Getting wi-fi on an OLPC

So I finally got WPA working on my OLPC after upgrading to Build 656 (G1G1 came with 650). The various workarounds I'd read didn't work for me, although it's probably true that my fiddling and tinkering didn't help things. Anyway, for posterity here's what I did to get WPA working:

  1. Downloaded the latest build, placed it on a USB stick (needs about 300 MB of space) and loaded it up. Full instructions here: OLPC Off-line update steps. This involves clearing out everything on the machine, which for me was nothing of consequence.
  2. Remove network.cfg from /home/olpc/.sugar/nm/. A reboot might be necessary afterwards to get the OLPC to forget the old network.cfg settings.
  3. In the Neighbourhood view, click on the WPA point and enter the password in plain-text. The connection dialog imposes an 8 character minimum, but you'd want a fairly large keyphrase anyway. The 10 character limit I read about did not apply to me, or perhaps no longer applies with 656.

All in all the setup seems simple enough. Clearing out the network.cfg file was the key step that hadn't occurred to me before. I also tried the manual WPA setup instructions, but the lack of copy and paste in the Terminal application (now my biggest beef) made this a particular ungainly approach, not helped at all by the lack of a non-visual cue when pressing keys on that tiny keyboard.

So.. now what shall I do with it? I had originally pictured myself using it to write up entries when I'm out. But it's rare that I'll be in a place with WiFi and that I'll just happen to have my OLPC with me. Oooh.. seems they already had a few OLPC workshops in Toronto. I wonder what went on there, and how I can get involved? I think having OLPCs given out to kids in remote areas of Canada, kids who have not seen or used a computer before, would be a great project that I could definitely get behind.

Hmmm, perhaps this is what I'm looking for: Ontario (was Toronto) OLPC user group.

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