http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/ Engadget Comments for Are OLPC XO keyboards having widespread problems? http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 8:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
The keyboard revision on some of the mass production XOs have stuck CTRL and/or ALT keys. It's a pretty minor problem since there are fixes for in hardware and in software. Also, the cause has been known for a while; that's just an old forum post.

The hardware fix is to take it apart (intentionally an easy thing to do), and clean the area below the key with rubbing alcohol.

The software fix is to remap the key to the Meta (think Windows) key, which is currently unused.

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Stuck_keys]]>Apr 20th 2008 8:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 4:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 8:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
It makes me think... Of candy. I like it!]]>Apr 20th 2008 9:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 1:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Easy fix to it: Yes
Indicator of long term problems due to outsourcing and quality controls: Yes

I wonder if the designers realized that some of the people that get these items go to school in 3rd world nations where the school floor is dirt, and electricity is probably close to non-existant.


]]>Apr 20th 2008 8:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
Um, this is the whole point of this laptop. It's been designed specifically for such facts, which is why there's mesh networking (for all machines to share one internet connection), why the keyboard has a rubber covering in the first place (keep out dirt), why it's user serviceable and why you can also obtain solar charging or even hand-pull charging accessories. It's specifically *because* of the highly publicized attention to this kind of detail that failures such as stuck keys stand out and have become news.]]>Apr 20th 2008 9:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 9:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
also...
"DC power: 6mm (1.65mm center pin) connector; 11 to 18 V input usable, –32 to 40 V input tolerated; power draw limited to 15 W;"
http://www.laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml

It is very power efficient.

They did think of putting a crank in, but:
"The yellow crank, while cute, in the end proved impractical; it migrated to the AC adapter as it also morphed into one or more other types of human-power devices."
http://www.laptop.org/en/laptop/design/]]>Apr 20th 2008 9:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 8:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
Don't you mean frickin' laser beams of learning?]]>Apr 20th 2008 8:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 9:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 9:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
These things are specifically designed for hostile environments. They used a sealed membrane keyboard, rather than an off-the-shelf one in order to deal with dust and moisture. The laptop accepts a wide range of voltages, and can survive exposure to an even wider range. They aren't perfect; but the designers knew exactly what they were doing.]]>Apr 20th 2008 9:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 9:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 10:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
Actually I got a little chuckle when I read his post. With that, you, sir, fail.]]>Apr 20th 2008 10:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 5:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 9:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Given that they never seen a computer they'll probably interpret it as a feature. Gives new meaning to "sticky keys".]]>Apr 20th 2008 9:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 10:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 10:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 20th 2008 10:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 1:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 7:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 9:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 10:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/
I replaced my XO's keyboard with a tiny USB model that (mostly) fits in the same space: http://www.instructables.com/id/Installing-a-USB-Keyboard-into-an-OLPC-XO-Laptop-/

The amazing thing about these laptops is the software. It's a bit flaky, and a bit slow, both of which are mostly the result of small memory and slow clock speed, but when you get two of these laptops in a room and put them on a mesh network, you'll see the real fun of these machines.

It's too bad that such a key (ha ha) component has so many common failures (stuck keys, keycaps pulling off, etc), essentially dooming a large percentage of these machines. Seems like OLPC should have included some replacement parts with each XO, especially a backup keyboard.]]>Apr 21st 2008 11:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/are-olpc-xo-keyboards-having-widespread-problems/Apr 21st 2008 1:44PM