[olpc-nz] power logging

[Tom Parker]

On Sat, 2011-01-15 at 22:54 -0500, Richard A. Smith wrote:
> > hmm.. we generally test unmodified full build images, so getting a fixed
> > version is most easily done by getting it into the releases we test.
> 
> I was having that same sort of thought during breakfast.  I assume that 
> your au860 is derived from os860?  os860 is listed to contain powerd-32 
> and the header output from powerd-32 has 2 new header fields. KERNAPI 
> and POWERDVER.  I don't see those in your headers.  Can you verify that 
> your build has powerd-32?

I miss-spoke, it's not os860, but au852-4. I think this build is based
on "10.1.2" but I really don't know what that means. I got the build
from http://download.laptop.org.au/XO/F11/10.1.2/10.1.2-au4/ It appears
to have powerd 29.

> Are they reflashed they on external power?  How long does a test 
> sequence usually last?

We usually reflash on external power, but not always. Testing sessions
last between 3 and 4 hours. We're trying to make a point of charging the
laptops the night before, so we have a longer session for you.

> > I can reasonably easily go through the
> > laptops and recover the logs after I get home. A usb that boots, grabs
> > the logs and displays "logs recovered, please turn off" would be even
> > better, then we could do the log recovery trivially at testing.
> 
> I can do that from the firmware as long as the laptop is shutdown 
> cleanly.  Otherwise, I'd have to do something with James's tiny linux 
> build. 

I'll have a play around with Jame's build
http://dev.laptop.org/~quozl/tinycore/

>  You have an a wireless net up for testing right? 

Yes, and internet access.

>  Do you have a 
> school server?

We do, but we don't often test with it.

> I'm told by some other smaller sites that if I can come up with a good 
> automated way of getting the logs off of the machines via network then I 
> can have logs from an actual site.
>
> Any ideas here would be appreciated.

I believe the schoolserver and the laptop share some trust, but I don't
know exactly how much. I know the laptop does a daily journal backup to
the XS, it would be possible to include the power information in that
process. I'm not sure if the schoolserver can request arbitrary files
from the XO which would be ideal for this purpose (run a script on the
XS to steal the power logs off all the laptops) but dangerous in many
other respects which is why I doubt it can be done like that.

> So if you were to sed all the files in a dir and
> 
> s/COMMENT:/COMMENT: comment here

Sounds good.