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[Wayan Vota]

The Extraordinary full featured Operating System for the One Laptop Per Child XO Laptop Computer.

For adults who may not find the child focused graphical interface called Sugar practical for daily use, Xtra Ordinary allows your XO to behave in a more familiar way.

Using the Xtra Ordinary Operating System should be quite easy for anyone who has ever used Microsoft Windows, MAC OS, or any Linux/BSD/Solaris operating system with KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce, or other menu driven window manager....thus making it extremely "Ordinary", while being extraordinary full featured at the same time.



The Xtra Ordinary Operating System comes pre-installed on an SD Card which fits into the card slot on the bottom side of the display monitor. Just insert the SD card and turn on the XO Laptop (after unlocking with a developer key). Just turn on the XO laptop with the SD card removed to use it's normal system.

http://on-disk.com/product_info.php/products_id/881

[BeninTucson]

Hi everyone . . .

Although this thread was started by Wayan on August 14, 2009, it didn't get any replies or inquiries. Another exposure of the Xtra Ordinary software on the OLPC News Blog on September 14, however, engendered a flurry of comments . . .

http://www.olpcnews.com/software/operating_system/xtra_ordinary_operating_system.html#comments

The blog's apparent resident stalwart sourpuss, Irv, wasted no time being the first out of the gate, finding another way to tie it in with all that he thinks is wrong with OLPC, the XO-1, constructivist education models in the third world and anyone who dares to embrace any and all of the above (what a relief, though, not to have it tied in with health care reform, global warming and flag burning!) 

He was quickly brushed aside and then a couple of more on-topic concerns emerged. One apparently rather experienced XO-1 user recounted all the troubles he's had with SD media cards (more on that in a moment.) It was also quickly pointed out that there is no free downloadable version available. You buy Xtra Ordinary preloaded onto media from the developers and have it mailed to you.

Since Ive had no previous encounters with the Linux community other than with the XO-1, I wasn't expecting that the announcement of a business model like this would raise such an ire. The selling of Linux distros, I guess, is "just not done" and this violates a long-standing Linux free software distribution tenant. Experienced Linux do-it-yourselfers seemed not to be impressed by having only to choose a snail mail delivery on an SD . . . and then have to pay for it.

My guess is that Xtra Ordinary wasn't really designed for those who would rather do it all on their own anyway. The thoughtfully written article by developer Todd Robinson seemed to zero in on the concerns of those, like many G1G1 recipients who have old machines hanging around that their children have outgrown, who simply want to get something installed in place of Sugar and start using their machines again. No codes to write and no long debugging process . . . just take the SD card out of the mailing envelope, pop it in the machine (which may or may not require a bit of updating first) and boot it up.

I suppose I will be among the first to see if it actually works out this way. Before I even had my morning coffee that day, I had made the online purchase of a 4GB SD card loaded with Xtra Ordinary. I noted that others who posted on the blog, Mike and Arlette, seemed to give the idea a "thumbs up" as well.

It was Ted, though, who had doubts about the SD card idea . . . not so much a concern about having to pay for the card and have it mailed, but that SD cards themselves just haven't proven to be a reliable format for him in his XO. After a bit of talking through, it was determined that this and other Linux distros would also work via USB flash stick. The only penalty of doing it this way is that the media sticks out the side of the machine and compromises on-the-go portability to a degree. But, with the increasing shrinking size of such media, even this becomes less of an issue. Xtra Ordinary's other half, Karlie, logged in to confirm that the software is available on just about any media desired
. . . SD and USB flash being the obvious choices for XO users.

So . . . with a loaded SD card coming it's way in the mail (I'll take my change on that format first,) I've got a little time to do the appropriate updates . . . developer's key, as well as the latest versions of the firmware and Sugar software. My machine appears to have been manufactured on September 3, 2008, has firmware version q2e18 and is Build 767 of 0.82.1 (or 8.2.1, same thing, I guess) software. This would date it to the 2nd (late 2008) G1G1 program.

First set of stupid newbie question for the experts: Even though I'm running the most current software, the machine is registered to the previous owner. This aspect needs to be changed. In what order should I take this set up upgrades? I'm going to guess the developer's key comes first. But then does it make any difference if the software install precedes the firmware? . . . or vise versa? And do I need to reinstall the software if I just want to change the ID on the machine and clean out the journal?

Thanks in advance . . .

Ben in Tucson

[Dinky]

I keep looking at Xtra Ordinary posts, but have not decide to part with my badly needed $30.  The availability on USB may push me over the hill.

Just empty (delete entries in) the Journal and follow the instructions on the Browse Activity home page to get your developer key.  Change your identification any time using the Control Panel -- nothing is tied to the original purchaser but rather to the factory data in the Electronic Controller.

If you do a clean install (via USB thumb drive) for any reason, it installs the correct firmware and then the software.  If you install firmware separately, do it first (and it must be in a range of acceptable firmware vrsions) and then the software images.  See this for a clean install:  http://wiki.laptop.org/go/No-fail_update

Save your developer key (/security/develop.sig) if you do a clean install -- it erases everything !

[BeninTucson]

Thanks for this, Dinky . . .

I looked over the No-Fail install page the other day and noted that it cleaned out the journal and old user ID tags . . . with no developer key needed. I wasn't aware, though, that it also updated the firmware. Presumably, it will give me q2e41.

So I guess the most streamlined way for me to do what I want is to simply do the No-Fail.
After that, I'll download the developers key and make backup copies.

Ben in Tucson

[markhadman]

I'd be interested to see a full review of this distro, having used Teapot's Intrepid and DebXO extensively. If someone were to make a compressed image available I'd try it out myself.

[mellon]

Ben, I just got an RiData SD card in the mail and copied my XO's brains onto it.   The SD card I was using recently that failed so badly was a Kingston 8G card.   I'm keeping my fingers crossed - maybe this one will work more reliably.

I didn't realize you were also in Tucson!   :')

[BeninTucson]

Hi Ted . . .

You also live in "The Baked Apple?" This is a small world! We'll certainly have
to meet in person soon and compare notes on our own respective XO-1s.
I'm guessing that you also have a few Linux tricks that you could show me.
Local home # is 624-7870.

BTW . . . I did the No Fail software/firmware update last night. I'm on the run
for most of today but I'm going to submit my request to OLPC tonight for a
developers key.

More soon . . .

Ben in Tucson

[CobyHoff]

While I don't claim to actually know anything about it, (I service Microsoft OS's all day...) I was under the impression that the GNU license for most open-source software required providing the source code, or making the product available without charge (or support).  

Not to go too far off on a tangent, but it makes me wonder if that might stifle some entrepreneurial ambition.  Nature of the beast, I suppose.

Back to the point, though, I'd love to try Xtra Ordinary.  I just have a hard time justifying the purchase.  (less disposable income than when I laid down $400 on principle)  And I have no problem fiddling to get things right if it were available for download.  

I may have to lay the money down on principle again, though, to show support for the work Todd and Karlie have  done.  

I'm conflicted.

Jacob

[markhadman]

While I don't claim to actually know anything about it, (I service Microsoft OS's all day...) I was under the impression that the GNU license for most open-source software required providing the source code, or making the product available without charge (or support). 

As I understand it (and I have no problem with being corrected), they are under no obligation to make the software available free of charge, but neither have they any power to stop others from doing so.

[BeninTucson]

Hi folks . . .

I really don't see what all the fuss is about regarding the charging of money for this software. To me, it's worth $40 if it works and all I have to do is pop in the card and boot it up. Since a 4GB SD card is also included, the actual cost of the software itself amounts to the dollar equivalent of, perhaps, an inexpensive restaurant meal. I'm sure someone will eventually get their hands on an Xtra Ordinary card and do their best to distribute the software for free anyway.

OK . . . back to getting my computer ready to do this SD card install, which requires an OLPC developer's key. I'm recounting my detailed step below, since I assume that other newbies are going to encounter similar problems.

The No Fail software /firmware update from OLPC went well on Friday night and I had fun over the weekend with the "new" computer, exploring Sugar software applications that the previous owner owner apparently deleted while they had the machine.

Next, I put in my request for a developers key over the weekend and was informed that it would be ready on Monday. So far, so good. This morning I finally have some free time to get it. I check the dedicated OLPC site page on my XO-1 and I'm told that its ready. Hooray!

The instructions (which I wrote down very carefully, since almost the first thing they ask me to do is to leave the page I'm currently reading!) tells me to go to home view, open the Terminal activity and type "su" into the prompt area (the little black rectangle.) I do all of this and a few extra bits of script appear on their own with another prompt area appearing at the end of this new script. I guess this is good.

Reviewing the instructions again, I'm now asked to cut and paste a rather long URL into the Terminal page from the Browser page (open to the OLPC Developer key instructions.) Not knowing yet how to do cutting and pasting on the XO-1, I decide to instead manually type in the long URL into that Terminal page prompt area and press enter again. I get some sort of script telling me (as best as I can make out) that it didn't work.

I get on my iMac and find a page on the OLPC Wiki explaining keyboard short cuts for cutting and pasting. I then got back on the XO-1 and try doing it to that URL again. I highlight the area on the web page, press Ctrl-x to cut, head back to Terminal, type "su" to get to the next step and then key Ctrl-v to paste. Nothing.

I then go back to the Browser page (with the Developer's Key info displayed) and this time notice the Edit tab on the top of the XO-1's browser page. Duh . . . why didn't I see that before? I proceed to attempt to copy (no cut option is given there) and then head over to the Terminal page again to repeat the above steps. No luck . . . it doesn't paste the URL. I can copy and/or cut and then paste on Windows or Mac, but I can't figure out how to do it on the XO-1.

I then try the alternate instructions for older builds, which actually instructs you to manually type the same URL. The first part, though, involves doing a three key Ctrl-Alt with the mesh view button. Wow! It REALLY didn't like that! I got the black Linux page of doom with "invalid" or "error" (I forget which) scrolling down ad nauseum. I couldn't figure out how to get out of there and eventually removed the battery to shut the machine down. Fearing the worst, I clipped the battery back in place and rebooted, being relieved to see the home page load again. I powered down normally at that point.

So . . . I've got a freshly minted developers key from OLPC waiting for me, but I'm stymied by the process of actually getting it onto my machine. Is there some special trick to do a Cut (or Copy) / Paste on an XO-1? This seems to be the stalling point for me right now, as everything else seemed to be working fine up until then. Any help getting me to the next step is truly appreciated.

Ben in Tucson

[markhadman]

Is there some special trick to do a Cut (or Copy) / Paste on an XO-1?

It's ctrl + shift + x/c/v in Terminal

see http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Keyboard_shortcuts#Keyboard_shortcuts

[mellon]

I don't know why copy/paste isn't working for you - I haven't had trouble with it.   Be that as it may, it's probably easier to get ssh working on the olpc and then ssh in to get a shell.   Then you can do the cut and paste on your mac.   To do this, set a password for the olpc user from the shell on the olpc (type "passwd" and enter a password when prompted).   Then start sshd - type "su" to get a root prompt, and then "sshd" to start sshd.   Then ssh in from your Mac - in a terminal window, type "ssh foo.local", where foo is the name you gave your XO.

This should get you a shell prompt, and then you can do what you need to do.

[BeninTucson]

Mark, Ted . . .

Thanks for your help. Somehow, I got the Copy/Paste function from the Edit tab working this time (I saw a little green icon of some sort flash at the bottom left corner of the screen when I copied the URL.)

I then successfully pasted that long URL into the Terminal activity, after typing the "su" and clicking Enter. As per the instructions on the Wiki page, I then rebooted the machine.

So . . . did I do it? How can I confirm my Developer's Key is there? After I rebooted, I opened the the Terminal again and that long URL is no longer visible. If I have a Developer's Key, it is currently hidden under some sort of electronic doormat of some sort.

And . . . I'd like to back up this thing. I just stuck a new/blank USB flash drive in (same brand/type I used successfully for  the No Fail update on Friday.) I don't see any confirmation on Home View that anything is installed. I'm used to seeing new icons appear on the desktop on my Mac when I insert a drive into a USB slot, so I'm guessing that the XO-1 (or Linux in general?) doesn't work like that.

Sorry for all the dumb questions but the Wiki directions are sort of vague from this point onwards. I've also still, apparently, got to disable the security system and, if I don't do this eventually, my XO-1 will eventually brick! I have a feeling that I'm not out of the woods yet.

Ben in Tucson

[Dinky]

If your developer key is installed, the XO will startup with a text screen giving you an opportunity to drop into the firmware by typing escape. Also, there will be a file /security/develop.sig   .

XO will not brick if you do not disable security.  This just bypasses the need for the developer key (in case you lose  it for a moment).

If you have a flash drive recognized, its icon will appear in the lower left while in Journal.  Also, it will apear as an option in the Copy in the Journal details.

[BeninTucson]

Thanks again for setting me straight, Dinky . . .

I'll have time tomorrow afternoon to try the whole cut and paste thing with the URL over again. That I'm not getting the test screen during start-up tells me that the key isn't installed yet. If memory serves, I didn't close the Terminal activity before rebooting and that may have messed up the installation.

Regarding the bricking of an XO-1 if security isn't disabled, this is the quote from the Developer's Key Wiki page that got me all hot and bothered . . .

Once you have a developer key and have booted your system using it, it is possible to permanently disable the firmware security system, even if your XO's developer key goes away. If you forget to do this, and you usually run ordinary free software distributions like Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora on your XO, your XO will at some point refuse to boot.

It them instructs you to . . .

   1.  Reboot the XO
   2. Press the Esc key during boot to get to the 'ok' prompt.
   3. Type 'disable-security' at the 'ok' prompt and press enter

If disable-security says "Restarting to enable SPI flash writing. Try again after the system restarts.", you'll need to start over with the Esc key again as above. If disable-security says "No wp key", it means that security is already disabled.

So, you're saying that I should ignore all of this? Really?!?

Incidentally, I had to search around on other Wiki pages to find out where, exactly, the Escape key was located (I now know it's the black circle key with the clear X in the upper left corner.) This whole Developer Key page could use a little more clarification. Maybe they're taking a "if you have to ask . . ." attitude here. The No Fail Install Wiki page, by contrast, was very clear and to-the-point.

When I'm back on the XO-1 tomorrow afternoon, I'll look for that icon in the Journal when I have the USB flash drive plugged in.

Still learning but feeling I'm now getting somewhere in the process . . .

Ben in Tucson