Olpc-update
Simple manual upgrade
Anyone who receved a laptop through the G1G1 program does not need to update their laptop at this time, unless they are currently experiencing issues. Most machines will be automatically upgraded when appropriate. To manually upgrade your machine when a new version is released:
- Connect to the internet.
- Open the 'Terminal' activity.
- Type "su -" and press ENTER.
- Type "olpc-update build-number" and press ENTER, where build-number is the number of the build to be updated to. (Currently 653)
Note: This assumes that you are able to load and run the 'Terminal' activity. This page (a/o 12/31) does not contain currently instructions to support an XO that does not load activities. :(
Before you begin
This page describes how to update the software image on your laptop. You can either update over the network, or from a USB flash key or disk. You must be using a B3 machine or better, and build 650 or better. NOTE: All G1G1 recipients have received C2 (also known as MP, the latest) laptops and have build 650. If you've got an older machine or an older build, use the old Autoreinstallation image instructions.
If you want to wipe out your journal and all content you've generated and restore your machine to a pristine state, please use the Activated Upgrade instructions. This is recommended for upgrades to build 653.
Quick Start
First, identify the build to which you want to update your system. To the right is a list of our latest releases. For most people, the numbered build after "Stable" (for example, "650") is what you should update to. If you have a developer key for your machine, and feel adventurous, you can try the latest developer build. Click on the 'devel_jffs2' link beside 'devel' in the box, and use the name at the top of the page, something like "joyride-1452". Ignore all this if you already know what you want to update to!
Now, you'll want to get a root shell on the machine. Open the 'Terminal' activity on your XO, and type:
sudo -i
at the prompt. If you've set a password for the 'olpc' account, you may have to type it in. If you get an error message here, you're using a pre-update.1 build (or pre-joyride-1450); use
su -
instead to get your root shell. Either way, you should end up with a prompt with a # character in it.
Now you have two choices: update over the network, or download the build onto a USB key and update from that.
Network upgrade
At your root prompt, type:
olpc-update <build-no>
where <build-no> is the name of the build you would like. For example:
olpc-update 650
for a stable build, or (if you've got a developer key)
olpc-update joyride-1453
When olpc-update is finished, you should reboot to start using your new build.
The update mechanism preserves the build from which you ran the updater as an "alternate" image from which you can boot. To swap the "primary" and "alternate" images, hold the 'O' gamepad key during boot.
USB upgrade
At your root prompt, type:
olpc-update --version
The first line of the response should be something like:
olpc-update 2.0, Copyright (C) 2007 One Laptop Per Child Association, Inc.
If you don't even have the --version option, or if it does not say that you are using at least version 2.0 of olpc-update, you will need to upgrade olpc-update before continuing.
Now use the links in the "latest releases" box above to download two files to the top directory of your USB key: osXYZ.usb and osXYZ.toc, where XYZ is the numeric part of the build you are updating to. For example, if you are updating to build 650, the files would be named os650.usb and os650.toc. If you are updating to build joyride-1452, the files would be named os1452.usb and os1452.toc.
Insert your USB key with these files on it into your XO. At your root prompt, type:
olpc-update --usb
When olpc-update is finished, you should reboot to start using your new build.
The update mechanism preserves the build from which you ran the updater as an "alternate" image from which you can boot. To swap the "primary" and "alternate" images, hold the 'O' gamepad key during boot.
Workaround: updating olpc-update
If you are using an old build, olpc-update might not be recent enough to let you update via USB, or update to a build containing a library. Here's how to upgrade olpc-update to allow you to use the processes described above.
From a root prompt on your XO (see above for information):
# wget -P /tmp/X -r -np -nd http://dev.laptop.org/~cscott/olpc-update/ # rpm -Uvh --force /tmp/X/olpc*.rpm
Now:
# olpc-update --version
should tell you that you have version 2.0 of olpc-update.
More information
The olpc-update script works by transferring only the differences between builds from a USB key or across the internet link from an updates server. This makes updating easier, mostly quicker, and almost always with less data transfer.
As an example of the data efficiency gain,
- An full reinstallation from OS build 602 to 603 would normally take about 279Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 16Mb of download data,
- An full reinstallation from OS build 603 to 608 would normally take 262Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 6.5Mb of download data,
- An olpc-update from OS build 602 to 625 takes 33Mb of download data.
The time efficiency gain is less easy to characterize. It depends on the speed of the internet link, the speed of the updates server, and whether the update was able to use its server-friendly efficiency mode. An olpc-update from 602 to 603 cost under 17 minutes.
The current updates server is updates.laptop.org.
Usage
In summary:
- Be connected to the internet,
- Log in as root,
- Type olpc-update NNN where NNN is the build number or name,
- Wait for the update to complete,
- Reboot.
Be Connected
Ensure the laptop or the emulator is able to access the internet, by being connected an an access point, or via the mesh, or using an ethernet connection.
Be Root, with correct Environment Variables
From the terminal:
$ sudo -i
or
$ su -
Run olpc-update
Normally you only need to run olpc-update with a build number, like this:
# olpc-update 613
or
# olpc-update joyride-1452
There are other options. For example:
# olpc-update --help
Usage:
olpc-update [options] --hints hints-file
olpc-update [options] [-rf] build-number
olpc-update [options] [-rf] --usb
olpc-update --version
olpc-update --help
For example:
olpc-update 630
olpc-update joyride-258
Options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-f, --full skip incremental update attempt.
--force force update to an unsigned build.
-r, --reboot reboot after a successful update.
--hints=FILE name of json-encoded hints dictionary identifying the desired
new version.
-u, --usb upgrade from new build on inserted USB stick.
-v display verbose progress information; repeat for more verbose
output.
-q, --quiet don't output anything; use exit status to indicate success.
--version display version and license information.
Update Targets
There are several update targets available. There is usually one for each operating system build, and there are others for test builds and for Debian. To get a partial list of the available builds, use the command:
# rsync rsync://updates.laptop.org | sort
Note that this does not list all the builds available. Instead, this just lists the builds which have been requested recently; the server loads new builds on demand and garbage collects old builds.
Update Using Another Laptop
Warning: Advanced usage!
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a laptop?
A: Imagine that you have two laptops, one is called SOURCE and the other TARGET.
On the SOURCE laptop, add an rsyncd.conf file to /etc:
[contents]
path = /versions/contents
uid = root
gid = root
[pristine]
path = /versions/pristine
uid = root
gid = root
Then start rsync --daemon there.
On the TARGET laptop, use rsync to check access and identify the build that is available:
SOURCE=10.0.0.1
rsync rsync://${SOURCE}/contents
Where 10.0.0.1 is the IP address or domain name of the SOURCE laptop.
Take note of the build identifier. It will be a hexadecimal hash, 64 characters long.
On the TARGET laptop, use olpc-update to upgrade or downgrade to that build:
SOURCE=10.0.0.1
BUILD=dd44...597f
olpc-update -u rsync://${SOURCE}/contents/${BUILD} rsync://${SOURCE}/pristine/${BUILD}/
Note that the extra slash on the end of the second argument is needed.
Several laptops can all be updated in the same way from one source.
Setting Up A Local Updates Server
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a server?
A: This feature is available for testing but is not yet released.
The source code for the updates server is available at:
Basic installation instructions can be found at Upgrade Server.
Source Repository
Q: Where is the source?
A: The source repository for olpc-update is
It also uses code from the olpc-contents package: