Flash process simplified

After many hours spent on IRC, we have simplified the instructions for adobe flash to two simple commands:

su -
rpm -i http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/flash-plugin-9.0.48.0-release.i386.rpm

Update information for "normal" users

I looked at the information on the wiki about updating the OLPC's software, and saw no info targeted for the G1G1 users. I thus decided to take the initiative and write my own (very) short instructions on how to update from stable to stable for "normal" users at the wiki.

These instructions work for all the users who have G1G1 laptops (build 650 or later), and do not work for earlier versions. People with legacy builds should try the Autoreinstallation image instructions.

DC XO Learning Club meetup!

On Wednesday, I went to the first meetup of the OLPC Learning Club. It had a great turnout with the official count being at 42 people.(however, some people came after that count was taken.) I talked with many great people from both the enthusiast and volunteer expert sides of things.

Pictures can be found here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/olpclcdc/ (my flickr account is mattva17a)

XO's in Iraq

I went to an XO users meetup in D.C. on Wednesday , but I'm still trying to get some background info for some of the stuff I want to discuss in that post. So today I'd like to share an article that that my Dad, who is currently at the US embassy in Iraq , sent me.He works with some of the people who are supporting the XO project in Iraq, so I'd like to draw attention to their efforts.

Link:http://iraq.usembassy.gov/pr_12172007.html

It's an very encouraging sign for both the country and the XO project!

Top10: Mesh Networking

Here's a bunch of tips to make mesh networking smoother,screenshots to be added when I figure out why my camera appears to be using the old "plug and pray" methodology.

1. You must go all the way out to Neighborhood view to view local XO's at first. To get them into friends view you have to invite them first(right click, then "invite")
2. Any activity you start will show up in th neighborhood or friend view as the activity ivo with a xo icon next to it.
3. Active Antenna can be used as wireless repeaters as long as they have power.
4. IMPORTANT, setting up a mesh network near a AP with WDS can wreak havok, check your AP settings first.
5. The mesh can be connect to by normal computers by accessing the ssid "olpc-mesh", however depending on your wireless card this may not work or will crash your computer.
6. If any computer in the mesh has internet , they can all get access to it.
7. The school server can use the mesh to distribute software (to be tested)
8. Mesh traffic can be filtered ,but its not something a novice user should attempt.
9. Mesh networking uses the 802.11s draft standard, which many new AP's and cards have partial support for.
10. Though work has been done, I still find the mesh to be power hungry, plug your XO in while using it.
    

More flash test results, and other random mutterings

As of joyride 1405, using the instructions at the wiki causes Browse to crash upon loading of any page with flash.

I have tested all of the recent versions to see if flash had made a regression, but no version of flash9 will run after 695.

For some reason, WPA still is finicky. Some keys work, but when they are changed, the laptop stops working.

State of flash support

Here is the status of flash support on serveral XO software builds :

Build 625 (Gnash support out of the box(no GV), Flash installable but slow,Increase in speed with config file changes)

Build Ship.2 (Gnash support out of the box(no GV), Flash installable but slow,Increase in speed with config file does not work )

Latest Joyride (Gnash support out of the box(no GV), Flash install breaks web browser?(luke,edit with more specific infomation)

A weekend update post with more information is forthcoming.

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days, I have been busy finding bugs and reporting them.
Here's a summary of a few:

• Clipboard items cannot be copied to clipboard - When a text snippet is saved to the Journal, it cannot be re-added to the clipboard later.
• Files are written with wrong extension - Documents written in Write are saved with an ODF extension when copied to a flash drive, even though their format is ABW.
• SimCity does not quit when closed in donut - Violates the Sugar Human Interface Guidelines, as it shows an "Are You Sure" message when user quits via the donut, it should quit without further prompts.
  

Networking QuickTips

Here's a couple of things to try when connecting to encrypted networks on the XO:

• Be very specific about your encryption type, the XO's network autoconfiguration needs some work
• On a WPA network ,if you have an key that looks like a password, select ascii for the key type. If it looks like a long random sequence, it is probably a hex key.
• On a WPA network, I have had improved success by entering the full hex key, even if the key is normally a string (I will edit this post with a link to a converter , can't find it ATM)
  

Weekend Update

This weekend has been filled with both successes and failures:
Successes:

• Got wireless working at school 100% of the time for the XO

• Simple games work in gasp at an acceptable framerate

• Nasty black box is partially fixed in gasp.

Failures:

• My solution for efficient flash payback does not work in latest firmware

Goals for next week:

1. Flash!
2. Simple p2p gasp games between XO's
   
3. Increase WPA networking success rate to above 50%