Manual Firmware Identify

Note: Many firmware pages transclude this page to provide identification instructions, providing a version in place of VERSION_NUM; see e.g. OLPC Firmware q3a46.

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 locked or not, and what operating state it is in.

Unlocked Laptop

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

 OLPC XO 1.5, 1 GiB memory installed, 4 GB internal storage, S/N SHF7250024D
 OpenFirmware  CL1   Q3A39 Q3A   EC Firmware Ver:1.9.30
                     ^^^^^

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.

Locked Laptop

Power up the laptop with the "check" game button held down. Watch carefully. For a short time the startup banner will be displayed, thus:

 OLPC XO 1.5, 1 GiB memory installed, 4 GB internal storage, S/N SHF7250024D
 OpenFirmware  CL1   Q3A39 Q3A   EC Firmware Ver:1.9.30
                     ^^^^^

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 /ofw/openprom/model

With certain older firmware versions, if the operating system will not start, and the laptop is locked, 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.