Howto Boot Linux Mint 4 on OLPC XO-1 Using a 4 Gb SD Card

[awong]

Summary:
Initially I intended to install Linux Mint onto a 4Gb SDHC and dual boot this with the native OLPC Sugar OS. My newbie attempts failed, so I decided to follow a documented Ubuntu install from the OLPC wiki. However, the Ubuntu install procedure did not wipe the data from my SDHC card. The unexpected result was a Linux Mint install on my SDHC that was compatible with the OLPC XO-1.

Hardware Used:
1. Dell Inspiron 1720 (any computer with a CD Drive and USB/SD slot will do, as long as it can boot up the Linux Mint 4 LiveCD)
2. Sandisk 4Gb SDHC (with a USB connector)
3. OLPC XO-1 (from G1G1 program)

Steps (note links; this project took me a several hours):
1. Download Linux Mint 4 iso and burn onto a CD
2. Boot Mint 4 CD on a compatible i386 computer with SD slots (can use SD/USB converters)
3. Insert SDHC into computer; install uses 2.5Gb and takes much longer than a hard disk install
4. Install Ubuntu on top of SDHC Mint install, following the SD directions from http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ubuntu_On_OLPC_XO

Results of Linux Mint 4 install on XO-1:

Notes/Comments:
1200x900 screen resolution
touch pad very sensitive
networking functional and connection stable; need to have visible SSID for a network connection
most applications appear to function properly; need some time to test

Errors discovered:
1. “The panel encountered a problem while loading OAFIID:GNOME_MixerApplet”
2. Firefox broken display, fixed by reinstalling via package manager
3. Very slow loading; operations may slow to a crawl due to low/no cache/swap for SDHC
4. Mint update sporadically broken after connecting to network, may not be a result of the install but instead due to other external factors

Concluding thoughts:
I suspect that after I install Linux Mint to the SDHC, I may be able to skip ahead on the wiki to the Get Boot Folder and Other Files from XO, instead of using the Ubuntu mini.iso with qemu-launcher. Also, I have only tested the networking functions; I will need more time to see if this is a viable alternative for the Sugar OS, as I have noted in my initial test I ran into speed problems, most likely due to lack of memory.

Photo:

MintOLPCm.jpg

Cheers,
Tony

[dracorX]

Wow THAT's nice... OLPC is just like built for Mint... or why do you think it has this green color?