[OLPC-devel] Update on conversion to LinuxBIOS.

[Jim Gettys]

Some last minute unresolved problems on Thursday and Friday mean we
don't have the conversion process together and tested properly as we
expected to have by the end of Friday.

When we do, the process will be easy:
  1) dd an image onto a disk or USB key
  2) boot the image
  3) run a utility to update the serial bios.
Then, presuming you are using Fedora, you'll have the option of:
  4) installing the image onto another disk, or installing a jffs2 image
onto the internal flash.  These builds will have the new fbdev driver,
and the new amd X driver.

If you are running something other than Fedora or for some reason want
to preserve your existing installation, then you'll need to update both
your installation to the new fbdev driver and X server driver; that can
be done any time prior to the conversion to LinuxBIOS.

Since it is easy to turn the clock back and does not involve removing
the clock battery, we would prefer if most people wait until we have
this process fully debugged; unless you are working directly with Ron
Minnich, Richard Smith, Jordan Crouse and/or Dave Zeuthen on testing
this process, we prefer that you wait until we make an announcement that
everything is ready, tested, and documented.  Rewriting the BIOS serial
flash incorrectly can result in a board that will not boot.
                                Jim Gettys

-- 
Jim Gettys
One Laptop Per Child