OLPC coming to Sri Lanka

Last Friday, I had the privilege to attend a workshop on "One Lap Top Per Child" or OLPC as they call it, at HNB Towers. The OLPC is a marvellous piece of technology (note, I fell short of saying hardware). For instance it has a very low power processor that was developed by AMD to only consume 2 Watts of electricity, compared to 30 - 40W on other notebooks!

The battery has a life span of 4,000 hours compared to about 2,000 on others and only costs USD 10 to replace it (costs about USD 60 - 100 on our laptops). The screen works great in both indoors and in bright sunlight where it consumes less energy and has a higher resoultion in a black & white mode. The screen's back light can be replaced easily without having to replace the whole LCD panel and it only costs 25 cents to replace!

It has a WiFi like no other! It supports mesh computing, a standard known as 802.11s (as opposed to 802.11b/g). And still normal wireless devices are welcomed to connect as p2p devices (ad-hoc mode). Wireless distance can range all the way up to even a 1km away (shhh don't tell TRC) by auto negotiating its connection speed to a lower value. All it needs is 1 laptop with an internet connection for others to have internet connection. It even triangulates and shows other OLPCs in a relatively positioned map.

Its water proof, dirt proof and shock/drop proof. Held together by 13 or odd screws, this is probably the only laptop in the world where you are encouraged to take it apart and try to fix problems before taking it for repairs with no warrenty issues.

So in other words, this is device of freedom. Total freedom! And who better to have that but the next generation. I just wish they'd come up with an OLPD too (see below :)

With all that enthusiasm, I started digging around the OLPC's shell to dig up info I could cherish about its specs (hardware & software). So for all you GNU/Linux geeks out there this bit is for you. Other (Mac & Win users) can enjoy the pics, read about the hardware and run to learn GNU/Linux ;)




/proc/cpuinfo

processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 5
model  : 10
model name : Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by AMD PCS
stepping : 2
cpu MHz  : 431.222
cache size : 128 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug  : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu  : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp  : yes
flags  : fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 sep pge cmov clflush mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow
bogomips : 863.54
clflush size : 32

/proc/meminfo

MemTotal:       237852 kB
MemFree:         27792 kB
Buffers:          1008 kB
Cached:          98988 kB
SwapCached:          0 kB
Active:         118936 kB
Inactive:        67584 kB
SwapTotal:           0 kB
SwapFree:            0 kB
Dirty:               4 kB
Writeback:           0 kB
AnonPages:       86544 kB
Mapped:          26180 kB
Slab:            16588 kB
SReclaimable:     5712 kB
SUnreclaim:      10876 kB
PageTables:        864 kB
NFS_Unstable:        0 kB
Bounce:              0 kB
CommitLimit:    118924 kB
Committed_AS:   163984 kB
VmallocTotal:   794604 kB
VmallocUsed:     17856 kB
VmallocChunk:   776592 kB
HugePages_Total:     0
HugePages_Free:      0
HugePages_Rsvd:      0
Hugepagesize:     4096 kB

lspci -v

00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Unknown device 0028 (rev 21)
 Subsystem: National Semiconductor Corporation Unknown device 0028
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 248

00:01.1 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX Video (prog-if 00 [VGA])
 Subsystem: National Semiconductor Corporation Unknown device 0030
 Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 14
 Memory at fd000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8M]
 Memory at fe000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Memory at fe004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Memory at fe008000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Memory at  (32-bit, non-prefetchable)

00:01.2 Entertainment encryption device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX AES Security Block
 Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX AES Security Block
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
 Memory at fe010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]

00:0c.0 FLASH memory: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4100 (rev 10) (prog-if 01)
 Subsystem: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4100
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
 Memory at fe020000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Capabilities: [88] Power Management version 2
 Capabilities: [9c] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-

00:0c.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4101 (rev 10) (prog-if 01)
 Subsystem: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4100
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
 Memory at fe024000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Capabilities: [88] Power Management version 2
 Capabilities: [9c] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-

00:0c.2 Multimedia video controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4102 (rev 10) (prog-if 01)
 Subsystem: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4100
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
 Memory at fe028000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Capabilities: [88] Power Management version 2
 Capabilities: [9c] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-

00:0f.0 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA (rev 03)
 Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA
 Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel
 I/O ports at 18b0 [size=8]
 I/O ports at 1000 [size=256]
 I/O ports at 1800 [size=64]
 I/O ports at 1880 [size=32]
 I/O ports at 1400 [size=128]
 I/O ports at 1840 [size=64]

00:0f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio (rev 01)
 Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio
 Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 5
 I/O ports at 1480 [size=128]

00:0f.4 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC (rev 02) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
 Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
 Memory at fe01a000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
 Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

00:0f.5 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC (rev 02) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
 Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
 Memory at fe01b000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
 Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
nls_utf8                1888  2 
vfat                   12064  2 
fat                    48124  1 vfat
sg                     33276  0 
i2c_dev                 7268  0 
usb8xxx                18084  0 
libertas              183324  1 usb8xxx
ieee80211              32232  1 libertas
ieee80211_crypt         5664  1 ieee80211
cs5535_gpio             4740  0 
mousedev               11192  0 

xorg.conf

# Xorg configuration file for OLPC

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier     "Default Layout"
 Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
 InputDevice    "fake" "CorePointer" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

# Fool 1.4 autoconf into seeing a mouse and keyboard so it won't
# try to synthetize them
Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier  "fake"
 Driver      "void"
EndSection

Section "Module"
 SubSection "extmod"
  Option "omit XFree86-DGA"
  #Option "omit XFree86-Misc" # needed by 'xset m'
  Option "omit MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD"
  Option "omit TOG-CUP"
  Option "omit Extended-Visual-Information"
 EndSubSection
 Load  "freetype"
 Load  "evdev"
 # Load "record" # Mostly a debugging tool
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
 Option  "XTEST" "Disable" # Mostly a debugging tool
 #Option  "SECURITY" "Disable" # CRASH!
 Option  "XC-APPGROUP" "Disable"
 Option  "XINERAMA" "Disable"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier  "DCON"
 HorizSync   30-67
 VertRefresh 48-52 
 DisplaySize 152 114
 Mode "1200x900"
  DotClock 57.275
  HTimings 1200 1208 1216 1240
  VTimings 900 905 908 912
  Flags    "-HSync" "-VSync"
 EndMode
EndSection

Section "Device"
 Identifier  "Geode"
 Driver      "amd"
 VendorName  "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc."
 BoardName   "AMD Geode GX/LX"

 # Disable VGA for the OLPC board
 Option      "NoVGA"  "true"
 
 Option     "AccelMethod" "EXA"
 Option     "NoCompression" "true"
 Option     "CustomMode" "true"
 Option     "DconPanel" "true"
 Option     "PanelGeometry" "1200x900"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Screen0"
 Device     "Geode"
 Monitor    "DCON"
 DefaultDepth 16

 SubSection "Display"
  Depth   16
  Modes   "1200x900"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

msh0      IEEE 802.11b/g  Nickname:"Mesh"
          Mode:Repeater  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=18 dBm   
          Retry limit:8   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr=2346 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=90/100  Signal level=-46 dBm  Noise level=-86 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:15504
          Tx excessive retries:424  Invalid misc:781   Missed beacon:0

eth0      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"olpc-mesh"  Nickname:"MRVL-USB8388"
          Mode:Ad-Hoc  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Cell: 02:24:14:95:01:57   
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=18 dBm   
          Retry limit:8   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr=2346 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=54/100  Signal level=-59 dBm  Noise level=-78 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:15878
          Tx excessive retries:432  Invalid misc:794   Missed beacon:0

ps aux

USER      PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root        1  0.0  1.7   4968  4152 ?        Ss   05:51   0:02 oatc               /init
root        2  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>  05:51   0:00 [kthreadd]
root        3  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   05:51   0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root        4  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [watchdog/0]
root        5  0.1  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:03 [events/0]
root        6  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [khelper]
root       47  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [kblockd/0]
root       48  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [ksuspend_usbd]
root       51  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [khubd]
root       53  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [kseriod]
root      114  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    05:51   0:00 [pdflush]
root      115  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    05:51   0:00 [pdflush]
root      116  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [kswapd0]
root      118  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [aio/0]
root      518  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [kpsmoused]
root      560  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [kmmcd]
root      616  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    05:51   0:00 [init] 
root      642  1.3  0.0      0     0 ?        SN   05:51   0:39 [jffs2_gcd_mtd0]
root      645  0.0  0.2   2136   664 ?        Ss   05:51   0:00 init [5]         
root      734  0.0  0.2   2260   600 ?        S>s  05:51   0:00 /sbin/udevd -d
root      863  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [libertas_main]
root      864  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:51   0:00 [libertas_worker]
root     1231  0.0  0.2   1804   600 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 syslogd -m 0
root     1234  0.0  0.1   1740   396 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 klogd -x
dbus     1257  0.0  0.4   2956  1040 ?        Ss   05:52   0:01 dbus-daemon --system
root     1279  0.0  2.8  15700  6704 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/sbin/rainbow-daemon --daemon
root     1294  0.0  0.3   5392   936 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
root     1306  0.0  0.9   7564  2188 ?        Ssl  05:52   0:00 console-kit-daemon
root     1339  0.0  0.4   5336  1108 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 crond
root     1383  0.0  0.2   1740   624 ?        SNs  05:52   0:00 anacron -s
68       1416  0.1  1.1   4696  2828 ?        Ss   05:52   0:03 hald
root     1417  0.0  0.4   3080   992 ?        S    05:52   0:00 hald-runner
root     1441  0.0  0.9  28740  2152 ?        Ssl  05:52   0:00 NetworkManager --pid-file=/var/run/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.pid
root     1451  0.0  0.4   3172  1072 ?        S    05:52   0:00 hald-addon-input: Listening on /dev/input/event0 /dev/input/event1 /dev/input/event2 /dev/input/event3
avahi    1480  0.0  0.6   2788  1504 ?        Ss   05:52   0:02 avahi-daemon: running [xo-05-26-00.local]
root     1481  0.0  1.4   9140  3372 ?        S    05:52   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/olpc-hardware-manager
avahi    1482  0.0  0.1   2656   432 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper
root     1507  0.0  0.1   1728   464 tty1     Ss+  05:52   0:00 /sbin/mingetty --noclear tty1
root     1511  0.0  0.1   1728   460 tty2     Ss+  05:52   0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
root     1512  0.0  0.2   1740   508 ttyS0    Ss+  05:52   0:00 /sbin/agetty ttyS0 115200 vt100
root     1513  0.0  0.5   2884  1196 ?        Ss   05:52   0:00 /usr/sbin/olpc-dm
olpc     1538  0.0  0.4   2556  1068 tty8     Ss+  05:52   0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/startx /usr/bin/olpc-session -- -fp built-ins -wr
olpc     1555  0.0  0.3   3072   928 tty8     S+   05:52   0:00 xinit /usr/bin/olpc-session -- /usr/bin/X -fp built-ins -wr -auth /home/olpc/.serverauth.1538
root     1556  2.5  3.0  12540  7284 tty3     Ss+  05:52   1:11 /usr/bin/X :0 -fp built-ins -wr -auth /home/olpc/.serverauth.1538
olpc     1566  1.9 13.1  53660 31184 ?        Ss   05:52   0:56 python /usr/bin/sugar-shell
olpc     1574  0.0  0.2   2836   612 ?        S    05:52   0:00 dbus-launch --exit-with-session sugar-shell
olpc     1575  0.0  0.4   3076  1176 ?        Ss   05:52   0:02 /bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 4 --print-address 6 --session
olpc     1586  0.0  1.8   8008  4484 ?        S    05:52   0:01 matchbox-window-manager -use_titlebar no -theme sugar -kbdconfig /usr/share/sugar/shell/kbdconfig
olpc     1588  0.2  4.6  15368 10948 ?        S    05:52   0:06 python /usr/bin/sugar-presence-service
olpc     1590  0.0  1.2   8200  2920 ?        S    05:52   0:00 /usr/libexec/telepathy-salut
olpc     1592  0.0  3.7  13272  8820 ?        S    05:52   0:01 python /usr/bin/sugar-shell-service
olpc     1594  0.3  5.8  46412 14012 ?        Sl   05:52   0:09 python /usr/bin/datastore-service
olpc     1603  0.0  0.1   1728   380 ?        S    05:52   0:00 /bin/cat
olpc     1605  0.8  9.7  35768 23244 ?        S    05:52   0:24 python /usr/bin/sugar-activity journalactivity.JournalActivity -b org.laptop.JournalActivity -a 5b61a1f8af585a3b41fd3bb974a9289ac4695e81
499      1670  0.0  0.2   1824   708 ?        S    05:54   0:00 avahi-autoipd: [msh0] bound 169.254.2.71                                                  
root     1671  0.0  0.1   1776   356 ?        Ss   05:54   0:00 avahi-autoipd: [msh0] callout dispatcher                                                  
root     1749  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   05:58   0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
olpc     1802  0.0  0.1   1732   384 ?        S    05:58   0:00 /bin/cat
olpc     1827  0.0  0.6   3440  1636 ?        S    06:01   0:00 /usr/libexec/gconfd-2
olpc     1843  0.5 10.3  49576 24560 ?        Sl   06:04   0:11 python /usr/bin/sugar-activity terminal.TerminalActivity -s -b org.laptop.Terminal -a a33cc298fb40442a4de34be74e637289c40777e6
olpc     1844  0.0  0.2   2424   628 ?        S    06:04   0:00 gnome-pty-helper
olpc     1845  0.0  0.6   4688  1528 pts/0    Ss   06:04   0:00 /bin/bash
root     1966  0.0  0.4   2872  1092 pts/0    S    06:11   0:00 su -
root     1977  0.0  0.6   4684  1536 pts/0    S    06:11   0:00 -bash
root     2144  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   06:39   0:00 [scsi_eh_2]
root     2145  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S>   06:39   0:00 [usb-storage]
root     2182  0.1  0.4   3176   980 ?        S    06:39   0:00 hald-addon-storage: polling /dev/sdb (every 2 sec)
root     2191  6.0  0.3   4516   944 pts/0    R+   06:39   0:00 ps aux

What is OLPD you ask? "One Laptop Per Dad" of course! Sorry mom, you can borrow mine.