Minecraft on a Dell Chromebook

This is what worked on a Dell Chromebook that I tried. It will likely work on other Chromebooks but YMMV.

In order to play Minecraft or use other Java-based programs on a Chromebook, you need to install Linux. However that's not a particularly difficult process thanks to crouton.

Unfortunately it requires the Chromebook to remain in developer mode, meaning you'll need to press Ctrl-d every time you boot it up. As well, is not supported by Google (it may cause hardware, software, or security issues) and may void your warranty.

Make sure you backup/upload any files that are stored locally on your Chromebook before you begin.

1. Enter recovery mode by holding the esc and refresh keys while you press the power button.
2. At the recovery screen, press Ctrl-d to reboot into developer mode.
3. Every time you boot up the Chromebook from now on, you'll need to press Ctrl-d at the "OS verification is OFF" screen. If you "Press SPACE to re-enable" then it will erase the Linux install that we are about to do.
4. Log in to the Chromebook as usual.
5. Download crouton from goo.gl/fd3zc.
6. Press Ctrl-Alt-t to open crosh
7. Type shell, press enter, and you should be at a chronos@localhost / $ prompt.
8. To run the crouton install script, type sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -t unity
9. It will take a while to run the script and download the files
10. Answer any questions that the script asks you.
11. Once that finishes, you can start Linux by typing sudo startunity

You're now running Linux, and you can install software such as Java to run Minecraft.

1. While still on the Linux side of your Chromebook, press Ctrl-Alt-t to open a terminal window. You should see a prompt that is something like (trusy)username@localhost:~$  where you enter the following commands
2. sudo apt-add-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
3. sudo apt-get update
4. sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer
5. sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-set-default
6. Make sure you type your password that you entered when setting up Linux, and answer yes to the question about the Java licence.

You can now run Java programs in the Linux install on your Chromebook, which includes Minecraft. If you'd like to use Firefox as a browser on the Linux side, it's as simple as opening a terminal (Ctrl-Alt-t) and typing sudo apt-get install firefox You can also install other Linux games, including the Steam platform.

To start Linux after rebooting the Chromebook (always with Ctrl-d), remember Ctrl-Alt-t then shell then sudo startunity

To switch back and forth between ChromeOS and Linux, press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Back or Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Forward. Back and forward are the arrow buttons at the top left of your keyboard.

To undo all of this and go back to just a regular Chromebook, reboot and press the spacebar to re-enable OS-verification.