Sugar Labs - User contributions [en]

Sugar on a Stick/Linux

2009-05-09T07:00:05Z

Barry.grumbine: Added an apt-get command for packages required by livecd-iso-to-disk.sh in Ubuntu (and Debian?)

{{TOCright}}
== Introduction ==

This page is designed to help you to put your [[Sugar on a Stick]] image under Linux on a thumbdrive. If you have questions, trouble or feedback, please let us know on the [[Talk:Sugar on a Stick|SoaS talk]] page. If you can improve these instructions, please edit the page and do so!
== [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/OLPC | SoaS on an OLPC XO-1]]==
See [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/OLPC]] for booting an OLPC XO-1 with SoaS images.
== Linux instructions ==

This is known to work in Fedora and Ubuntu 8.10 and should work in other Linux distributions.

* Make sure you have the ''isomd5sum'' and ''cryptsetup'' packages installed in your distribution, as they will be needed by the installation script.
*:(These packages are needed for the verification and persistent home folder options of the installation script; they are not necessary if one applies the <tt>--noverify</tt> and <tt>--unencrypted-home</tt> options, respectively. The verification step checks that the file is complete after its travels, and it will signal a failure warning if there is a problem.) The --unencrypted-home option may be preferred for improved robustness with the compressed file system employed by the LiveUSB deployment.
* Plug in a 1GB or larger USB stick into your computer.
* Download the installation script: http://people.sugarlabs.org/sdz/livecd-iso-to-disk.sh (09 April 2009)
:Ensure Ubuntu has the packages required to run the livecd-iso-to-disk.sh
: <tt>sudo apt-get install isomd5sum cryptsetup syslinux</tt>
* Check the USB device. In the example below the device is /dev/sdb:
: <tt>df -h</tt>
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 19G 7.0G 11G 40% /
tmpfs 1.5G 0 1.5G 0% /lib/init/rw
varrun 1.5G 96K 1.5G 1% /var/run
varlock 1.5G 0 1.5G 0% /var/lock
udev 1.5G 2.9M 1.5G 1% /dev
tmpfs 1.5G 104K 1.5G 1% /dev/shm
lrm 1.5G 2.0M 1.5G 1% /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile
/dev/sdb1 996M 913M 84M 92% /mnt/myUSBdisc

* Then check to see that the partition is marked as bootable, 
: <tt>sudo fdisk '''-l'''</tt> ''<----that's a lowercase letter L for the List option.''
You should see output that looks like this:
Disk /dev/sdb: 1047 MB, 1047265280 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 127 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0008325f
.
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 127 1020096 6 FAT16
The '*' under the Boot column is what you want to see.
: If not, then
:* For Ubuntu 8.10, menu: System -> Administration -> Partition Editor (GParted).
::# Select your USB device (/dev/sdb in your case),
::# then your partition (/dev/sdb1),
::# then menu: Partition -> Manage Flags,
::# check the boot box,
::# and Close to mark the partition as bootable.

:* For Fedora,
::# <tt>parted /dev/sdb</tt>
::# toggle 1 boot
::# quit

* Also, check to see that you do not already have an existing bootloader (such as GRUB) in the MBR of your stick. (If you have not previously used this stick as a live boot, you can skip this step.) To be sure that the USB stick's MBR is wiped clean, overwrite it completely using:
: <tt>dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1</tt>
* (Actually, that didn't work for me. But this did:
: <tt>lilo -M /dev/sdb</tt>
:It put in a standard MBR that boots whichever partition has been called bootable. It does not install LILO as such.)
* Unmount the drive, 
: <tt>sudo umount /dev/sdb1</tt>
* Change mode to make the script executable.
: <tt>chmod +x livecd-iso-to-disk.sh</tt>
* Run it as root, making sure to pass the correct USB device and to set overlay and home size appropriately, depending on the stick size.
: <tt>sudo ./livecd-iso-to-disk.sh --overlay-size-mb 300 --home-size-mb 160 --delete-home --unencrypted-home soas-beta.iso /dev/sdb1</tt>
The Linux installation has the advantage of allowing a persistent /home/liveuser folder with the <tt>--home-size-mb ''NNN''</tt> option. This feature would allow you to update the OS image while keeping the user files (by running the script against your existing installation but leaving out the --home-size-mb NNN option).
* The <code>--unencrypted-home</code> option prevents password protection and encryption of the /home/liveuser folder. This releaves overhead on the compressed sqaushfs, and should be more robust to file system failures (outside of security).
* The <code>--delete-home</code> option is used to avoid an error message while requesting both a new home (with <code>--home-size-mb</code>) and a persistent home (indirectly with <code>--unencrypted-home</code>). You wouldn't use the --delete-home option on an upgrade of the operation system only.
Depending on the size of your usb stick, you may have to decrease <code>--overlay-size-mb</code> and <code>--home-size-mb</code> values (example, for 1 GB stick, use 200 for each).

== Alternative instructions ==

=== UNetbootin ===

UNetbootin (Universal Netboot Installer) is a cross-platform utility that can create Live USB systems.

''Keep in mind that UNetbootin doesn't support persistent overlays, so you won't be able to save files using the Journal.''

:http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

* Choose the Diskimage ISO option.
* Select the downloaded .iso image file.
* Press OK and wait for your USB stick to be created.

=== Fedora Live USB Creator ===

Fedora LiveUSB Creator (see windows install section above for how to use)
Needs to be loaded from Synaptic Package Manager

Has persistence, easy to use.

Instructions are at http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Getting_Involved/Testing/Soas-F11b_Sugar0.84.2

-On full installs of Fedora 11 Preview can add sugar desktop and make a Soas version with a Full Gnome desktop plus a
Sugar Desktop on one USB Stick or SD Card (Wireless WPA works with EeePC900)

-see for details :

++++PREPARATORY WORK : use Partition Editor to erase existing partition on sdb? (CHECK THIS CAREFULLY!);then make NEW partition as a fat16 primary partition LABELED FEDORA then set boot flag.++++

-to label the partition FEDORA on Fedora, use <pre>dosfslabel devicename FEDORA</pre> dosfslabel comes with the "dosfstools" rpm package.

== What's next? ==

After you've created your stick, it's time to [[Sugar_on_a_Stick#Step_3:_Boot|boot your stick]] and test it out.

[[Category:HowTo]]

Sugar on a Stick

2009-05-08T18:43:45Z

Barry.grumbine: Added link to boot section for XO-1.

<noinclude>{{ Translations | [[Sugar_on_a_Stick|english]] | [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/lang-es|español]] }}{{GoogleTrans-en | es =show | bg =show | zh-CN =show | zh-TW =show | hr =show | cs =show | da =show | nl =show | fi =show | fr =show | de =show | el =show | hi =show | it =show | ja =show | ko =show | no =show | pl =show | pt =show | ro =show | ru =show | sv =show }}{{TeamHeader|Sugar on a Stick|home=Project Home|xbgColor=ffe792}}
{{TOCright}}
[[Image:Soas.jpg|thumb]] [[Image:Soas-1.png|thumb]]

== Introduction ==

Sugar Labs offers ubiquitous access to Sugar in a USB (Universal Serial Bus) flash memory drive (stick). The Sugar on a Stick project (''still in Beta'') gives children access to ''their'' Sugar on any computer in their environment with just a USB memory stick. Taking advantage of the Fedora LiveUSB, it's possible to store everything you need to run Sugar on a single USB memory stick (minimum size 1GB). This small USB device can boot into the Sugar learning platform on different computers at home, at school, or at an after-school program, bypassing the software on the those computers. In fact, Sugar on a Stick will work even if the computer does not have a hard-drive. With Sugar on a Stick, the learning experience is the same on any computer: at school, at home, at the library, or an after-school center.

You can learn more from [http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/02/05/sugar-beyond-the-xo-laptop-walter-bender-on-olpc-sucrose-084-and-sugar-on-a-stick/ Walter Bender's interview with Xconomy], [http://www.olpcnews.com/software/sugar/sugar_on_a_stick_netbooks.html Wayan Vota's video] and [http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouslee/sets/72157613785006745/ Mike Lee's pictures].

'''What's exactly on the Stick''': The Fedora version contains a compressed copy of Fedora 11 that will boot, run in memory, and maintain changes on a USB flash drive with a standard FAT16 or FAT32 partition. The files coexist with other files the user may have or put on the disk. Different types of configurations are being designed to offer the options to run virtualizations or emulations and to use virtual machines on existing computers, saving the Sugar Home folder (the user's work) on the Stick for use at another workstation. See our [[Sugar on a Stick/Resources| resources page]] for more information.

== Project Goals ==

* Sugar on a Stick as 1-to-1 computing in an elementary school
* Sugar on a Stick to empower middle- and high-school students to help test, and learn computing platforms as learning tools
* Sugar on a Stick for learning conferences to let people try Sugar and collaborate with other conference participants

'''''Would you like to help?'''''... Sugar Labs is entirely volunteer run. Please '''[[/Getting Involved| get involved]]'''.

== Getting Sugar on a Stick (beta) ==

'''Note:''' The first SoaS beta is now available! Please check the [[/Beta|release notes]] and download it, unless you're a Windows user (in which case you'll be able to download it directly when creating your stick), from here: http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/releases/soas-beta.iso

We had a SoaS pre-release on April 10th, 2009 at [http://www.ncose.org/node/47 FOSSVT], where we premiered and distributed SoaS. We are testing the beta image again this week (the week of April 13) and are ready for the final release now.

Please download, test (see [[Smoke test]]), and give feedback (on sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org and [[Sugar on a Stick/Getting Involved]])—please follow the instructions below to download a copy!

'''Requirement:''' You'll need a USB flash drive, with a size of at least 1 GB!

=== Create Your Stick ===

Please select your operating system below to get further instructions.


[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Windows http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/f/f9/Windows.gif]
[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Mac http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/7/76/Apple.gif]
[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Linux http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/9/97/Penguin.png]


You can also run SoaS in a virtual machine. Sugar Labs volunteers are experimenting with [[VirtualBox]], [[VMware]], and [[QEMU]]. Virtual machines emulate computer hardware resources in software and allow your to install and run disc images from different operating systems on a single computer.

=== Boot ===

To boot SoaS on an XO-1 look here: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/OLPC

If you have an older machine or you just want things to immediately work without fussing with the BIOS, you can burn a "Boot Helper" CD using the .iso below. This will start the boot from the CD, then read files from the USB stick: http://people.sugarlabs.org/sdz/soas-boot.iso.
Note that when you use this method your USB stick must have the label FEDORA. Name the stick FEDORA '''before''' running liveusb-creator. This ensures the persistent overlay will be used when booting with the "Boot Helper" CDO.

On most modern computers its possible to set the target computer's BIOS to boot from USB so you don't need a CD at all! Unfortunately this is slightly different on each computer. Explore the setup screen for your system (press Esc or F1 while the computer is booting). If you can't figure it out, search Google for information on your computer model's BIOS.

=== Use ===

Once your stick boots, you'll find yourself in your own Sugar environment, ready to play and learn.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [http://flossmanuals.net/Sugar http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/4/40/Sugarlabs_mainpage_07.png]
| For a guide on how to use Sugar, see the [http://en.flossmanuals.net/sugar FLOSSmanuals Sugar Users Guide].
[[olpc:Keyboard_shortcuts|Keyboard shortcuts]] also lists some of the Sugar keyboard shortcuts on a PC keyboard.
|-
|}

Let us know how it goes! Send e-mail to [mailto:iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org]. This is our [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep "It's an Education Project" mailing list].

== Help the project ==

Please keep notes on which version of Sugar on a Stick you have downloaded when reporting issues.

* When booting SoaS, you'll see for a short time a screen showing a kind of solar system.
* Press the "Escape" button here and you'll get to the boot menu.
* There, you should find the images name in the following structure: ''Soas{version number}-{date of creation}''

Alternatively, you can also refer to the name of the .iso file, if you still have it around.

To find out which version of Sugar you are using you can look it up in the 'About my Computer' Section in 'My Settings'.

Report bugs to http://dev.sugarlabs.org/. Use the "SoaS" component when entering new bugs.

=== For Developers: Downloading alternative images ===

We've now various solutions available, which are listed below. Some of those might still be unstable and in testing, which means that ''they might not work yet.''

* The SoaS beta release is currently based on ''{{SoaS-2 beta}}''. It's the most stable solution we've available right now and is recommended for usage.

* On the other hand, you can also grab a current snapshot, which includes the latest bits, but might contain some issues. We really need your help on testing those to move forward!

* The virtual appliance is ''not ready'' for general use and is under heavy development. Any help with testing it is appreciated, though.

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
| '''available solution''' || '''current state''' || '''download location'''
|-
| SoaS ''Beta'' || beta quality || http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/releases/soas-beta.iso
|-
| SoaS ''Snapshot'' || varying quality || {{SoaS-2 path}}
|-
| SoaS ''Virtual Appliance'' || alpha quality || {{SoaS-2 app-path}}
|-
|}

Previous snapshots are provided in the subsequent directories on http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/.

=== Testing ===

We are looking for help with Hardware testing. If you can help please look at [[/Hardware| these instructions]].

For testing SoaS, you might want to follow the Sugar [[Smoke_test| Smoke Test]] procedures.
See the [[/Getting Involved| Getting Involved]] page for details.

=== Join the development effort ===

* We are experimenting with the [http://schools.sugarlabs.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=530 Sugar Labs Moodle system] to help in coordinating deployment work on this project.
* Development discussions take place on the Sugar-Devel email list, http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel.
* Real-time development chat is at irc://irc.freenode.net#sugar Mibbit: [http://embed.mibbit.com/?server=irc.freenode.net&channel=%23sugar&noServerTab=false #sugar]
*[http://git.sugarlabs.org/projects/soas Gitorious SoaS home]

=== Roadmap ===

Review and contribute to plans and schedules on the [[/Roadmap| Project roadmap page]].

== See Also ==
* [[OLPC:Rawhide-XO]] for the closely related development of Sugar for the XO-1 laptop on Fedora 11.
* [[Deployment Team/School_Key]] Information on various Sugar on a Stick deployments.
* Protocol for [[April 17 Olin Play Session]]
* Notes from [[April 18th YMCA Healthy Kids Day]]

===[[/Subpages]]===

[[Category:Project]]