Ask OLPC a Question about the XO

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This page deals with issues related to the XO. Before asking a new question, please see if your question may already be answered in the Support FAQ, the General Release Notes, and the Getting Started Guide.

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Contents

[edit] Software

[edit] Language

Is the software on the XO translated into the child's native language? When the XO is used to search the Internet is it being translated into the native language?

A great deal of effort is being put into localizing the core XO activities, so that the children can work in their native language. You can read more (or participate) on the Localization page. When browsing the internet, the XO displays the pages in the language in which they are written, but the children can of course use free online translation tools like Google to get rough translations of the pages. —Joe 14:39, 12 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] What is the Mesh button?

ctrl+alt+mesh??? what is the mesh, I need to change the user name.

The mesh button is the button with 8 small circles at the uper left of the keyboard (Image:Mesh key f1 small.png); (Please see Keyboard Shortcuts for a description of all of the buttons.)
To change your name, please see the answer to the previous question.

[edit] Thumbpad as Mouse

Hi...

Is there a way you can alter the thumbpad on the display lid and the 4 buttons on the opposite side of the LCD to operate at a mouse / pointing device? I would like to be able to use is as a tablet and user the 4way thumbpad and side buttons to surf the web. I'm sure others out there would love that as well.

- Randolph Hernandez, Random Synergy - http://randomsynergy.com

There is some limited capability to do this already in that you can scroll pages. We plan to let you follow links with the buttons as well. But since the keyboard is unavailable, the functionality will always be somewhat limited in this mode. Any suggestions would be welcome.
I thought when I first used it that the thumb pad (left) should remain the 4 arrow keys as it is, btu the buttons could be TAB, SHIFT-TAB, ENTER, and whatever the keyboard shortcut for "back" is. This should allow for decent browsing. Perhaps instead of back the last button could be FN, so that the thumbpad could be PG-UP/DOWN for true ebooks.
It's rediculous. They've got EIGHT buttons between the two different d-pad controllers and they ALL do scroll in some form or fashion. The next OLPC build should include more intuitive uses for the d-pad - i like the recommendation to scroll using the right controller and tab and enter using the left controller. For Draw, the left controller should mimic mouse movements and the right should mimic mouse clicks (X=left, O=right) and pen/eraser select (check=toggle pens/brushes, square=toggle erasers). Kaplansa 10:36, 20 February 2008 (EST)

I also have a problem moving the curser in Internet ebook mode. Why not utilize the game keys (o-left, >-up, X-right, []-down? - Nicholas Gerber, EDO.com

It would also be useful if someone wrote an "control panel" app to more easily map the d-pad controls per application. I'm not sure this exists today. Kaplansa 10:36, 20 February 2008 (EST)

[edit] How to view .wmv files

I am wondering how I might view .wmv files using the OLPC laptop?

I have visited some URLs and whenever I click on a link which serves this type of file the browser just sits there and does nothing.

Thanks for your help.

Dave (aka Tobor)

WMV files require video codecs that are not available on the XO, so they can't be played. —Joe 20:12, 18 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] XO Linux

Just got an XO.

In the terminal, ls does nothing and man returns "command not found"

What's going on?

"ls" appears to do nothing because the terminal activity starts in the user's home directory, which by default contains no visible files or directories. Try changing to another directory (e.g. "cd /usr") first, creating some files, or running "ls -a". "man" and manpages are not installed by default to save space (most of the user base would not need them), but it may be possible to install them via "yum" (maybe via "yum install man"?). —Joe 16:27, 20 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] default password for root and olpc users?

what are the UNIX passwords for the root and olpc users, by default?

The root password is blank by default, which means that any local user can log in as root, but no remote user can. I believe the same is true of the olpc user, but I haven't checked this. —Joe 14:08, 21 December 2007 (EST)

It looks like the olpc does have a password set. I would like to use that account for remote logins but I am leary to reset the password based on the X apps (looks like someone else tried this). Is there any chance of getting someone from the OLPC team to document what the default olpc password is. JMW -- 16:12, 27 December 2007 (EST)

Looking at the /etc/shadow file (where Linux usually keeps user passwords), it appears that the olpc user has no password set, but cannot log in directly. -- Supersat 02:43, 30 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] redefine the gamepad keys?

I would ike to edefine the gamepad keys to be more useful in my common apps. how canI do this?

in my case I need 'd' and 'u' (delete and undelete) more then home and end.

[edit] can I disable color while the backlight is on?

For much of what I do color is not needed and I would like to use the super-sharp black-and-white mode of the OLPC, but I sometimes still need the backlight to see the screen clearly. is there a way to disable the color while leaving the backlight on? including command-line options --David Lang

Sorry, no. The display is designed such that you get black-and-white from ambient light and color when backlit. --IanOsgood 10:51, 22 December 2007 (EST)
However, there is a command line hack that will put the display in black-and-white mode while the backlight is on: 
   su
   echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/dcon/output
Replace the 1 with a zero to switch back to color mode. Note that the display still won't look as good as it does with the backlight totally off. -- Supersat 14:50, 23 December 2007 (EST)

Thanks, note that if your adjust the brightness of the backlight it turns color back on.

unfortunantly this doesn't gain the sharpness. given that the color can be turned off, I would expect another option somwhere that switches between the monochrome mode and the dithered color mode (or an option that controls the backlight independanty so I can switch to mono mode and then enable the backlight), I'll wait and see what shows up over time.

I also noticed that the brightness and volume buttons don't work if you are on the console -- David Lang

Unfortunately, I don't believe it's possible to get the super-crisp sharpness with only the backlight. From what I understand, the backlight passes through a color filter, and this drops the sharpness. You can independently control the backlight (using /sys/class/backlight/dcon-bl/brightness), but if you turn on the backlight while the XO is in the monochrome reflective mode, you get the same effect as what I mentioned above. -- Supersat 16:55, 25 December 2007 (EST)

How the hardware works: Each pixel is really a square single-color sub-pixel. Colors run along diagonal lines from upper right to lower left. The upper-left pixel is red. Color comes from the backlight, as light is split into colors. The display controller chip has a few settings which can be used to greatly reduce artifacts, but don't really do anything else. The colors sent from the video chip can be mixed to make greyscale. The screen can be blurred. The incorrect color data (example: the blue being sent to a red pixel) can be discarded. Color mode is blur+discard+backlight. Greyscale mode is mixing, without any backlight. 24.110.145.202 01:37, 26 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Streaming Audio from WWW

I have downloaded watch&listen.xo but I cannot figure out how to use the program to listen to streaming radio broadcasts or archived programming at radio station web sites. I can select the watch&listen activity but not find anything to play on it, or, I can select the browser, find streaming content, and not be able to play it. What am I doing wrong?

[edit] Locked keyboard

My new OLPC green machine arrived last week. I have been working with it to learn as many of the little kinks before I send it on to a charity. The keyboard locked up. I cannot enter commands, I cannot type any characters.

After reading how to perform the four fingered salute, I have tried it several times and nothing happens. I also removed the battery, waited several minutes and reinstalled it before restarting. No soap.

Does anyone have any idea how to correct the situation? I cannot send the computer on until this is resolved.

Thanks,

Anthony Mournian AnthonyMournian(at)san.rr.com

[edit] Manual for OLPC

Why was there no manual for this laptop? I bought one for my 6 year old grandson and find it difficult without a manual.

Milly Heider

Please refer to the answer to a similar question posted above. --Walter 19:19, 27 December 2007 (EST)

I would like to use the drawing tablet function with the "Graffiti" app in Facebook. It's very popular among Facebook users; ask any of them.

[edit] Using the stylus area

It's apparent that a stylus can be used on the 3 panel surface, but what's not indicated is what kind of stylus can be used or if it is included. Would the stylus work on a flash internet program that allows drawing?

The Sugar Interface documentation says that no stylus is included, but any object (e.g. a stick) will work. Perhaps someone with an XO can answer whether or not this can be used in the Browse activity? My understanding is that the activity needs to be specially written to use the tablet panels, and that not a lot of the activities support the tablet yet. —Joe 10:14, 13 December 2007 (EST)
Any hard, blunt instrument will work with the resistive touchpad. The pad itself is disabled by default in the current build, but it will be enabled in an update soon. As far as using the resistive pad, it is by default mapped to an absolute coordinate system. That may or may not work out of the box with the Flash application you are interested in. If you post the URL, we can check it out as well: we are curious as to how people are thinking about using the touhpad. --Walter 12:54, 14 December 2007 (EST)
Not fair. The marketing glossies advertise this feature and I've been killing myself to get it to work until I read your (Walter's) post. I want my two year old son to start enjoying Draw and TamTamMini but his coordination isn't good enough for mere mouse clicking, but he knows how to scroll through albums on my iPhone (by flicking his finger across the screen). By enabling the tablet you could allow him to draw by simply dragging his finger (include an "always on" option so you're not just moving the mouse when you're moving your finger - like a true graphics tablet. Be creative and think of applications in TamTam too - like making music when dragging your finger. This is the whole purpose behind "constructionism" anyway, right? Kaplansa 10:43, 20 February 2008 (EST)
Incidentally, any idea if/when the tablet will be enabled and in what build? I've got 656 installed now. Would like to give this to my son with a working tablet for Draw and TamTam by his birthday next month. -- Kaplansa 10:47, 20 February 2008 (EST)

[edit] Sharing programs and games?

When a lot more people have this laptop, including developing countries, will they be able to share the things they make, such as games? I'd love to see how people can learn programming (myself too) by making simple games. Text games, even graphic games. I'd like to see what block party code looks like and if it's something I could make.

Yes, the system is specifically designed to encourage users to write, share, and customize programs. Users can write and modify Python-based activities on the XO; while the authoring process is currently a bit technical, it should become very easy once the Develop activity is fully operational. And once an activity is written, it can be shared to the neighborhood, where a child's friends can download it — at least, that's the plan given in the interface guidelines; I'm not sure if it's quite working like that yet. You can view the Block Party code in the source repository. —Joe 10:40, 13 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] QEMU emulation of XO - how can I copy files?

I have finally got my QEMU emulation to start up the latest image of the XO OS.

I am however having some trouble copying files to this emulation. It does not pick up my USB flash drive and the network does not seem to work.

How can I copy files from my Windows host machine to this emulated environment?

Thanks, Juan

Networking should work if you are using the right qemu commandline flags. I don't know if it's possible to make a host's flash drive visible to a qemu image, but I've had success using SSH to transfer files between host and client. There are instructions on the Emulation Help and Tips page. —Joe 10:06, 12 December 2007 (EST)

If you are using QEMU Manager then it has a menu item which starts an FTP server. You put the files into the directory shared by the FTP server and can connect to it from a booted XO image by:

ftp 192.168.2.101

user: QEMU

pwd: QEMU

The IP address is your physical machine's address.

THanks for the reply. I tried using the FTP of QEMU manager. I start up the file transfer service and it work within windows. But I cannot access the files from within the image OS?

Thanks

[edit] reading file extension

How can I read the file extension of a stored/saved file?

[edit] SDK for the Users

Hi. Is the Software Development Kit (SDK), or whatever is used for software development on the XO available to the users or are they provided with similar access to Linux tools for development, gcc for example? Thanks. Regards. inimmo

For Python, yes, for C, no. We choose not to include software that most of the children will not use, so as to minimise the size of the builds and maximise the utility of the XO. But the C language tools such as gcc can be downloaded and installed using yum. --Quozl 00:59, 8 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Laptop MS WORD capabilities?

Can someone use a traditional floppy disk and insert it into the computer to save MS WORD documents? Can someone use a jump drive?

I'm a teacher. My income is limited. I've perused your website and I've seen the program related to the OLPC project on tv. Your mission seems like a good one. I'm not a technological wiz. I don't know the difference between Linux and anything else.

I use computers for typing up Word documents, saving them to disk, and printing them out. I've worked as a journalist, and I've published about 60 articles. I've also published about 60 poems. So MS Word, saving and printing are my main interests. I type up assignments for students, and then print out multiple copies. I don't own a computer.

I also use the computer to surf the web. I usually use Yahoo! or Google. I enjoy looking at photos, reading articles, and poems, and viewing works of art (images). I rarely view video on Youtube or anywhere else. I rarely listen to music on the computer, but I enjoy these options. I mostly use the computer for web searching, and MS Word, and work and personal email. My schools have their own email systems: Outlook email, and I use Yahoo! mail. I also use webadvisor.

Based on what I've written could this laptop help me? Can I search Yahoo! and Google? Can I use MS WORD and save work on a disk? Can I access my work email?

Yours, Dan

The word processor on the XO is Abiword, not Microsoft Word, but it can apparently open and save Word files. As you might be aware, one problem with using a different word processor (even a different version of Microsoft Word) is that it may not format the page exactly the same as the original; you can try out Abiword on a Windows machine, to see if it opens/saves your documents correctly. The XO does not have a floppy disk drive, but you should be able to use USB thumb drives to transfer files. You will have to do your printing on another computer: the XO doesn't support printing yet. The XO can browse the web (including Yahoo and Google), and you can use it to do web-based e-mail like Yahoo mail, but it can't run Outlook. —Joe 13:51, 4 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Cybiko Emulator

Can someone make a Cybiko game emulator for XO? Those are neat little games that can be used on a machine that small. If possible even get permission to include them with the XO's.

Sounds neat. Could you flesh this idea out a bit more? We have a page in this wiki on Cybiko already. The Wikipedia page for Cybiko mentions that there is freeware software. OLPC's licensing requirements are a little more strict than freeware, we need open source, so that we can distribute it fully without any restrictions. Could you work with the Cybiko community to get them involved here? Perhaps they have an open source emulator for Linux that could be packaged for XO. --Quozl 06:10, 4 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] School Server @ Home

Is it feasible/reasonable to build a School Server (using images provided) for use at a home where multiple XO's will reside? --919Guy

Yes, but that's a value judgement based on experience. We do welcome involvement in the development and testing of the school server, and this is one way you can contribute. What would be good is an identified version for general use by G1G1 users ... an image that can be loaded as a virtual machine or appliance on a family system, or on old hardware. The growing user community could adopt this as a task, in parallel with the OLPC work to generate school server builds for the mass deployments to schools. You can even start now, before an XO arrives, by running school server images in emulation with XO build images in other emulation containers. --Quozl 16:09, 29 November 2007 (EST)
Is there a consumer wireless card that could be added to a home server that would give it the capability to communicate over the mesh with any resident XO's? --919Guy
No, not yet. The XO uses the 802.11s draft standard for its mesh networking; since it's still a draft, there isn't other consumer hardware using the standard yet. This article predicts the standard may be finalized in mid-2008; I think it's unlikely that we'll see many consumer products implementing it before then. (The XO needs mesh functionality and doesn't need to talk to non-XOs on the mesh, which I guess is why they didn't mind using a potentially non-standard standard.) The school servers are apparently shipping with active antennas that can communicate with the mesh, but I wouldn't be surprised if a consumer 802.11b card would work nearly as well for a home-built server. —Joe 17:57, 30 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Neighborhood Activity

How is the Neighborhood Activity organized? What is the relation, if any, to the location of the people icons to the center (logged in user)? Or are users just there by random? How many icons/people could be on that Neighborhood page? Why at times are some icons smaller? What is the maximum number of people that can be seen in the Neighborhood? What is the long range vision for this and its use? Thank you, Scott

A partial answer: in the current builds for shipping the Neighbourhood has random positioning of icons, and apparently no limit to the number of icons. Icons become smaller if they are engaged in a shared activity, so that they can be clustered around the activity icon. I don't know if there is a limit. A prototype has been built that determines position by radio signal strength and which laptops in a mesh can see other laptops. --Quozl 17:29, 29 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Skype

I plan to participate in G1G1. Will XO function acceptably (audio only-not video) with Skype's Linux version. At 433 mhz it should, but I would like to know about user's experiences. Thanks.

Yeuxdetigre

We have no plans to support it. As with any third-party licensed software and services, you should contact the license issuer to see if they want to ensure it works on the XO. --Quozl 02:17, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] iPhone

Alo'ha, Is the XO compatible with the iPhone? Thanks! -- Grace Iurilli

No, not in the initial release. We have no plans to support it. As with any third-party software and hardware, you should contact the license issuer. --Quozl 02:17, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] iTunes

Is or will iTunes be supported on the XO Laptop?

No, not in the initial release. We have no plans to support it, or the commercial library service it provides. As with any third-party licensed software, you should contact the license issuer. Please direct your question to the owner of iTunes, Apple Inc. The XO can certainly play music in certain formats, and format conversion is trivial. See also Sonata music player, Music, and Manage a community around free music upload for OLPC --Quozl 21:17, 19 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Boot Time

As of this date, October 12, 2007, as OLPC prepares to undergo full production, what is the boot time of the XO?

What a good idea, each build boot time could be graphed. Feel free to contribute such testing. Boot time should not be that important though, now that we have reliable suspend and resume. --Quozl 06:40, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Windows on the XO?

I just saw an interview on 11/14/2007 of Mr. Nicholas Negroponte on CNN just before noon EST. While the information I've found here says Windows will not be available on the XO, it was clearly stated in the interview that the XO DOES run Windows? Which information is true? Will it run MS Windows, or will it run Windows apps like Word and Excel? My mom is severely computer challenged and I had hopes that getting one for her through the Get 1 GIve 1 program would enable her to do email and the internet.

Technically both are true. Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of Windows XP for the XO, so "the XO runs Windows". But the XO is not shipping with Windows and Microsoft is not yet distributing their version of Windows for the XO, so "Windows is not available". Because of this, we have no idea whether it is capable of running Word or Excel or any other Windows software in particular. The XOs ship with a web browsing activity based on FireFox, so they can e-mail (via webmail like Google) and browse the internet. —Joe 13:43, 14 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] aMSN Pidgin Meebo Use

Do users have the ability to chat? what about MSN/ICQ etc etc.

yes. There is a Chat activity for the XO that allows the user to chat with other users in the local mesh, and there is an XoIRC activity that allows the user to chat on IRC,

meebo, pidgin and aMSN run with complications the lack of proper windows in sugar complicte matters, anyways here are the links.

http://forum.meebo.com/viewtopic.php?t=14393&view=previous&sid=b3d75e1092472f8570774f085bca57f1

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Pidgin

http://www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=843.msg6633 #amsn

[edit] Browser

[edit] Browser issue with SSL warning about invalid security certificate

When I point the browser to an https:// site at MIT, I get the error: "Secure Connection Failed. An error occurred during a connection to ca2.mit.edu:443 because it uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted or its issuer certificate is invalid. (sec_error_unknown_issuer)"

In order to connect to my school network (MIT), I need to enter information on a SSL-secured page. However, the laptop's browser refused to display this page because it doesn't think the certificate is authentic. What can I do? Is there a way to disable this setting?

With other browsers, this is just a warning that I can safely ignore. But with the OLPC browser, the warning becomes an error and there's no way I can proceed with the website. Is there any way to change the settings so that the warning doesn't show up as a fatal error?

This is a known problem (http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/542 and http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/5534).
On http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Talk:Browse#Adding_Authorities_for_SSL_support there is a (very technical) possible work-around hack.
Else try installing Opera, it handles this situation correctly. Seems to work well for me so far.
The problem with the proposal of bringing up Opera is, to bring up Opera, I need a network connection. But to get a network connection, I need to get a proxy connection which uses a self-signed certificate, which causes the builtin Sugar browser to reject the request. I'm catch-22'd.
OLPC should either make it possible to shut off the certificate checking junk (it doesn't improve security anyway, why bother with it at all?), or include Opera as one of the builtin activities that can be installed without going to the web (like simcity).

[edit] Usage

I'm trying to learn how to learn the features of this laptop and have many questions such as can the browser function in tabs so that you can toggle between sessions. Also I noticed that I can't perform certain operations such as deleting bulk mail in my Yahoo email account. I'm just trying to understand the features and functions as they compare to a regular PC or laptop.

Thank you, John Karnuth

We don't yet support tabs in the browser. You can launch a second instance of the Browser activity (You'll get two Browsers in the Activity Circle on the Home View.) Shift-Tab should take you back and forth between them. However, note that the Browse activity consumes a fair amount of memory, so it is recommended that you close any other activities while you have two sessions running concurrently. --Walter 02:50, 20 December 2007 (EST)
We'll investigate the Yahoo bug. Thanks for reporting it. --Walter 02:52, 20 December 2007 (EST)
The latest version of Yahoo! Mail requires Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Mac OSX (see this page). Try changing back to the Classic version of Yahoo! Mail. I just checked, and the bulk delete does work using the classic version of Yahoo! Mail on the XO. BlankVerse 21:01, 29 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Browser to access password protected web pages

I need to use my OLPC laptop to access a web page which is password protected, but I get an error message when I try to do so. It does not give me the form to enter my ID and password. Is there another browser which will let me do this? Thanks!

on further research this turns out to be a symptom of a larger problem, in killing off popups, they also killed of all browser dialog popups. there is a bug filed for this, with many other bugs marked as duplicates (many different symtoms, one cause). the browse activity is getting a significant upgrade in the first update (jan 2008) hopefully this fix will be in there.

Also, check out these:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Books#Books

[edit] downloading ebooks

are you able to download ebooks to this computer- how would one do that- is there a website or download site? I am looking for preschool to kindergarten grade books. Thanks

The availability of ebooks depends on the site. Though not specifically geared towards childrens books, you might search through Project Gutenberg which aims to collect and distribute public domain books.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

You can try google books too, it offers public domain PDF downloads of books. It's really easy to use. http://books.google.com/

[edit] Downloading?

Does this computer have access to the internet, and are you able to download anything? My daughter is 12 and is using the computer a lot for school projects and reports. I need to know if this computer will work for her needs.

Please check with her teachers. They will be able to tell you what type of downloads and reports are needed. This computer can have access to the internet, if the correct wireless equipment is nearby, and can download things, but whether the downloaded information can be used properly will depend on what format it is in. This computer is quite different to other computers, although it does have a lot of similarities. It is best to check, to avoid trouble later. --Quozl 23:31, 4 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Bookmarks in Web Browser?

The demo XO software I've seen doesn't support bookmarks in the Web browser. Is this the case for the actual XO as well? Seems like a major shortcoming for a computer aimed at kids. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Perhaps you are wrong. I have just looked at the Browse activity on build 625 running on a beta test laptop B4 ... once you navigate to a page the star icon at the top of the screen adds the link to a tray. A tray full of previously added links is shown if you join a shared Browse activity. The tray is recorded in the Journal entry. If you resume from the Journal entry, the tray is pre-populated with the added links, and the page that was displayed at the time of Browse close is redisplayed. So in summary, the bookmarks are there, stored in per session trays, inside the Journal. The complexity of bookmarks in adult consumer versions of web browsers ... isn't there. --Quozl 18:37, 29 November 2007 (EST)
My 2 gripes with the bookmarks is that (1) they are per-session, which is hard for my pre-conditioned brain to grok, and (2) they take up too much darned screen real estate. In general, the current design is good for shared browsing, but not so good for finding something again later. Maybe those two functions should be separated? --D Risacher 07 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] which search engine can be used with the G1G1?

Educationally searching for information is important. What search engine can be used? Also, for children in developed countries, A I M is a highly valued computer activity. (We parents might disagree!) Can A I M be loaded onto a G1G1 model? Is there some open source word processing function? Can files be transferred to other computers and then get printed?

Thank you Louisa--71.242.6.140 08:35, 23 November 2007 (EST)

Google is the norm, but any search engine should work fine. There is a chat activity, but it doesn't work with A I M. (you might be able to add one that works with A I M though) There is a word processor. Files can be transferred by a USB storage device; network transfer might be possible. 24.110.145.202 15:04, 23 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Installing software

[edit] Streaming RealNetworks audio ?

Hi,

I downloaded the helix player and installed it. Can't figure out how to play anything. There is no "file" command. Tried opening .ram files but nothing happens.

Jeff PS - Great laptop I am very impressed. The installed stuff is awesome.

Try downloading files from the browser into your Journal. Then resume them from the Journal--they should open with the Real player. --Walter 21:59, 15 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] A few bugs with my new XO

I received my XO via the G1G1 program a few days ago. I've figured out most of the functions but have encountered a few problems:

1. I can download activities from the library and they appear in the journal, but I can not launch them using the instructions provided in the wiki. 2. My activities do not include the terminal activity. When I go to directory to download the terminal activity I don't know which file to download. Of course it wouldn't help if I did since i can't launch it after down loading it. 3. When in the browse activity, clicking on 'back' button sometimes causes the activity to cancel (it closes and disappears from the home screen).

Thanks for your help.

Activities downloaded into the Journal should launch from the Journal by "resuming" them... what activities in particular did you try?
The terminal activity should be part of the core set. (Did you use the arrows to scroll the taskbar to the right?)
There is a new version of the browser coming out in January that should be more stable.

[edit] Additional software

Is there additional cost for the children to download the software that is avaliable to XO laptop. Also how big is the hard drive and what kind of cpu does it have. Thanks

While it would be possible for someone to make for-pay software for the XO, all the software on the Activities page is free to download. The flash drive is 1Gb; this and other hardware information is available on the Hardware page. —Joe 16:39, 20 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] how do you uninstall applications recently installed

some do not work like video and pingpong

Deleting the Journal entries associated with the downloads should delete the activities on the taskbar the next time you restart your machine. If that does not work, you can delete activities using the Terminal activity, but try the Journal method first.
Also, please add a comment on the Talk:Activities page regarding any problems you have encountered. Thanks. --Walter 02:47, 20 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Tutorial re: Installing other Linux distributions on the XO ?

Can anyone point me to a step-by-step tutorial on how to install other linux distributions on the XO? I would like to end up with a dual-boot machine, with the Sugar OS remaining on the built-in drive and a basic Fedora 8 installation on an 8G SD card that I leave in place.

From a hardware perspective, I think I'm ready to go: I have a brand new XO, an 8G Class 6 SD card, a card reader and a desktop running Fedora 8.

From an expertise perspective, I am sorely lacking. I really need step-by-step instructions. I'm afraid that short cuts and linux jargon won't get me there. I need something methodical, along the lines of the "Fedora Tips & Tricks" section of G. Gulik's "gagme.com" website, that assume little or no knowledge.

I don't want this to been seen as subversion of the OLPC mission. I plan to use this computer in my work life, however, and need more conventional functionality. I do want to keep Sugar in place, and have it available for anyone who is interested in exploring it.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know about Fedora, but there is a list of instructions for installing Debian on the wiki. —Joe 17:12, 20 December 2007 (EST)
I'd like to second this request. I tried the Debian instructions, but only managed to make my laptop unable to boot. It would be nice to have generic, step-by-step instructions on either how to install any (appropriately sized) Linux distro as an alternate OS, or how to run a "live" build off either USB stick or SD card. - S. Dennett, 12/23/07

[edit] Uninstalling pre-loaded software

Hi. I just received my new xo laptop and was wondering how I could remove some of the pre-installed activities that have been loaded onto the computer. Thanks!

Activities are pre-installed in /usr/share/activities. You can remove them using the rm -r command as root, for example: 
cd /usr/share/activities
su
rm -r TurtleArt.activity

[edit] Troubles installing the Flash plugin

First of all I’d like to say that this is an incredibly inspiring project, and I’m happy to be a part of it. That being said, I received a laptop this evening as a part of the b1g1 program and have been busily putting it through it’s paces in an effort to be somewhat helpful to my six year old daughter come Christmas morning. I would like to install Flash, as much of my daughters computer experience revolves around flash based educational websites. I tried following the [instructions provided][1] on this website to no avail (trying to install form the terminal window-where I received and error message, and from the “journal”-where there was no response). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time

The instructions on the Adobe Flash page have been slightly modified. Please try again and report back. Thanks.

It worked like a dream! Thanks for the help!

[edit] AOL Instant Messenger

is there any way to install AOL Instant Messanger on the XO? Like under Debian or something, because im having trouble. -j.o.y

We don't currently support AOL IM on the XO. --Walter 17:36, 27 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Downloading in Opera

Hello, I successfully downloaded Opera and it works great. When I download a file from opera, (for example a pdf) I see it is on the machine. How do I get these files to show up in the "Journal" so that I can view them and/or store them to my SD card? Thanks, Greg

Opera has not yet been fully integrated into the Sugar environment: in particular, it doesn't yet interact with the Journal. For the time being, you'll have to use the Firefox-based browser to download PDFs to your Journal. --Walter 17:31, 27 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Compatibility with commercial swoftware developed for the linux platform

There are numerous commercial, educational software applications written for the linux platform (for example, Amazon.com lists about four dozen such titles). Is the XO capable of running these applications?

Yes, provided the software is compatible with the XO. You should contact each of the application vendors. They will certainly be interested. Some may already have XOs for testing. --Quozl 20:21, 4 December 2007 (EST)


[edit] Support of America Online Messenger (AIM)

Hello,

Will I be able to use AIM on the XO?

Thank you

AIM-compatible software is available, but not included. The XO includes chat software that is easier to use. Note that the XO does not run most Windows and MacOS software, but it does include many easy-to-use programs. 24.110.145.202 14:29, 21 November 2007 (EST)

Is the included XO Chat software compatible with AOL Instant Message or Yahoo Messenger?

No. It lets any XO user chat with any other XO user. If you have a regular computer that is fast, you can run the XO software in an emulator to chat with XO users.

[edit] Flash Player for smooth Youtube & Google Video viewing

I recently tried the xo in NYC at the wired store. I was disappointed with youtube video playback. Will this be improved for the G1G1 laptops being produced (a better flash player for smooth internet video)?

Not likely, due to software licensing costs, and the very short time before G1G1 laptops begin to ship. However the community of owners is probably going to fix it for G1G1 owners. Stay in contact with other owners. --Quozl 02:16, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Adding additional software: emacs, latex, gv, lynx

How can one add the following applications (activities) to the suite? gnu utilities; emacs; latex; gv (ghostview); lynx (text browser); mysql. Would Fedora 7 RPMs work? What additional libraries need to be installed? Thanks ~

One would use yum to do this, and additional libraries would be handled automatically. One would also change from the default Sugar desktop environment to something more suited to emacs and gv. This is a small matter of configuration. --Quozl 06:31, 4 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Will the OLPC be able to boot something like PUPPYOS via a USB stick?

Before I consider the purchase of two OLPC laptops, I would like to verify that the hardware will support booting Linux via USB flash devices. I know PuppyLinux was unfortunately quickly dismissed as a possible candidate to run on the OLPC hardware; however, since the AMD Geode is a x86 processor, I am in hopes I can boot PuppyLinux from USB attached devices, IE... USB Flash, Compact flash using USB adapter, hard drive/cdrom/dvdrom using sata/ide-to-USB adapter, etc.. Has anyone on the development team tried to boot any of the later PuppyOS releases on the current OLPC hardware? If so, how did it work?

Thanks Very Much In Advance Regards Ron

It can definitely boot from USB sticks; we do it all the time. It doesn't use a standard BIOS, so see the documentation for Open Firmware (Forth) about what files to put on the stick. Or download and poke at the Autoreinstallation image, which is booted from a USB stick.
The laptop has run Debian by using the OLPC kernel and kernel modules, and everything else from a standard Debian system. As far as I know, nobody has done the similar exercise with PuppyLinux. Most of the changes required for the hardware have been pushed upstream into the original packages. You may need to upgrade the X server in PuppyLinux as well as the kernel. It will definitely NOT work "out of the box". It will definitely work if you do some integration work. Go for it! -- gnu 19 Nov 2007

[edit] JVM in XO

Is there any way to install JVM (Java Virtual Machine) or similar tool in XO o run java software?

The Java page implies that there is. —Joe 14:00, 23 October 2007 (EDT)
If a developer wants to use a JVM, one way to do it is by leveraging the technology from dotFX, Inc. dotFX enables developers to deliver live applications packaged as a link or direct to the desktop. An XO user can obtain an always updated JVM for example, managed by our technology, if a developer wants to package his/her software as secure, live software on our technology. Since the technology is not pre-loaded with XO, the first time a user comes to a website for example with your application packaged as link, he/she will get an initial download we call ClientFX which has the parts of the JVM dynamically loaded to use your app. After that, the user can click on any live application link and access software as easily as he/she access content today. See www.dotFX.com to download the ServerFX product for free. Or, email me with any questions. In addition, I check this site frequently, because I think what OLPC's mission is awesome. Thanks. -Pete President/co-founder dotFX, Inc pete@dotFX.com

[edit] Porting exiting Java-based learning software to the XO

Dear Sirs,

I sent the following email to technology@laptop.org as directed by your web site. I received in return an autoresponder email that offers the ability to give laptops away. As you can see by the email I sent, this was not my purpose in contact. Aprend would be happy to contribute whatever it can in the future, but realistically, without software and a purpose, the XO will make a good boat anchor (for a very small boat at 3lbs.) How do we get in touch with a human (not autoresponder) to investigate at which level we may be of assistance? Sincerly, Rod Gilchrist Email originally sent:

My name is Rod Gilchrist. I have a small company in Austin, Texas named Aprend. We have developed a learning management system with integrated authorware. Our software is written totally in JAVA. Due to the features of JAVA, the translation of the GUI is a snap. Localization of language of the GUI, regardless of the language or dialect is very easy. The ability to create content is also very easy with the integrated authorware, localization of the GUI for the content creation software is also very easy. in addition, due to JAVA, our software runs under virtually any OS on any hardware.
It appears to me that the OLPC XO project could possibly use our software to deliver education to children using your laptops all over the world, in their localized language. I would like to investigate an alliance between Aprend and your project to possibly provide our software with the XO laptop to enable educators at the user end of your project. Please contact me if you are interested. I have attached a trifold brochure word file in hopes of explaining the features to you.
Sincerely, Roderick E. Gilchrist, CEO
Aprend Software / (512) 328-5119 / rod@/email/aprendsoft.com
Java is not supported.
Rod - I am the President of dotFX, Inc (www.dotFX.com). We innovated a technology which can take existing Java applications and make them live - accessible as a clickable link or direct from the desktop. If the Aprend Software solution is placed on the dotFX framework it becomes "live" software. We manage the delivery of the application and underlying JVM/JRE dynamically. Currently OLPC does not support Java; however, I am a believer in their mission and think that access to free software for kids around the world, securely, is very important. If your software is packaged as a live application, then OLPC kids can access a JVM to their machine organically. The policy decision for OLPC for Java one way or another can be made over time; however, in the interim, there is a path. Let me know if you have any questions. -Pete / President, co-founder, dotFX, Inc / www.dotFX.com / pete@/email/dotFX.com
Rod, Pete - It may help both of you to know that the stated requirement for software included on the XO laptops will all be open-source. That said, there are developers who are working to make their proprietary software able to run on the XO, with the understanding that for the foreseeable future those programs will not be bundled. In other words, the XO is not a platform for profit-seeking companies or individuals to capitalize upon at this time. Best regards, RKV
RKV - Thanks. I had a dialog with Joe on that too. Our ServerFX is for free. We have no API/IDE needed, so unlike any other IDE vendor I know of, there is no future risk of developers / users being forced into payment, since the developer can at any time choose to stop using our technology and it does not set back his/her code base, since we did not cause change in the first place. In fact, developers can use us speculatively at any point in the lifecycle of software - design, build, or service post launch. The 30k existing Java applications in open source for example can be packaged as a live clickable link (eg OLPC icon on the desktop) where OLPC and 3rd party open source developers could publish live apps as links into for free for OLPC users around the world, eg games, productivity software, etc -- all types at sourceforge.com for example. As I mentioned to Joe, we are not allergic to making ServerFX open source; however, we want to make that decision if there is enough demand with OLPC and other channels we are discussing. We manage the update issue with the framework, any JRE version running, and the applications. I have not yet Rod from Aprend yet, so I am not sure what he is thinking. In my case however, also because of my non profit work in global education (eg board member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, etc), the OLPC mission is consistent with my personal interests in access and success for all kids, especially via technology as one tool. I love your guys mission - whether dotFX can help or not. - Pete, dotFX

[edit] MP3 files

I noticed that one cannot download speech podcasts in mp3 format to the xo. Is there any way to download these mp3 files, or download software that will allow it?

There is MP3 software that can run on the laptops, but it's not clear whether it will ship with the laptops or, if not, how easy it will be for a user to install. See the RestrictedFormats page. —Joe 12:55, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

I have been able to play MP3's in a very specific way. If I download them from either Opera or the Browse activity, you can play them from the Journal. It allows you to open it in Etoys and play it with a MPEG player. Unfortunately, this does not apply to anything from a SD drive or USB. When you try to do the same thing from the Journal (when the SD or USB is mounted - i.e. you can see a tiny picture of it at the bottom of the journal - it opens in Etoys but then crashes with a "you should probably abandon this" error. -- I must be doing something wrong because my name and date don't appear on the next line. -Lynn 7:45 4, February, 2008 (EDT)

-Lynn, 7:45, February 4, 2008 (EDT)

-Lynn, 7:45, 4, February 4, 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Microsoft Windows XP on XOs

Microsoft has been talking about getting the XP to work on the XO systems. I personally would consider Microsoft having anything to do with this project as a mistake. One of the core principals is free and open source software and any moves to work with Microsoft on this project would run contrary to this. Will the OLPC initiative be staying open source and sticking with Linux? -- Thomas (New Zealand)

According to the list of OLPC myths, the officially distributed OS is still Linux. However, an open system means that anyone (including Microsoft) can develop for it. —Joe 17:25, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

[edit] dotFX Java Framework

dotFX, Inc. (www.dotFX.com) has a free framework product called ServerFX which allows the 6 million java developers to take existing java applications and make them "live" software, i.e. desktop distributed through the Internet securely. For example, there are 30,000 existing Java applications (desktop apps / "dead" apps) which can be packaged as a clickable link / icon on the desktop or within a browser. This provides extreme ease of use and ease of access for OLPC users to many free software applications, not previously accessible. Please let me know if you would like to learn more. I am interested in leveraging the dotFX innovative technology for the OLPC mission.

Very truly yours -- Pete Hartigan, President, co-founder, www.dotFX.com, pete@/email/dotFX.com

I can't say whether or not the OLPC people are interested in your product, but note that the XO laptop is being distributed only with open source software and it is not currently shipping with Java. —Joe 12:31, 27 October 2007 (EDT)
If there are java developers interested in distributing their software, we can package their software as a "link" in a browser, or as a desktop icon. We manage the JVM for the developer and OLPC. It does not need to be distributed upfront. That is a decision OLPC can make either way, since our free installer and live update features can handle all of this pain for developers. As far as open source, we are not allergic to that consideration if there is proper demand. The key however is the value for the end user --- there are 30,000 existing java applications in open source for example which no one really uses -- we can package these as "links" and make them accessible to the common user -- ie they get free software, live from the network, in an easily accessible manner & updated for them with only deltas each time each user clicks on an application. Our framework provides mechanism for developers to run the apps offline or online, and provision in other ways if they want - yet at a high level the value for OLPC users around the world is straight forward. Get access to free software easily and none of them need to learn how to manage the software. For OLPC project - it is more value for basically no cost. For OLPC and developers, since we can publish services inline at runtime - if people want to monetize their work, we can package an ad object, license object (for premium services), and other revenue generating mechanisms on demand. - Pete
Few highlights for OLPC kids and developers:
1. Environment is secure - so kids around the world can click on apps and have a true security model (vs abdication of security with a trust/no trust decision being forced upfront)
2. Online / Offline
3. Low network footprint - eg if a child is in Africa, India or China for example with low bandwidth - this technique gets full functionality to them in low network availability areas of the world.
4. Infinite number of applications possible on a small hard drive - dynamic applications / servcies - taken on and off as required
5. Applications are monitorable if desired - In the context of social networking applications with kids involved, the browser is generally not good enough to ward off the risk of preditors for example. A developer may choose to want a more monitorable environment for safety purposes. We provide the mechanism if developers want it.

[edit] Please consider adding "childsplay" to software packages...

The "childsplay" package is a wonderful Python based package that has kept my 3.5 year old productively engaged for the last couple of months and it seems that it would be ideally suited for inclusion in the OLPC software suite. More info on it can be found at:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/childsplay/

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=1463

Thanks for considering this suggestion.

Sincerely,

Dominic Caffey, dcaffey_fl@yahoo.com

The author of childsplay, Stas Zytkiewicz, has expressed interest in porting it to the XO and apparently has had a preliminary version of it running, so I think there's a good chance it will eventually be available. —Joe 16:28, 28 October 2007 (EDT)
Update: Schoolsplay. —Joe 08:33, 27 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] possible to download a mapping program?

Can tne DeLorean mapping software be loaded into your computer?

You would have to ask the software manufacturer that question, sorry. --Quozl 18:29, 18 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Microsoft compatibility

Would it be possible to load a Microsoft Windows OS on these?

While Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of Windows XP for the XO laptops, it is not known how successful they have been or if they plan to make the result available to the public. So for now the answer is no. —Joe 14:25, 9 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] XO as sunlight-readable SSH terminal

Does the XO come with an SSH client? I'm considering buying one through G1G1, to use it as a sunlight-readable SSH terminal in monochrome mode (using 802.11b/g wireless). X-forwarding would be nice, too, but it isn't crucial. If an SSH client isn't already installed, how could I install one?

It does have ssh. If it didn't, "yum install ssh" would fix the problem. X forwarding works, but sometimes things need bigger fonts for the XO screen.
It would be fantastic as an SSH terminal. Current builds certainly have ssh and sshd. I'm looking at build 625. You can change default runlevel in /etc/inittab to 4, then log in as root and startx ... you get twm, xclock and xterm, and ssh -X works fine, I used it just now to run konqueror remote, with no font problems. A B4 is quite snappy in this mode. You could also use olpc-update to convert to build-debian and run the X server with a window manager like fluxbox. --Quozl 19:21, 29 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] yahoo chat?

Would you be able to download yahoo chat and use the yahoo email programs on the laptop?

You probably won't be able to download and install Yahoo Messenger, at least not easily; there is a UNIX version, but Yahoo would have to create a special version for the XO for it to be easy to use. The Browse activity should be able to access Yahoo's web mail client. —Joe 22:55, 25 November 2007 (EST)
You can use Meebo with it, however. ffm 17:16, 9 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Java & Flash... Limited Support

Does anyone know exactly what Limited Support for Flash and Java means? What functionality will the students have? Thanks in Advance, Lee

The laptop is not shipping with Java or the official Flash plugin, but the users may be able to install it themselves; see RestrictedFormats. The laptop is apparently shipping with the Gnash Flash plugin installed, which is able to play a limited subset of Flash content. —Joe 14:18, 2 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Java plugin not working

I installed Sun Java according to the instructions on the Restricted Formats page.

When I type in about:plugins to see if the plugin worked, I do not see it among the list of installed plugins. In the log viewer activity there is an error message under org.laptop.WebActivity-1.log that says

LoadPlugin: failed to initialize shared library /usr/java/jre1.5.0_11/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so [/usr/java/jre1.5.0_11/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so: undefined symbol: _ZTVN10__cxxabiv121__vmi_class_type_infoE]

I've tried Sun JRE 1.5 update 11, 1.5 update 13, and 6 update 3 with similar results. Is the Browser application compatible with the Java plugin? I am using build 650 on a G1G1 OLPC. Java appears to be installed correctly otherwise. Is there something wrong with the xulrunner build that prevents the plugin from working? eeTommyJ 03:28, 29 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Factory settings

[edit] Restore to factory settings

I am planning on giving away my XO when I finish playing, how do I restore to factory settings?

You can delete the files in /home/olpc/.sugar/default/ (See Customizing_NAND_images#Forcing_Sugar_to_reprompt_for_name_and_colors and Sugar Control Panel

[edit] How do we register the laptop that we have received?

When we were on-line, we clicked on register in the laptop's home menu but nothing seemed to happen. How do we register the laptop?

Registering is not for G1G1 participants but is for children in developing countries to register the laptop with the school server. --Erik 22:53, 24 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Name change

Could anyone explain how one can reset the user name and/or colors is plan English with a detailed description?

How do I change the name that I first entered when initially starting the computer for the first time? Please send response to moses001@mc.duke.edu

To change the nickname of your XO, you need to use the Sugar Control Panel.
  1. launch the Terminal activity;
  2. type: sugar-control-panel -s nick your-new-nick-name
  3. press "Enter" to apply your change and you will be prompted to "restart sugar" by pressing ctrl+alt+erase simultaneously on the XO keyboard
for example: 
sugar-control-panel -s nick Moses

[edit] Color change

To change the colors of your XO, you also need to use the Sugar Control Panel.
  1. launch the Terminal activity;
  2. type: sugar-control-panel -s color stroke-color fill-color stroke-shade fill-shade
For example, to set the outline color of the icon (the stroke color) to Medium Red,
and the interior color of the icon (the fill color) to Dark Blue: 
sugar-control-panel -s color red blue medium dark
See the Buddy Icon Color Matrix at Media:Buddy-Icon-Color-Matrix.pdf to
get the color names to use in the sugar-control-panel command for your desired
icon colors.

Does the XO still take the user's picture on first boot? If so, how can this pic be changed later?

A picture is not taken at first boot.

[edit] Changing the "name" of my laptop

Is it possible to change the name of my laptop after I gave it a name to start it up?

Yes. See the Support FAQ. —Joe 22:51, 18 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Nickname

I entered the nickname of the computer incorrectly for my grandchildren. How do I go about changing it? The instructions for Terminal Activity are incredibly confusing.

Thanks,

Richard

Yes. See the Support FAQ. --IanOsgood 10:56, 22 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] the initial startup name and picture

When the XO booted up for the first time it asked for the name which I typed but it never did take a picture- that I know of- can you tell me how to get this initial picture and where will it be displayed? Thanks

The current version of the software does not take a picture of the user on startup; this feature was removed. You can tell whether or not the camera is taking a picture by whether or not the little light above it is on. —Joe 16:11, 25 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Redo First Boot?

I read in the online User's Guide that the first time the user turns on their new XO the system will ask for the child's name, allow them to select an icon color for the mesh display, and take their picture. Is this how the G1G1 units work also, and is it possible to rerun this routine if the wrong user turns the unit on the first time?

As I understand it, the G1G1 units will also work this way. Resetting the name, color, and photo should be a matter of deleting a few files from the "/home/olpc/.sugar/default" directory ("config" and "buddy-icon.jpg", I believe). So it's currently a bit technical, but it's possible. Color and nick might also be changeable via the command-line Sugar Control Panel, and they are planned to be in the user interface control panel, which should make changing them easy. There is some (old) discussion on the subject of changing color, name, and photo on the Sugar mailing list. —Joe 19:24, 29 November 2007 (EST)
Update: Better instructions for changing the name/color are here. —Joe 13:45, 30 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] Printing

[edit] How to print

How do you print from the XO? I am connected to a wi-fi connection that is attached to a printer, but the Write activity does not seem to have a print option.

See the "Can I print from the XO laptop?" in the Support FAQ. —Joe 18:35, 20 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Printers and Printing

(five identical questions merged): Is it possible to print from this computer? If so, what printer and printer software works?

We've not yet exposed a printer interface in the UI. Most network printers and many USB printers should work with the XO, but we haven't had the time to qualify these solutions yet. Perhaps someone in the community can get started on this in parallel with our efforts. (We made our display of very high quality in part to reduce the need for printing.) Printing has not been part of our design target, since printing will be handled by school servers rather than the laptops. There is no technical reason why software cannot print from these computers ... and I have done it with networked printers via the wireless network using special tools. It is just that we don't need it yet. We do recognize that "give 1 get 1" XOs are going into the first-world community which is rich in printing services, but we don't have the time right now to work on this problem. People who want to help can coordinate via the Printing page, and collaborate within the user groups. --Joe and Quozl 04:11, 23 November 2007 (EST)

[edit] G1G1 XO: Printers, Windows XP, Microsoft Office? (had been "American Children")

I would want a computer that can attach to the laser printer I already have. I would want it to run at least Windows XP and XP office. I have this on my desktop. Child could exchange information espcially as he gets older with printers, and be familiar with Microsoft products and have an advantage when he enters the workforce. Does the XO laptop answer these questions for my future child?

See the answers above for printing and Windows XP. In both cases the answer is that the XO doesn't support it now, but it might in the future. If it were me, though, I wouldn't make hardware and software decisions for a child that hasn't been born yet. While it's true that the XO is probably safer for children than other computers, computers in general aren't really appropriate for very young or unborn children. And early training in a particular software program might not be that valuable: by the time your child is old enough to get a job, knowledge of XP will be about as valuable as knowledge of Windows 3.1 is today. —Joe 12:05, 8 December 2007 (EST)
I don't think the XO is at all appropriate for learning how computers used to work. But they can help to teach the fundamentals ... the basic ideas that are common themes in computer assisted life. --Quozl 19:23, 8 December 2007 (EST)

Italic text

[edit] USB, SD

[edit] booting from an sd

hey, could you detail how to boot from an sd card? ive attempted holding down the x gamepad button during upload to activate the ok prompt and open firmware system, but to no avail. id really appreciate it.

Holding down the 'X' game pad key forces secure boot when in non-secure mode; not clear that this is what you want to be doing. If the image on the SD card is signed, then if should just work. If the image is unsigned, the machine will not boot it unless you have turned off security. To do the latter, you need to get a developer's key (See Activation_and_Developer_Keys).

[edit] SD card

Will files on SD cards be available in the Journal like those on USB drives?

yes

[edit] How can I mount a usb stick on xo?

How can I mount a usb stick on xo?

See "How do I save or retrieve files from a USB drive?" in the Support FAQ. —Joe 13:56, 21 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Save to a USB stick

How can I save pictures in my XO into a USB stick?

See "How do I save or retrieve files from a USB drive?" in the Support FAQ. —Joe 13:56, 21 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] USB devices don't seem to mount

I have tried several USB thumb drives in all of the USB ports and none of them show up on the bottom of the Journal page (no matter how long I wait, or how many times I plug / unplug them.)

Also, if I plug in a USB mouse, it never seems to come up.

I'm beginning to think that there is a USB hardware problem, but don't know if there is some Linux level troubleshooting I ought to be doing (I haven't used Linux in years, so this is problematic.)

Any advice?

I think you have a bad XO hardware problem. Sounds like you should call OLPC directly and report a hardware problem. I'm just a fellow XO user. Do you have a WIFI connection and did you click "register" while connected to the internet? I had some problems which may have been solved by "registering" mine. But I don't know if the USB was one of them. Both my Xo laptops work with USB without any problems. I did have a case where one of them went to sleep and I had closed the case with it on. When I opened up the xo the USB drive and keyboard would not respond. But I was able to get it to work by rebooting.

My Xo laptops have mounted every USB key, keyboard and even a 100 gig Seagate USB drive, so far. If the key isn't mounting that's a big problem also because you need to be able to pull an emergency new image of the machine from a USB key. Greg (pvideo@aol.com) <