Upgrading to 8.2

If you have a machine running update.1 (builds 650-656) or 8.1 (builds 700-715), here is how to upgrade your system to 8.2. As of November, 2008 this is the latest stable release.

Background on upgrading

For background information and other options see Clean-install procedure and olpc-update.

If you run into trouble, the Support FAQ and Support team can provide live help.

Build 767 is the last stable build for version 8.2.

Upgrading over the Internet

Reserve enough time for this : the process can take more than 30 minutes. If you are interrupted in the middle of an update, you can continue where you left off.

0. Turn on your XO.

1. Backup any files you want to save.

Upgrading may make some activities work differently, and may make Journal items that depend on old activities stop working.

2. Connect to the Internet.

3. Launch the Terminal activity and type:

su - 
olpc-update 767 

This updates your system to Build 767 and takes 5-30 minutes depending on your connection speed. You should see text like this:

Downloading contents of build official-os860
Updating to version hash xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Making clean /versions/updates/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Trying irsync_pristine update from rsync://updates.laptop.org/build-official-os860
- Cleaning tree.
- Fetching contents.
- Performing incremental rsync.
Verifying update.
Installing update in /versions/{pristine,run}/xxxx

Sometimes you will get a message about irsync_pristine failing, or that "irsync_dirty" is being tried; this is normal.

If the update halts (for instance, if you lose your network connection in the middle) you will be returned to the Terminal prompt. You can repeat the command to resume the update where it stopped:

olpc-update 767

4. Reboot after you see the "Update Succeeded!" message.

At the end of the upgrade, you will see "Installing update in...." and "Update Succeeded!"; you are halfway done. Type reboot from the terminal.

5. Connect to the Internet again.

As soon as you reboot, you will see a bar at the top of the screen that says "Software Update" with options "Cancel" / "Later" / "Check now"... and you will not have most of your old activities available from your Home view. Get online before choosing Check now.

6. Download and update activities.

Choose Check now from the options at the top of your Home view. If you don't see these option, you can launch it from the Control Panel's Software Update feature. The Control Panel is an option on the hover menu at the center of your Home view.

Your XO will check online for new activities and updates. Click "Install selected" once it is done to update everything. By default, the activities checked are any already on your machine and those included on G1G1 2008 builds.

7. Add more Collections and Activities.

After you upgrade your current activities, while still in the Software Update screen:

a) click on the triangle next to "Modify activity groups" at the bottom of the screen

b) for the Group URL, enter http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities/All or some other subpage of the Activities page, and choose the Add button

c) choose the Refresh button, wait for the activity list to refresh, and Install selected to download them.

These changes should take effect without a reboot.

Congratulations, you've upgraded!

Upgrading offline

This process takes 10 minutes once you have downloaded the files onto a USB key.

You can use another computer that is connected to the internet (a desktop at home, a computer lab, etc.) and a USB storage device to upgrade your XO. This process will cmopletely erase ALL files on your XO.

1. Make sure your XO is plugged in and has its battery in.
2. Back up any files or Journal entries on your XO that you want to keep.

   This helps ensure the process is not interrupted in the middle.

3. Get an empty USB stick with at least 500MB of space.

   The USB stick does not have to be completely empty. However, avoid using the same USB stick for this and other types of OLPC backups.

4. Download the following files to your stick. Do not open or unzip the files.
   • gg-767-4.img (450 MB)
   • fs.zip (297 KB)
5. Turn off your XO and connect your USB stick to it.
6. Hold down all four gamepad keys (on the right side of the screen, above the power button) and then turn on the XO. Keep holding the gamepad keys until the message "Release the game key to continue" appears on the screen.
7. Release the game keys and wait for the reflash to complete.

   You should see a grid of black boxes appear on your screen, and then fill with color. Your XO is now reflashing. It will take 8-10 minutes and your XO should automatically show a 'complete' message and reboot when it is done.

8. Reboot if it didn't happen automatically, and wait for the firmware to update.

   This happens the next time you reboot, and should take 1 minute. It will not proceed unless your battery is in and your laptop plugged in. The XO will reboot automatically once more after this.

Your update is done! Explore your new Home view (the available activities are now laid out in a circle around the central XO, and active activities appear in the top of the frame) and make sure that your favorite activities are installed.

If you need to install new activities, you can do so via the new Control Panel (see above).

Checksum and other technical details

The MD5 checksum for this image is 64c599eea92e29abb1b6ed72e7541734 . As of November 2008, this is the latest stable OLPC build. You can install this build onto secure machines.