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How to Fix Samsung Chromebook Plus Freezing and Crashes
The beautiful new Samsung Chromebook Plus takes the prize for the best Chromebook available for under $500 and maybe overall. Unfortunately, it’s not perfect because a few users experienced some freezes and crashes. The Chromebook suddenly just stops responding and even reboots. There’s a solution and we’ve got it thanks to ChromeOS’s simplicity.
Any Chromebook presenting with the above problems can benefit from the solutions listed below. Give them a try in order and you’ll likely solve your Chromebook headaches.
The first two options offer the simplest solutions, but didn’t fix the freezing and crashing many users of the new Samsung Chromebook Plus experienced. I had to use the third solution below and reinstall ChromeOS from a flash drive. However, start with the first two since they’re easy to do on a Chromebook, take less time and solve most of the problems people experience with Chromebooks.
Reboot the Samsung Chromebook Plus
This may seem trite, but have you tried turning it off and on again? That’s a simple non-destructive option for problems on any Chromebook or even a Mac or Windows PC. This often works with your iOS or Android devices, too.
To restart a Chromebook press the power button till it turns off and then press it again to turn it back on.
While Windows PCs and Macs both include a quick way to restart, the Chromebook doesn’t include such a button. However, it’s still easy. Just Press your Chromebook’s power button or lock button usually in the upper right corner of the keyboard above the backspace key and next to the volume up key. When the Chromebook finishes shutting down, press the button again to restart. I find that easier than clicking the Windows Start button and then clicking the power icon and the restart option. If that doesn’t fix the problems, then try to Powerwash your Chromebook.
Powerwash Your Samsung Chromebook Plus
This sounds like we’re suggesting you lay your computer out in the driveway and use a pressure washer to clean if up, but the strange term Google used means resetting your computer to factory specs. This erases the computer and it reboots ready to log in with any account. Log in with your account and all your web apps and settings will go back to the way they were. It might solve your Samsung Chromebook Plus freezing problem.
This becomes a little more complicated with Google’s addition of the Google Play Store and installing Android apps on ChromeOS.
Powerwash your Chromebook by clicking on the user icon in the lower right corner of the screen. Then click on the Settings icon just above the date in the lower left corner of the pop-up box.
The new Settings screen will show a search box at the top of the screen. Start typing the word “Powerwash” and you’ll see the option to Powerwash your Chromebook. Click it. Then click on Restart.
If you’re Chromebook doesn’t have the latest version of ChromeOS, you’ll need to find the Advanced settings section. Click on Advanced Settings and then find Powerwash by scrolling down. Click it and then click Restart.
The Chromebook will restart and show the above screen. Click on the Powerwash button and your Chromebook will erase and restart ready for you to log into your account with a pristine fresh install of the latest version of ChromeOS. After you log in, the system will add back all your Web Apps and settings. Give it a few minutes to complete.
The system should work better than it did before. If it doesn’t solve your problem, then try the following.
Reinstall ChromeOS in Recovery
If you still can’t get your Chromebook working properly, then the final solution may mean reinstalling ChromeOS from a recovery boot drive created by the Chromebook Recovery Utility. The Web App will install in ChromeOS or the Chrome browser on a Mac or Windows PC. This is how I solved my Samsung Chromebook Plus’s freezing problem.
Follow the steps on the Google support page for creating your ChromeOS Recovery disk using the web app. You’ll need a USB flash drive or a flash card if your computer supports one. Typically Chromebooks include an SD card slot or a micro-SD card slot. Follow the onscreen instructions in the app.
Now it’s time to use the flash drive or card to restore the OS. Follow the instructions on Google’s support page for actually installing ChromeOS from the recovery drive.
Larry
06/13/2018 at 5:07 pm
Thank you! I found this article and you saved me returning my Samsung Chromebook Plus!
Mark
01/05/2019 at 12:32 am
I did everything suggested except the recovery disk method and it didn’t work but tried something else, not wanting the go through the hassle of the recovery process. And it worked for me and could possibly save others hassle:
I used Chrosh [Ctrl+Alt+T]
[Swap set_margin 400] (default was 198)
[Swap set_extra_free 200] (results with 204800 in swap status)
[swap help] will give information that tells you how to get back to default settings.
My Samsung Chromebook Plus has never been faster and more stable.
[swap status] before and after any changes will let you see how you have changed you have made.
Disclosure: I just guessed on the numbers, and don’t know enough to know what I am doing, but figuring it was a memory issue as it always crashed with I was using larger files, I increased the ‘margin’ and increased the ‘extra_free’ space. I am only on day two but before that was having multiple crashes per session with the larger files. Now I can throw ‘anything’ at it. With two large doc files with multiple photos, and running three programs simultaneously, the inactive background file will have to reload. But no crashing and it reloads fairly quickly.
Previously I had tried setting swap to 2000, another recommendation I had seen, but it didn’t seem to help in my case.
If you want, try it at your own risk, but it has worked well for me so far.