Tutorials/Introduction to the Sugar Interface

  • Use the ← left________________________right → links in the colored bar below
to connect to another part of this Annotated Guide to Sugar
Sugar Creation Kit Use Blue Bars to Navigate this Tutorial Connecting to the Internet

Introduction to the Sugar Interface

  • You can run Sugar in several ways:
Run from the Live CD - Burn the .iso file to a CD.
Load the CD or .iso onto a bootable USB device - Sugar-on-a-Stick
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_and_use_Live_USB
Install to your Hard Drive -Install live CD's to your Hard disk including 8GB or larger USB sticks ; SD and class 10 SDXC Cards
Use VirtualBox:
Install to VirtualBox from a CD/DVD or an .iso file
Import an existing VirtualBox Appliance File
Note:For All Screen-shots:
Click on Screen-shot to enlarge it
Use your Browsers <== Back arrow to return here

First Start Screens

When Sugar is started for the first time it boots to a screen that shows:
First Screen where you enter a name
  • NAME:(_____________)
  • _________________________(=>Next)
  • Click on (=>Next) and Sugar goes to the
Second Screen where you choose your XO "Avitar" colors
  • _______Click to change color:
  • ______________XO
  • (<= Back)____________(=>Done)
(the color of the central XO Avitar changes each time it is clicked.)
These screens set the name and color of your XO "Avitar" and generate a unique ssh user key for this Sugar Instance
  • These screens run only one time and do not repeat on next boot; if there is Persistence (changes can be saved)
  • Click on (=>Done) and Sugar goes to the f3 Boot Screen

How to Clear the Keys and users name and color entries

It is important to not use duplicated SoaS USB-sticks which have not been cleared this way as there will be network collisions caused by the duplicate identities (ssh keys)

Home (or f3) Boot Screen

Sugar boots to this Screen
It contains a circle of activities
It becomes a spiral if a large number of Activities are "Favorites"
and is reached with the Home (or f3) key
Click on Any of the Activities in the circle and the activity will start
This links to the sugarlabs wiki page listing information and descriptions on most sugar-activities and how to download them.
Also look at the OLPC Activities List (OLD for reference only)
You will leave this Introduction if you click these links^
To return Click the <== Back arrow on your browser.

 

If you hover over the round icon, in the top bar, it will show a drop-down menu (Not shown)
With 2 icons:
  1. Stack of 3 boxes in a triangle -(changes the activity display to a random one on the desktop-You can drag them into an arrangement you prefer.)
  2. Circle with dot in center - (Circular/Spiral View)
  • Hover over the center XO Avitar and a drop down box appears (Shown Above)

On the top right bar are 2 icons
Click on the one with horizontal lines (The list view)

 

Click on Any of the Activities in the list and the activity will start.
click on the "star" to the left of the activity on the list view
It will alternate as a colored or outlined star.
If the star is colored, It becomes a "Favorite" and will be listed in the Activity circle/spiral on the other screen for f3
Click on the circular figure on the top bar
You switch back to the Home (or f3) circular view
In the Center is the users XO figure
Hover over the XO figure and a Drop Down Box Appears

 

My Settings

(a "Control Panel" page where you set the configuration of Sugar)
  • Select the "My Settings"
You switch to the :Control Panel"

 

Here you can click on each of the items to make changes to how Sugar Works
Like Language or Keyboard setting
Also look at OLPC Sugar Control Panel
You will leave this Introduction if you click this link^
To return Click the <== Back arrow on your browser.'
This is a very complete description-(Important Information)
Slightly out of dats as it covers an older version of XO-1 OLPC
RECOMMENDED READING


About Me

 

(From F16 SoaS Pineapple Booted live CD)
Change the color of your XO identity
This will vary on the version of sugar you are using
5 Avitars:(Click on any version of the XO except the center one -center shows your current colors)
1 Avitar:(Click on the XO "Avitar" if there is only one shown)
Colors change with each click
Change your name (edit it)
click ( check mark ); to save ( X ) to escape with no changes
  • You will have to restart Sugar after these changes

About My Computer

Shows Sugar Version and Operating system information

 

Accessibility

Not present in most sugar versions
(This is Trisquel 5.0- which has some Dextrose3 features)

 

Date & Time

set your Time Zone

Frame

sets the corner and edge sensitivity of the frame to the cursor

 

  • Move the bottom slider in the <=== fully left
This will make extending the frame easier

Keyboard and Language

Language and Keyboard Settings

Use to set these up in sugar
Requires a reboot after changes are made

Modem Configuration

Set up mobile broadband connection to a cellular(3G) network

 

Network

Shows the Jabber Connection Information

 

fill in the field of the jabber server:
Jabber.sugarlabs.org (default on SoaS)
This field is blank on OLPC XO-1 and XO-1.5 machines
Community Jabber Servers Listing of other jabber.servers- (May not be always working)

Software Update

Updates the applications installed in your sugar

 

Check the Activities you want to upgrade
This will only upgrade activities that you have installed
Or ask to install new ones in some versions of sugar
This may be customized in deployments with a School server.
To exit the control-panel hit the (X) or (check mark if it appears :it saves changes) in the frame bar right corner

Network Neighborhood

Click   in the frame or Hit F1 key and you switch to the Neighborhood View.
Move the mouse pointer to upper right corner of window to expose frame
(wait for it to appear there is a time delay)
The delay and sensitivity of this is set in the "Control Panel"
See the section on the frame discussed above

 

  • This is a description of what is showing in this frame:
Starting in the top Right corner and moving Clockwise ===>
Right side
  1. The User's XO Avitar- (the same drop down menu will be shown here as in the f3 home view.

Any other Users you are Collaborating with will be shown below the User's Avitar )

Bottom
  1. Battery indicator (% Charge Level)
  2. Speaker - (Set Volume and Mute)
  3. Wired Network - (Connection and Speed and IP Address.)
  4. Wireless or Ad-Hoc Network Connection - (Connected-disconnect Channel IP Adress)
  5. System Resources- (CPU and Memory Usage in % )-Trisquel and Dextrose3 only
  6. Feedback - (Submit comments)-Trisquel and Dextrose3 only
Left Side
  1. Will contain icons of clippings
Top
  1. f-1 Neighborhood-(Jabber View)
  2. f-2 Group-(See the Avitars of your friends-this screen is not used for much anymore in Sugar)
  3. f-3 Home View-(Circular and List Views)
  4. f-4 Activity
  5. Journal-(Display Journal)-Drop down: Show Contents and xxx MB Free Space
  • move mouse pointer to center of window to retract frame.

 

You are the XO in the center.
Hover on it and the same drop-down menu will appear as in f3
All the other XO figures are other users on the jabber network
Hover the cursor over one of them and a pop up will give their name
NOTE: icons of Shared activities may appear here.
Hover over the icon and click "Join" on the drop-down menu to begin Collaboration (working with the other user) in the activity.
(There are no shared activities shown in the screen-shot)
hit Home (or f3) and return to the main screen

Shutdown Sugar

 

Choose shutdown on the drop down box
Wait until sugar SoaS shuts down completely before removing the USB-stick
If you just pull it out without waiting after shutdown; you will corrupt the USB-stick' and it will never start again.
It needs to write information about your journal before it shuts down. (Notice the LED on the USB-stick flashes for a while after shutdown)
Re-login to Trisquel after restart from My Settings
If you encounter a re-start of the Trisquel 5.0 Sugar live CD
Caused by a color/name change or other change in My Settings that require a restart
This is NOT the same as the f3 drop down selection Restart which shuts down the CD and ejects it.

It will come up on a login screen:

  • (other) <===Click on it
  • [_______]<==Enter trisquel here
  • Password: (leave it blank)
  • hit (Login)
  • Sugar will restart with the changes.
  • Use the ← left________________________right → links in the colored bar below
to connect to another part of this Annotated Guide to Sugar
Sugar Creation Kit Use Blue Bars to Navigate this Tutorial Connecting to the Internet