Updates to Kano OS are pretty big, can take a while, and if you lose power, or internet connectivity, have a habit of going wobbly.
My 10yo son and I just spent 4 hours today troubleshooting this issue so I wanted to put an FYI out there in case anyone else runs into the same issue.On the plus side, it was a good lesson for my son about troubleshooting and using logical problem-solving and the resources of Google to resolve your issue rather than throwing your hands up and scrapping the whole thing while complaining on the internet. Still a nagging worry about the forced uninstall and the reboot proved it.
This makes them most useful for checking whether a claimed fix actually works.
Leafpad. No updates required…Now interestingly – there is a dependency on rpi-chromium-mods-kano, which perhaps explains why this broke. When we tried to log into his Google account it just gave us an error page saying “this site can’t be reached”. Use the following instructions to find builds: Easy Point and Click for latest build: Open up https://download-chromium.appspot.com. The Kano Community Forum is a place where makers can help other makers, share projects, comment on libraries and get inspired by the Kano community. Anyway – it also uninstalls the update so back to the original issue. Was looking for solutions to both the issue and parental controls!tldr: Kano, please include some type of notice for users that “ultimate” level parental control settings are preventing web access, and a link to instructions for accessing parental controls. This newer version will always be overshadowed by Kano's rpi-chromium-mods-kano.
Chromium builds do not auto-update, and do not have symbols. Hang on. Imagine my frustration when I went to open the web browser to log him into the program, and it wouldn’t allow us internet access (despite wifi being connected with no issues) and opened a tab saying an update was needed (no indication of whether it was Kano or Chromium that needed updated).
Anyway – it also uninstalls the update so back to the original issue.Second lesson: kano maintenance is harder than I feel it should be…Of late the browser has been complaining that it is out of date, and it should be updated.
3. Thanks. That was easy to change once we … - it’s stopped recognising Chromium (the browser on Kano OS) as Chrome. A lightweight text editor. So I retried my original command above to see if I can now update chromium-browser and it now works. Chromium, the open-source version of the Google Chrome internet browser. No more dashboard.
Chris I had chosen Kano intending for him to use it for some homeschool tasks as well as the built-in tech learning, including a web-based typing program. This is to make sure your kit doesn't switch off during the updating process.
Therefore, when we update the Raspberry Pi mirrors, we get a new version of the original rpi-chromium-mods. First lesson: -y is bad, do not use unless you have a very good idea of what you are saying yes to (-y assumes yes on all the questions… so it’s bad). We’re going to try a few things out, and see if we can work out a solution - this seems to be a widespread issue for people wanting to use the web version of Whatsapp? When it says that chromium-browser is "kept back" it means that there is a package that has been add/modified to the repository that must be installed before the chromium-browser can be updated. I also learned, once I could access the Chromium settings, that the default “new tab” page was set to Kano’s “you need an update” page.
As such, in order to update the package, you'll simply need to unpack the newer version of rpi-chromium-mods and add the files to this repository. It would also be nice to put out some kind of clarification about the “you need an update” page as that sent me on a rabbit trail for several hours thinking an out-of-date browser app or system was the reason for lack of web access.
Now interestingly – there is a dependency on rpi-chromium-mods-kano, which perhaps explains why this broke.
So first up run the kano updater – and … nothing. It looks like something is broken in the web version of Whatsapp? Before launching an update, make sure you have plugged your Computer Kit Complete into the main power supply.
Kano OS comes with a simple but powerful tool to keep your system always up to date: Kano Updater.