8P2 - Reverse Engineering

List of 10 Good Ideas

1. Fix a Chromebook

2. Take apart a Chromebook and see how it works

3. Salvage parts from a Chromebook and use them to create something else

4. Switch a Chromebook from Chrome OS to Linux

5. Make something from other salved parts

6. Collect different Chromebook models and compare them

7. Upgrade an old Chromebook with new parts

8. Factory reset a Chromebook

9. Take random old parts and find out what they are and what they were used for

10.  Sort scraps into piles for recycling.

Planning Questions

Are you working by yourself or in a team?

I am working in a team with Rene.

What materials will you need for your project?

I will need an old broken Chromebook and tools and spare parts.

What is your plan to create in this project?

I plan to create a working Chromebook with a Linux operating system.

What unique qualities will your project have?

It will have unique commentary and descriptions from yours truly, Aiden and Rene

Daily Log:

I took the Chromebook home and despite working with it for hours, I was unable to switch the operating system to Linux. I did, however, manage to factory reset the Chromebook, including Chrome OS. This meant that the Chromebook was no longer managed by the school. I found this interesting, and even though we were not able to reach our original goal of converting the Chromebook to a Linux operating system, I am still happy with what we were able to do with it. 

Reflection

• Using an old Chromebook, we created a wiped Chromebook that is no longer managed by the school because we wanted to fix or create something in reverse engineering rather than take something apart. We were originally going to switch the operating system from Chrome OS to Linux. We were unable to accomplish this though, but we still managed to wipe the Chromebook in the process.

• During this process, I learned what a distributor is. A distributor is something that can be downloaded and distributes an operating system. Fedora, Ubuntu, and Kubuntu are all Linux distributions we tried to use during our project.

• The 7 standards of the class are Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator. My project ties to Knowledge Constructor because we had to collect information from a variety of sources online to solve problems. When doing projects like this, even very specific questions have almost always been asked before and answered online, especially in forums.

• A challenge I overcame on this project was knowing absolutely nothing about what we were doing. We were able to push past this by starting with a question, like "How to download Linux on a Chromebook?" We then collected different answers and researched them, breaking things down that we didn't understand by asking more and more questions until we get to the bottom, then we built upwards.

• Given a chance to do this again, I would change what I did with the broken Chromebook. The reason why I would change it is because the project we chose to do was a little over our heads. These projects are supposed to be a learning experience, but this one just ended up being a headache and a chore. We did learn some things, but it was overall not an enjoyable experience. I believe that learning is important, but I also believe we should have fun while doing it.

• Hastings High School Career and Technical Education Program offers Agriculture, Business Management, Computer Programming, Construction Trades, Culinary Arts, Digital Multimedia, Engineering Design, Finance, Insurance, Marketing.  My project connects to the Digital Multimedia CTE program at Hastings High School.  My project connects to careers in software engineering.