Getting started with the XOThe XO laptop is designed to help you, your family, and your community to learn and grow, and to help you expand your knowledge and to have fun. The XO can help you make new friends in your own area or across the world. When you make friends by communicating with the XO you become part of a community of people around the world. A community contributed to the project that made this computer and everything on it, and you use it within a community.Community projects like one that makes the XO are successful because they are helpful. Community projects are helpful because of all the people who add or improve something. Any way you can help to add or improve something on the XO would be very helpful. Like any community effort, the XO has great things about it, and it also can be improved. Ideas and feedback are one of the greatest gifts that you can give to the XO development project. You do not need to be an expert; you just need to be willing to share your thoughts. Know that the community would be glad to hear them. We hope that the XO is helpful, that you enjoy and learn from it. Our utmost hope is that someday you will join us in making it better. All are welcome.
On the playground in Brazil
On a hike in Thailand
About computersYour XO is a laptop computer.
What is a computer? A computer is a tool, a classroom, a toy, a way to communicate with others. A computer can be whatever you want it to be. Many people use computers to write, to perform mathematics, to create art, to play games, to record sound and images, to communicate with others, to read, and to learn. The uses of the XO is only limited by your own imagination.
What can your XO do? Your XO can store an entire library of written stories, videos, and pictures. It can make and play music. It contains Activities that you can use to learn math, play games, create pictures, and communicate with others. You interact with your XO using the touchpad, keyboard, microphone, or camera. How does it do it? Computers are built of component parts that work together to carry out tasks that you give to the computer by interacting with it. You can use your XO to figure out how computers work by reading about computers and learning the basics, and then learning about hardware and software and how it all works. Opening the XO
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To bring the frame onto the screen, press the empty rectangle button on the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard or move your pointer to any corner of the screen.
| Key combination
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Description |
| ctrl + c
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Copy the selection
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| ctrl + v
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Paste the selection
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| ctrl + x
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Cut the selection
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| ctrl + u while using the Browse Activity
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Launch the Write Activity and view the source code for the current web page
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| alt + c
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Quit an Activity
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| alt + 1
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Save a snapshot of the current screen into the Journal
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| ctrl + alt + erase
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Restart Sugar, the operating system for the XO
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| fn + 1
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Neighborhood View
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| fn + 2
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Group View
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| fn + 3
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Home View
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| fn + 4
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Activity View
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| alt + r
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Rotate the display
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| esc + Frame icon key + RightArrow + fn
(the four corners keys on the keyboard) |
Recalibrate the touchpad if the pointer behaves erratically when you use the touchpad
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| fn + spacebar
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View source code system wide, although this command may not be enabled in all applications
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What can you do with the XO laptop?
All over the world, people are at their computers learning, exploring, and thinking of new ideas. Now you're one of those people. Here is some general information about what you can accomplish with the XO.
Activities
Activities are fun things to do and share on the XO. Start an Activity by clicking on the picture for it in the Home view.
A set of Activities is included with your XO. You can download more Activities by visiting the wiki.laptop.org site. Also, each Activity has a wiki page with instructional information about the Activity.
Chatting with other XO people
You can type text to "chat" with your XO friends about your journey to school or about your favorite animal. You need at least two XOs to use the Chat Activity.
To start to chat, launch the Chat Activity from the Home View, and then choose My Neighborhood from the Share with: drop down list. Next, go to the Neighborhood View or the Group View and click on another XO icon, then choose Invite to Chat Activity from the menu. The invited XO then sees a colored Chat icon in their Home View, and clicks it to launch the Chat Activity and join the other XO's Chat Activity.
When you are playing with Etoys, you can chat with others using text or by talking near the microphone.
You can save the text from a Chat conversation by clicking the Journal icon (Keep).
If you want to search for a previous conversation, use the Journal.
What am I learning?
With Chat, you are learning to communicate with other people who can teach you many things.
Why is this important?
It's important to communicate with others to be friends with them, learn from them, and also to teach others.
Adding a buddy
Hovering over an XO icon in the Neighborhood View or Group View displays the name of the person associated with that icon and an option to add this person to your Group View. Move the pointer to and click "Make friend" to add this person.
Browsing and reading on the Internet
Your XO gives you tools to explore the world from where you sit.
- Use the Browse Activity to browse the Internet using a web browser. You must have an established connection to the Internet.
- Press ctrl+u to launch the Write Activity and view the HTML source of the page.
- See what is happening in the world with the News Reader Activity.
- Play videos and sounds by downloading them and opening the Journal to view or listen to them.
Tips
- If you need to access downloaded files through the Terminal Activity, the Browse Activity saves the files in /home/olpc/.sugar/default/datastore/store, but the names are random in this folder. Rather than using the Terminal Activity, it is easier to use the Journal and insert a USB device or storage card, and then drag and drop the downloaded file onto an external storage device.
- If you flip the XO into handheld or flat mode, you can use the gamepad keys to scroll the pages and click links.
- If you want to browse the directory structure on your XO, click the Browse tab and type file:///home/olpc/ as the URL.
What am I learning?
You are learning to use the web to find find information. The Internet has a lot of information that you can read or view to learn such as images or videos. A huge amount of information is available on the Internet and you can browse to it on your XO.
Why is this important?
That skill is important because through that information the user learns about new people, cultures, and countries. By reading items on the Internet, you communicate with the rest of the world. You are learning about other people, countries, and cultures.
Writing with the XO
Express yourself with the Write Activity.
- Make a journal to record your life experiences.
- Write one poem or a hundred poems.
- Write a letter to a friend, family member, or someone you have never met.
- Create your own world with words and pictures, or write about how you would like the world to be.
What am I learning?
Communicating with others, recording your thoughts or ideas, or describing data in writing are essential to many learning activities.
Why is this important?
It is important to be able to communicate with others with writing, and also to record your observations or thoughts for others to read.
Recording with the microphone and capturing images with the cameras
You can easily take pictures and make videos with your XO by using its built-in camera for still photography and video recording. You can also use the camera for video conferencing, which involves talking to others on a video screen knowing that the others can also view your video.
- Use the Record Activity to record your voice with the built-in microphone, or take pictures or video with the built-in XO camera.
- Take a photo by aiming the camera lens at your subject, and then clicking the circle icon.
- Record sounds by clicking the Audio tab, and then click the circle icon to start recording your voice or any sounds nearby. The Audio recording works on a timer, so you can record 15 to 45 seconds of sound at a time.
- Record video by clicking the Video tab, and then position the camera and then click the circle icon to begin recording. The Video recording works on a timer also, and you can record 15, 30, or 45 seconds of video.
- All types of recordings can be started by pressing the circle button at the top of game buttons next to the display screen instead of clicking the circle icon.
- All types of recordings allow for a delayed start to capturing the image or sound by clicking from the Timer drop down list.
- Switch to the Journal Activity and select Image, Audio, or Video to see images that represent your pictures, videos or sound recordings. Click the line with the image to launch the Record Activity.
- You can share your pictures with others with XOs either by sharing it in the Neighborhood View or inviting others to view your pictures in the Group View by right-clicking on a friend's XO icon and choosing Invite.
What am I learning?
You can express yourself with sound, images, and video using the cameras and microphones. You are learning about light, observations, angle, and perspective.
Why is this important?
By recording the sights and sounds around you, others can learn about you, your culture, and environment. You can communicate with your voice and pictures. You can tell factual or emotional stories with film or pictures to help change perceptions or take action.
Drawing with the XO
Express yourself through drawing. You can draw freehand using the paintbrush and pencil tools. You can use a shape stamper to create the same shape over and over again.
What am I learning?
You can learn to see the contour of objects and understand how changes in light, color, and where you view something (perspective) will change the way you draw it.
Why is this important?
Drawing skills and learning about light, perspective, and judging distance and proportion help you communicate ideas visually.
Playing with Etoys
Etoys lets you give commands to graphics and other multimedia objects on the screen. Etoys offers you the chance to put a costume on an object and also tell the object what actions to take or what rules to follow. For example, you can change the instructions given to the car on the first screen and watch it respond to the changes, such as changing the last line, Car|bounce|silence to Car|bounce|motor. Can you guess the next action the car will take?
Paint a picture or take a picture with the camera and then create objects that work with it in the Etoys Activity.
Create objects of different weights and make rules to change how gravity works on each object.
Start the included tutorials by clicking Tutorials and Demos, or view example projects by clicking Gallery of Projects. Additional documentation is available at wiki.laptop.org/go/Etoys.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to make an item respond to commands and react to the environment you create for it. You are making objects and giving the objects certain attributes and actions, which is similar to computer programming.
Why is this important?
Understanding how to make things helps you understand how systems work. In this simulated environment that you set up, you can test out ideas that you have about how the world around you works.
Learning with Turtle Art
Play with Turtle Art to draw colorful art patterns using a turtle that accepts instructions for movement.
With visual programming blocks, you can snap together programs by compiling (combining) them in ways to create anything you can imagine.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to build a set of instructions for a pretend turtle to follow. With repeating instructions and conditional following of the instructions, your pretend turtle can draw shapes and lines over and over again with interesting results.
Why is this important?
You learn to predict what each instruction will cause the turtle to create with line art. It helps you detect patterns, understand the repetition of instructions, and understand following instructions only when a certain condition is met, which is important in computer programming, mathematics, and science.
Playing with Pippy
Use the Pippy Activity to write your own programs using the Python programming language.
You can make programs that do calculations, draw, or solve mathematical problems.
You can delete all the code on screen from any of the examples and start from a blank screen. Pippy saves your new code in the Journal, and when you click the example code again, the example code reappears.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to write programs with instructions for a computer to run.
Why is this important?
You can give a computer instructions to help make programs that will solve mathematical problems or accept input and give predictable output.
Playing with Memorize
Find patterns and remember them.
- Click a square in the top half of the grid and remember the sum.
- Click a square in the bottom half of the grid to match with the math problem shown in the first square you clicked.
- Click the Games tab and choose a new type of matching game from the list in the top frame.
- You can enter new vocabulary or spelling words and match them.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to remember something that is hidden from view. You can do other activities to get better at memorizing. Look for words you have never read before. Learn how to spell and pronounce them. Learn what they mean and how to use them.
Why is this important?
Memorization is an important part of building your vocabulary, spelling correctly, classifying animals or plants, and countless other learning activities.
Calculating with the XO
Use the Calculator Activity for simple math functions such as add, subtract, divide and multiply, as well as scientific functions such as cos, sin, exp, and so on.
You can also share your calculations with others using their XO. Click the history tab to see equations entered by your friends in their own color.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to represent values of measurements and do calculations on the measurements or numbers.
Why is this important?
Data is often represented with numeric values, and with a calculator you can solve a variety of problems.
Playing music with TamTam
Use TamTam to make or play music and have fun.
TamTam Mini is the simplest interface, designed for young children to play sounds and rhythms.
TamTam Jam is where you perform your music.
TamTam Edit is where you compose.
SynthLab is where you design complex sounds.
- Choose different instruments and right-click to assign a key to the track.
- Press a key in the Q row (Q to N) to play a sound.
- Speed up or slow down the tempo by using the slider bar with the walker or runner next to it.
- Change the dynamics with louder or quieter sounds.
- Use the stored sounds or create your own.
- Share your creations with friends or play music with friends.
What am I learning?
Learning rhythm, harmony, melody, and songs are important aspects of music but are also related to mathematics and physics.
Why is this important?
Music is an important aspect of your culture and heritage. It is important to learn to listen as well as play music to express yourself and communicate.
Viewing waveforms with Measure
Measure waveforms from either sound through the microphone or from DC and AC voltages using additional hardware. You can observe these waves on a oscilloscope-like interface in the Measure Activity.
- Watch waveforms in frequency domain (like a spectrum analyzer).
- Log data at a specified time interval, and then draw a graph of the logged data.
- Place the XO near an animal making sounds, such as the sounds of birds, and observe their waveforms. Which of these bird calls are high frequency sounds, which are low frequency ones?
- Adjust the frequency sliders accordingly. Whistle into the microphone and compare the loudness and frequency of whistles by observing the waveforms.
- Turn the sensitivity slider up to the maximum and observe ambient noise, like in a quiet room and compare to the sounds near a noisy road.
- Measure the voltage of an AA size pencil cell battery (if you have additional external hardware). What settings do you use for a battery, AC or DC?
- Log temperature using a temperature sensor at one hour intervals. When in the day is it the hottest? The coldest?
What am I learning?
You are learning to view and interpret measurements, which helps you to understand data.
Why is this important?
Observations about water, bugs, leaves, or trees can help you see patterns in the natural world around you. Predicting patterns in nature is an aspect of studying science.
Accessing a command line with the Terminal Activity
Use the Terminal Activity to gain access to a Linux command prompt. Linux is the underlying operating system that tells the computer hardware commands.
When you first start the Terminal Activity, you see a command prompt that ends in a $. This sign indicates that you are logged in as the olpc user. To log in as root, type the following (with a minus sign):
su -
If you log in as root, your command prompt changes to end in a # sign. You can run more commands as the root user than as the olpc user so only change to root for the commands that require root. By default, root does not have a password assigned to it, so you can type su - at the command prompt to log in as root.
To set passwords
If you want to set the password for the root user, type the following at the command prompt:
passwd
Or, to change the password for the olpc user while loggd on as root, type the following and then follow the instructions on screen:
passwd olpc
Changing password for user .... New UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password: passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
To determine the IP address for your XO
- Make sure you are connected to the Internet by going to the Neighborhood View.
- Launch the Terminal Activity.
- If you are using wireless Internet access, type the following:
iwconfig -
In the line next to inetaddr: , look for the IP address for your laptop, such as 192.168.0.2.
To transfer files to and from your XO laptop wirelessly
- To upload the file test.py from a pc to the xo (into /home/olpc), use: scp FILE_NAME USER@IP:TO_DIRECTORY
scp test.py olpc@192.168.0.2:/home/olpc
- To download the file /home/olpc/xo_test.py from the xo to a local pc, simply reverse the arguments:
scp olpc@192.168.0.2:/home/olpc/xo_test.py ./
Some additional common commands include the following:
- Type sugar-control-panel to change the nickname, colors, time zone, language and other options.
- Type ifconfig or iwconfig to view information about network connections
- Type nano to edit text files directly in the Terminal Activity. If you want to edit text files in Sugar, use Write.
- Type yum to automatically install new software if you know the name and location of the software to install.
What am I learning?
You are learning how a computer works in layers with a graphical user interface running on top of a text-based command layer.
Why is this important?
You can give a computer text instructions to manipulate files and do countless additional tasks.
Measuring distance with an acoustic tape measure
Measure the linear distance between two XO laptops.
You need two laptops. Complete the following steps:
- Launch the Acoustic Tape Measure Activity on one of the XOs.
- On the first XO in the Acoustic Tape Measure Activity, next to Share with, click Neighborhood.
- On the second XO, go to the Neighborhood View and click the dolphin icon representing the Acoustic Tape Measure Activity on the first XO.
- On both XOs, click on the "Begin Measuring Distance" button found near the top of the Activity view. It also helps to turn the XO's screens so that they face each other.
Tips
- Moving the laptops while they are taking measurements will result in a bad measurement.
- The Activity is accurate to about one centimeter when the laptops are about two meters apart.
- If the "Begin Measuring Distance" button does not activate, try clicking the dolphin Activity icon again on the second XO from the Neighborhood View.
- Atmospheric conditions can impact the accuracy of the measurement; there are overrides to the default settings under the Atmosphere tab.
What am I learning?
You are learning how to estimate distance and lengths and the concept of accuracy. You are also learning that sound travels at a certain rate.
Why is this important?
Measuring and understanding accuracy are important aspects of mathematics, and sound waveforms are a basic concept of physics, both of which help you understand how waves work.
Reading with the XO
Read books from the XO library. One way to do that is to open the Browse Activity, click the books link, and then click encyclopedia, picture books, or dictionaries.
Your XO laptop contains a library that offers many interesting reading materials in many languages. These books are sometimes called "ebooks" for electronic books, and Portable Document Format (PDF) files are one type of ebook. You might like to flip the laptop display so that it lays flat while reading ebooks. You can also map the keys so that the XO recognizes a "page forward" or "page backward" command using the keypad.
The only way to view PDF files is to select the file in the Browse Activity or in the Journal, and then tell the Read Activity to open it. The Read Activity and Watch & Listen Activity are two activities that are not started from the Home View; you must access them through a file Activity like Journal or Browse.
You can also download the Read Activity as follows.
- Start the Browse Activity, and then click find activities under the search area.
- Download the .xo file from wiki.laptop.org.
- After the .xo file has downloaded, save it to your Journal.
- Go to your Journal, click on the Read.xo file, and click the Resume icon. The XO installs the Read Activity and you can launch it from the Home View.
Reading epub files
Epub is an electronic book or ebook format that you can read on your XO screen after downloading and installing a reader such as FBReader, and downloading and storing the epub files that you want to read. To complete this procedure, FBReader must be installed on the XO. To install FBReader, open the Terminal Activity and type:
su -c ‘rpm -i http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/updates/7/i386/fbreader-0.8.8-2.fc7.i386.rpm’
To download and view epub books, follow this procedure.
- Start the Browse Activity on the XO.
- Click in the address bar and press ctrl+a to select all the text. Then type in snee.com/epubkidsbooks and press enter.
- Scroll down to the book you want to download, and click the link. The XO displays a countdown while the file downloads.
- Switch over to the Journal Activity, either by pressing the magnifying glass icon key or by going to the Home View and clicking the Journal icon at the bottom of the Home circle.
- Insert an SD card or a USB device into the XO. The Journal shows an icon in a bottom bar when you inset external storage media.
- Locate the downloaded epub file, but do not launch it. Drag the file to the SD or USB icon in the bottom bar.
- Click the Home View key and start the Terminal Activity (you have to scroll right to see the Terminal Activity icon.)
- Click in the Terminal window (otherwise you will be typing in the Terminal search box). Find the name of the external media, which is in the /media directory. For example, type:
df - You will see the name of your SD card or USB device in the row with /media/ before it. You need that name to copy the epub file from the external media to the correct location for FBReader to find the book file.
- Change to the media directory where the epub file is stored and rename the file to something shorter. For example, type:
cd /media/USBMEM
mv "File TheThreeBears.epub downloaded from_http___www.snee.com_ebooks_TheThreeBears.epub..zip" TheThreeBears.epub LittleBoPeep-ANurseryRhymePictureBook.epub
- Copy the newly named file to the ~Books directory. For example, type:
cp TheThreeBears.epub ~/Books
- Launch FBReader by typing FBReader at the Terminal prompt.
Tips
- If you do not want to type so much text on the little XO keyboard, eject the SD card or pull out the USB device, put it in another computer, and then rename the file there.
- Alternatively, you can plug in a USB keyboard with normal size key layout into the XO to do all your typing in the Terminal Activity.
- If your USB device has a space in the name, you cannot use it with your XO. Put it into another computer and rename it without a space.
What am I learning?
Learning to read involves seeing symbols and understanding the rules for pronunciation and combinations, so the more you read and practice reading, the more words you can learn and understand.
Why is this important?
Reading a wide variety of materials gives you many viewpoints and information, sometimes in a faster or easier method than you can get merely by talking to others.
Reading news on the Internet with the News Reader Activity
Read the news by subscribing to newspapers or web sites using the News Reader Activity as an interface for viewing news feeds with RSS, or Really Simple Syndication information.
- Keep up-to-date on news or weather near your home.
- Find out when your favorite author's web site has an update.
What am I learning?
By reading continually updated news, you are learning how quickly information is available and how often the news changes. Plus you are learning about current events.
Why is this important?
You want to keep up with the latest news and events and reading material in order to continually learn about the world around you.
Conserving disk space
Your XO laptop has a limited amount of space for files on its 1 GB flash disk drive. So, when your XO runs out of storage space, you should delete some items by using the Journal Activity.
To clear out space for more files, follow these steps.
- Go to the Home View and click the Journal icon.
- Look for files that you can delete, such as old files or large files that you may have stored in another location.
- Click the file and then click the Erase button (minus sign) to delete the file.
Copying the XO contents (backing up)
If you want a second copy of your files, you can store them on external storage media such as an SD card or USB device. To copy files to an external device, follow these steps.
- Launch the Journal Activity, either by pressing the magnifying glass icon key or by going to
the Home View and clicking the Journal icon at the bottom of the Home circle. - Insert an SD card or a USB device into the XO. The Journal shows an icon in a bottom bar when you put in external storage media.
- Drag the file to the SD or USB icon in the bottom bar.
Also, in the Journal, you can click the Backup tab and if your laptop is registered to a school server, the XO laptop copies your files to the school server. This file copy process provides a way to have a second copy, or back up, of your information. This "back up" process means that if you ever lost a song or image or story that you wrote, you can get it back (also called restore) from your school server and put it on your XO laptop. If you think you have lost something, ask your teacher to run the backup-restore command.
If you needed to replace your XO laptop with a new one for some reason, then your teacher can follow these instructions for copying all of your songs or stories or other files.
- (optional) Insert the Teacher USB device into laptop, which identifies the administrator for the school server. When a Teacher USB device is attached to the laptop, you do not have to enter a password for the restore command.
- Launch the Terminal Activity, or press ctrl+alt+the Group View key.
- Log in using the root username and password.
- At the command line, type
identity-restore "nickname"
If the Teacher USB key is not attached to the laptop, you must enter the password for the xoreg user on the school server.
Keeping information in the Journal
Use the Journal to view a collection of all your Activities on the laptop.
Click the Journal icon at the bottom of the Activity Circle on the Home View.
From the Journal, you can search by keyword and sort by activity or date. You can press the magnifying glass key in the top row of the keyboard to immediately open the Journal and search.
Clicking on an entry brings up a detail page from which you can resume an activity (by clicking on the Activity Icon or pressing the Activity View key) or copy its contents onto the clipboard by clicking the Copy Icon.
The Journal also supports external storage media such as a USB stick or a SD card. When you plug a USB key into the XO, the contents from the USB key are entered into the data storage of the XO laptop to access using the Journal.
Click on the USB icon to access the content on an attached USB storage device.
You can also drag and drop Journal entries on to or off of a USB device.
To view the SD card or USB device file names with the Terminal Activity
- Start the Terminal Activity.
- Find the name of the external media device, which is in the /media directory. For example, type:
df - You see the name of your SD card or USB stick in the row with /media/ before it. You need that name to find the files with the next command.
- Use the change directory command (cd) to switch your location to the storage media.
cd /media/5962-0A03
- Next, use the list command (ls) to list all the files on the storage media.
ls
Other storage information
You can insert an SD card into the slot below the Power button. Turn the display part of the XO laptop so that the slot is exposed, and insert the card with the metal parts facing the display. A spring mechanism keeps the card in place, and you push the card inward to eject it when you are finished.
Caring for your XO
Although your XO is tough, you should try to keep it dry and clean. Avoid dropping it or stepping or sitting on it. If it gets dirty, wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it. It can survive an occasional accidental soaking in a rain storm, but do not dip it all the way into water.
The XO laptop has no hard drive and only two internal cables, so it is less likely to fail than other laptops. For added robustness, the XO's plastic walls are thicker than other laptops. Its green mesh network antennas have improved wireless capabilities over the typical laptop. Plus, they double as external covers for the USB ports, which are protected internally as well. Internal bumpers protect the screen display by offering cushioning.
Charging the XO battery
Your XO needs power to run. Power is electricity, and your XO can get it in two ways: from its battery or from a power cord.
Using battery power
The XO battery is like a suitcase for electricity. When you first get your XO, the suitcase is empty, so you need to fill it up. That means you have to store some electricity in your battery before you can travel away from a cord.
The battery is on the back of your XO.
Here's how to charge the battery:
- Plug the power cord into your XO.
- Plug the other end of the power cord into the nearest power source, such as the one connected to the school's generator or a car battery when used with the proper adapter.
Plugging in your XO
You can use your XO when you are charging the battery or when you have a good source for power. For power sources, you can use the generator supplied by the OLPC Project to your school or another source of electricity.
When to charge the battery
The battery icon fills with color, showing you the current charge, or amount of power in the suitcase. Move the pointer over the battery icon to see more information. Also, when the battery is charging, the battery light displays color from yellow to green. A red light tells you that the battery is running low and you should charge it soon.
Replacing the battery
You do not need to remove the battery, unless it is faulty. Here are instructions for replacing a faulty battery.
To remove the battery
- Shut down the XO.
- Close the lid, and turn the XO over, so that the XO logo hides on the underside.
- Slide the right-hand side catch further to the right. It remains in place.
- Slide the left-hand side catch further to the left. Note that this catch is spring loaded so you must hold it in the desired position.
- Lift the battery out from the central indentation between the two catches.
To replace the battery
- Line up the four notches on the battery with the long edge furthest from the catches.
- Drop the battery into place
.
- Slide the left-hand side catch to the left, and press the battery gently into place.
- Slide the right-hand side catch to the right, to lock the battery in place.
Adjusting the screen lighting and speaker volume of the XO
The top row of the XO keyboard has three long buttons.
The long button on the far right controls the lighting on the screen and the volume of the speakers.
The left two keys control the lighting.
- Press the key with the small sun to dim the light on the screen. Press this key repeatedly to put the screen into greyscale mode, which saves power.
- Press the key with the large sun to increase the brightness of the light. Press this key repeatedly to go to color mode.
The two keys on the right of this long button control the sound.
- Press the key with the small audio icon to decrease the speaker volume, which also saves power.
- Press the key with the large audio icon to increase the speaker volume.
Safety with your XO
Your XO laptop is checked for safety against the European Union's RoHS Directive, which ensures that it contains no hazardous or unsafe materials. Its NiMH batteries contain no toxic heavy metals, plus it features enhanced battery management for an extended recharge-cycle lifetime. The XO also uses alternate power-charging sources, such as a car battery, with a modified adapter. Ask an adult for help with chargers other than the provided AC adapter.
Virus protection
You might also be concerned about protecting your XO laptop from a computer virus. The unique security system isolates each Activity so that a virus cannot easily infect the XO laptop. Currently you do not need to install separate anti-virus software or firewall software.
Internet safety
Please realize that the XO laptop is designed for easy-to-use wireless connection to the Internet and other networks, but you should be careful and ask your teacher or parent for help and protection. They need to know that "Internet access must be purchased separately through an independent Internet Service Provider (ISP). In selecting an ISP, you should remember that, in addition to the many wonderful sites and educational resources on the Internet and World Wide Web, there are places where you wouldn't want your child to go and people you wouldn't want your child to meet. That's why many ISPs offer "filters" that assist you in monitoring and/or controlling your child's Internet access. So your child can have a safe and healthful experience, OLPC FOUNDATION RECOMMENDS THAT YOU USE AN APPROPRIATE INTERNET FILTER, REMAIN INVOLVED IN YOUR CHILD'S USE OF THE INTERNET AND, OF COURSE, STAY ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN YOUR CHILD'S EDUCATION."
An entire community built this XO and everything on it, and we want to help you with it. If you have any questions about the XO, ask your teacher for help, or search on the Internet. The wiki.laptop.org website contains helpful information for using and fixing your XO: on our Support wiki; the laptop.org website; email lists; and IRC channels.
If you have a question about your XO that is not addressed in the list of questions below please goto our Support FAQ to see a rapidly expanding knowledge base; if you are unable to find an answer online, please send us an email at help at laptop.org.
Although your XO handle is sturdy enough for you to carry your XO by it, you may want to put your XO in a bag with a shoulder strap for easier carrying. When you first start the XO, if a school server is available, it registers with your school's server to give you additional storage for pictures or stories that you make. Also, to ensure that no one other than you can use your XO, the XO sends a security code that lets officials track down your XO if needed.
Hardware information
The XO laptop contains 256Mb of RAM and has 1 GB of flash disk space.
Additionally, three USB sockets are available for external or portable storage devices, and with the wireless network, you can store additional files to your school's server or to other network storage locations. There is also flash storage expansion capability with an SD Card slot that can read up to 8 GB SD Cards.
The XO laptop has a built-in microphone and the built-in video and still picture camera takes pictures of 640 x 480 resolution at 30 Frames Per Second (FPS).
The wireless networking capability uses an integrated 802.11b/g (2.4GHz) interface and it supports a unique 802.11s (Mesh) networking protocol in addition.
License
All chapters copyright of the authors (see below). Unless otherwise stated all chapters in this manual licensed with GNU General Public License version 2
This documentation is free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this documentation; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
Authors
Joe Lee created the line art drawings of how to flip open the laptop and change the battery.
Kelly Holcomb edited the entire manual.
About computers
© Todd Kelsey 2007
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Ricky Davis 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Activities
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Adding a buddy
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Exiting Activities
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Joining Activities
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Switching Activities
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Activity View
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Avoiding loss of your XO
© Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Safety
© Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Connecting to the network
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Credits
© adam hyde 2006, 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Getting support
© Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Group View
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Hardware information
© Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Home View
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Installing New Activities
© Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Interface
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Getting started with the XO
© Todd Kelsey And Anne Gentle 2006
Modifications:
adam hyde 2006, 2007, 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
Anne Gentle 2007
Ricky Davis 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Neighborhood View
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Opening the XO
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Personalizing the XO
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Starting the XO
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Acoustic Tape Measure
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Backing Up
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Browse
© Emily Kaplan 2007
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Calculate
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Caring for your XO
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Charging the battery
© Emily Kaplan 2007
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Chat
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Conserving Disk Space
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Draw
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Keyboard shortcuts
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Turtle Art
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Measure
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Memorize
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Pippy
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
eToys
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Reading
© Emily Kaplan 2007
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Record - sound and pictures
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Replacing the battery
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Tam Tam Jam
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Terminal
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Updating the XO version
© Anne Gentle 2008
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Zita Joyce 2008
Write
© Emily Kaplan 2007
Modifications:
adam hyde 2008
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Tutorials
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Screen
© adam hyde 2007, 2008
Modifications:
Anne Gentle 2007, 2008
TWikiGuest 2008
Free manuals for free software
General Public License
Version 2, June 1991
Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Lesser General Public License instead.) You can apply it to your programs, too.
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The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
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This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License.
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NO WARRANTY
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END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS