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 deployments.
- 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 XO users who value security, who are likely to connect to WPA/WPA2 networks frequently, but are generally irrelevant for deployments which use unsecured "open" networks, although unsecured networks should be avoided.
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
For technical details and other upgrade options see olpc-update and Clean-install procedure. If you run into trouble, see Upgrade troubleshooting, Support FAQ and Support to email our tech support volunteers.
If your XO is connected to the internet
Note that this process may make some of your Activities and the Journal items that depend on them not work - make sure you have backed up any files you want to save!
This process can take more than 30 minutes, much longer if you have a slow internet connection.
- Make sure your XO is plugged in, turned on, and connected to the Internet (you should be able to load http://laptop.org in the Browse Activity). If your XO is not connected to the internet, you will not be able to use this upgrade method.
- Open the Terminal Activity.
You can find it by going to the home view (press the 5th symbol from the left, top row), clicking on the little arrow at the bottom right of the screen, and then on the symbol that looks like this one. - In the Terminal Activity, type
su -(lowercase letter 's', lowercase letter 'u', a space, and a hyphen). Press Enter. - At the
"-bash-3.2#"prompt typeolpc-update 802. Press Enter. - You should see text that looks something like this (sometimes, in addition to the text below, you might get a message about irsync_pristine failing, and that "irsync_dirty" is being tried, this is normal):
Downloading contents of build 802
Updating to version hash ''xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx''
Making clean /versions/updates/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Trying irsync_pristine update from rsync://updates.laptop.org/''build-8.2.1''
- Cleaning tree.
- Fetching contents.
- Performing incremental rsync. [Comment: Wait a long time! Could be over an hour depending on your internet connection speed.]
Verifying update.
Installing update in /versions/{pristine,run}/''xxxx''
6. At the end of the upgrade, you will either see the words "Installing update in...." or "Update Succeeded!" on the screen. If you see the words "I don't think you're connected to the internet." see the notes below.
7. Wait for the prompt "-bash-3.2#" and type reboot then press Enter to restart your XO. You will probably hear the little XO tune 2 times, then it will say erasing and a countdown will appear. Finally it will reboot again, you will hear the tune for a third time. Now you are ready to go to step 8.
8. After your XO reboots, the last step is to download the new versions of Activities. When the XO boots you will see a bar toward the top of the screen that says "Software Update" and the options being "Cancel", "Later" and "Check now". Before you choose "Check now" to update the activities, you must reconnect 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 and connect from there. Then go back to Home view and then click "Check now" (it's 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 your newest versions of your activities.
Congratulations, you've upgraded!
If your XO is not connected to the internet
illustrated guide to upgrading using a USB stick
You can use another computer that is connected to the internet (a desktop at home, a computer lab, etc.) plus a USB storage device (such as a compatible USB flash drive) to upgrade your XO. The way it works is on your non-XO computer you download two files containing the upgrade data, saving them to the USB flash drive; then you insert the USB flash drive into your XO and trigger its upgrade process. Note that this process will COMPLETELY erase ALL files on your XO! Make sure you have backed up any files you want to save!
Plug an empty formatted USB flash drive into the computer that is connected to the internet. Then, right-click (Ctrl-click for Mac) on each of the two URLs below and choose "Save Target As" ("Save Link As" for Firefox). Save both files to the USB flash drive. Do not open the files.
- http://download.laptop.org/xo-1/custom/g1g1/gg-802-1/fs.zip (This file contains only instructions for the firmware to update with the following file.)
- http://download.laptop.org/xo-1/custom/g1g1/gg-802-1/gg-802-1.img (This file contains the Sugar platform with the G1G1 2008 set of Activities.)
The first file is about 297 KB, and the second file is quite large (about 450 MB), so they might take a while [15 - 20 min with a fast broadband and several hours with a slow connection] to download. When the download is complete, Eject/Remove the USB flash drive, and unplug it. After you have finished this step, there should be two files on the USB flash drive, the fs.zip file, and the .img file. The MD5 checksum for fs.zip is 6f01ffd64cc17690ce51e1caf605571f and the MD5 checksum for gg-802-1.img is 33f096d4653c4199e85b61586af09476
Now, follow the steps below to complete your installation:
- Turn off your XO and connect your USB flash drive to it.
- Make sure your XO is plugged in.
- Hold down all four gamepad keys (on the right side of the screen, above the power button). 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.
- Release the gamepad keys. If you see a grid of colored boxes on your screen, congratulations! Your XO is reflashing. It will take about 10 minutes and your XO will automatically reboot when it is done. Your XO may reboot twice, playing the little XO tune.
- After your XO reboots, the last step is to update to the newest versions of Activities. When the XO boots you will see a bar toward the top of the screen that says "Software Update" and the options being "Cancel", "Later" and "Check now". Before you choose "Check now" to update the activities, you must reconnect 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 and connect from there. Then go back to Home view and then click "Check now" (it's 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.
Congratulations, you've upgraded! Now, you should be ready to go. Have fun!
(If you chose "Later" on the software update, go to the Sugar Control Panel and select the "Software update" when you are ready to install the updates)