5 ms·

Flipper Zero: How it’s made and tested

107 points by vermilingua 5y ago

aphroz 5y ago
I like the way they communicate. It almost makes the wait enjoyable.
- anon776 5y ago
  It has been a long wait, but I am really impressed with the amount of work they have put into this.
  - Rebelgecko 5y ago
    Agreed. The transparency into all the issues that come with manufacturing a real product makes the wait a lot more understandable-- it's clear they didn't just take the money and run. Honestly, I almost feel like I'm getting my money's worth just from the blog posts
- sumo89 5y ago
  Easily the most frequent and interesting/meaningful updates for any Kickstarter that I've backed before.
tinkertamper 5y ago
If you can get one. Ordered mine last April, still don’t have it, no sign of getting it, and they don’t respond to email/Twitter. I’ve given up.
- mynameisvlad 5y ago
  You didn't "order" it. You backed a Kickstarter which has a reward that has no guarantee of shipping. They've been more than transparent on the delays they've had to deal with, and they launched a product during a global pandemic and supply shortage. I'd cut them some slack.
  - tinkertamper 5y ago
    Let me put it this way, I was backer #816. They currently have 37,987 backers. They raised $4,882,784 during a global pandemic. I think I’m not off base when I said “If you can get one.”
    - mynameisvlad 5y ago
      Just because they raised 4 million dollars doesn't mean they are immune to a global supply chain shortage. It's only 5 months late, it's like you've never backed a Kickstarter before.
      - tinkertamper 5y ago
        Ok, it’s clear where you stand. I’m not here to be negative, only to share with folks interested in the product that they are significantly back logged. Hopefully everyone knows what the means in a Kickstarter context. Their marketing is great, the jury is still out on their actual product.
        Dylan16807 5y ago
        If you're not here to be negative, then 1) don't say "no sign of getting it" and "I've given up" about something that's going through the early to medium stages of production with lots of updates, and 2) don't just say you ordered it "last April" without even mentioning that it was already expected to take 10 months even then. "If you can get one. They're behind schedule and haven't shipped any yet." would have been fine.
      - sschueller 5y ago
        They were lucky and had the orders for the chip in before the shortage. If they didn't the delay would be a lot greater than 5 months.
    - cstrat 5y ago
      No one has one - none have shipped. Your backer position is irrelevant right now. If they had released a batch of 2000 and you missed out, yes I'd be upset. They are still fine tuning their tooling to mass produce. It's way behind schedule, but with everything on kickstarter - allow for 2x the time to avoid disappointment.
- cstrat 5y ago
  Everyone is in the same boat - they are taking time with production. At least they are communicating and showing the effort that is going into production. This is 100x better than some of the other products I've `backed` on crowdsourcing platforms.
  - freen 5y ago
    Frankly, I feel like the blog posts and updates Aline are worth the price of the doohickey itself. I’ve learned so much about electronics manufacturing!
    - cstrat 5y ago
      Learned so much and turned me off ever wanting to manufacture something!
- jumelles 5y ago
  There’s a quite active Discord server.
cstrat 5y ago
I loved their post on the iButton. https://blog.flipperzero.one/taming-ibutton/ https://blog.flipperzero.one/taming-ibutton/ I've never actually come across this interface. It's not common in Australia, I still really enjoyed the write up and seeing how they overcame the difficulties.
- teclordphrack2 5y ago
  I've seen the same or similar lock device on fast food safes.
- exikyut 5y ago
  I think I started noticing circa ~2003 (and possibly as far back as ~1999) how cleaners at larger shopping centers (like Westfields) in Sydney would prove they've visited a specific area by tapping a little box they carry with them against iButtons discretely squirreled away in random corners. You generally have to know where to look to find them; the easiest way would probably be to get into the habit of hawkeyeing every cleaner you see, particularly if they're walking somewhere - but I noticed (back when I was actively hunting for the things) they tended to pop up around entries/exits for some reason (including major entrances and carpark exits). The epoxy jobs I often see anchoring iButtons to walls visibly aren't at the level of detail/engineering required to run invisible wiring (eg through concrete) etc, so I theorize that the iButtons themselves are completely passive (eg, they contain a resistor, or maybe a microcontroller), and the box is a transponder (unlikely) or that it records to internal storage and then gets dropped onto a sync cradle (more likely). The gadgets the cleaners use are very literally about as featureful as a cigarette packet: a dark grey rectangle with an iButton connector on the back and a small LCD. I've not really ever had the impetus to go pin a cleaner down and politely ask for more details :D
  - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
    They contain an EEPROM and/or a microcontroller. Some just play a serial number, others can run full-blown Java (or maybe it was JavaCard) applets. "Java Ring" was such an iButton on a ring to be worn.
annoyingnoob 5y ago
Looks like a fun gadget. Definitely going to check that out, should be able to do some interesting things. I have reader/writer that handles several RFID/NFC chip frequencies. When I replace a fob at the office my co-workers think I'm doing something legit - they have no idea that I have a cheap device from Asia that can clone them. And I could clone your fob silently just standing next to you in the lunch line, you wouldn't even know.
wpietri 5y ago
For those wondering what it is, "Flipper Zero is a portable multi-tool for pentesters and geeks in a toy-like body": https://flipperzero.one/ https://flipperzero.one/ It has a bunch of receiver/transmitter hardware and software. Definitely looks fun to play with!
YouCanDoBetter 5y ago
I ordered one of these. I've ordered tons of goofy lil gadgets and doo-dads over the years, but I've been super impressed by their transparency and progress on their quality! I really can't wait to see if I can start replaying RFID fobs I use in my daily life with this.
SavantIdiot 5y ago
Reminds me of the early days of the Pineapple before everyone switched to WPA2 (yes, I know you can attempt to have the cloud crack WPA2 after getting enough IVs but APs are smart enough to know when someone is issuing resets). Hack5 makes some great stuff, but almost everything they is now obsolete due to improved sec. Well, I guess in non-US countries where the hardware is older. I think Flipper0 it'll be fun for playing with garage door openers, or maybe some local havok on non-NIST cert'd NFC cards, but I don't really see much else. BLE has bonding and Wi-Fi has TLS1.3 for embedded (smaller ciphersuites), so no go there, and flash programmers already spoken for. Sooo.. what am I missing?

107 points by vermilingua 5y ago

aphroz 5y ago

I like the way they communicate. It almost makes the wait enjoyable.

anon776 5y ago
It has been a long wait, but I am really impressed with the amount of work they have put into this.
- Rebelgecko 5y ago
  Agreed. The transparency into all the issues that come with manufacturing a real product makes the wait a lot more understandable-- it's clear they didn't just take the money and run. Honestly, I almost feel like I'm getting my money's worth just from the blog posts
sumo89 5y ago
Easily the most frequent and interesting/meaningful updates for any Kickstarter that I've backed before.

tinkertamper 5y ago

If you can get one. Ordered mine last April, still don’t have it, no sign of getting it, and they don’t respond to email/Twitter. I’ve given up.

mynameisvlad 5y ago
You didn't "order" it. You backed a Kickstarter which has a reward that has no guarantee of shipping. They've been more than transparent on the delays they've had to deal with, and they launched a product during a global pandemic and supply shortage. I'd cut them some slack.
- tinkertamper 5y ago
  Let me put it this way, I was backer #816. They currently have 37,987 backers. They raised $4,882,784 during a global pandemic. I think I’m not off base when I said “If you can get one.”
  - mynameisvlad 5y ago
    Just because they raised 4 million dollars doesn't mean they are immune to a global supply chain shortage. It's only 5 months late, it's like you've never backed a Kickstarter before.
    - tinkertamper 5y ago
      Ok, it’s clear where you stand. I’m not here to be negative, only to share with folks interested in the product that they are significantly back logged. Hopefully everyone knows what the means in a Kickstarter context. Their marketing is great, the jury is still out on their actual product.
      - Dylan16807 5y ago
        If you're not here to be negative, then 1) don't say "no sign of getting it" and "I've given up" about something that's going through the early to medium stages of production with lots of updates, and 2) don't just say you ordered it "last April" without even mentioning that it was already expected to take 10 months even then. "If you can get one. They're behind schedule and haven't shipped any yet." would have been fine.
    - sschueller 5y ago
      They were lucky and had the orders for the chip in before the shortage. If they didn't the delay would be a lot greater than 5 months.
  - cstrat 5y ago
    No one has one - none have shipped. Your backer position is irrelevant right now. If they had released a batch of 2000 and you missed out, yes I'd be upset. They are still fine tuning their tooling to mass produce. It's way behind schedule, but with everything on kickstarter - allow for 2x the time to avoid disappointment.
cstrat 5y ago
Everyone is in the same boat - they are taking time with production. At least they are communicating and showing the effort that is going into production. This is 100x better than some of the other products I've `backed` on crowdsourcing platforms.
- freen 5y ago
  Frankly, I feel like the blog posts and updates Aline are worth the price of the doohickey itself. I’ve learned so much about electronics manufacturing!
  - cstrat 5y ago
    Learned so much and turned me off ever wanting to manufacture something!
jumelles 5y ago
There’s a quite active Discord server.

cstrat 5y ago

I loved their post on the iButton. https://blog.flipperzero.one/taming-ibutton/ https://blog.flipperzero.one/taming-ibutton/ I've never actually come across this interface. It's not common in Australia, I still really enjoyed the write up and seeing how they overcame the difficulties.

teclordphrack2 5y ago
I've seen the same or similar lock device on fast food safes.
exikyut 5y ago
I think I started noticing circa ~2003 (and possibly as far back as ~1999) how cleaners at larger shopping centers (like Westfields) in Sydney would prove they've visited a specific area by tapping a little box they carry with them against iButtons discretely squirreled away in random corners. You generally have to know where to look to find them; the easiest way would probably be to get into the habit of hawkeyeing every cleaner you see, particularly if they're walking somewhere - but I noticed (back when I was actively hunting for the things) they tended to pop up around entries/exits for some reason (including major entrances and carpark exits). The epoxy jobs I often see anchoring iButtons to walls visibly aren't at the level of detail/engineering required to run invisible wiring (eg through concrete) etc, so I theorize that the iButtons themselves are completely passive (eg, they contain a resistor, or maybe a microcontroller), and the box is a transponder (unlikely) or that it records to internal storage and then gets dropped onto a sync cradle (more likely). The gadgets the cleaners use are very literally about as featureful as a cigarette packet: a dark grey rectangle with an iButton connector on the back and a small LCD. I've not really ever had the impetus to go pin a cleaner down and politely ask for more details :D
- ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
  They contain an EEPROM and/or a microcontroller. Some just play a serial number, others can run full-blown Java (or maybe it was JavaCard) applets. "Java Ring" was such an iButton on a ring to be worn.

annoyingnoob 5y ago

Looks like a fun gadget. Definitely going to check that out, should be able to do some interesting things. I have reader/writer that handles several RFID/NFC chip frequencies. When I replace a fob at the office my co-workers think I'm doing something legit - they have no idea that I have a cheap device from Asia that can clone them. And I could clone your fob silently just standing next to you in the lunch line, you wouldn't even know.

wpietri 5y ago

For those wondering what it is, "Flipper Zero is a portable multi-tool for pentesters and geeks in a toy-like body": https://flipperzero.one/ https://flipperzero.one/ It has a bunch of receiver/transmitter hardware and software. Definitely looks fun to play with!

YouCanDoBetter 5y ago

I ordered one of these. I've ordered tons of goofy lil gadgets and doo-dads over the years, but I've been super impressed by their transparency and progress on their quality! I really can't wait to see if I can start replaying RFID fobs I use in my daily life with this.

SavantIdiot 5y ago

Reminds me of the early days of the Pineapple before everyone switched to WPA2 (yes, I know you can attempt to have the cloud crack WPA2 after getting enough IVs but APs are smart enough to know when someone is issuing resets). Hack5 makes some great stuff, but almost everything they is now obsolete due to improved sec. Well, I guess in non-US countries where the hardware is older. I think Flipper0 it'll be fun for playing with garage door openers, or maybe some local havok on non-NIST cert'd NFC cards, but I don't really see much else. BLE has bonding and Wi-Fi has TLS1.3 for embedded (smaller ciphersuites), so no go there, and flash programmers already spoken for. Sooo.. what am I missing?