From OLPC

Ask OLPC a Question is a set of pages dedicated to general questions about the project.

Questions about how to learn and use the XO can be posted to New Users.

[edit] Before asking a question...

• Review our Frequently Asked Questions to see if your question is covered there;
• Read the "Official OLPC FAQ";
• Search the wiki for an answer to your questions (using the search field in the column on the left, or Google), and add a targeted question or comment to the discussion associated with that page;
• Some classes of questions have their own forums:
  • To get a laptop for yourself, your young relatives, your NGO, etc., see this section;
  • To submit ideas, see the OLPC Idea Pool.
  • To answer a question, feel free to reply below. Sign your response (using the wiki convention of -- ~~~~) and put it in the Answered Question Section of this page. The community can discuss and revise your answer.
  • To make general comments and suggestions, see the main talk page or the "discussion" tab at the top of each page;
• There is a discussion page to dispel various rumors about the project.
• There is a new developers FAQ at http://aaa.opensourcehost.com/~thoughts/faq/.

[edit] Ask a new question

Choose a category below and click the appropriate link to add a new question. Your new question will initially appear on this page. However, when it is answered, editors may decide to show it only in the subpage for the category you put it in. Therefore, if you do not see your question here, use the links below to see the full list of questions for your category.

[edit] --User support--

Questions about how to learn and use the XO can be posted to New Users.

[edit] --Project and Goals--

[edit] Our Mission

The argument for one laptop per child is simple: many children—especially those in rural parts of developing countries—have so little access to school—in some cases just a tree—that building schools and training teachers is only one way—perhaps the slowest way—to alleviate the situation. While such building programs and teacher education must not stop, another and parallel method is to leverage children themselves by engaging them more directly in their own learning. It may sound implausible to equip the poorest children with connected laptops when rich children may not have them, but it is not. Laptops can be affordable and children are more capable than they are given credit for.

Once upon a time only the very adventurous could travel and only a few privileged individuals had access to knowledge. Technologies like the compass, paper, and printing changed the world by expanding these limits. Today there is the opportunity for Ethiopia to revolutionize knowledge once more, by participating in a revolutionary use of digital technology that will empower school children to explore the most distant places and to access knowledge on an unprecedented scale.

Throughout the world, computing and communications technologies are sparking a new entrepreneurial spirit, the creation of innovative products and services, and increased productivity. The importance of a well-educated, creative citizenry has never been greater.

Most people see a natural connection between computers and education. Computers enable us to transmit, access, represent, and manipulate information in many new ways. But they can do much more than that. They can move beyond static information-centric views of computing and learning by taking full advantage of new computational technologies, such as those in the One Laptop per Child (olpc) program. These will enable students and their teachers to become better learners and thinkers.

[edit] Other mission questions

[edit] Evidence for OLPC's educational theory?

In response to some of Lee Felsenstein's issues with the OLPC program, he cites your lack of evidence that your theory of how children learn (esp. in developing worlds) is flawed. While he is no expert, as I read through this wiki, you say things like "we have 50 years of research", and that a lot of your board members are steeped in child-technology education, but you don't seem to give any definitive evidence that your idea is any better than anyone else's. The best I can find is the wikipedia article on inquirty-based science, citing two sources.[1] Anyhow, while I'm no expert on the subject, peer-reviewed publications supporting your educational theory would be helpful for laypeople to understand the science behind your logic, besides your organization just saying "it's right because we think so." It also would give more creedance to your values, which would be nice to deflect the critics. Thanks. Rhetth 17:20, 5 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] Laptops for under privileged children in Pakistan

Please let me know how I can get a few laptops for children from poor areas in Pakistan. In your Give 1-Get 1 option, I would like to Get and Give to the kids in Pakistan in the area I am helping. I am currently concentrating in an area where most children are on the streets trying to make a living and help their families. These children are very young. As of now, I have about 19 whom I am putting through school.

I am very keen on getting them these laptops, as I believe it will motivate them to attend school and develop a love for learning. I believe it will have a tremendous impact on their lives and will make it better all around. It will also encourage those, who are not currently in schools, to join a school.

If I can get a couple of laptops to start with, so I can introduce it to them, I would greatly appreciate it. I sincerely pray that the OLPC can help me.

Thank You

[edit] Internet connection

We have wireless network connection at our house (Comcast & Apple Extreme Airport). The connection is a secure one - but not a closed network. However, the XO laptop can’t locate our network. How can we fix this problem? Thanks.

[edit] where is the computer?

I bought the XO back in December, knowing at the time it would be a bit before I recieve it. But it is now March and I have not heard from anyone since I recieved the email thanking me for the give one get one program. I would also like to know if I use that letter for my taxes or is there a more proffessional reciept that I need? Please respond as I have been feeling that this was just a large hoax and I was sucked in by wanting to help. Kelly Coltas kcoltas@pasty.com

You might want to read some of the questions in the Donor Inquiries section of the Support FAQ; there is a donor services phone number and e-mail address there, as well as some tax info. —Joe 12:18, 3 March 2008 (EST)

[edit] help me help

I am an internationally recoginized scientist with teaching experience on three continents. I am infatuated with what you are trying to accomplish and wish to contribute actively and often. While I am a well educated user of utilities,I am not a programmer and feel I need a mentor to help me learns the system and find useful ways to contibute. Is there anyone out there willing to assist me? I don't even know where to look for a reply. I can be reached in the windows world at JFKearns@gmail.com. Please help me find my way in.

John Kearns Frederick, MD USA

[edit] Music Makers on the OLPC

Hello -

I am trying to connect to those out there that use the OLPC as a creative music sound making device...

Thank you! michelle king san francisco

please email me at missmmking@gmail.com

[edit] I know this is an old issue on WPA but I have exhausted all options

WPA2 connection through Apple Airport Extreme, build #656

ran the Wpa.sh script manually and could see my AP but it asks me again and again the 'Wireless Key Required'. No matter how many times I entered my network password, it wont help. Had gone and deleted the networks.cfg file and rebooted but that didn't help either.

How do we connect to another user of olpc in another country, make friends, to have friends in a chat area? How can we connect to a classroom in another country? My daughter loves her computer but is having difficulty connecting to other users

[edit] lern programing

is it able to prosed an computer language like as c++,c+,java etc.

[edit] Will magnetic case latch harm XO?

I purchased a small bag for my daughter's XO. The bag latch stays closed by using small magnets.

From my reading, I know the XO itself uses magnets in the hard case.

Is there any risk of magnets in a soft laptop case harming the XO over time?

Thanks!

[edit] Can I return this XO for refund?

If so many people are waiting to get one they can have mine. I am proboly going to send it back. It is usless to me. My kid doesn't hang out at Starbucks much and it is just very NON USER FRIENDLY! Andrea

[edit] Bridging the Digital Divide

I am a digital media instructor in San Francisco. We teach underpriviledged youth in the Bayview/Hunters Point and surrounding districts. I am curious to know if you donate to students who are in the U.S.? Thanks!

Will Hammond www.baycat.org email: willhammond@baycat.org

[edit] Uploading m3u files to listen to.

How do I upload and listen to a m3u file from an online book? thank you, Buddy

[edit] money

exactly how much money is the video chat laptop?

[edit] how do you copy and paste

i don't know how

[edit] non-profit schools in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda and the Dominican Republic

I am part of the non-profit Children of the Nations (www.cotni.org). We run several schools for underprivileged children in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda and the Dominican Republic. We are interested in adding computer curriculum to help the students learn the skills that they will need to be successful after graduation. How can i get a hundred OLPC computers for my schools in these countries?

Thank you for your consideration stuart.scott@hotmail.com

[edit] Display has faded away

The display of my G1G1 OLPC all of a sudden faded away, i.e. there is almost no contrast left. What I can see with full brightness are the colored items (but also the colors are like washed out). The activities symbols are almost not visible.

The mouse cursor is not visible anymore while moving. This makes it almost impossible to navigate with the mouse.

I have just installed the OS 656.

I appreciate any help take care Markus

[edit] Why Use the Constructivist Approach?

Why is OLPC supporting the Constructivist approach to education, instead of the standard "instructivist" one? Why not just use standard educational software, instead of going to the great effort involved in developing a whole new ecosystem of Constructivist software? There seems to be an implication in the Mission Statement that with Constructivism children can learn on their own, or at least with much less teacher input, than under the traditional method. Is that the reason? And if so, why do think that Constructivism makes it possible for children to do this?

hi. we are wondering if we could send some computers into are villiage in punjab? If you can, can you please send us the info at majorbhatti@hotmail.com. also if u cant can we buy a computer off you, and send it to are village ourselves?

[edit] NO WIRELESS SIGNAL (EVER)

I have a network with 2 laptops and 1 desktop. I brought this XO computer home in December and never tried to connect to the internet. I went online to read the user manual so that I may go online. When I click the network, there are NO dots (as on the screen from my desktop where I see the user manual). I tried to go through linux and when I type iwconfig, it simply says no wireless signal. Is this an error with the computer? I read all of the help and could not work it out. Please let me know exactly how I can make it work. Thank you. Also: Is it possible that the computer is defective and not able to connect wirelessly?

[edit] help with my olpc

hello i'm rosie and i don't how i can get sound to her what their saying on my olpc. .

[edit] Our Team

[edit] How will this initiative be structured?

The XO laptop is being developed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a Delaware-based, non-profit organization created to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. OLPC is based on "constructionist" theories of learning pioneered by Seymour Papert and later Alan Kay, as well as the principles expressed in Nicholas Negroponte's book 'Being Digital'. The corporate members are Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Brightstar, Chi Mei, eBay, Google, Intel, Marvell, News Corporation, Nortel, Quanta, and Red Hat.

Nicholas Negroponte is chairman of One Laptop per Child. Other principals involved in developing the laptop are: Mary Lou Jepsen, Walter Bender, Jim Gettys, Michail Bletsas, David Cavallo, SJ Klein, Ivan Krstić, John Watlington, Richard Smith, Chris Ball, Andres Salomon, C. Scott Ananian, Michael Stone, Eben Eliason, and Mitch Bradley. Benjamin Mako Hill, Alan Kay, Seymour Papert, Barry Vercoe, Ted Selker, V. Michael Bove, Jr., and many others are advisors to the project.

Design Continuum collaborated on the initial laptop design. Fuseproject is our current industrial-design partner. Red Hat and Pentagram have been instrumental in designing and building the Sugar interface. The open source community has been an invaluable partner at all stages of the software development process.

[edit] How can I get involved in OLPC as a whole?

There are many ways to get involved, the most basic being to contribute your ideas and feedback. This is the project wiki (http://wiki.laptop.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child) where we are accumulating information about the project and suggesting places and ways to help. See Getting involved in OLPC.

[edit] How can I get involved in OLPC in a given country?

The OLPC project does not manage the purchasing, distribution, or implementation of individual countries. To get involved, you should contact the country government (probably the Department or Ministry of Education) locally. In Uruguay, the organization managing the implementation is called Ceibal after the national flower.

[edit] Other Team questions

[edit] Upgrading the browser

I love my little computer! I got my email from Comcast's website. It told me I needed to upgrade my browser, and then gave me choices for Windows or the Mac. The OLPC computer uses Linux, correct? So, which browser upgrade do I click on? I'm a Mac user, so I don't know about Linux.

Thank you

[edit] Dell power internal short

I just bought a new power adapter for my lap top but it acts like its not plugged in and my screen keeps flickering. What can i do about this problem....i feel like i can't move my laptop an inch with out it messing up the connection.

[edit] digital pics

can i download pics from my digital camera to this computer? if not then what iis the memory card slot for?

[edit] Sustainability

Hello,

I work for an international development agency many developing countries around the world. I find this initiative interesting, but question the sustainability - what kind of technical support to communities/children receive? How are technical failures or difficulties managed? It is of questionable usefulness to provide tools without any instruction or support in case of problems - and, no matter . I would be interested to hear about any sort of follow up actions that are provided.

[edit] Social Issues

The full impact of the OLPC will only be determined with time. Nevertheless, you may have concerns about recipient governments, child safety, privacy, abuse. A discussion of metrics can be found here, and a general discussion of social issues surrounding laptop deployment can be found here.

[edit] Child Safety Concerns

There is a general statement on child safety at Online threats and security.

[edit] Cultural impact

Replace with a link to summary/discussion of this issue.

[edit] Ownership and theft

Replace with a link to summary/discussion of this issue.

[edit] Other social issue questions

[edit] Browse

I can't launch browse it says no such file found,page load error.How can I get it to work.[Built 656].

W.T.

[edit] --Purchasing, Distribution, and Countries--

[edit] Give 1 Get 1

There is a general page about the program at XO Giving. That page includes some questions that should be moved to this page (if you can help, great).

[edit] General responses to shipping issues

Oh Canada... We at OLPC are very sorry about the Canadian shipment situation: we underestimated the time it would take us to fully work out the import duties and taxes and we were not clear in our communication to you. We apologize for everyone with a child who will not receive a laptop this year. You can visit the laptopgiving.org website to download a gift card that lets your child know that an XO laptop is on its way; it is obviously not the same as a laptop, but we hope it helps in some small way. We are working on the logistics of getting XOs to Canada: everyone should have their XO in the January/February time frame. The team at OLPC wants to thank everyone who has thus far participated in Give One Get One. Thanks to the generosity of Canadians, more than 4000 children in the least-developed countries will be receiving laptops in early 2008. --Walter 20:39, 20 December 2007 (EST)

Checking our list... Some of you are comparing notes and noting that some later-day donors got laptops before Day One donors. (I can personally attest to this, since I was the very first person to order a Give One Get One laptop and I have yet to received it.) We did have a glitch and rather than lose a full day's worth of shipping, we shipped to some later-day donors. We did this only after first confirming that we would have enough laptops to ship to the Day One donors by December 24. (We also moved to one and two-day shipping to speed things up.) We appreciate everyone's generosity (and patience); we are doing everything we can to get laptops out as quickly as possible. --Walter 13:06, 21 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Reference Number for T-Mobile HotSpot Offer

I have received my laptop. I am trying to determine my "Give One Get One order reference number" so that I can activate my T-Mobile hotspot offer. Where can I find this number?

[edit] Success of G1G1 program

I have read several articles about your project, and the last one I read this weekend (a month old Newsweek since I have been traveling) and I have given to the G1G1 program. Will you be posting information on your website as to the success of this program? How many are given, whether the 2 week window was uniformly used or if it peaked then ebbed or vice versa, etc.?

Good luck with your program.

Dr. Elisa H. Barney Smith

[edit] Other G1G1 questions

[edit] new version XO2

Will those of us who participated in the give one get one be able to do so with the new version?

The "Give 1 Get 1" program will run again at the end of this year. XO2 will be available in 2010. That's all I know!

[edit] dansguardian

how do you download & install dansguardian using xo laptop terminal?

please leave step by step moron proof instructions. thank you.

[edit] Distribution

We also have additional information about training & volunteering or donations and other financial issues.

[edit] Where or how can I get one?

Short answer: Either apply for an XO through the developer's program or get one through the Give 1, Get 1 program (no longer possible as of 2008).

Medium answer: Given the characteristics of the project, the OLPC is initially available only to national government agencies—e.g., Ministry of Education—allowing us to achieve the initial economy of scale and a sufficiently large impact to make it sustainable. There are plans and ideas on how to expand our market to include other smaller and/or distributed organizations that will cater to people, places and situations where government agencies are unavailable - in the future and most likely collaborating through and with other parties.

Trying to satisfy personal, individual or otherwise 'isolated' retail requests (many present in this section) will divert precious energy that would otherwise be more effective at larger scales and targets. This does not imply a lack of interest or sympathy towards these requests, many of which are at the heart of our mission, but rather a physical limit that has to do with trade-offs between wishful thinking and practical realities. By no means does this preclude or try to impede that private, NGO and other grass-root organizations or people lobby in their target countries to be included as recipients or to get involved—it just means that they'll have to be a little patient and not lose sight of their dreams and try to match it with our timings.

Keep alert, maybe in the near future there'll be news that will allow us to cater your special demand.

Future answer: YOU CAN, probably, almost. Quanta, the manufacturer of the OLPC laptop, may start selling $200 laptops in 2008 or so that resemble the OLPC laptop. See this.

[edit] Give 1 Get 1

See xogiving.org or XO Giving for further information on the "Give 1 Get 1" program.

Can we get the number of machines distributed in the USA by city/state? This information may facilitate getting together with other XO owners.

For the full story on retail sales, read: this article (another article) (another in spanish).

[edit] Will it be distributed in developed countries?

As mentioned in the countries section, the decision to distribute in any particular country (including the USA and other developed countries) does not depend on the OLPC but on the government's decision.

Note must be taken that developing countries are the initial and ultimate target countries for the OLPC, although it does not preclude other countries from participating.

[edit] Why not the USA?

See above. Or for further discussions on the subject see OLPC4USA and retail.

[edit] Can NGOs and charities get them?

The short answer: see the XO Giving page. Groups should refer to the Give Many page. Individuals should refer to the (retail) availability page.

The OLPC efforts are currently focused at national level, and although we would love to make it available without restrictions, this would disrupt and overload our launch process in order to deal with the vast number of NGOs that are interested in participating. After the initial launch, plans include the opening up to include them. See here.

[edit] Who will get one?

As much as we would like to see an OLPC in the hands of every child on the planet, practical issues and humanitarian criteria help decide the first people to get laptops:

• Children and teachers in developing countries whose governmental leaders have partnered with OLPC

[edit] Other Distribution Questions

[edit] A Word To The Wise

At least one person has reported an ordering problem here (see below). I ordered our OLPC via Give1Get1 online late November 07 and received it about 30 days later (US). I hadn't seen the recommendation below and did not contact OLPC ... the ordering process worked smoothly.

'After ordering within the first 25 min of the initative, I've been waiting anxiously to receive the unit. I called to try and get more specific info to be told that, even though a payment was processed and deducted from my account, there was no record of my order anywhere in the system. I now have to wait 2-3 days to be contacted by a supervisor to begin sorting this mess out. This means that, regardless of my effort to act as quickly as possible AND being one of the first responders, there is no way I'll be receiving the unit in the Dec window. I HIGHLY recommend that you contact OLPC to verify your order even if, like me, they had no trouble charging you the money for it.'

[edit] Countries

You can use the edit links in the questions below to answer questions. Even better, however, would be to use the "Reorganize questions" link above, so that you can move the "<noinclude>" tag after the question you answer. That hides it from this page, so it only shows using the "See all questions" link above.

[edit] Why some countries and not others?

The reason is quite simple: the OLPC has made an offer (an inexpensive laptop) to national governments (not individuals or NGOs). Countries interested in the offer then decide if the offer is of their liking or not. If it is, negotiations and/or talks can start with the OLPC, and it's only then that they appear on the OLPC radar, and given a color/status depicting the level of commitment or interest.

[edit] What if I don't like my country's color?

If your country is color-coded in a hue with which you don't agree, you should lobby that country's government to start talks with the OLPC.

[edit] How can a country get involved?

By starting talks with the OLPC at national or ministerial level—minister or similar high-ranking government officials—not at individual level. Individuals should lobby their government to participate. More info.

Further details on the OLPC community's work with specific countries can be found at Category:Countries.

[edit] Other Country questions

[edit] Afghanistan

Alam to OLPC. ITS GREAT TO HEAR THAT THE OLPC team has a program to give a chance to the poor countries to develop in IT sector. nice job.

But my question is that, that i have done lots of work on localizing my country languages, but no seen here in wiki.laptop.org hope that to see in which category is my country, what needs to be localize, and wot to do for children to get more benefits from OLPC.

best of luck

Uman Mansour

[edit] Nigeria

When will XO pilot rollout occur in Nigeria? What is the rollouot plan for that country (i.e. will XO's be deployed in schools in certain regions)? Where are pilot projects already happening?

Ashley

You can read about OLPC Nigeria/Galadima pilot site, or other sites. Xavi 15:46, 7 September 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Mauritius

Mauritius is the place where I was born and it does not show in your list of countries where you intend to promote your program. Can we be of any help ? We surely would be very glad to especially if we can help the poor kids overhere as well. Looking forward to be hearing from you

Pierre

You can create a page for Mauritius, contact the government there, organize a group to support the laptop there, and other things. I'm ready to help. --Mokurai 05:15, 26 November 2006 (EST)

[edit] Libya

I just saw that John Markoff wrote in the New York Times about Libya signing a contract with OLPC. The story says that four other countries have signed up, which was recently denied on this site. The tale gets 42000 hits on Google. So where is the press release? Where is the news story on this site? What actually happened?--Mokurai 02:23, 13 October 2006 (EDT)

Aha! It's not a contract, it's a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). OK. Now, can the rest of us have a look at the plan? It answers a lot of the questions being asked here and elsewhere, according to the description.

"The committee was presented with the outline of a comprehensive plan to distribute the laptops, create connectivity and server infrastructure, and prepare teachers and students."--Mokurai 17:32, 15 October 2006 (EDT)

What plan do you have for teacher training? I have been working in a staff development department of a school system that has been one-to-one for 6 years now. We have found that training teachers to integrate technology is as fundamental to the success of a one-to-one program as the hardware itself. If the Libyan teachers do not have extensive, well-organized training, the students of any program will be shortchanged. Jon Morris jjmorris@henrico.k12.va.us

The plan given to the Libyans addresses this. They seem very interested in the OLPC program. --Mokurai 17:39, 15 October 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Timor Leste (East Timor)

I am a volunteer IT worker here in Dili. I wish to follow through on getting the Government/Min of Education involved. Is there a set of templates/docs/procedures for me to follow? If so, then I think that they would be very useful for other countries. thanks chris mansonc@usa.net

Thanks for writing in.

Right now I think the whole world knows about the program. You may contact your countries Minster of Education and try to start a dialogue about the service OLPC is offering. If they are interested you may then try with in your country to find big donor corporations that will come up with the funds for your country and you can also contact me on this site to ask more questions in how you can do that. I am sure you speak the native language which would make this much easier that you can also speak English too. This way I can explain this to you as in how to do that.

Thanks, Hunter--Hunter 10:36, 28 December 2006 (EST)

I recommend http://laptop.org/en/contact.shtml . MitchellNCharity 01:04, 12 September 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Caribbean Countries

I didn't see any of the Caribbean countries among the OLPC list. I work with a non-profit organization. One of the organization's mandate is to provide affordable computers to every home in the Caribbean. We sent an e-mail to OLPC asking for contact name and e-mail address in OLPC and got a reply from OLPC indicating that only the governments can purchase these laptops. If there is no Caribbean government in the list why not a non-profit organization like ours buy the laptops and distribute them? The reply e-mail also said that there is a staffing limitation. As the non-profit organization, we are saying that we are here to help. We are here to work with you. So please ensure that the bottlenecks are eliminated as they are found.

The list you see is merely the first round. It includes countries that have expressed interest in the program, and have the possibility of coming up with the $200 million required to order a million units. All other countries will have a chance in the next round, when smaller batches will be offered. --Mokurai 06:59, 21 November 2006 (EST)

[edit] Gambia

Can anyone tell me if Gambia is among the countries where the Ministry of Education has expressed an interest in this laptop project? Since it is such a small country (situated along the Gambia river in Senegal), I can't tell from the map.

Gambia is 'orange' (those countries who have expressed interest at the Ministry-of-Education level or higher). BTW, there is a higher-resolution version of the map in the section: #How does the color/status scheme work? that you can click to enlarge. --Walter 11:19, 10 January 2007 (EST)

[edit] Developed Nations

Are developed nations really not as interested in this device as it seems? Certainly it would seem that the support of a nation like the USA would be a huge boon to development and production. And distribution issues would seem to be virtually garuanteed. And the benefit to such a country seems to be revolutionary. Are there just too many obstacles?

What is stopping a nation like the USA from having one of these in every child's bookbag in 5 years? Anything besides willpower?

A number of US states are talking to OLPC about this. Maine and Georgia have similar programs now using conventional laptops. I am lobbying in California, and others are welcome to join OLPC4USA. --Mokurai 17:37, 6 July 2007 (EDT)

At Laval University, Quebec, Canada, we have plans to build on our Francophone university-school partnerships and university-developing countries normal school partnership with Gabon and begin a pilot project as soon as XOs become available to us. We are also working with the International Office of the Department of Education of Catalunya (Spain), an enduring university-ministry of education partnership over the past seven years, and plan initiatives in some Francophone countries south of the Mediterranean Sea (e.g. Senegal). [Written by: Therese Laferriere, tlaf@fse.ulaval.ca] </noinclude>

[edit] --Technology--

Click here if you would like to go to a different page dedicated to questions about our technology.

[edit] Product Life-cycle

The OLPC is the greenest laptop ever mass-produced.

-No hard disk or other moving parts and increased toughness mean longer expected life

-Batteries, backlight, etc. all designed to avoid toxic materials.

-Ground-up design for efficient power consumption - several times less than many current laptops.

[edit] Other life-cycle questions

[edit] Sound

Hi just got my OLPC computer and one problem I am having is sound. There is no sound coming out of the computer. I've turned up the volume and even tried a headset, but no sound.

Can someone help?

I found this in the FAQ. Support_FAQ#My_XO_laptop_won.27t_play_sound

[edit] xo is extremely slow to the point of being not usable

This was acquired on the G1G1 program. everything that is launched never gets past starting... the disk light is on solid. the wireless flashes and appears to be connected. I tried the reload previous os by pressing the O gamepad key when powering up. that fails and restarts the laptop. How can this be resolved. my guess is that the journal filesystem is busy doing something and is not letting anything else to run. Any constructive help is appreciated.

[edit] Hardware

Will the XO really have a hand-cranked battery charger? What will the keyboard be like? What about size & weight? If you don't find the answer in the specifications page you can find additional information at this hardware Q&A.

Questions here should be about current hardware; questions like "why don't you include gizmo XYZ" should be asked/discussed in Hardware ideas.

[edit] Other hardware questions

[edit] Software

[edit] What software will be included?

Without being picky, we prefer the term activities (instead of applications). That taken care of, the software components initially planned to be included are: the operating system, a web-browser, a document viewer, a text editor, chat client, and some programming environments.

[edit] Are kids expected to program the laptop?

Are kids expected to write novels after they learn to read & write? No.
Can they write novels? Theoretically yes, but most will never go past writing for fun.

The same with the laptops and programming: just because they may learn how to do things with the computer doesn't turn them into programmers. They aren't required to learn programming any more than they need to know how to write a novel.

But they can if they want to, after all everything included is Open Source—so they can tinker with all of it. And that's the reason why several programming languages or environments are included, not for them to program them (in the software development sense) but to do things with the laptop. Currently included you find Etoys, Python, TamTam, Turtle Art, and some others to be determined. Java is not amongst them.

[edit] Will software for MS-DOS or MS-Windows work on it?

No. MS-DOS programs (not MS-Windows) may benefit from a second life through the use of third-party emulators, but don't count on it.

[edit] What will the interface look like?

The interface used is Sugar, and because it's been designed for kids (not adults) it's based on a whole different set of premises and metaphors. See the OLPC Human Interface Guidelines.

[edit] Can we try Sugar without a real laptop?

Yes. The simplest way is to use an emulator and try it in your own computer.

[edit] Will the software be localized?

Yes. A major objective of the OLPC is that communities and their children preserve their cultural heritage and have the tools to bring it to the digital world—another reason for Open Source software. It won't be easy to support so many different languages, but who said otherwise? The community (national and global) is welcome to participate in the effort.

Additional information is available on the Operating System and the Linux platform. The Expanded FAQ on Software answers many questions about what software is included and what software it should be possible to add. Specific questions about which languages are supported are answered here. Additional information about the pre-installed software can be found on this software page.

[edit] Other Software questions

[edit] How does the directory structure work for external storage devices and is there a way to hide files from the journal?

I have a G1G1 laptop and am exploring. I have added a 4GB SDHC card and it seems to be working fine, but it does not seem to allow for directory-style organization. All of the files appear in the journal, whether or not they are filed in directories or not. I've noticed this situation with USB sticks as well.

I have a number of ebooks on the card, as well as some downloads that I'd like to have should I re-install. Finally, I'd also like to install some programs (perhaps a stripped USB version of Firefox, for instance) and keep them on the card rather than using up space on the machine. But this would flood the journal with literally dozens of files under the current situation as I see it. Even sorting by file type (which the journal seems to be able to do) could get very messy - especially if I have a number of apps such as Firefox loaded.

Is there a way to hide files from the Journal?

Your issue has been noticed by many. Newer builds (the Joyride series, for now) cause the Journal to ignore external devices. There's some other way (I don't know what it is, though I know you can use ordinary Linux terminal commands) to access external storage devices.

[edit] mesh networking

in the interest of power saving, how can i disable mesh networking and the constant attempts to find school servers and other mesh networking partners? of course i want the "regular" wireless networking to continue to work.

    -paul

[edit] USBs Blank

Not sure if this is the correct area. When I transfer files or activities from my XO to the USB and then to my PC, the files either never appear or are blank.

[edit] how to determine the version number of an installed activity

Is there a standard approach (like Help>About in Windows applications) to determine the version number of an OLPC activity? The wiki Activities page identifies the version number of each activity listed but how can a user determine if they have an older version of the activity (preinstalled and optional) on their laptop?

In the new Sugar GUI designs, this information is shown as part of the Home list view, but for currently released builds you'll need to use the Terminal activity, and enter the below command to search the two locations, ~/Activities/ and /usr/share/activities, that activities might be living in.

  grep -r activity_version ~/Activities/ /usr/share/activities

[edit] Squeak, Simcity, etc. display size

the zoom in the browser is clear and works as expected, but there are other apps with no obvious zoom ...am i missing a universal zoom somewhere ??? For example, squeak's smalltalk coding screens and simcity screens have text too small to read...

There is no universal zoom in the GUI; sorry. SimCity was written for a larger screen with multiple windows, and the current version was a very quick port. The Micropolis version of SimCity should be much better, zoomable, etc, in six months or so. Gnu 23:32, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] XO not playing recorded video from previous session

My XO will not play recorded video if the XO has been turned off since the video was first created. Clicking on the item in Journal opens Browse, a file is downloaded, but after hitting 'OK' or 'Open' nothing happens. I'm not the only one who has experienced this problem - [New User Guide]. What to do?

[edit] installing dansguardian...

how do you download & install dansguardian using xo laptop terminal?

please leave step by step moron proof instructions. thank you.

[edit] --Uncategorized Questions--

[edit] Uncategorized Questions

See all uncategorized questions

Please try to find an appropriate category above for your question. If your question fits in several of the categories above, choose one. If you cannot find an appropriate category, you can Add a new uncategorized question.

You can use the edit links in the questions below to answer questions. Even better, however, would be to edit the whole list of questions so that you can move the "<noinclude>" tag after the question you answer. That hides it from this page, so it only shows in the uncategorized questions subpage.

[edit] T Mobile access

I recycled my shipping box before discovering that the pin number for Tmobile was on the shipping label. What should I do in this case to activate the "hotspot" access?

Thank you,

Patric Fitzpatrick

[edit] Confusion about the "frame"

When using the browser for example, I may want to click on something near the edge of the screen - oftentimes the frame will pop up and get in the way. How do I avoid this? 151.197.116.92 13:30, 30 December 2007 (EST)

The frame will appear if the cursor is brought into the very corner of the scree. If you bring out the frame accidentally and it doesn't go away, you can click the "frame button" in the corner of the keyboard. If that doesn't work, go onto the "home view" then click back into the activity. Yablochko 9 May 2008 (CET)

[edit] Recorder error "Your Disk is Full."

I have encountered this disk full error within the Reocrder shortly after receiving my XO. I have tried erasing every entry within the Journal and it didn't work. I found suggestions on OLPC wiki to remove orphaned files in the datastore, but the listed path did not exist on my version of the XO OS. Does anyone have any other suggested resolution to this problem?

We are working on a long-term remedy to this problem. In the short-term, your safest course is upgrading the activated laptop to re-flash its entire "disk image" including its operating system and Activities. --Walter 12:05, 31 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Need help connecting to home wireless network

Received our OX on Dec 17th 2007 on the B1G1 program and gave it to our daughter as a Christmas gift. We have NEVER been able to access the internet with it. We have a wireless network in our home running on a D-Link router and several other laptops connect to it without issue. It never shows up on the network page as a circle to choose, but we can see other peoples' locked networks from that page, and several mesh networks. I have spent over 20 hours following ALL of the directions I've found throughout this website including in the FAQs and chats. The home network is not WPA, only WEP. It is not hidden, but I even tried the hint for hidden networks. We have a 650 build unit and cannot upgrade to 653 because we CANNOT access the internet with the unit! I am EXTREMELY frustrated and disappointed in this purchase. It is not the simple process you made it out to be. My daughter is very disappointed and it doesn't help to explain that some child in another country received a compter too, because she just figures they can't use theirs EITHER! We need HELP!

Sorry you are having so much trouble. If you provide the information suggested here we may be able to diagnose the problem. --Walter 20:18, 1 January 2008 (EST)

Answers (some were already given when the question was first asked)

1. The software build on your XO. 650 build.
2. The access point/router brand, model, version, and firmware version (ideally). Router is a D-Link DI-524. I don't know where to find the version.
3. The security configuration of your wireless home system. WEP enabled, not WPA, and I have the WEP key.
4. The description of the problem. Stated above, the network does not show up on the mesh view, so we cannot select it.

Other useful information you should consider adding to your description:

• Do you see the wifi Access Point in the mesh view? No
• Have you previously successfully connected to this Access Point from an XO? No
• Can you connect to the Access Point from another non-XO laptop? Yes, several
• Is the Access Point displayed as protected (a lock badge appears), or as open in the mesh view? NA - doesn't show in mesh view.
• Is it consistent to the Access Point's configuration? I don't know what this means
• When you click on the Access Point circle does it: Never get the circle

[edit] wireless connection to linksys router with SSID

I have just recieved my new laptops for my kids and cannot find my homes wireless connection. i see my neighbors but not mine. i tried to follow a command to allow for this but cannot get it to work.

Can anyone give me more directions?My router is a wireless -g 801.11g - very common linksys router

Thanks, Tom

Ditto—Sorry you are having so much trouble. If you provide the information suggested here we may be able to diagnose the problem. --Walter 20:19, 1 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] You Tube Videos

Why won't the videos on You Tube play normally?

     you need to install adobe flash. Search it in this wiki

[edit] Booting from SD memory card

What is the procedure for getting the XO to boot from the SD memory card? I have read the documents about OpenFirmWare, booting from a USB device and related items. But I am still unable to make this function work. I wanted to have a vanilla OLPC build in NAND and a custom Fedora 7 build in the SD card. As a side note, would modifying the grub.conf in NAND help to facilitate this function?

I asked the question but figured it out. This procedure is easier if done on another linux device. Also, this is not for the linux nooby.

Get Developer key. Read this page http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OS_images_for_USB_disks. Use a USB developer image and install it on the sd card as described on that wiki page. I used the "Pre-existing Partition" method. Modify the /boot/olpc.fth to point to the sd card instead of the usb drive. Insert card and boot.

[edit] Getting my pictures from xo

I have pictures in my xo. I saved them in a USB. The pictures are in the USB and can be opened from the USB on the xo. But trying to do the same in another laptop (Windows os) shows a folder labeled .olpc.store. And there is no picture in that folder. And with Ubuntu there is nothing in the USB. How can I get my pictures on a laptop other that the xo itself?

The same question has been asked here. Please use that thread for a continuation of this discussion.

[edit] Initial Battery Charging - How Long?

Initial Battery Charging: how long should the battery be charged for, on first charge? Good answer for initial docs or on paper shipped with the machines. Thanks

-- It doesn't matter. According to user reports the battery is shipped fully charged, and is not sensitive regarding charge cycles and such.

how do you connect to a jabber server/any you recommend?

-- In terminal, type: sugar-control-panel -h jabber

The system will display the current jabber server. A popular server is xochat.org. To change to that server, type: sugar-control-panel -s jabber xochat.org

[edit] chat

can you chat globally

-- Short answer: yes. -- Longer answer: who you can chat with depends on who is using the same jabber server as you. It's not unusual to see users in Europe and the UK on the open jabber server. Kids using XOs through their school system generally will use the school's jabber server, which will not be accessible to anyone outside the school.

You may have to set the jabber server for your XO to get chat to work at all. This is discussed elsewhere. -- Chris J

[edit] Give one Get one

I learned about OLPC and of the great things you are doing a few days ago. By the time I learned about the GIVE ONE GET ONE program, you had already discontinued it. It would be a shame not to repeat the program some time in the future when your next version is out or when some of the bugs have been worked out. I personally would like to purchase some for my church day care and after school center. My question is "when are you going to have the GIVE ONE GET ONE program again?

[edit] Can't c onnect to home wireless using Netgear router

Hi. I have read the log of questions. Seems like many people have had trouble like I am having. I cannot connect to home network. Using Build 653. Circle icon indicates that I have a connection (circle is white), but when I am not receiving data. I would appreciate help - getting really frustrated.

Thanks,Holly

Please refer to the Wifi Connectivity page in the wiki for further help on this topic. --Walter 12:46, 9 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] Cannot connect to home wireless

We have several computers at home connected to internet through our wireless and through a cable modem. The wireless is password protected, however only XO cannot connect. I have tried all pull down menus after typing in the password - would still not work. Below please find the answers to the required questions:

The software build on your XO. 650 build. The access point/router brand, model, version, and firmware version (ideally). Apple A1143 The security configuration of your wireless home system. WPA2-Personal, AES - CCMP The description of the problem. Network can be found. When clicking on the network it requests network key, we enter the password and nothing happens.

Do you see the wifi Access Point in the mesh view? Yes Have you previously successfully connected to this Access Point from an XO? No Can you connect to the Access Point from another non-XO laptop? Yes, several Is the Access Point displayed as protected (a lock badge appears), or as open in the mesh view? a lock badge appears. Is it consistent to the Access Point's configuration? I don't know what this means When you click on the Access Point circle does it? It opens the window to enter the password. We enter the password and nothing heppens.

Please refer to the Wifi Connectivity page in the wiki for further help on this topic. In particular, there is information about connecting to a WPA-configured network. --Walter 12:47, 9 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] photo download from camera

I don't seem to be able to find anything about downloading photos from an external camera. I think I read that the software will support RAW files. Can I download them via USB for viewing. Can I then upload them to an external memory device. I am shooting in DNG-a raw format.

While there is Linux software that will process some RAW file formats, I don't know of any software custom-made for the XO that will do this, yet. Getting something like Rawstudio or dcraw working on the XO may require some experimentation. —Joe 09:59, 10 January 2008 (EST)

I've had success installing gphoto2 and gthumb to import and view photos from a digital camera. In a terminal activity, switch to root ('su'), then 'yum install gphoto2' and 'yum install gthumb'. Then 'gthumb' opens an iphoto-like application. PDS

[edit] Booting Problem...

When booting, when the process gets to about 11:00 o'clock there is a blank screen and there a barely readable line about a CRC error. The booting continues with a blank screen. It seems as though everything booted correctly.

I have downloaded the system and reloaded the NAND drive. The problem did not disappear. During the reloading there appeared 4 red blocks during the reload. Any suggestions?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kevin Donahue donahue.2@osu.edu

Go OLPC!!!

The problem is the reporting of an unimportant error is disrupting the display of the boot animation. We've tracked it down and expect to eliminate that message in future releases. For the time being, best to just ignore it. Thanks. --Walter 12:30, 13 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] Can't write in Amharic

Hello thee ... I upgraded mu B4 to build 655. Now i can't write in Amharic even if i selected 'AbyssinicaSIL'

The upgrade procedure may have reset the laptop to its original language and keyboard settings (maybe English and US). Follow thge Ethiopian_Setup procedure to restore the settings.

-- User:Bernie 1:49 17 Jan 2008 EST

Thank you, Bernie. But try as I may, can't get a singe letter in Amharic to be displayed. The cursor remains in the same position.

[edit] Recover process => Boot failed. Cause for RMA?

The answer: No, the system is working as designed. The recover process doesn't apply to unmodified G1G1 machines, and only works if the machine has been updated this way.

G1G1[D1] machine: powering on holding the "O" game key results in the messages:

Boot failed
Powering off in 10 seconds

This happened with the system as delivered, and after successfully reflashing the NAND (to build 650). Other users seem to have no problem using the steps in the Support FAQ, # 10.4 "How can I restore my Give1Get1 XO to its factory configuration?" Or have other folks also encountered this error?

Everything else seems to work OK much like any other G1G1/650, based on my not very extensive testing of the core activities. My flash memory has 9 bad blocks, if that's at all relevant.

Since my warranty only lasts until Monday 01/21, I'd like to know ASAP if this failure indicates som