The ChromeOS 119 release is again available, a week after the update was removed. As of Wednesday morning, most Chromebooks and ChromeOS devices can again upgrade to ChromeOS 119. While this is good news, we still don’t know what the issue was. And the situation shows that Google could improve its communication when this happens.
How to get ChromeOS 119
More than likely, if you go into your Chromebook Settings and select About ChromeOS, you’ll see the ChromeOS 119 update available.
It’s possible that your device has already downloaded the release. In that case, a restart will apply the update. You can always check here to see what the most current software is for your device.
What was the problem with ChromeOS 119?
I mentioned previously that I spent hours looking through the Chromium bug reports. I never did find the specific issue, or issues, that caused this release to be pulled. This morning, I looked through the change log between the original and current versions. Again, I came up empty.
It’s entirely possible the reason ChromeOS 119 was pulled is in the change log and I simply don’t see it.
However, several Chromebook owners in the ChromeOS subReddit have reported a range of issues from the original update, including:
- “The update took really looong, machine rebooted at least twice, showing some cryptic firmware screen in between and then hang for a minute with a black screen and no signs of life (that’s when I got worried)”
- “Update 119 crashed and damaged my Chrome os. I had to reverse the update just to get it working again. Now every time I shut off my Chromebook, it updates and crashes and I don’t know how to stop the updates!
- Couldn’t restart after trying to update to 119. Immediately enters recovery mode on startup. Only fix I found was to enter Powerwash move (Ctrl-Alt-t-restart) but the login screen comes up instead, everything is still on 118, and all is good until I try to download and install the update again.
One reader here also noted issues, saying “I work at a school, when we came back from the break today, I had 3 devices that are on 119. Those were now unable to connect to wifi, unable to be power washed, and unable to be properly enrolled. Doing a full system wipe and running them back to 118 fixed them.”
Where’s the communication from Google?
I noted on Monday that Google’s official Chromebook Community still showed the original ChromeOS 119 release post from November 21. As it should.
However, where are the official updates when a ChromeOS update has to be pulled? You can’t even ask about it on the official announcement because replies are locked. That’s not good.
I can understand why Google doesn’t want replies to official news bits. Announcements are simply that: announcements.
But when a release is pulled, I think that announcements should have a brief update to indicate that. And a single thread by Google could be started to share additional details or get more data from users.
That’s not the status quo today, however. I think it should be.
I completely understand that software updates can go wrong. I don’t have a problem when they do. But radio silence on the problem is a poor look. It erodes trust. And it sends a message of “We don’t care” without even sending a message.
