Keyboard freeze fix for os 650-656

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As noted in <trac>10597</trac>, XOs running builds os650, os653 and os656 may encounter a touchpad and keyboard freeze as of January 2011.

This page documents a quick fix that will restore normal operation. In addition, it is strongly recommended to upgrade to the latest release of the OLPC OS, which will fix other security and stability issues.

Quick fix

You will need:

  • A USB drive (memory stick) of at least 16 MB capacity
  • A computer other than the XO, which is connected to the Internet
  • External power for the XO (a wall outlet and the XO AC adapter)
  • 10 minutes

1. Prepare USB drive

Using the computer that is connected to the internet, prepare the USB drive using the instructions in the appropriate section below.

a. Microsoft Windows

b. Mac OS X

  • insert the USB drive,
  • switch tasks to Finder, display the USB drive, notice the name of the USB drive,
  • create a folder boot on the USB drive,
  • control-click on this link, select Download Linked File As ..., and a Save As dialog will appear,
  • change Where to the name of the USB drive, usually Untitled, then click on the boot folder, then click on Save, the dialog will go away,
  • switch tasks to Finder, display the USB drive,
  • eject the USB drive,
  • go to the Upgrade Firmware section on this page.

c. Linux - GNOME and Firefox

  • insert the USB drive,
  • create a boot folder on the USB drive,
  • click on the this link, and a dialog window will appear asking you what you want done with the download,
  • save the download to the USB drive in the boot folder,
  • close the Downloads window,
  • eject the USB drive,
  • go to the Upgrade Firmware section on this page.

d. Linux - Terminal

cd /media/DRIVE
mkdir boot
cd boot
wget http://dev.laptop.org/pub/firmware/q2d14/bootfw.zip
umount /media/DRIVE

2. Upgrade Firmware

Once you have prepared the USB drive in 1., you should:

  • make sure the XO is "plugged in" and running on external power (from the AC adapter or another acceptable DC source),
  • insert the USB drive into the XO,
  • boot the laptop from the USB drive,
  • you should see a message that the firmware has been upgraded successfully,
  • turn off the laptop,
  • remove the power cord,
  • remove the battery,
  • wait a second,
  • remove the USB drive,
  • replace the battery, and plug the power cord back in,
  • start the laptop.

You should test that the laptop now works normally.

Troubleshooting

If you do not see a message that the firmware has been upgraded successfully, check that the USB drive meets these conditions:

  • it has a boot folder,
  • there is a file bootfw.zip in the boot folder,
  • the partition type of the USB drive is "DOS MBR" rather than "GPT".

If you are not sure about the partition type, and all else fails, try using a different USB drive.


Long-term fix: upgrade to Release 10.1

After applying the above fix, unless you have a specific reason to be using os 650-656 (for instance, compatibility with a group of other machines with the same build), a system upgrade is strongly recommended. The latest releases are faster and offer many security and stability fixes.

The latest release is 10.1.3. Follow the installation instructions on that page. Be sure to backup any pictures, music, and other data-containing journal entries found on the XO-1 onto USB or SD media prior to upgrading. You will lose data which was not backed up as part of the installation process, as it is not possible to run "olpc-update" to directly get to 10.1.3 from os 650-656.

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