Hey again,

Yeah, sorry about the delay to Google Drive. But that’s the only way to get them to automatically convert and play. Thankfully, it’s only a one time upload.

As for VLC, I’m not sure what’s going on with your case. It could possibly be because the videos are large, so they freeze the Chromebook when it’s trying to scan through the videos when you use the seek feature since you said you tried using another player. Or the file format is just incompatible or too much for it to handle- though that’s rare. It’s hard to pinpoint the issue because I’ve never had any problems with VLC unless the format wasn’t compatible.

And as for Crouton, it’s pretty much a file that’ll let you install Ubuntu Linux. With Linux, it’ll let you install a variety of video players. I’m sure you’ve probably heard of Linux before. Crouton will let you install Linux on your Chromebook so you’re running both Linux and Chrome OS at the same time. It’s like having two operating systems running side-by-side and you can switch between them with a few keys- also known as dual-booting.

With Linux, you can find a video player that’ll be compatible with .avi files and play them natively. As for security/stbility, Linux is built for both. You probably won’t have any security issues installing it on your device and Linux is very stable by default. The only problem is leraning how to use it if you’ve never used it before- kind of like learning Mac from Windows or vice versa. But it’s easy enough and there are plenty of tutorials online.

And yes, it’s compatible with an Acer R13. Anything that’s powered by an Intel CPU will work with Crouton.

I have a tutorial if you’re interested. It covers the process in detail.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks.

Hi Andy! Unfortunately, I tried to install VLC but it doesn’t work (it crashes each time I try to scroll the seek bar. The same issue happens using H.265 HEVC player). Now, I am going to upload the .avi file to GDrive but over 50 mins are required to complete the conversion. Last option is Crouton: do you have some update about the security and stability issues? Is it still a beta for acer r13? I read it is available just for Samsung chromebook…Thanks!

Hey 19luke71,

That’s strange. Is VLC not installing properly? Or does it not launch? As far as I know, VLC is the only extension that’ll work with Chrome OS and can plan .avi files.

But if you can’t get it working, you could try the following:

1. Upload it to Google Drive, which will stream it to your Chromebook and automatically convert it.
2. Download Crouton and install Linux, which will let you dual-boot and you can play .avi files from there- and get a whole bunch of other native Mac programs you may be used to on your Chromebook.

.avi files are a container that “contain” another video/audio format. It also could be that the file you’re trying to play that’s contained with the format isn’t supported natively by Chrome OS or VLC.

Let me know if you still can’t get it working.

Either way, I’m glad you decided to take the dive and go for it =]! I don’t think you’ll regret it after using it for a while. You’ll get attached.

Thanks.