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James Cameron | 1 Mar 2009 02:42
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Re: XO memory size

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 07:24:19PM -0800, david <at> lang.hm wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Feb 2009, James Cameron wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 12:50:58PM -0800, david <at> lang.hm wrote:
>>> since the effect seems to be related to the amount of text on the screen
>>> at any one time that needs to be scrolled, it may be that the larger
>>> fonts of debxo 0.5 are preventing you from seeing the effect.
>>
>> Good point, but no, rxvt is being used with a bitmap font, and it is the
>> same size on debxo 0.4 and 0.5, using a side by side comparison of two
>> XOs.  An 80x24 character cell window takes up the same physical space on
>> the panel.  xwininfo on both shows 979 x 580 pixels.
>
> but what was reported was that an 80x24 window didn't see much 
> difference, but a window showing more characters took significantly 
> longer.

Yes, that's expected ... when there is a shortage of CPU cycles, a
larger window would cause more work, and would appear slower.

--

-- 
James Cameron    mailto:quozl <at> us.netrek.org     http://quozl.netrek.org/
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James Cameron | 1 Mar 2009 02:51
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Re: XO memory size

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 09:48:22PM -0800, Derek Zhou wrote:
> On Thursday 26 February 2009 05:09:27 pm James Cameron wrote:
> > > Something is wrong with my olpc in either the xserver or hardware. For
> > > other non-drawing tasks its speed seems to be reasonable.
> > 
> > Yes, something is wrong.  Have you another XO you can test?
> > 
> I installed latest 
> xserver-xorg-video-geode_2.11.0-0.3_i386.deb
> from:
> http://lunge.mit.edu/~dilinger/debxo-0.5/
> It got slightly faster, like 10% but the situation is still roughly
> the same. I don't think it is the JFFS2 as top shows most of the cpu
> time is spent in the Xorg process. 

Only some of the JFFS2 problems manifest as CPU time spent in kernel
threads.

> A couple of suspicious things:
> 1, /proc/meminfo shows MemTotal: 221776KB Can someone confirm whether
> this is normal?

Looks normal to me.

> 2, Console (without X) is also quite slow. I know fbcon can be slow
> and unlike x terminal it is synchronous so it has to draw every char
> literally but still I didn't expect it to be this slow.

That excludes X as the primary cause.  It suggests a shortage of CPU
cycles.
(Continue reading)

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Mikus Grinbergs | 1 Mar 2009 03:22
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Re: question about how to re-flash the XO

>> Suppose I have a file 'foobar.img' on an USB stick.  On an unsecured
>> XO, I'm at the 'ok' prompt.  What is the difference between using
>> 'copy-nand u:\foobar.img' versus using 'update-nand u:\foobar.img" ??

My question regarded an unsecured XO -- I have /security/develop.sig 
on the (install) USB stick.  Seems like there is no difference then.

> copy-nand performs a simplified non-secure update that uses "foo.img"
> and "foo.crc" as the source file.  It just blasts the raw data onto the
> NAND, block by block.

I've been using (as written up) 'copy-nand' to install Chris Ball's 
rawhide-xo images (which consist of xxx.crc and xxx.img on stick). 
[Showed a single area of green squares, then an area of blue.]

> update-nand performs the secure update procedure that uses "fs.zip" as
> the source file.  It supports creating partitioned images via the
> command mechanism defined in
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OFW_NAND_FLASH_Updater

I was able to use (as written up) 'update-nand' to install Andres 
Salomon's debxo images (which consist only of xxx.dat and xxx.img on 
stick).   No file 'fs.zip' in sight.  [Did show an area of blue 
squares between two areas of green squares, then the remaining blue 
area.]

mikus
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James Cameron | 1 Mar 2009 04:46
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Re: XO memory size

On Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 12:51:40PM +1100, James Cameron wrote:
> I *think* a save-nand to USB disk will work, but I don't know if a
> copy-nand from it will work.  I'll give it a go.

Verified.  save-nand succeeds.  copy-nand results in an unbootable
system, on power-up OFW prompts with ok, and if you type "boot" you get
"Unrecognized program format" (sic).

--

-- 
James Cameron    mailto:quozl <at> us.netrek.org     http://quozl.netrek.org/
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Caryl Bigenho | 1 Mar 2009 06:17
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Activities Under Emulation

Hi All,

I am working on a presentation I will be doing about OLPC and Sugar at a huge educator's conference in Palm Springs next week.  I realize I need some nitty-gritty type info about the current state of Sugar emulation on PCs and Macs.  Can anyone fill me in on the latest, most up-to-date answers to these questions?  Maybe Luke? Anyone else?

Will the latest Live CD work with both PCs and Macs? (most educators prefer and have Macs)

Will the latest SOAS work with both PCs and Macs?

Regarding various Activities...which run best under emulation?

Will the following specific activities work under emulation:

Record (on machines with built in cameras and mics)?

Measure (on machines with built in mics)?

Distance (on machines with bluetooth)?

Write?

Paint?

EToys?

Squeak?

TurtleArt?

The TamTam suite of activities?

I have heard there is a way that other types of computers running under emulation can collaborate.  Has anyone tried this successfully.  What did you use and how did you do it? Was the neighborhood view and inviting collaborators enabled?

I'm sure I haven't thought of everything, but this will give me a start.

Thanks,
Caryl


<div>
Hi All,<br><br>I am working on a presentation I will be doing about OLPC and Sugar at a huge educator's conference in Palm Springs next week.&nbsp; I realize I need some nitty-gritty type info about the current state of Sugar emulation on PCs and Macs.&nbsp; Can anyone fill me in on the latest, most up-to-date answers to these questions?&nbsp; Maybe Luke? Anyone else?<br><br>Will the latest Live CD work with both PCs and Macs? (most educators prefer and have Macs)<br><br>Will the latest SOAS work with both PCs and Macs?<br><br>Regarding various Activities...which run best under emulation?<br><br>Will the following specific activities work under emulation:<br><br>Record (on machines with built in cameras and mics)?<br><br>Measure (on machines with built in mics)?<br><br>Distance (on machines with bluetooth)?<br><br>Write?<br><br>Paint?<br><br>EToys?<br><br>Squeak?<br><br>TurtleArt?<br><br>The TamTam suite of activities?<br><br>I have heard there is a way that other types of computers running under emulation can collaborate.&nbsp; Has anyone tried this successfully.&nbsp; What did you use and how did you do it? Was the neighborhood view and inviting collaborators enabled?<br><br>I'm sure I haven't thought of everything, but this will give me a start.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Caryl<br><br><br>
</div>
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Derek Zhou | 1 Mar 2009 08:05
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Re: XO memory size

On Saturday 28 February 2009 05:51:40 pm James Cameron wrote:
> > 3, every once in a while (10 mins or so) there is a message in console like: 
> > JFFS2 warning: jffs2_sum_write_sumnode: Not enough space for summary, padsize=-60
> 
> That matches a known problem.  The JFFS2 filesystem is in a suboptimal
> state.
Can you tell me more about this. I installed debxo-0.5 on a usb drive and rxvt
speed seems normal. So it comes down to either the jffs2 or the internal nand.
I thought jffs2 on raw nand is supposed to be better than non-flash aware fs
on a cheap usb stick...
Derek
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Tomeu Vizoso | 1 Mar 2009 11:58
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Re: [ANNOUNCE] Sucrose 0.84 Release Candidate 2 (0.83.6)

On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 23:08,  <david@...> wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009, Simon Schampijer wrote:
>
>> david@... wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009, Simon Schampijer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Sugar Community,
>>>>
>>>> this is Release Candidate 2 for the upcoming 0.84 Release - see the [1]
>>>> for more details. Only one more week to go in this release cycle. Please
>>>> test this release and report all the bugs you find that we are able to
>>>> fix them in time. A friendly BugSquad [2] will be available to triage
>>>> those bugs accordingly and the developers can never have enough bug
>>>> food. If you have non-bug feedback about features you can use the
>>>> sugar-devel mailing list to share it with us.
>>>>
>>>> From a user point of view we want to highlight the following changes
>>>> that have been made:
>>>>
>>>> === Resume by Default ===
>>>> Resume by default is now the way we handle activity startup. The option
>>>> in the Favourites View palette has been removed completely. You can
>>>> still start a new instance using the 'Start' option in the Activity
>>>> palette.
>>>>
>>>> === View Source ===
>>>> There has been some refinements to the View Source dialog. You can
>>>> access it from the Activity palette in the Frame or by using
>>>> 'Shift+Alt+V' directly.
>>>
>>> not by Fn+space? (as marked on the keyboard)
>>
>> Which keyboard? Sugar does not only run on XO hardware.
>
> ok, but on the XO hardware is should use the key combination that's marked
> for it. is that the same as shift+alt+V?

Yes, the XO keybindings should keep working as before, though I think
there's some bug in the keyboard mapping in soas images right now.

Regards,

Tomeu
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James Cameron | 1 Mar 2009 12:26
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Re: XO memory size

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 11:05:51PM -0800, Derek Zhou wrote:
> On Saturday 28 February 2009 05:51:40 pm James Cameron wrote:
> > > 3, every once in a while (10 mins or so) there is a message in console like: 
> > > JFFS2 warning: jffs2_sum_write_sumnode: Not enough space for summary, padsize=-60
> > 
> > That matches a known problem.  The JFFS2 filesystem is in a suboptimal
> > state.
> Can you tell me more about this.

Yes, but I don't know much more about it.  The suboptimal state seems be
triggered by extensive use of the filesystem, or filling to capacity.
It is so easy to fix (by reflashing) that I've never seriously
investigated it.  To investigate it I would look for changes to JFFS2
kernel code since debxo-0.4, and check for trac tickets on
dev.laptop.org, and possibly analyse the filesystem somehow.  I'm not
experienced in that, and I don't have the filesystem available to me.

> I installed debxo-0.5 on a usb drive and rxvt
> speed seems normal. So it comes down to either the jffs2 or the internal nand.

To test for that, use the debxo 0.5 booted from USB to test reading the
NAND flash without using the filesystem.  I haven't derived such a test
yet, maybe you have some ideas.  If you get a block read performance
that is consistent with other units, then you can exclude the NAND flash
as cause, leaving only the JFFS2 filesystem as the cause.

> I thought jffs2 on raw nand is supposed to be better than non-flash
> aware fs on a cheap usb stick...

I don't know about that.  Better in what way?

--

-- 
James Cameron    mailto:quozl <at> us.netrek.org     http://quozl.netrek.org/
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Bert Freudenberg | 1 Mar 2009 14:40
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Re: [support-gang] Activities Under Emulation

On 01.03.2009, at 06:17, Caryl Bigenho wrote:

> Will the following specific activities work under emulation:

Jonas already mentioned that the term "emulation" is probably not what  
you meant - I assume you simply mean Sugar on non-XO hardware? Or  
specifically in a "Linux emulator" running under Windows or Mac OS?  
There should not be a difference between that and Linux running  
natively, as what is emulated is simply a PC.

> EToys?

It works in SoaS, Wolfgang's LiveCD, and an emulated XO.

> Squeak?

That's the first I hear of a Squeak activity ... where can I find it?

- Bert -
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NoiseEHC | 1 Mar 2009 17:06
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rotate button sucks on the XO

Hello!

Just today I have noticed some things about the rotate button (which is 
below the directional buttons on the display part):
1. When the screen is rotated the mouse does not so if I turn the XO to 
be able to read letters, I cannot navigate with the mouse.
2. An Xvideo RGB overlay displays the big nothing (black) while the 
screen is rotated.

If somebody will fix it to be usable then it would be a good idea to 
program the rotate button so that holding pressed for 2 seconds would 
turn on-off the backlight (color to mono and back).
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Gmane