possible to put Chromium (when it's released) onto the iPad and use it as it's OS?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Curious - Chromium on the iPad?
- Thread starter MythicFrost
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
From a technical standpoint, it likely is at least somewhat possible, although since the iPhone OS isn't exactly the same as OS X, and the libraries are somewhat different, some work would have to be done to do a semi-port.
The problem is that Apple would very likely not approve such an app, for at least two reasons: browsers execute code (javascript), which is not allowed, and Apple has a habit of rejecting applications that "duplicate" built-in apps.
I'm not referring to an iPad app, but actually running the Chromium OS on the iPad, as the only OS on it.
Lol. Yes the thread starter was talking about ChromeOS rather then the web browser.
It is an interesting discussion, as I would love to be able to dual boot into a Ubuntu installation if necessary. However I have a feeling the low level software on the iPad is not going to play nice.
I wouldn't want to brick an ipad though.
It is an interesting discussion, as I would love to be able to dual boot into a Ubuntu installation if necessary. However I have a feeling the low level software on the iPad is not going to play nice.
I wouldn't want to brick an ipad though.
I REALLY doubt that this can happen. I'll share my thoughts based on my experience, it might come off as fact but take it with a grain of salt.
First, OS X doesn't boot like other OSs. Just look at how complicated getting linux to boot on the AppleTV is, or how complicated it is to get OS X to boot on a regular PC. Couple this with the fact that the iPhone OS is essentially an embedded version of Mac OS X and things get complicated quickly.
Second, assuming you could get some sort of bootloader going (Which I think if at all possible would be quite a hack and certainly not ideal) Your going to have to worry about all the drivers from the touch screen, to the display and even the A4 chip. Apple probably won't be realeasing the details on these devices.
Third, the iPad is not a super accessible device. Not like a netbook where you can simply plug in a CD/DVD drive and treat it like a computer.
So for these reasons I don't think it can really happen, and if it could I imagine it would be largely unsatisfying.
First, OS X doesn't boot like other OSs. Just look at how complicated getting linux to boot on the AppleTV is, or how complicated it is to get OS X to boot on a regular PC. Couple this with the fact that the iPhone OS is essentially an embedded version of Mac OS X and things get complicated quickly.
Second, assuming you could get some sort of bootloader going (Which I think if at all possible would be quite a hack and certainly not ideal) Your going to have to worry about all the drivers from the touch screen, to the display and even the A4 chip. Apple probably won't be realeasing the details on these devices.
Third, the iPad is not a super accessible device. Not like a netbook where you can simply plug in a CD/DVD drive and treat it like a computer.
So for these reasons I don't think it can really happen, and if it could I imagine it would be largely unsatisfying.
IF the Chrome OS became the dominant operating system, I can see Apple doing a boot camp scenario as they did with Windows. But otherwise, they're not going to want the competition.
As a hack, I suppose it's possible if someone ported Chromium to work on the Apple CPU.
As a hack, I suppose it's possible if someone ported Chromium to work on the Apple CPU.
First of all I highly doubt that chromium will ever dominate the OS market, but thats just my opinion. Second, even if it some how did become a big player Apple is not going to complicate the iPad with it. The iPad would undoubtedly lose its access to the App Store if it was running Chromium which is a huge revenue for Apple. So again no. Don't count on seeing Chromium on the iPad.
How about we wait until people actually get to use them.
Well, the fact that the iPad runs iPhone OS is why I preordered it sight unseen. If it were running "Mac OSX" or some "hybrid" version like some people wanted, then I'd be thinking I need to see it first before I buy it.
It's quite simple actually. I'd say if the hacking community decide to work on it, it could be done within weeks (albeit with limited functionality until they crack everything open)
The hacking community has being trying to crack 3.1.3 in the 3GS and iPod touch 3g for months. No luck
Yeah since it came out last month and all.
I agree with others about the iPhone/iPad OS being the main reason I bought it. Some people say its just a big iPod Touch. I say the iPod Touch is just a small, limited iPad. I mean have you guys actually used an iPhone? Its like the best gadget I've ever used. Of course I want a giant one with a beautiful IPS display and extra features / functionality. That's probably one of the best announcements of all time for me.
I absolutely love my iPhone, but not as much as before the January announcement. Heck, the thought even crossed my mind that I might get an Android phone instead when I upgrade next because I would have an iPad. But honestly that isn't going to happen any time soon. I just thought it was crazy that it crossed my mind--the iPad beating out my love for my iPhone? Insane! I haven't even tried one yet but I know it will rock, even more so on OS 4.0 later this summer.
That is kind of like asking if if is possible to transplant a Miata Motor into Corvette Z06?
Theoretically it is possible, but it will likely never happen happen because the motor is one of the main draws for the car.
Apples slickly integrated OS is at least half of the appeal here.
There will likely be dozens of open source OS tablets but only one with an Apple OS.
Second thing: Chrome? Really? I could see Android which actually is a full featured open OS. Chrome is really just a web browser pretending to be an OS, you do everything in the cloud. That doesn't strike me as very appealing. You can just run Chrome browser on Android and do what you want on the cloud and other things locally.
Theoretically it is possible, but it will likely never happen happen because the motor is one of the main draws for the car.
Apples slickly integrated OS is at least half of the appeal here.
There will likely be dozens of open source OS tablets but only one with an Apple OS.
Second thing: Chrome? Really? I could see Android which actually is a full featured open OS. Chrome is really just a web browser pretending to be an OS, you do everything in the cloud. That doesn't strike me as very appealing. You can just run Chrome browser on Android and do what you want on the cloud and other things locally.
To make it clear for others,
The OS is called Chromium OS, which is the open source development project for the OS and Chrome OS is what Google will bundle together and market for the slates.
Chromium is the open source project behind Chrome which is the browser marketed by Google. In other words if we were to compare it to Apple, Chromium=WebKit, Chrome=Safari.
As for the OP's question, sure it's possible but why? It'll take years to master the hardware with drivers.
Two words: JTAG Cable.
Is "hacking" the iPad trivial? No.
However, you do not NEED to make some kind of wiz-bang ChromeOS installer script or process to get it running. You're not really even getting anywhere by jail breaking the device, since your intent is to toss the whole existing OS. There will be no app that reboots into ChromeOS, and there will never be Apple approval of any other OS on the iPad. Hopefully that clears up half of the above comments.
What you likely would do is something like the following:
0) figure out where everything is. (Is it me or does the project not follow the build structure described?)
1) compile it with A4 support (non trivial too; that's something like an A8 with a PowerVR GPU, you probably have to write this yourself, along with the OpenGL ES 2 support for the GPU to work with whatever layer of OpenGL is in chromium/chrome...).
1b) compile Chromium/Chrome with the same support
2) add boot code to the image for the device. Here you'd likely reuse some of what you find on the device already, see step 3.
3) use a JTAG cable and software to read the whole image of the ROM/flashROM off the device. Pray you can disassemble this and understand it.
3b) Baseless speculation: It might be possible that the device has some kind of hardware based code signing. Hopefully not, otherwise hope it can be brute forced reverse engineered before the heat-death of the universe.
4) Now that you've analyzed what was on the system, and made a reasonably comparable image that includes ChromiumOS/ChromeOS's booting it's kernel and all the device support, FS, and userland binaries, use the JTAG cable to put that into the FlashROM (hopefully there wasn't any other ROM or wasn't anything actually important, or show-stopping in the ROM).
5) Try that. Notice problems. Repeat after code-fixes.
Possible best case: Google already has support written for the devices, cpu and gpu, it all builds, there's tools to make an image, you put that on the device, and in 8 hours you're pretty much running a ChromeOS demo device instead of an iPad.
Prognosis: unlikely.
Disclaimer: Some disassembling required.
Is "hacking" the iPad trivial? No.
However, you do not NEED to make some kind of wiz-bang ChromeOS installer script or process to get it running. You're not really even getting anywhere by jail breaking the device, since your intent is to toss the whole existing OS. There will be no app that reboots into ChromeOS, and there will never be Apple approval of any other OS on the iPad. Hopefully that clears up half of the above comments.
What you likely would do is something like the following:
0) figure out where everything is. (Is it me or does the project not follow the build structure described?)
1) compile it with A4 support (non trivial too; that's something like an A8 with a PowerVR GPU, you probably have to write this yourself, along with the OpenGL ES 2 support for the GPU to work with whatever layer of OpenGL is in chromium/chrome...).
1b) compile Chromium/Chrome with the same support
2) add boot code to the image for the device. Here you'd likely reuse some of what you find on the device already, see step 3.
3) use a JTAG cable and software to read the whole image of the ROM/flashROM off the device. Pray you can disassemble this and understand it.
3b) Baseless speculation: It might be possible that the device has some kind of hardware based code signing. Hopefully not, otherwise hope it can be brute forced reverse engineered before the heat-death of the universe.
4) Now that you've analyzed what was on the system, and made a reasonably comparable image that includes ChromiumOS/ChromeOS's booting it's kernel and all the device support, FS, and userland binaries, use the JTAG cable to put that into the FlashROM (hopefully there wasn't any other ROM or wasn't anything actually important, or show-stopping in the ROM).
5) Try that. Notice problems. Repeat after code-fixes.
Possible best case: Google already has support written for the devices, cpu and gpu, it all builds, there's tools to make an image, you put that on the device, and in 8 hours you're pretty much running a ChromeOS demo device instead of an iPad.
Prognosis: unlikely.
Disclaimer: Some disassembling required.