Dropping down to dev mode to get access to ssh is overkill. I suggest https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec... which lets you run SSH as a normal Chrome extension.
There's an enable "Portable Native Client" (PNaCl) in about:flags (dev. branch, at least), but I have little idea if this would fix the problem. This kind of troubleshooting is OK for power users, but seems at odds with the type of users ChromeOS wants to attract. Still love this machine, though.