[Testing] [support-gang] 12-Year-Old XOs (even 18-yesr-olds)

[James Cameron]

G'day Caryl,

If the XO-1s were left unused for many months, the tiny internal battery
that runs the clock may have discharged, and this would cause the time
to reset or become corrupt.  When redeploying laptops from old stock,
setting the date and time is a common task.

Yes,
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Fix_Clock#If_the_screen_turns_on_and_you_can_boot_into_Linux
is a correct method, although I think you have to tell it the UTC time,
not your local time.  The normal shutdown after this is important,
because that is when the system time is stored in the internal clock.

Yes, if you choose not to use the virtual console root terminal
(Ctrl+Alt+F1) and instead use the Terminal activity in Sugar, it will
work, but you must first become root using either the root button on the
Terminal toolbar, or type su then enter.  The extra complexity of this
may outweigh the complexity of just following the instructions above.

If you have an open wireless access point with an easy to type network
name, then OpenFirmware can set the clock using the internet, no need to
type the time in:

	ok  essid networkname
	ok  ntp-set-clock pool.ntp.org
	ok  .clock

... and no need to shutdown carefully.

The change will persist through boots and software updates, including
complete wipes.  It won't persist through several months of non-use.

-- 
James Cameron
http://quozl.linux.org.au/