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Messages - DKnoto

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1
After switching to the 6.6.9-200 kernel, I started getting unexpected system transitions to the SUSPEND state and then I could not restore the system to normal operation other than by shutting it down and turning it back on.

I found the solution quite easily, this affliction happens on Fedora on different platforms. The problem is solved by executing the following commands:

Code: [Select]
$ sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target

2
After all, we have, for example, FreeBSD and it seems to be a "Fully Free Software OS"  ;)


3
Talos II / Re: Talos II reboots itself
« on: January 15, 2024, 01:26:10 am »
Over the past four days on kernel 6.6.9-200, I have made more than a dozen attempts to connect various devices to USB ports and the situation has not repeated.

4
Talos II / Re: Talos II reboots itself
« on: January 11, 2024, 04:45:13 am »
On the kernel 6.6.8-200.fc39.ppc64le I have recently had similar instances of reboots but they occurred when connecting a device to USB, printer, iPad. On kernel 6.6.9-200.fc39.ppc64le it has been correct for two days.

5
Firmware / Adventures in reverse engineering broadcom nic firmware
« on: December 28, 2023, 12:11:59 pm »
Unlocking a system with 100% open source firmware

Quote
In an era where vendors increasingly seek to use proprietary software in the devices around us to exert control over their users, the desire for open source software has expanded to the firmware that allows our machines to function, and platforms which individuals can trust and control have never been more important. However, changes to hardware platforms in recent years such as the Intel ME, vendor-supplied binary blobs and vendor-signed firmware images have repeatedly set back efforts to create open source firmware for the computers we use. The release of Power servers with 99% open source firmware excited many who had been searching for a computer they could trust, but one proprietary firmware blob remained: that of the Ethernet controller. This is the story of how that blob was reverse engineered and replaced with an open source replacement, delivering the first machine with desktop-class performance and 100% open source firmware in many years.

This talk is about how I reverse engineered the final remaining firmware blob on the Talos II/Blackbird POWER9 systems, enabling it to be replaced with an open source replacement, in an intensive reverse engineering effort that spanned several years.

The talk will begin by introducing the open source firmware movement and its practical and ethical motivations, and note the obstacles to delivering fully open source firmware for contemporary x86 and other platforms and explaining the motive behind the project, before moving onto a more technical discussion of the adventure of firmware reverse engineering and the obstacles encountered.

Subjects I intend to cover include: how the original proprietary firmware was reverse engineered from scratch with only limited knowledge of device internals; the long history of Broadcom NIC architecture and its evolution over time; the tools that had to be developed to enable the device probing, testing and reversing process; the story of a horrifying but necessary detour into reversing x86 real mode code and the novel methodology used to aid reversing; how modern NICs allow BMCs in servers to share network ports with the host, and the security hazards this creates; and how fully open source firmware was created legally using a clean room process.

This talk will be accessible to audiences unfamiliar with POWER9 or the open source firmware community, but is also intended to cover some new ground and be of interest to those familiar with the project. The talk will mainly be of interest to those interested in open source firmware and issues such as owner control and the security and auditability issues caused by proprietary firmware, and to those interested in reverse engineering.

6
Talos II / Re: Talos II reboots itself
« on: December 10, 2023, 02:08:19 pm »
I think I need to hurry up, a while ago I had another crash. I wasn't doing anything in particular I was listening to music on YT and reading Twitter in Firefox. The worst part is that my FreeBSD in Qemu VM has destroyed again...  :(

7
Talos II / Re: Talos II reboots itself
« on: December 10, 2023, 02:02:21 am »
Have you considered re-flashing the firmware as MPC7500 suggested?

Yes, I'm considering it but I'm a little afraid to mess something up. I've never done it and my Talos II is my critical resource at the moment.

8
Talos II / Re: Talos II reboots itself
« on: December 08, 2023, 01:01:22 am »
I have a power supply with a 10-year warranty ;) Thermaltake Toughpower TF1 1550W.

9
Talos II / Talos II reboots itself
« on: December 01, 2023, 03:23:34 pm »
Since September I have been having problems with spontaneous reboots of my machine, it has happened four times. Recently it was very annoying, the machine rebooted over and over again without loading the operating system. Only removing the power plug helped.

I managed to take a picture of what the report looks like after such a fall:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hk0zqvfjpidexnw7m1xln/Talos-II-2023-11-27-Crash.jpeg?rlkey=0jj34pjpv708zigt08kzfk3zl&dl=0

Any ideas what could cause this behavior?

10
Operating Systems and Porting / Re: [NEWS] Fedora 39 is here!
« on: November 17, 2023, 02:12:55 pm »
Today I finally found some free time and was tempted by Fedora 39. I did the installation in Qemu-7.0.0-15.fc37 on my Talos II. The whole process went through smoothly and took about 10 minutes. The problems only started when I tried to change the resolution. Gnome crashed and nothing could be done. I sent a PowerDown signal from Qemu. Fortunately, the kernel worked and the system shut down correctly. Re-logging in again crashed the system. Again PowerDown worked correctly. On the third try, I changed Wayland (the default) to X11 (my preferred) and Gnome no longer hung. It also allowed to change the resolution to a higher one, unfortunately the max was 1920x1080. I did the upgrade to the current versions of the packages, everything went without the slightest problems. In general, the system runs very smoothly, even the graphics mode in the virtual machine does not cause discomfort in use.

11
General Discussion / Re: Samsung PRO 980 1TB NVMe is working flawlessly
« on: September 20, 2023, 01:49:22 am »
Looking at the history of kernel performance changes in Fedora 37, I get the impression that no one does performance testing before releasing a kernel. The variability is high. It's a shame that Fedora developers don't see this.

SSD-Samsung-980-Pro-History-2023-09-20.png

12
Unfortunately, I also had very big PyCharm problems, it ran terribly slow, and I switched to Apache NetBeans plus https://github.com/albilu/netbeansPython.

13
Firmware / Re: Reduce fan speed during boot
« on: June 24, 2023, 03:12:39 am »
I used to be annoyed by the launch noise, too. I solved it in the simplest possible way. I don't turn off my Talos II. Now the machine hums at full load and on reboot after a kernel update.

14
Operating Systems and Porting / Re: Chimera Linux is entering alpha
« on: June 22, 2023, 04:26:52 am »
At my place GDM on Fedora 37 also starts with Xorg, on Chimera I also have the same thing. Anything wrong with that?

15
We have different points of view, I last used Debian something around 1995/6. I'm glad I don't have to use it but I wouldn't call it crap ;)
I didn't use Chromium either, for me the most important thing is maximum compatibility with RedHat but also access to the latest software, even at the cost of being a tester.

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