2008_01_01_archive

AmigaOS or Windows on the XO Laptop

In the midst of all the news this week from CES came my favorite story

of the week. A group of software developers in Italy have ported an

emulated version of the Amiga OS to the XO laptop. Like many, I'm

nostalgic for the Amiga and while I don't expect to run Video Toaster

on my XO this is still a cool story.

Running Amiga OS on the XO laptop shows it's real power and

flexibility

Dual-Boot Windows on the XO.

In other news, I keep reading stories about how Microsoft is creating

a dual-boot system which would allow Windows to run on the OLPC XO

laptop. Unfortunately, the folks I know at Microsoft tell me this just

isn't true. True Microsoft has confirmed they are working on a flash

based bootable Windows. True, many engineers in Redmond are playing

with the XO laptop. Does Microsoft want users to have an easy choice

between Windows and Linux. Not so much.

Posted by Bill Pytlovany at 10:44 AM 1 comments Links to this post

Tags: amiga, windows

Saturday, January 5, 2008

New Name and Color for my XO laptop

Now that I've joined a large neighborhood on xochat.org I realized I

want a new name to identify myself to others. I have also noticed that

some color selections aren't easy to see in a chat room.

Example of how some color combinations are hard to read

Your name and color information is stored in a config file which

appears easy to edit. I was able to edit my colors but the OLPC Wiki

recommends using the commands below so that new keys will be properly

generated.

My configuration file

Edit Config file

If you'd like a new name and colors use the steps below.

1. Launch your Terminal Activity

2. Type "su" to give yourself permission to remove files.

3. Type the following remove commands. "rm" is the command to remove

a file.

After typing the first command, use the up arrow and bring back

the previous command. Then backspace to where you want to start

typing again to enter the next command easier.

4. rm /home/olpc/.sugar/default/config

5. rm /home/olpc/.sugar/default/owner.key

6. rm /home/olpc/.sugar/default/owner.key.pub

7. Reboot the sugar interface by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Erase (sound

familiar?)

8. Enter your new name and then click on the XO logo to select your

colors.

Commands to re-enter your name and colors

The OLPC wiki also points out that this method will cause you to lose

any files you have on the "school server" but you'll still have all

the files currently in your journal.

If you've used my previous instructions to connect to the xochat.org

"Jabber" server you'll need to repeat those commands as well. The

default Jabber server on the first public XO's will

be "ship2.jabber.laptop.org".

Posted by Bill Pytlovany at 3:59 PM 5 comments Links to this post

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

OLPC Chat Activity Scroll Bug Fixed

The more I use my new OLPC XO laptop the more I find myself using the

Terminal Activity to modify and add new features. I'm no Linux guru

but with some good examples it's not hard to understand.

Last week I posted information on how to expand your neighborhood and

find others to play with and chat. Unfortunately, the Chat activity

suffered from a bit of a scroll bug. You'll still find many other

activities that are shared and can be a lot of fun.

The folks who have been working on the open source programs included

with the laptop have been hard at work, even over the holidays. A fix

had been posted so you can enjoy chatting with other new XO laptop

users.

Close any Chat Activity you have open

Launch your Terminal Activity and enter the commands below.

* su

* cd /usr/share/activities/Chat.activity/

( Chat.activity is case sensitive )

* mv chat.py chat.py.old

( This renames Chat.

If you have problems you can rename the .old one back )

* wget http://dev.laptop.org/~morgan/chat.py

No Reboot required. Just look for a shared chat in your

neighborhood.

Special thanks to Morgan Collett.

Using the Chat Activity isn't the only way to chat with other new G1G1

participants. You can also download the xoIRC activity and chat in one

of the OLPC support IRC rooms. Go to

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XoIRC for more information.

The main documentation for the OLPC XO laptop continues to be The OLPC

Wiki. The information there is dynamic and is being updated daily. I

recommend visiting often. If you don't find an answer to your question

today, it may be there tomorrow.

Posted by Bill Pytlovany at 10:17 AM 0 comments Links to this post

Tags: bugs, Chat, irc, morgan

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Play Doom on your XO laptop

A week ago folks were joking in the forums about running Doom on the

XO laptop. Sure enough, someone figured it out. Yesterday, OLPC News

posted instructions on how to download and install Doom on your XO

laptop. Not only does it work, but it runs well.

Playing Doom on the XO

Playing FreeDoom on the XO laptop

* Step 1: Launch the Terminal Activity

* Step 2: type "su" to become a super user

* Step 3: Type "yum install prboom"

* Step 4: Enter "Y" to accept all downloads

* Step 5: Type "Exit"

* Step 6: Typing "prboom -geom 1200x900" will start the game in full

screen mode.

* Step 7: To run into the future just go to Terminal and repeat Step

6.

Installation screen to download FreeDoom

Doom Installation Commands

I'm not sure how I feel about this revelation. It shows that the XO