[Olpc-open] Please Help! need to erase files

Tue Nov 18 09:30:13 EST 2008

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 2:16 PM, Listen <olpc at goct.net> wrote:

>  Thank You so much for your help with that Steve!
> Now I have another similar problem, and I have been wondering about this
> for awhile anyways.
> We just updated to 767, and now we get a message when trying to open some
> programs that says " Journal is Full".
>

Yup. I've seen that, too.  My son loves to make videos...

> So we went in the journal and deleted every entry. But when I hold the
> mouse over the journal icon it says there is only 79 MB free.
>

That's a bit different from mine, but reasonable, I think. If you have that
with all journal entries removed, you are likely right: there's some file
(such as a downloaded PDF or a package file) hanging around somewhere the
Journal doesn't know about.

> So how can we "explore" the files that are on the XO but not in the
> journal?
> There must be other temp or junk files on the xo that are hidden somewhere.
>
>

A simple (and safe) way to explore the XO filesystem is to use the Browse
activity.
Enter this URL in Browse:
   file://localhost/
or
   file:///

This will let you explore the XO filesystem through the Browse activity,
under the hood of the XO.
You won't be able to delete anything, and there are a lot of files which
will be meaningless to Browse, but as long as you are careful not to
download too much, (essentially, copying from one part of the filesystem to
another) you shouldn't hurt anything.

To actually delete anything, you'd need to use the Terminal activity, or the
Console.
Of course, knowing what is safe to delete from a Linux filesystem is a skill
worth a six figure salary. ;-) I can't claim to know that much.

Is there a way to recover some disk space?
>

Some background first.

If you upgraded to 767 by connecting to the Internet and using olpc-update,
then you likely have *two* copies of the operating system on the flash; the
current one (767) and the prior one (703? 656?) as well. This is done in
case the new release screws something up; you can hold the circle key on the
gamepad at startup and boot into the older image. A nice safety feature, but
it costs you storage.

Removing that older image will buy you lots of space, but at the expense of
not being able to do an emergency boot into the old image.

The smart solution is to have a 1 Gb USB Storage device with a clean install
image (downloaded from laptop.org) and keep it tucked safely away.
You can then use this to re-install the base XO software if you ever feel
the need.

Additionally, if you do a clean install of the software, the installation
process "wipes the disk":  all Journal entries are removed, (let me say that
again: ALL JOURNAL ENTRIES WILL BE LOST) any other files you might have
downloaded outside the context of the Journal (such as add-on packages,
Flash, Activities, etc.) are deleted, and the prior XO image is also
removed.  The software is returned to 'factory new' state.

More info on the wiki:
-
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Clean-install_procedure#Official_releases_and_candidate_builds

This is a drastic procedure. I wouldn't recommend it for people making
typical use of an XO; but if you're running out of space consistently, then
you're likely not a typical user.

> Thank You so much for your help
>
>
> Steve Holton wrote:
>
> I've heard a few reports of "journal disappeared" before.
>
> Essentially, if the internal Flash disk fills-up, there isn't enough
> room for the XO to start-up properly.
>
> If you were downloading a lot of largish PDF this could be an explanation.
>
> IIRC this was a bug in the 650 release which was partially corrected
> in the 656 release.
>
> The first thing to try: hold-down the "circle" key on the game pad
> while you turn the XO on.
> If there is a prior 'back-up' install available, this will boot the XO
> into the backup. You should be able to delete some files from there.
>
> More info here:
> -   http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Startup_Diagnosis
>
> If that doesn't work, you may be able to use console to delete some of
> the offending files.
> Access the console by pressing the CTRL key (solid diamond) the ALT
> key (open diamond) and the Neighborhood (8 dots in a circle) key.
>
> This requires knowledge of the Linux console, so not for the unskilled.
> -   http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Terminal_Activity#The_Console
>
> The third option is to reinstall the operating system from a USB disk
> or an SD memory card.
> Details are available here:
> -   http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Secure_Upgrade
>
> The Fourth option is to check the list of Community Repair centers to
> see if one is in your area. Some repair centers occasionally run
> repair clinics where trained volunteers can get a look at exactly
> what's going on with your particular XO and make a much more detailed
> diagnosis.
> -   http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Directory_of_repair_centers
>
> It doesn't sound like a fatal problem, whatever it is.
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 8:06 PM, Listen <olpc at goct.net> <olpc at goct.net> wrote:
>
>
>  Could you please direct me on where to get help with my daughter's xo?
>
> We have been using it since November and just the other day, the journal
> stopped coming up when I turn it on! Now I don't know how to get to the
> files(.pdf) that I was reading.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated.
>
> Letting Love Flow
> Listen
> _______________________________________________
> Olpc-open mailing listOlpc-open at lists.laptop.orghttp://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
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-- 
Steve Holton
sph0lt0n at gmail.com
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