5 ms·
Just so you know, switches in something as complicated as a laptop have a good chance at being connected to a processor , with firmware being the thing that det
by milesvp 6y ago
Just so you know, switches in something as complicated as a laptop have a good chance at being connected to a processor , with firmware being the thing that determines what the switch does. So you still need trust, even with a physical switch.
Source: write firmware for a living, and write drivers for physical switches.
- philwelch 6y agoIt doesn’t need to be a switch. My current work laptop is an HP. It has a little plastic camera cover that slides back and forth to cover the camera.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y agoThat's a good point. I'm guessing that people calling for a "hardware switch" implicitly mean one that cannot be overridden by firmware. I.e., a traditional switch inline on the circuit(s) connecting the camera / microphone to the rest of the system.
- saagarjha 6y agoOn MacBooks Apple says their microphone disconnect is "done in hardware alone", so it might be that closing the lid disconnects something physically.
- amelius 6y agoIt should be implemented with the same robustness as if the user's life depended on it. As an analogy, you wouldn't implement a car brake by running it through some firmware. Instead, you'd preferably make a direct physical connection between the pedal and the actual brake.