OLPC Firmware q4d04

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.

OLPC Firmware Release q4d04

Works on XO-1.75 B1 and C1 only. Do not use on A2 or A3.

Download	q4d04.rom
Build date time	2012-02-23 20:42:02
Source revision	2875
EC version	0.4.02
CForth version	1c5ee5c8
Wireless firmware version	Libertas thinfirm 9.0.7.p2

Changes since q4d03

Open Firmware

• 2874 fatfs - mask out reserved bits of FAT entry. (Some filesystems were found with these bits set, midway through the cluster chain, which resulted in early short read after a number of bytes less than the size of the file.)
• 2873 OLPC fs-verify - add fs-verify-quick for abort on first mismatch, report accidental use of zd file, and rethrow exception after cleanup to allow caller to see it.
• 2872 OLPC fs-update - rethrow exception after cleanup to allow caller to see it, and avoid changing the vocabulary for definitions
• 2871 kernel - fix trivial typos
• 2870 OLPC - null-fsdisk was causing abort "Image size is larger than output device", so set the null device to 32GB size.
• 2869 OLPC fs-verify - split for use by factory scripts, trim some comments
• 2868 OLPC fs-update - split for use by factory scripts
• 2865 Terminal Emulator - global change, black-letters replaced with cancel, provides identical display on OpenFirmware, fixes display on black background terminal emulators, such as Linux console, xterm, and others.
• 2864 Terminal Emulator - reset colour on <ESC>[m, adopt ECMA-48 SGR semantics, as used by VT100, Linux console, xterm, and other emulators.
• 2863 OLPC XO-1.75 - convert test menu to new add-icon construction method, start the automatic test menu on game key detection, and increment the #mfgtests variable for each added icon.
• 2859 OLPC XO-1.5, XO-1.75, XO-3 - null-fsdisk (a debugging feature) was broken due to a change in the return values of write-blocks-start and write-blocks-finish .
• 2857 OLPC XO-1.5, 1.75, 3.0 - OLPC trac #11616 - NANDblaster sender - recognize .zdN extension in addition to .zd to indicate zdata format.
• 2856 Client library - added strstr and strcasestr, and improved the implementation of some existing functions to generate better code.
• 2855 OLPC trac #11612 - don't fail SD selftest on an unpopulated external SD slot.

CForth

• none

EC

• none

WLAN

• none

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  q4d04 ...   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  q4d04 ...   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/q4d04/q4d04.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:\q4d04.rom

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

 flash sd:\boot\q4d04.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/q4d04/q4d04.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\q4d04.rom

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

flash int:\boot\q4d04.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\q4d04\q4d04.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.