Release notes/8.2.1
Purpose
This maintenance release resolves a few targeted bugs needed for major deployments, most notably Uruguay.
Changes since release 8.2.0
New features
Although primarily a bugfix update, release 8.2.1 includes a couple of new features which will be of great use to delpoyments.
- Delegation of image signing keys to selected deployments <trac>9045</trac>
- NAND Blaster: Multicast wireless software installation
In 8.2.1 the booting animation is the same for both write-protected (secure) and non write-protected laptops. If you have a developer key; then press the escape key right after powering up the laptop to get to the firmware 'OK' prompt.
Bug fixes
Improved interoperability with encrypted access points
<trac>8667</trac> wpa_supplicant generates many redundant scan requests before associating
<trac>8799</trac> WPA association issue when attempted from GUI: XO do not respond to first EAPOL frame
<trac>9053</trac> Wireless firmware release - 5.110.22.p23
<trac>7825</trac> failure to associate to "fast" Access Points when WPA is enabled
Note: these changes appear to have introduced some regressions, see #WPA connectivity regressions
Touchpad fix and support for new touchpad hardware:
<trac>8451</trac> OFW should support Synaptics touchpad
<trac>9008</trac> touchpad recalibration fails
Fedora branding. OLPC's 8.2 releases are based on Fedora 9.
<trac>8767</trac> Kernel boot logo needs to include fedora logo
<trac>9140</trac> Graphical boot in initramfs/bootanim needs fedora branding
Localization fixes:
<trac>9044</trac> software updater needs spanish translation
<trac>8745</trac> "Your journal is full" sugar message isn't translated in Spanish in 8.2-766
<trac>9218</trac> Add Dari and Pashto locales for Afghanistan
Other:
<trac>9126</trac> US English keyboard generates "wrong" accent character
<trac>6028</trac> update MPP script to use dnsmasq
<trac>8976</trac> Wireless activation doesn't work in 8.2.
<trac>9048</trac> Wireless scanning causes network pauses
Related activity changes. These changes are not part of the base 8.2.1 image. They are released at the same time and noted here for completeness. Note to editor: Add URLs to confirmed version.
<trac>8982</trac> mp3 support for Uruguay
<trac>9112</trac> Enable Browse to embed PDF files in itself
Notable current bugs
WPA connectivity regressions
Wireless networks that require a password are protected by one of two schemes: WEP or WPA.
Although fixes have been included with the intention of improving WPA connectivity, several regressions have been noted during testing. Connectivity to certain WPA access points which worked well in 8.2.0 no longer works in 8.2.1, or works with less frequency than before.
Note that most of the problems that the XO encounters when connecting to WPA networks are avoided if you are able to switch your network to use WPA2 (a.k.a. RSN) authentication.
Another regression results in consistent failure to connect to WPA/WPA2 networks when the XO automatically connects during boot (after you successfully establish the connection for the first time, the XO will remember the password and will attempt to automatically connect next time you boot up within range of the network). The automatic connection appears to fail every time even in cases where connectivity can be reliably established at other times, due to an unknown bug preventing successful reception of packets. Workaround: wait for 2-3 minutes after boot for the automatic connection attempt to fail, then switch to the neighborhood view and retry the connection by clicking on the icon for your network.
These issues are of importance to "home" and "casual" XO users, who are likely to connect to WPA/WPA2 networks frequently, but are generally irrelevant for deployments which use unsecured "open" networks.
Miscellaneous
Unless noted in the bug fixes above, the open bugs are the same as in release 8.2.0, see OpenBugs 8.2.0.
Upgrade instructions
Instructions for upgrading from a previous release are the same as those in 8.2.0, see Release notes/8.2.0#Upgrading from previous releases.