CPLYBOOT NOT SHOWING Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[aelesher]

I used CPX during summer school in June and when the students plugged them in, the CPLAYBOOT showed on the Chromebook.

Starting in September, when I try to have students download, the CPLAYBOOT does not show.

I have tried the following:
Running the Code.org Serial Connector app in the background like one teacher in the forum suggested.
Powering down and powering back up with CPX plugged in.
Hit reset button.
Unplugged and replugged the CPX into USB.
Unplugged and replugged the cord to micro USB on CPX.
Had our district IT team test it out.

None of these solutions has worked. I was going to purchase a class set and one of my fellow STEM teachers was going to purchase a class set, but if the students can't download to the CPX, purchasing them is irrelevant.

They CPX connects perfectly to my Lenovo laptop so when student created their lights shows, I was able to have them email me their download and I could play it from my computer but with 30+ students in a class, this just isn't a feasible solution.

We really want to use these delightful little devices but they can't connect to Chromebooks and that is what all the students in our district use.

[franklin97355]

I'll check if there are any resolutions available

[ceblackmon]

The issues with CPX connecting to Chromebooks are new, and seem to be widespread from other posts on this forum. I have a class set of HP Chromebooks, and there was ZERO issues connecting to CPLAYBOOT for the first year or so that I used them. Now (within the last month) the connection to CPLAYBOOT has become unreliable, at best. The Chromebooks will often not recognize that a device is connected at all.

My guess is this was caused by a Chrome OS update? Hopefully it gets resolved soon, because I was relying on my CPXs quite heavily in my STEM curriculum.

[smagoun]

Hi, I'm fairly sure this was caused by a ChromeOS update. I encountered the same problem, and the latest version of ChromeOS (87) has made things worse. I investigated a bit and discovered there is a program on the Chromebook called 'permission_broker' that seems to be the root cause of the issue. It takes control of the USB devices on the Chromebook, and doesn't properly set up the filesystem to see CPLAYBOOT.

Using the Chrome+MakeCode "WebUSB" functionality is a workaround: WebUSB Uploading for MakeCode

Temporarily disabling the permission_broker also works, but that is a pain and likely makes the Chromebook insecure. Definitely not something I'd recommend for an educational setting. I posted more details the other day in the Circuit Playground forum: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=171389#p842542

I've filed a bug with Google; is there an Adafruit staff member with a connection there who can inquire about a fix?

[danhalbert]

@smagoun - Have you noticed any change with this with the latest Chromebook updates? I have not had a chance to test this thoroughly yet, but I did reproduce it when you first brought it up.

[tcworks]

Is there any update on this issue? I am running a remote learning program and given out over 100 CPXs. I am getting similar reports from students that they can't connect their CPX to a ChromBook. Their CPX lights turn green after connecting, but it never shows up a drive on their Chromebooks.

[smagoun]

Some good news, this seems to be fixed in a recent Chrome OS update. I just installed Version 88.0.4324.109. I can repeatedly unplug + replug the CPX, and so far CPLAYBOOT has appeared in the Files app each time. Hopefully it works for everyone else too! WebUSB continues to work well too.

Now the less-good news: Chrome OS doesn’t seem to properly detect the CPX if it’s already plugged in when you boot the chromebook. If I boot the chromebook with the CPX plugged in, I have to unplug + replug the CPX to get the CPLAYBOOT drive to show up. Not a big deal, but probably good to know if you’re supporting a lab of chrome books.

[danhalbert]

@smagoun - Thank you for this information!
@tcworks - Let us know if this upgrade works for your Chromebooks.

[acj914]

@smagoun - Thank you for this information!
@tcworks - Let us know if this upgrade works for your Chromebooks.

We are still seeing this issue after Chrome OS 88. Is there any runway for technical support on this? We would prefer not to have to add a bunch of Windows devices just because of this issue.

[tcworks]

The update to a newer version of Chrome OS solved the issue for the students I work with.