Support FAQ

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Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I order an XO laptop?
2. Where is my Get One XO laptop?
3. How can I access the Internet?
4. How do I test my keyboard for sticky/broken keys?
5. Why is my touchpad jumpy?
6. How do I get started? Where is the manual?
7. How do I change my XO's Nickname? my XO's color on Sugar Views?
8. Where does the Give One XO Go?
9. Does my laptop come with a hand crank? Solar panels? Can the XO be used Off Grid?
10. How do I save or retrieve files from a USB drive or SD (Secure Digital) card?

FAQ Knowledge Base

Donor Inquiries

Can I give or get an XO laptop?

While OLPC's Give One, Get One campaigns are no longer running since 2008, UnleashKids.org's volunteers will be running similar/smaller XO-1 and XO-4 Touch Laptop community kit distributions starting later this summer 2013.

Consider also the following alternatives:

1. Buy an Android-based OLPC Tablet at Walmart USA, Target or Amazon starting Aug 1, 2013. Note this community volunteer-driven Support FAQ document upholds the global open education work around OLPC's original XO-1, XO-1.5, XO-1.75 and XO-4 Touch Laptops. The OLPC Tablet is very different, and does not work with the Sugar Learning Platform at this time. If you have purchased an OLPC Tablet, customer service occurs occurs via the store where you bought it, and tech support occurs via http://xotablet.com/support, Thanks!
2. Participate in the OLPC project without an XO laptop using emulation eg. virtual machine images.
3. Join or organize local grassroots groups so your community can become involved, and write to: volunteer @ laptop.org
4. Apply for a free XO Laptop if you're creating a community project around Software Activities, Learning Content and/or Capacity-Building Know-How, sharing with kids around the world.
5. Purchase a used XO Laptop on eBay or other websites.
6. Borrow a laptop from a volunteer-run XO Laptop Lending Library.
7. Make a donation to OLPC.
8. Donate your old XO laptop to OLPC for Haiti or another community project.
9. If you are working towards a larger-scale or governmental educational effort, please read "Buying XOs" before contacting <countries @ laptop.org>

Where did my "Give One" XO laptop go?

<imagemap> image:P1020317-1.JPG|340px rect 1 1 680 680 Ulaanbaatar desc none </imagemap> The generous G1G1 donors of North America have given of tens of thousands of XO laptops to children in developing countries, including these new XOers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Photo by Carla Gomez Monroy, Learning Consultant, OLPC, 17 Jan 2008) 11-1

About 10,000 XO laptops each were prepared for Haiti, Rwanda and Mongolia, expanding on the Mongolian deployment which began on a smaller scale in January 2008. Further details of the Give1Get1 program's matching donations (eg. Afghanistan and Cambodia anticipated) should be added here in future.

Official details are hard to come by in some cases. More broadly, here is a summary chart of OLPC's Deployments and a map of its overall deployment communities, with many photos/videos and blogs emerging so many years later.

Can I donate directly to OLPC and others helping XO laptop efforts?

Yes, you may donate here. Others directly supporting XO implementations may be supported here.

How can I donate my "Get One" XO?

Thank you very much for donating your XO laptop!

Please choose from this great list of independent projects and ship your laptop directly: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Donate_Your_Get_One

All of our volunteers are passionate about placing XOs where they will be used. OLPC cannot endorse any one recipient group.

You could also consider donating to local groups in your neighborhood, needy schools in your region, or even international programs.

Finally, we encourage you to re-donate your laptop through OLPC so that we can send it to an active school or research project that needs laptops or spare parts. Volunteers do their best to repair, refurbish and update your XO even if it is broken, and pass it along to a contributor who will greatly appreciate it!

Unfortunately, OLPC is unable to provide donation receipts for tax purposes. Thank you for taking the time to send us your XO!

How can I obtain 100+ laptops? Enlist my entire school?

If you are working towards a larger-scale or governmental educational effort, please read "Buying XOs" before contacting <countries @ laptop.org>

For smaller rollouts, please invest in getting to know others in your area by posting to our community map! Also study this great informal list of community deployment resources. Preparation is crucial--strongly consider joining our community support team and collaborating with local groups. While OLPC doesn't have a formal mechanism for setting up smaller trials, immediate peer feedback on school pilot projects is often available in our Live Chat (IRC) channels such as #olpc-help and #olpc. Once you have a thoughtful plan and team in place, you can contact community support volunteers at volunteer @ laptop.org, who'd be happy sharing their own similar experiences.

We strongly encourage everyone to join our Unleash Kids mailing list if you can help review or co-mentor others' independent projects & sustainable grassroots planning!

Such innovative projects demonstrating clear community deliverables (software, hardware, learning content, etc) may be eligible for free XO Laptops through our Contributors Program.

What Microsoft agreement was announced on May 15th 2008?

In May 2008, OLPC announced that Microsoft was purchasing a limited number of machines for their Unlimited Potential program to run Windows XP for pilot programs. However, OLPC does not currently offer Microsoft Windows to Give1Get1 participants. The XO laptop features the Linux operating system and the Sugar learning environment, including software specifically designed for children and the XO. Microsoft Word™ documents can be opened directly using some of the software and content created by thousands of volunteers around the world.

For more information on the Microsoft announcement, see the Microsoft FAQ summary answers.

What is OLPC's tax exempt info?

One Laptop per Child Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization in the USA.

Our EIN (Employer ID Number) is: 20-5471780.

If you make a donation and your company has a matching gift program, please see if they would be willing to match your gift to us.

Where is my "Get One" XO laptop from 2007?

If you believe you ordered an XO laptop between Nov 12, 2007 and Dec 31, 2007, and have yet to receive it -- please email help @ laptop.org with:

1. your 10-digit reference number (order number)
2. the exact amount you paid
3. the exact date you ordered or paid
4. your original email address used to place your order
5. the precise spelling of the person's name who ordered
6. your up-to-date US or Canadian shipping address (sorry PO Boxes don't work!)
7. your daytime/evening phone number(s)

Thanks!

Historical Information: the G1G1 Fulfillment Information page outlines some past problems with the Give1Get1 shipping and ordering process, dating from back in late 2007 and early 2008, which have now been resolved.

Getting Started, Laptop Settings

Where do I get support?

Click Support.Laptop.Org for

• an extensive list of documentation
• live chat support
• interactive web forums
• regional user groups
• repair options

Please consider joining an One Laptop per Child (OLPC) real-live community!

How do I get started? Where are the manual and best learning materials?

Figuring out the XO in Mongolia

OLPC encourages kids to discover/learn things by themselves (Constructionism), as well as to conserve our forests.

Balancing these goals, volunteers have created many great manuals, similar to the Help Activity (included by default in recent releases). Versions of this 240-page manual are available online or in downloadable format(4.7MB), or purchased in book form ($17).

The "XO Laptop in the Classroom" book by Sdenka Salas in Peru is excellent in both the original Spanish (6.7MB) and in English (5.5MB). This 100+ page book is highly recommended for teachers. See also this colorful 48-page Uruguayan guide (2.5MB) and new 31-page Spanish starter guide (15MB). Additionally, there are excellent websites, manual and teacher topic guides for the OLPC Peru deployment. An auto-translated Spanish manual and hand-translated Spanish manual are also underway. For other resources from deployments across Latin America and other Spanish speaking contributors, see Recursos en espanol and the new P+F FAQ.

A French translation was released in June 2009.

For earlier versions (2007/2008 software), consider upgrading to the latest stable release! Otherwise, learn here about your XO laptop and what it can do, or download the older Getting Started Guide pdf (17.5MB), or for a snappy introduction to the earlier software, see the volunteer-created Simplified user guide.

You too can help enhance our many community manuals such as our "Class Acts" story archive!

Can I print from the XO laptop?

For the first shipment of XOs in December 2007, there was no built-in Printer Support.

Documents can be saved to a USB drive or SD card and printed from another computer. Click on the general steps for saving a document here.

How do I access a Linux command prompt?

For a Linux command prompt, run the "Terminal Activity".

What does "Register" (in Home view) do?

"Register" allows children to connect to a School Server, and serves no function for G1G1 XOs that are not used in a school with a "school server."

See School Identity Manager for more explanation. After a child uses the Register function once at his/her school, this line disappears from the Home view.

Why is there no windowing system? How do I learn the XO Sugar Environment?

One Laptop per Child's XO software environment uses the Sugar graphical user interface on top of the Linux operating system. This environment is new and different from traditional PCs and Macs. We hope you will not only "learn by doing", but also seek out others to collaborate with you in the learning process— taking the initiative to join/form users groups both online and in the real world. If you have ideas for other ways we can promote OLPC's worldwide learning community, please let us know.

How do I change my XO's Nickname? The color of my XO Person's icon?

If you are hopefully running a recent software release, you should hover your cursor over your home view XO Person and click on the Control Panel option. Click on "About Me" and change your nickname and color as you see fit (to see more color options, click on the colored XO person). Any changes on this page will require you to restart your computer.

If, however, you are running our older 2007/2008 software nicknames and other options can be changed using the Terminal Activity's text-based Sugar Control Panel.

The hardware XO Person's colors are selected at random to keep costs down for kids in the 3rd World and help them distinguish their own XO Laptop! Of course, you can change your colors with your own materials if you very carefully follow these disassembly instructions.

How do I set the date, time and timezone on my laptop?

If you are hopefully running a recent software release, you should hover your cursor over your home view XO man and click on the Control Panel option. Click on "Date and Time" and change your timezone as you see fit (UTC is Greenwich Mean Time). Any changes on this page will require you to restart your computer.

If, however, you are running our older 2007/2008 software date and time can be changed using the Terminal Activity's text-based Sugar Control Panel. You may set the date and time as follows:

1. Connect to the Internet. (For details, see How can I access the Internet? )
2. Open a Linux prompt. (For details, see How do I access a Linux command prompt? Note: unless you are an advanced user, you should use the Terminal Activity button to open the prompt.)
3. Login as "root". Assuming you are using the Terminal Activity program, you can login as root by typing "su -" at the command prompt and pressing the Enter key. Note that as user "root" you have the ability to destroy all software on the XO, so you should end your session as soon as you successfully change the date and time.
4. At the command prompt, enter the following commands:
   /usr/sbin/ntpdate time.nist.gov
/usr/sbin/hwclock --systohc
5. Press the Enter key after each command. In response to the ntpdate command, if it successfully contacts this US government official time server, the system will output a line of data displaying the correct date and time.
6. Click the "Stop" icon at the upper right corner of the screen to log out and close the Terminal Activity program.

How do I disable the bootup sound?

Turn the volume down while the laptop is booting (i.e. before getting into Sugar).

Keyboard, Languages

What are the functions of all the keys on the keyboard?

The XO Keyboard has a number of special keys and keycap symbols. See Keyboard Shortcuts.

Can I type languages other than English?

Yes, you can enter letters from non-English languages.

Can I switch my keyboard to Dvorak layout?

Yes, please see Switching to Dvorak.

Internet, Connectivity, Email, Chat

How can I access the Internet?

The XO Laptop Manual has a helpful chapter:

• Give Me the Internet, Please,
• Getting Connected,
• Troubleshooting.

When using Sugar, see Connecting to the Internet page on the Sugar Labs Wiki.

When using Gnome, click on the network icon on the top right of the screen and select your wireless network.

Our Wifi Troubleshooting Guide provides tips to connect to different access points, including a February 2014 fix for a bug that prevented XOs from using wireless, particularly with many XO-1s nearby.

For setting up a wireless network for XO laptops, see Wifi Connectivity.

I am on Google, but the browser then tells me "search failed"!

When the Browse activity is launched, it displays a page with a Google logo and a search box. This page is stored locally in the XO, and it does not indicate that the XO is connected to the Internet. Please check How can I access the Internet for how to connect to the Internet.

Can I use a wired Ethernet connection?

Yes, you can connect to a wired Internet connection by using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

Note: XO laptops were intentionally designed for children in developing nations where it is faster and less expensive to introduce wireless connections, rather than a traditional telecom infrastructure.

How do I disable wireless when flying?

Right-click over the XO icon in the centre of the screen, then select My Settings, then Network, and untick the Radio box.

Can XO laptops share an Internet connection?

Yes, XO laptops can share an internet connection using a wireless network if an access point or school server is available.

No, XO laptops cannot share an internet connection from one XO to the other.

What exactly is a mesh network?

An ad-hoc network is a feature of Sugar that allows nearby XO laptops to collaborate among themselves without needing internet service.

The mesh network was a feature of XO-1 laptops that did the same, but also allowed the laptop to act as a relay for other laptops. This feature made very small rural deployments practical. The idea was that the laptops do the heavy lifting, rather than the traditional hierarchy of equipment. It was never fully built, but the laptop to laptop sharing remains.

Is there an email program?

If you have a gmail account, you can use the Gmail activity to access your email.

For other e-mail accounts, you can use Browse to access web-based email programs.

Can I install Other software, like Flash, Java, AIM, MSN Messenger, or Skype?

Most Other software is not supported by OLPC. Some software is Free and Open Source Software and supported by its own User Community. Other software does not meet the OLPC standard of Software Freedom.

Still, there are community efforts to enable popular packages like Skype calling on the XO. Proceed at your own risk, making sure to set the sound device in the options menu, if you follow the unsupported installation instructions. For video with sound, follow the 'gstfakevideo' instructions at the bottom of that page.

File Access

How do I save a file?

The XO automatically saves your work in the Journal Activity, accessed from the Home View. Click the notebook icon just below the XO character to open the Journal and find the activity or file you need.

For more information about the Journal, see OLPC Human Interface Guidelines/The Laptop Experience/The Journal.

How do I load a file on the disk into the Browser?

Open the Browse activity. In a window in the middle of the top of the Browser page you will see the words OLPC Library. Click on that and you will see the url: file:///home/olpc/.library_pages/search/bundle__index.html in the window and the contents of the file: .library_pages/search/bundle_index.html will be loaded in the browser. If you replace that filename in the window with the name of the file you want to load, and have it display, let us say: file:///home/olpc/upload-file.html and click on the window the file upload-file.html will be loaded from your home directory into the Browser.

How do I save or retrieve files from a USB drive or SD (Secure Digital) card?

Please see the complete instructions for using a USB Drive (sometimes known as a flash drive or USB key).

How do I delete a file?

Go to the Journal view, which you can access from the Home View. Select the notebook icon just below the XO character to open the Journal.

Find the file to be deleted by scrolling up and down the list.

Move the cursor over the file to be deleted and press to select and open a preview of the file.

Press the minus sign at the top of the screen to delete the file.

How do I play sound files?

In release 8.1.0 and later builds, Browse can play Ogg audio and video files using the Totem plugin. The eToys activity can play MP3 and Ogg files. After finding such a file in the Journal, click the far right icon (a square in a circle) to start eToys or Browse to play it.

To play sound files, you can also try the Watch and Listen activity, a Media Player based on the Helix project. When on the Journal entry for a sound file, click in the middle of the entry, to show the details. On that page, hover the mouse over the square-in-circle icon in the upper right corner of the screen. It should say "Resume", and list the possible activities that you can resume this file with. Click on Watch&Listen. Check for supported codecs you may need to download, if you require proprietary formats.

General Activity/Interface Questions

How do I close an Activity (program)?

Most activities have an "Activity" tab with a close button () found at the top right of the display; select the close tab and press to close the activity.

For most activities, the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-q or Ctrl-Esc can also close the activity (Esc is the key).

Alternatively, return to the Home view by pressing the "Home" key (). Hover the cursor over the activity icon to bring up a menu; press "Stop" to end the activity.

How do I download and run Activities (programs)?

There are many Activities the community has developed for download. From the Browser activity on the XO laptop, go to Activities and click on the .xo file within to download and install the activity to your laptop. When it is finished installing, click OK. Press the Home key () (fifth key from the upper left) to see the taskbar.

Scroll the taskbar to the right (by clicking on the arrow ) until you see the icon for the activity; click on it to start.

All activities on the laptop have been developed in the open-source community by volunteers. OLPC encourages all laptop owners to contribute to this effort.

Is Internet required, or are Activities included?

The XO laptop does not require Internet access to be used. The XO laptop comes with more than 20 Activities (programs) and many more are freely downloadable. See this page for a quick introduction to introduction to pre-loaded Activities on the XO laptop. Start any of these Activities from the Activity taskbar at the bottom of the Home View.

After working properly for a while, activities won't load

There is a known bug in build 650 (the software build shipped in early Give1Get1 laptops late in 2007, and very early in 2008) which can result in activities working fine the first few times they are loaded; but on subsequent boots, the activities may not load.

There is a fix in build 653 and later versions. If you have this problem, please try upgrading to 653 or 656, which is the latest release, following the Upgrade Instructions. (Please note that upgrading to build 656 may disassociate the external applications installed in the previous build. See Trac #6317).

How do I use the Camera?

The Camera can be used with the Record Activity.

How do I take a screenshot?

Press Alt-1 at the same time. Go to the Journal. The screenshot should be the first item in the Journal. You can then copy the screenshot to the clipboard and open it with the Browse, Paint, or Etoys activity, or drag it onto an inserted USB flash drive for transporting it to another computer.

This quick screenshot hack also makes it easier to capture and upload multiple screenshots to a web server.

Specific Activity Questions

If you are interested in a particular activity, you may go to Activities and click on the link right next to the activity icon. This will point you to the documentation of the activity, which is maintained by the author(s).

Read: I can't find the icon for Read Activity. How do I read PDF files?

The Read activity does not have an icon; it automatically loads when you click on a .pdf file, either through the web browser (Browse Activity) or from a USB stick (Journal Activity).

Browse: How do I bookmark a website and browse it later?

Click the star (☆) in the upper-right corner to bookmark the website. The website will be saved in the Journal Activity for future use.

Browse: How can I protect my children from objectionable content?

If you would not allow your children to have access to the internet from a PC, then carefully consider giving them access to the internet with the XO laptop. If you feel reasonably safe accessing the internet with a PC, then you can feel reasonably safe accessing the internet with the XO.

The best thing you can do to keep your children safe is to participate in their education. For example, explain to them the kinds of threats they may encounter online and appropriate behavior, don't give out personal information such as an address, phone number, etc. over the Internet.

Finally, there are possible 3rd party solutions, such as http://DansGuardian.org, emerging as part of One Laptop per Child's Uruguay rollout. OLPC is also exploring options for future client-side filtering.

Activity Development

How do I begin to write programs for the XO laptop?

You can find information on how to create your own programs for the XO at Getting started programming.

For those already familiar with both linux and python, the Activity tutorial is a step-by-step guide to building a Sugar activity.

Power Generation, Power Management, Battery Issues

Does my laptop come with a hand crank? Solar panels? Can the XO be used Off Grid?

The Get One XO does not ship with any human powered device or solar panel, which are designed to support the XO laptops shipped to developing countries.

Even without these accessories the XO is a Green Machine suitable for Off Grid and fluctuating power areas.

Future peripheral availability is discussed on the Product News page.

What kinds of power sources can I use with the XO laptop?

See also Does my laptop come with a hand crank? Solar panels?

In addition to plugging the laptop into an electrical outlet (110-240 volts AC), the XO laptop can take a DC input ranging from 11 volts to 40 volts, a range that’s far more flexible than most portable devices. The XO laptop is remarkably energy efficient, generally using only 5-10 percent of the average wattage of a standard laptop.

See our overall discussion of Battery and power requirements. For more formal specs, see Hardware specifications.

How long does the battery last?

Battery life is approximately 3 to 6 hours, depending on which Activities are used. Battery life may be increased to 10 hours or longer with future software release, expected starting in the spring of 2008.

How do I power off the XO laptop?

From the Home View, move the pointer over the XO symbol at the center of your screen, and press "Shutdown."

Or depress the power button briefly until the green power light goes off.

• 

  Power button

How do I put an XO laptop to sleep?

The sleep feature was not enabled in software provided on XOs shipped starting December 2007 in the Give1Get1 program. Software upgrades later in 2008/2009 should support suspend/resume sleep features, for much improved battery life.

My XO laptop won't power on

Carefully read the power/battery issues at: http://laptop.org/start/troubleshooting.shtml

Ensure the battery is properly inserted and the power adapter is plugged into the XO laptop and the electrical outlet.

If both the battery and power lights are on (just below your screen, to the right),

• 

  Power button

and the laptop won't start when the power button is pushed, this may indicate a minor problem with the embedded controller (EC). Remove all power sources (by taking the battery out and removing the power adapter), then wait 10 seconds to allow it to reset; and finally reconnect and power up your XO laptop. Confirm your laptop turns on and boots. If your XO laptop does not turn on or boot, it may be damaged.

If your XO laptop was damaged on receipt, contact HELP @ LAPTOP.ORG within 30 days, to exchange it. They are open Monday to Friday 9am - 8pm Eastern time. For warranty information, check the Give1Get1 program's Terms & Conditions, along with the Donor Services FAQ.

Is my battery OK? Why does it say "discharging" when plugged in?

The vast majority of initial battery issues were not in fact hardware problems, but rather software problems. This is because December 2007's Build 650 had a couple bugs which commonly lead to false reporting in the Home view, as to the actual amount of battery life.

These software bugs (#4208, #4401) were largely fixed for the 8.2.x software build.

If however your battery does not retain any charge at all, and you are within the 30-day Give1Get1 warranty, consider applying for an RMA return.

Many non-BYD batteries can also be repaired, using the following Battery Troubleshooting Process.

But if it's a BYD battery (yellow label) and it won't charge then it's almost certainly the "charge balance" issue -- in which case, diagnostic and recovery info can be found here: XO LiFePO4 Recovery Procedure. (olpc-pwr-log is the successor to olpc-logbat for generating battery-diagnostic logs, and should be included in the upcoming 8.2.x release. Users of older builds should download and run olpc-pwr-log rather than olpc-logbat. Although much of the info is the same.)

Finally, note that new batteries are for sale for about $25, at several different community repair repairs.

Software Update, Restore to Factory Default

How can I restore my Give1Get1 XO to its factory configuration?

If you have "upgraded" the software on your laptop, try the recover process: power off your XO, press and hold the 'O' game pad key, then power-on. This should boot from an alternate "disk image" (the one shipped with the machine).

Second, for advanced users only—be prepared to lose all data—try the clean-install procedure to re-flash its entire "disk image" including its operating system.

If you see a "Bad hash at eblock #0" message while performing a clean install, this indicates the image on the USB flash drive is bad. Download the image again, or try a different USB device.

How do I check which version of the operating system I am running?

Please see How to check the OS and firmware versions.

How do I update/upgrade my laptop? Opt out?

Currently two methods for Upgrading the XO are available: online and offline.

To opt out of updates/upgrades to your XO, which occur automatically over the Internet, please see the Update streams page.

What's the latest on current software release builds?

See Release notes for the very latest and a history of releases.

Software "Build 656" (Ship.2.2) shipped on most Give1Get1 laptops in March 2008.
Software "Build 653" (Ship.2.1) shipped on most Give1Get1 laptops in January and February of 2008.
Software "Build 650" (Ship.2) shipped on most Give1Get1 laptops in December 2007.

These software environments include the operating system and all built-in applications for now. Click above for summary release notes.

We recommend users update to the latest stable release after consulting its release notes. That release is

13.2.11 || 2020-01-29

To upgrade, back up all critical files to a USB flash drive, and then use Olpc-update to update or the clean-install procedure. Read the Upgrading the XO summary explanation.

Why do I see Build 653/656 on this page? What's the deal with Build 653/656?

Please refer to the section -- After working properly for a while, activities won't load.

How do I recover from a "Disk Full" error?

There are some situations—such as recovering from the "Disk Full" error—that may require you to reflash your XO laptop.

How do I run unofficial/unsigned builds & firmware?

For advanced users/developers only. You will need to download a "developer key". Please follow the process outlined at Activation and Developer Keys.

Disk, Storage Device, Backing Up

How much memory/disk is built in?

The XO laptop has 256MB of dynamic RAM memory, as well as 1024MB (1GB) of flash memory.

Note: The flash memory acts as the hard disk. Original specifications are outlined here.

How should I use the SD card slot?

The SD card slot is hidden on the edge of the unit under the power button. It is not intended for casual use, but intended for (semi)permanent augmentation of flash storage on the system. To try to keep water and dust out of the main unit, it has a rubber seal that makes it difficult to extract the SD card.

As a result, we recommend using the USB ports for casual transient storage expansion or moving files from computer to computer.

How do I backup my XO?

See How_to_backup_your_XO

Hardware Repairs, Returns

My XO laptop won't play sound

If there is no sound when you boot the XO laptop; or you are unable to record voice from the Record activity, you may have a broken component—like the speaker. If you confirm sound is completely broken, contact: HELP @ LAPTOP.ORG

My screen has a couple discolored pixels

We regret that our warranty does not provide for replacement laptops in this case, where just a few pixels are imperfect, in keeping with One Laptop per Child's mission to build the best all-around low-cost laptop for the Developing World.

How do I test my keyboard for sticky/broken keys?

Test your keyboard by running the firmware diagnostics. See Cheat codes. Holding the rocker (button below the speaker) to the left, while powering on, will get you into these diagnostics. The keyboard diagnostic will come up pretty soon, if you exit various earlier diagnostics by hitting the Escape key. This lets you see very easily what the computer is seeing as you press or release each key. Any "sticky" key would be visible in light blue on the screen as if a finger was still pressing it.

The touchpad and stylus area can also be tested in the same diagnostic.

Finally, if you've genuinely confirmed your keyboard is damaged, after multiple reboots -- check your warranty if you need to apply for a possible return.

You may also want to check out this interim workaround: Stuck keys.

Problems with sticky keys may also be a software problem. If you have recently upgraded your firmware, which may have happened automatically as part of an upgrade to a newer release, you may also have run into a known bug in firmware q2d09 that can be fixed by downgrading or upgrading the firmware.

What is the warranty info? RMA process?

Our 30-day Warranty is described in the Give1Get1 Terms & Conditions. To exchange your hardware, apply for a Return Merchandise Authorization by following our RMA process.

All Give1Get1 "customer service" questions need to be directed to Donor Services: HELP @ LAPTOP.ORG

Does opening my laptop void the warranty?

Yes, but your warranty expires after 30 days anyway. In fact you may want to disassemble your own XO laptop to explore its components, AT YOUR OWN RISK—for example, the screen connector and keyboard internals are very easy to break!

Do NOT remove the watch battery on the motherboard if you disassemble your machine—prior to the Q2D07 version of firmware, this can result in the computer becoming "bricked" or unusable!

How do I obtain replacement parts, e.g. batteries and chargers? Repair?

Spare parts like replacement batteries, power cords (chargers), screens, touchpads and keyboards are available from http://xoexplosion.com and http://ilovemyxo.com.

Check our Maintenance/Repair pages for other post-Warranty options, most of which are run by volunteers.

If you have a torn or ripped keyboard and do not wish to replace it with a new one, you may want to try these simple instructions for an inexpensive do-it-yourself repair.

Do NOT remove the watch battery on the motherboard if you disassemble your machine -- prior to the Q2D07 version of firmware, this can result in the computer becoming unusable, due to a bug in our anti-theft firmware implementation. Note Give1Get1 systems do not have the anti-theft system fully enabled.