Manual Firmware Install

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Note: Many firmware pages transclude this page to provide installation instructions, providing a version in place of VERSION_NUM; see e.g. OLPC Firmware q2e15.

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 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

  • 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:
 ok flash u:\VERSION_NUM.rom
  • if the downloaded file is on an external SD card:
 ok flash sd:\boot\VERSION_NUM.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,
su
cd /versions/boot/current/boot/
wget http://dev.laptop.org/pub/firmware/VERSION_NUM/VERSION_NUM.rom
  • prepare the laptop and obtain the Ok prompt as described above,
  • if the downloaded file is on an XO-1, type:
 ok flash n:\boot\VERSION_NUM.rom
  • if the file is on the internal SD card of an XO-1.5:
 ok flash int:\boot\VERSION_NUM.rom

Using a network

You will need an open or WEP wireless access point, connected to the internet.

  • prepare the laptop and obtain the Ok prompt as described above,
  • type the essid of the wireless network:
ok wifi mynetwork
  • type the WEP key for the network (skip this step for an open network)
ok wep yourWepKeyInHexadecimal
  • type the flash command using the download link above, but change all slash characters so they are backwards, for example:
ok flash http:\\dev.laptop.org\pub\firmware\q3ann\q3ann.rom

Secured Laptop

Secured laptops can only use flash firmware that has been signed. All mass-production machines had the latest signed firmware at the time of manufacture installed.

Upgrading firmware describes how to upgrade to a newer official (signed) firmware release.

See also

  • Cheat codes for information about how game buttons control startup options.
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