<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18812"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I've done considerable testing of SoaS Strawberry on legacy PC's: 1 Pentium II laptop, and 3 Pentium III desktops.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>First of all, Caroline was correct about CD and floppy boot assists; I was wrong. It takes *at most* a minute more to boot from a floppy. Occasionally, the floppy is even a bit faster. (I set timeout = 0 on my floppy assists.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>All these systems have non-bootable USB ports, but do boot from either CD or floppy.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>My Pentium II (IBM ThinkPad, 233MHz) is a complete disaster either way. Anywhere from 8-9+ minutes to boot up. Won't make it through an Activity. More than 2 minutes to instigate an Activity from its icon. Bottom line: don't even consider Pentium II's.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The Pentium III's included one running at 500MHz and two at 1GHz. The former limped along, barely useable (an IBM Aptiva). Boot times for the Aptiva = 4.5 to 5.5 minutes. Kids would get highly frustrated by the pokey Activity runs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Of the 1GHz machines (a Dell Inspiron and an HP), the Dell did somewhat better. Boot times = 3-4 minutes for the Dell, 4-5+ for the HP. Activity running was adequate, if a bit sluggish.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I certainly understand Caroline's limiting her donations to Pentium IV's. They run SoaS satisfactorily - similar to the native XO. (Native XO is noticeably faster than SoaS on the XO.) I do think, however, "higher end" (i.e., 1GHz) Pentium III's would work "OK" with SoaS where necessary.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>One disappointment: t</FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial>wo of the three Pentium III's did not have their on-board audio recognized by SoaS: they were silent (though their sound works fine in Windows). Only the Dell played - well, and without sonic stutter. This potential lack of audio would seem a real problem for SoaS.</FONT> <FONT size=2 face=Arial>It's certainly a major issue for my music Activity.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Art Hunkins</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=caroline@solutiongrove.com href="mailto:caroline@solutiongrove.com">Caroline Meeks</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=abhunkin@uncg.edu href="mailto:abhunkin@uncg.edu">Art Hunkins</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org">iaep</A> ; <A title=sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org">Sugar-dev Devel</A> ; <A title=community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org">community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org</A> ; <A title=walter.bender@gmail.com href="mailto:walter.bender@gmail.com">Walter Bender</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, September 13, 2009 6:10 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Sugar-devel] Bill Bogstad's floppy disk boot (Soas)</DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote> <DIV bgcolor="#ffffff"> <DIV> <DIV class=im>some idea of what is going on.<BR><BR></DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I've tested CD helper vs. floppy helper on Pentium III generation computer. On these, floppies take *way* longer than CD's: 5 minutes (minimum) to 1 (actually, more like 10:2). Even though boot times are significant, the actual *Activity* executions are satisfactory (though hardly "peppy"). Overall performance is similar to the XO-1.</FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR>Wow, thats very different then the results I've gotten. I found that it took a minute for the floppy to boot, then it starts the USB boot which takes the same amount of time as it does without the floppy. Thus we add about a minute.  I wonder what the difference is.<BR> <BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote> <DIV bgcolor="#ffffff"> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV><FONT color=#888888> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Art Hunkins</FONT></DIV></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,0,0) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir=ltr> <DIV class=im> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: rgb(228,228,228); font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous"><B>From:</B> <A title=solutiongrove@gmail.com href="mailto:solutiongrove@gmail.com" target=_blank>Caroline Meeks</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>To:</B> <A title=abhunkin@uncg.edu href="mailto:abhunkin@uncg.edu" target=_blank>Art Hunkins</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=walter.bender@gmail.com href="mailto:walter.bender@gmail.com" target=_blank>Walter Bender</A> ; <A title=community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org</A> ; <A title=iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>iaep</A> ; <A title=sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org href="mailto:sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>Sugar-dev Devel</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, September 13, 2009 10:48 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Sugar-devel] Bill Bogstad's floppy disk boot (Soas)</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=h5>I tested this on the GPA computer lab computers. It takes about 1 more minute (4.5 vs 3.5) to boot.  I think that it will take more then a minute on average to give all the students CDs, have them open the CD drawer, turn off the computer, turn it on again and collect all the CD at the end of class so that the next class boots into Windows.  My plan is the floppies can just live in the machines, not pushed in all the way. <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>The current version requires the user to press enter 1 minute into the process. Can we get a version that we just start the boot, then goto the rug for our lesson and 4.5 minutes later the machines are booted?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Thanks!<BR><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Art Hunkins <SPAN dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:abhunkin@uncg.edu" target=_blank>abhunkin@uncg.edu</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote>With regard to Bill Bogstad's floppy boot disk project for SoaS: it works<BR>flawlessly for me. (I've tried it successfully on both an older Windows<BR>laptop and desktop - vintages: Pentium II/III.)<BR><BR>I've one suggestion for Bill: for use by children, I'd make everything as<BR>automatic as possible. Either delete the display where the user needs to<BR>make a choice (it's *way* technical and *I* didn't know what to do), or put<BR>a (10"?) auto-timer on it so that it goes on through (the usual way) without<BR>user intervention.<BR><BR>For Windows people: I suggest creating the boot disk with RAWriteWin. It's<BR>simple, user-friendly and efficient.<BR><BR>Great job, Bill.<BR><BR>Art Hunkins<BR><BR>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: "Walter Bender" <<A href="mailto:walter.bender@gmail.com" target=_blank>walter.bender@gmail.com</A>><BR>To: <<A href="mailto:community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>community-news@lists.sugarlabs.org</A>><BR>Cc: "iaep" <<A href="mailto:iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org</A>>; "Sugar-dev Devel"<BR><<A href="mailto:sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org</A>><BR>Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 9:55 AM<BR>Subject: [Sugar-devel] Sugar Digest 2009-09-11<BR><BR><BR>=== Sugar Digest ===<BR><BR>7. Bill Bogstad has been working on a floppy boot disk for Sugar on a<BR>Stick. See <A href="http://people.sugarlabs.org/%7Ebogstad/floppy/" target=_blank>http://people.sugarlabs.org/~bogstad/floppy/</A> for more<BR>details.<BR><BR>-walter<BR>--<BR>Walter Bender<BR>Sugar Labs<BR><A href="http://www.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>http://www.sugarlabs.org</A><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Sugar-devel mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel" target=_blank>http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel</A><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Sugar-devel mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org" target=_blank>Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel" target=_blank>http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Caroline Meeks<BR>Solution Grove<BR>Caroline@SolutionGrove.com<BR><BR>617-500-3488 - Office<BR>505-213-3268 - Fax<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Caroline Meeks<BR>Solution Grove<BR>Caroline@SolutionGrove.com<BR><BR>617-500-3488 - Office<BR>505-213-3268 - Fax<BR> <P> <HR> <P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>Sugar-devel mailing list<BR>Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org<BR>http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>