No-fail update to 8.2
Please follow these directions carefully and they should work every time.
Preparing before the upgrade
For this update you will need
- a wireless connection
- your XO
- and another computer that can connect to the internet.
- a USB flash memory stick 512 MB or larger
If you aren't sure how to connect your XO to the internet, send us an email request at help@laptop.org and we will send those instructions as well.
If you do not have a wireless connection, most of this update can be completed (up to Step 11) with a dial-up connection. However, it is not recommended. Although it will give you the latest software, some of the Activities will not be in their most recent versions. The download will also take up to 42 hours using a 56Kb/s modem (Dialup internet access)! If you do not have wireless at home, you can still use and enjoy your XO running the software that came with it and update later when you are somewhere with a wireless connection.
You don't need to go into the terminal mode on either computer. Nothing "techie" like sudo or logging in as root is needed. Just follow these simple steps:
Before the download
1) Before you start the download
- put the USB flash drive into your other computer (a PC or Mac)
- click on the icon of the drive
- open it
- and remove any files you find there so that it is completely empty.
- Remove the drive.
2) Now:
- Reboot the computer (not the XO, but it is a good idea to do this to make sure you aren't running a lot of other things when you do your download).
- Connect to the internet.
The file downloads
3 ) Now:
- Plug an the empty formatted USB flash drive into your other computer that is now connected to the internet
- Then, right-click (Ctrl-click for Mac) the link below
http://download.laptop.org/xo-1/custom/g1g1/gg-767-4/fs.zip
- and choose "Save Target As" ("Save Link As" for Firefox, or "Save Link Target" for Thunderbird).
- Choose the USB flash drive as the place to save the file.
- Do not change the name of the file.
- Do not open the file.
- This file will download fairly quickly.
4) When the download is complete,
- right-click (Ctrl-click for Mac) on the link below
http://download.laptop.org/xo-1/custom/g1g1/gg-767-4/gg-767-4.img
- choose "Save Target As" ("Save Link As" for Firefox or "Save Link Target" for Thunderbird).
- Choose the USB flash drive as the place to save the file.
- Save the file to the USB flash drive.
- Do not open the file.
This file is pretty large and will take minutes to hours to download depending on the speed of your internet connection. Just go do something else while it is happening, but don't do anything else on your computer while it is downloading
5) After you have finished this step
- click on the USB drive icon
- check to see that there are two files on the USB flash drive, the "fs.zip" file, and the ".img" file.
- Don't open them.
- "Eject" and remove the USB drive.
Preparing the XO
6) Now:
- Be sure your XO is turned off
- Be sure your XO is plugged in to a power source.
- Plug the USB stick with the two files into any one of the three USB ports.
Upgrading the XO
7) Now:
- Hold down all four gamepad keys (on the right side of the screen, above the power button).
- Be sure to get all four. You may need two hands to do this.
- While still holding the four gamepad keys, push the power button to turn the XO on.
- Keep holding down the four gamepad keys until the message "Release the game key to continue" appears on the screen.
- This will happen fairly quickly.
8) Now:
- Release the gamepad keys. If you see a grid of black and other colored boxes on your screen, congratulations! Your XO is reflashing.
- Just sit back and let it do its thing.
- It will take about 10 minutes
- your XO will automatically reboot when it is done.
- Your XO may reboot twice, playing the little XO tune both times.
After the upgrade
9) After your XO reboots, it will ask you for a "Name." This is not nescessarily your name, it is the name you want to give your XO. You can pick anything you like. It will appear in various places as you work on the XO. Type it in and click "Next."
10) A little 2 colored "XO-man" will now appear. Just click on him until you find a color combination you like. This color combination will show up on your home page and will represent your XO when you collaborate with other XOs. Then click "Done."
You can now safely remove the USB drive. When the home view appears on the screen you will see a your XO-man in the color you chose and a ring of Activities icons around him. There will also be a bar toward the top of the screen that says "Software Update" and the options being "Cancel", "Later" and "Check now". Don't choose any at this time. Go to the next step.
11) Before you choose "Check now" to update the activities, you must connect your XO to the internet. You may see the sign-in box appear in home view. If it does, and it lists your router, you can do it from there. If it doesn't appear or offers the wrong connection, go to the Neighborhood view (by clicking on the third button from the left in the top row (the one with the circle of dots)..
Click on the various circles in the neighborhood view until you find your router. Click on it. The sign-in box should appear. Sign in. When you are connected, it will look like the circle for your router is in parenthesis.
If you have trouble signing into the internet, send an email to help@laptop.org right away and we will send you some easy to follow instructions for getting online.
12) Go back to Home view (click on the fifth key from the left on the top row that looks like a black disk with a green dot in the center) and then click "Check now" (it was ok to leave the home view because when you go back the options should still be there). First the XO will check for any updates and then it asks if you'd like to install them. Click "Install selected" to install the newest versions of your activities. When it finishes, click on the X in the top right corner to close the window and return to the home view.
Congratulations, you've upgraded! Now, you should be ready to go. Have fun!