Emulating the XO: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
(→See also: +How_to_set_up_for_development_on_linux_emulation) |
No edit summary |
||
| (103 intermediate revisions by 43 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{translations}} |
{{translations}} |
||
{{emulation-nav}} |
|||
{{ Latest Releases | livecd = inline | devel = inline | extra }} |
|||
In the past, OLPC produced alternative software images which could be run in emulators such as QEMU and VMware. This meant that development and testing could happen to a limited extent without requiring an XO laptop. |
|||
[[Image:AP1_39.jpg|thumb|laptop-in-laptop]] |
|||
'''In 2013, please see Tom Gilliard's many [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Creation_Kit virtual machine images ready-to-go].''' |
|||
== Simulating an XO == |
|||
Note, XOs are readily available to genuine volunteer contributors through the [[Contributors program]]. |
|||
Emulators allow you to run a "virtual machine" on a (reasonably powerful) host machine. There are a number of emulator systems available which can be used to run a simulated OLPC-XO. The three listed here provide either Open Source or Gratis players to run images: |
|||
[http://sugarlabs.org Sugar], the unique user interface of the XO laptops, is also distributed as a generic software project and can be developed and tested on "regular" computers as well as XOs. See [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Downloads Sugar Labs Downloads] for the full range of options, such as [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick Sugar on a Stick]. |
|||
* [[Qemu]], see [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start|Quick Start]] |
|||
* [[VirtualBox|VirtualBox]] |
|||
* [[VMWare]] |
|||
For emulation of extremely old builds, you may be able to come across "ext3 images" on some corners of http://download.laptop.org and http://xs-dev.laptop.org/~cscott/olpc/streams/ which can be loaded into emulators. You are unlikely to find support for them! |
|||
As of [[OS_images|official build]] 557, [[VirtualBox]] and [[VMWare]] are both able to load converted images with networking support. VirtualBox also provides sound support. At the moment, these converted images are the recommended practice for simulating an XO, both for testing out the environment and developing activities. |
|||
As of the same date, [[Qemu]] is able to run the official images, but networking must be restarted (/etc/init.d/network restart) from the developer's console to have any networking support. Sound doesn't yet appear to be working. |
|||
=== Simulating a Developer's Desktop === |
|||
Most core developers use Fedora 7 or Ubuntu Feisty desktops which are running [[sugar-jhbuild]] to track the latest developments in the code-base. This allows you to integrate into the core development process, but can be a considerable maintenance headache due to the fragile nature of the build process. |
|||
You can readily run a simulated Fedora/Ubuntu desktop in [[VMWare]]. This setup is not substantially different from running a regular Linux desktop using sugar-jhbuild. |
|||
Note: This approach is really only recommended for those who want to work on [[Sugar|core components]] of the environment, activity developers are probably better off using an official image. |
|||
Note: Previously we have attempted to provide [[LiveCD]] and [[Developer Images]] for download. Manpower issues have meant that these images have fallen far behind the official images, thus they are no longer a recommended approach for developers. If you are interested in volunteering to maintain the LiveCD or Developer Images, please contact [[User:mcfletch|Mike Fletcher]]. |
|||
== Comparison of alternatives == |
|||
An OLPC laptop is custom hardware, running a stripped-down Red Hat linux, running [[Sugar]]. But what if you don't have a real olpc laptop? There are a several options, which can each be used in a couple of ways. |
|||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 |
|||
|- style="background:lightgray; " |
|||
! platform !! purpose !! recommendation |
|||
|- |
|||
| Ubuntu || play & development || xo disk images on qemu. See [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start]]. |
|||
|- |
|||
| Ubuntu 32-bit || core development || [[Sugar with sugar-jhbuild]] and [[Sugar on Ubuntu Linux]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| Fedora || play & development || xo disk images on qemu. See [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start]]. Perhaps also on [[VirtualBox]]? |
|||
|- |
|||
| Fedora 32-bit || core development || [[Sugar with sugar-jhbuild]] and [[:Category:Installing_Sugar]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| Gentoo 32-bit || core development || [[Sugar with sugar-jhbuild]] and [[:Category:Installing_Sugar]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| Other linux & FreeBSD || play & development || xo disk images on qemu. See [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start]]. Perhaps also on [[VirtualBox]]? |
|||
|- |
|||
| Windows || play & development || emulated xo disk image, on [[VirtualBox]], [[VMWare]], or [[Using QEMU on Windows XP|QEMU on Windows]]. |
|||
|- |
|||
| Mac || play & development || emulated xo disk image, on qemu. See [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start/Mac]]. Perhaps also [[VirtualBox]] and [[VMWare]]? See also [[/Mac]]. |
|||
|- |
|||
| Mac with Parallels || play || No reports of emulated xo disk image on Parallels. Reports encouraged. |
|||
|- |
|||
| Mac with Parallels || core development || run Ubuntu 32-bit, and [[Sugar on Ubuntu Linux]]. See [[/Mac]]. |
|||
|} |
|||
Uncertainties: |
|||
*Is F7 better than Ubuntu for sugar-jhbuild? If so, should the Mac Parallels recommendation for core development be F7 rather than Ubuntu, despite the latter having a track record in [[/Mac]]? [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 10:33, 20 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
== Build recommendations == |
|||
For running XO disk images on an emulator, some builds are better than others, and the most recent one will not always work. Here is a summary of current status. Please add your own experiences here, and in [[User Feedback on Images]]. |
|||
[http://olpc.download.redhat.com/olpc/streams/development/build505-20070712_0335/devel_ext3/ 505] is the most recent build known to work in qemu. Builds after 541 run, but collaboration is broken (you can't see other laptops).<br/> |
|||
Many builds between 541 and 505, including 531, 529, and 525, didn't boot. However, some of the later 50x may work. |
|||
:Actually build [http://olpc.download.redhat.com/olpc/streams/development/build542/devel_ext3/ 542], the Trial 2 build, introduced a "feature": the configuration is no longer hardcoded to use the server olpc.collabora.co.uk, and has no server prepopulated. You can set the server yourself by editing ''~olpc/.sugar/default/config'' and setting ''server = olpc.collabora.co.uk'' and restarting. This should mean that 542 is the preferred image for developing with, since 505 and other 50x are quite old. --[[User:Morgs|morgs]] 03:54, 21 August 2007 (EDT) |
|||
::I've added seting the server to the instructions below. Thanks! :) But for now, we're still stuck at 505, because the workaround for [http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/1977 #1977] stopped working. [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 23:25, 22 August 2007 (EDT) |
|||
:: #1977 is now marked fixed. Hopefully once [http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2981 #2981] is fixed, emulation of current builds will again work. [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 10:33, 24 August 2007 (EDT) |
|||
:: #2981 is now marked fixed. If qemu is run with ''-net nic,model=rtl8139'', then NetworkManager no longer needs to be disabled (build 564). Presence services still doesn't seem to work (neither jabber.laptop.org, nor olpc.collabora.co.uk (registered False or True)). Cause unknown. [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 00:39, 2 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
:::Observations: 557 and 564 seem to behave similarly. ''wget http://SOME-IP-ADDRESS/'' fails (''Connecting to SOME-IP-ADDRESS... failed: Network is unreachable.''). ''ifup eth0'' fails (''Determining IP information for eth0... failed.''). nm-tool reports ''Gateway: 0.0.0.0 Primary DNS: 0.0.0.0 Secondary DNS: 0.0.0.0''. Hmm, how does one ''/sbin/route add -net 0.0.0.0 gw 10.0.2.2 eth0''[http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~qemu-win/HowToNetwork-en.html] on an xo? [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 01:45, 2 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
Build [http://olpc.download.redhat.com/olpc/streams/development/build558-20070827_0241/devel_ext3/ 557] is reported to work on VirtualBox and VMWare, but not qemu. [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 22:52, 19 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
:Builds 578, 579, 581 are known to not boot [http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/3470 #3470] (578, 579 in VMWare, 581 in QEMU). [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 13:55, 15 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
== Overview == |
|||
:''This is the old introduction section. It needs to be updated. Eg, the LiveCd is currently not a useful alternative. And "just use the latest build" isn't good advice, as a more selective approach has been needed.'' [[User:MitchellNCharity|MitchellNCharity]] 23:36, 19 September 2007 (EDT) |
|||
One way to run oplc software is using an emulator on your pc. See [[Getting started programming]] for other options. |
|||
Note '''[[:Category:Emulation]]''' and '''[[Emulating the XO/Help and tips|Help and tips]]'''. |
|||
For play, you can use [[LiveCd]] or [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start|Quick Start]]. |
|||
For development, you can use [[LiveCd]], or qemu (as in quick start, but with a different image), or perhaps one of the [[Developer Images]] other than the LiveCd. An alternate approach is to attempt [[:Category:Installing_Sugar|installing sugar]]. See [[Getting started programming]] for a comparison. |
|||
A common development approach is to use [[QEMU]] with kqemu acceleration. See [[Emulating the XO/Quick Start|Quick Start]] for the basics. |
|||
Though for development, we will use a different .img, one with a few extra utility programs. See [[OS images]], including '''[[OS_images#Latest_Stable_Build |latest stable build]]'''. |
|||
Instead of qemu, you can run [[Emulating the XO/UsingVMware|VMware]], and there are additional options on a [[Emulating the XO/Mac|Mac]]. |
|||
Please report your experiences in [[User Feedback on Images]]. There is a [[Virtualization Common Room]]. |
|||
There are [[Emulating the XO/Limitations of XO disk images|limitations with XO disk images]]. |
|||
The LATEST-STABLE-BUILD versus LATEST build distinction is mostly of interest to people running on actual XO's. In emulation, developers should usually use LATEST. And when STABLE is old, non-developers probably should too. |
|||
=See also= |
|||
*[[How to set up for development on linux emulation]]. Also helpful for non-developers, and for other platforms. |
|||
*[http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-sugar-olpc/index.html Tutorial] Written by IBM on how to get this working. |
|||
*[[Improving emulation]] |
|||
*[[:Category:Emulation]] |
|||
[[Category:OS]] |
[[Category:OS]] |
||
Latest revision as of 16:26, 30 July 2013
| modify |
In the past, OLPC produced alternative software images which could be run in emulators such as QEMU and VMware. This meant that development and testing could happen to a limited extent without requiring an XO laptop.
In 2013, please see Tom Gilliard's many virtual machine images ready-to-go.
Note, XOs are readily available to genuine volunteer contributors through the Contributors program.
Sugar, the unique user interface of the XO laptops, is also distributed as a generic software project and can be developed and tested on "regular" computers as well as XOs. See Sugar Labs Downloads for the full range of options, such as Sugar on a Stick.
For emulation of extremely old builds, you may be able to come across "ext3 images" on some corners of http://download.laptop.org and http://xs-dev.laptop.org/~cscott/olpc/streams/ which can be loaded into emulators. You are unlikely to find support for them!