OLPC Firmware q4a06

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OLPC Firmware Release q4a06

Download: q4a06.rom

Known problems

Linux does not boot if the XO_1.75_A1_ECOs#Audio ECO is done. There is a hang after "Uncompressing Linux... done, booting the kernel." Workaround:

Type 'i' to interrupt stand-init sequence
<type i>
Interacting
ok patch noop sound startup
ok resume
...
Type any key to interrupt automatic startup
Type 'help' for more information.
...
ok select /audio unselect boot

Changes since q4a05

• r2047 Fixed bug in ec-flash introduced by recent changes.
• r2046 fixed problem with cursor being off.
• r2045 Use board ID 1a1 if board-id@ fails.
• r2043 factored out HDD LED setting code, added game key reading code.
• r2042 SD driver - tune data timing for 50 MHz operation.
• r2040 DCON driver - freeze is now a no-op because, lacking frame storage, it doesn't work on this hardware.
• r2039 boardrev.fth - initial revision
• r2038 (1) Startup sound now plays in the background for faster startup (2) Use 3.3V signals GPIO 97,98 for RTC (bitbanging instead of using the TWSI hardware) (3) Made the startup sequence more like the 1.5 version
• r2037 Get board revision from the EC.
• r2036 implemented a bunch of EC commands.
• r2035 Changed ps2mouse.fth to use my-space instead of my-unit for set-port; my-unit does not work right.
• r2034 SDHCI - solidified support for SDHCI version 3 clock divisor layout and made 50 MHz operation work reasonably well for XO-1.75.
• r2033 Fixed race condition in EC SPI module.
• r2031 strobe HDD_LED# during fs-update. The LED is toggled once for each zblock: line in the input file. This shows the processing speed, and is affected initially by complexity of decompression, and eventually by SD card write rate. Faster and slower SD cards are more easily compared. Cost of 1.7 microseconds per LED toggle, but as writes to SD are asynchronous the run time is unchanged.
• r2029 int and ext were swapped.

WLAN firmware is Libertas thinfirm ?

• no change

Which Firmware Do You Have?

The best method for finding out what firmware version you have on a laptop depends on whether the laptop is secured or not, and what operating state it is in.

Unsecured Laptop

Obtain the Ok prompt, the firmware version is displayed in the startup banner, thus:

 OLPC ..., ... memory installed, ..., S/N SHF7250024D
 OpenFirmware  q4a06 ...   EC Firmware Ver:...
               ^^^^^

You can also obtain the built date:

 ok .built

This is the date and time that this image of the firmware was built by the release engineer.

Secured Laptop

Power up the laptop with the ✓ (check mark) game button held down. You will be asked to Release the game keys to continue. Release the ✓ (check mark) game button and watch carefully. For a short time the startup banner will be displayed, like this:

 OLPC ..., ... memory installed, ..., S/N SHF7250024D
 OpenFirmware  q4a06 ...   EC Firmware Ver:...
               ^^^^^

Alternatively, if the laptop is already booted, go to the Sugar home view, click on the icon at the centre of the screen and select "My Settings" then "About my Computer." The firmware version is displayed there.

Alternatively, in the Terminal activity or a text console, type:

 cat /proc/device-tree/openprom/model

or

 cat /ofw/openprom/model

With certain older firmware versions, if the operating system will not start, and the laptop is secured, you will not be able to obtain the firmware version using the above methods, so our recommendation is to go ahead and upgrade anyway. The procedure is safe and will not do anything if you already have up-to-date firmware.

Installation

When installing new firmware, you must have a well-charged battery and the AC adapter plugged in. The firmware update code will not proceed otherwise. Possible error messages are:

error message	how to fix
AC not present	plug in the power cord, check the battery LED is on, then try again.
No external power	plug in the power cord, check the battery LED is on, then try again,
No battery	plug in the battery, check the latches, then try again, or try another battery,
Battery low	allow more time for the battery to charge, then try again, or try another battery.

Unsecured Laptop

This section is for unsecured laptops. Most XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 laptops are unsecured. Most developer XO laptops are unsecured. To unsecure your laptop, follow the instructions at Activation and Developer Keys.

You may install using either:

• a USB drive or SD card,
• the laptop's internal drive,
• a network.

Choose one.

Using a USB drive or SD card

• download the firmware from http://dev.laptop.org/pub/firmware/q4a06/q4a06.rom and save it to a USB drive or SD card,

• shutdown the laptop,

• check the battery is inserted and locked,

• check that the power cord is in place and the battery indicator is green,

• insert the USB drive or SD card,

• turn on the laptop, and get to the 'ok' prompt. See Ok for more detail. You should see:

ok

• if the downloaded file is on a USB drive, type:

 flash u:\q4a06.rom

• if the downloaded file is on an external SD card:

 flash sd:\boot\q4a06.rom

• wait for the laptop to reboot itself,

• remove the USB drive or SD card.

(Expert users may remove the USB drive after the message "Got firmware" ... at this stage the file has been read and closed.)

Using the laptop internal drive

An alternate method is to download the firmware file to the laptop internal drive and then install from the internal drive.

• start the laptop,

• connect to a wireless or wired network,

• start the Terminal Activity and type:

su
cd /versions/boot/current/boot/
wget http://dev.laptop.org/pub/firmware/q4a06/q4a06.rom

• shutdown the laptop,

• check the battery is inserted and locked,

• check that the power cord is in place and the battery indicator is green,

• turn on the laptop, and get to the 'ok' prompt. See Ok for more detail. You should see:

ok

• if the downloaded file is on an XO-1, type:

flash n:\boot\q4a06.rom

• if the file is on the internal SD card of an XO-1.5 or XO-1.75:

flash int:\boot\q4a06.rom

Using a network

You will need a compatible USB to ethernet adapter, or an open or WEP wireless access point, connected to the internet.

• shutdown the laptop,

• check the battery is inserted and locked,

• check that the power cord is in place and the battery indicator is green,

• turn on the laptop, and get to the 'ok' prompt. See Ok for more detail. You should see:

ok

• if using wireless, type the essid of the wireless network:

essid mynetwork

• if using a WPA wireless access point, type the WPA key for the network:

wpa passphrase

• type the flash command using the download link above, but change all slash characters so they are backwards, for example:

flash http:\\dev.laptop.org\pub\firmware\q4a06\q4a06.rom

Secured Laptop

Secured laptops can only use flash firmware that has been signed. All mass-production machines had the latest firmware at the time of manufacture.

Upgrading firmware describes how to upgrade to a newer signed firmware release.

See also

• Cheat codes for information about how game buttons control startup options.