8 ms·

Beware connecting GPD devices to your home or corporate network: https://old.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/8qfvuh/warning_new_gpd_win_2_units_are_shipping_with

by perth 5y ago

Beware connecting GPD devices to your home or corporate network: https://old.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/8qfvuh/warning_new_gpd_win_2_units_are_shipping_with https://old.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/8qfvuh/warning_new_... https://old.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/n5u1sy/yep_malware_found_on_gpd_win_3 https://old.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/n5u1sy/yep_malware_...

snvzz 5y ago
It's been a while. Years. Since they were able to point their finger at an "offending binary", you'd think there'd be some published work on analysis of this binary by now. But I couldn't find any. Why?!
sschueller 5y ago
Wipe, install Linux
- entropicdrifter 5y ago
  Agreed, or use a clean debloated Windows image from the community's subreddit
  - aspenmayer 5y ago
    Is there an advantage to using their image, like hard to find/install drivers? I generally always advise people to use first party install media, in this case, via Media Creation Tool.
    - monocasa 5y ago
      Yeah, the GPD stuff generally has very specific to them drivers. Internally they straddle the line between regular PC and embedded device and there's some custom code to smooth over the differences.
      - int_19h 5y ago
        FWIW, at least some of their devices will happily work with a mainline Linux kernel. I have a GPD MicroPC running Debian Buster.
        monocasa 5y ago
        Yep, I've got a GPD Pocket running Mint.
        xarope 5y ago
        GPD pocket 2 running mint here too (well, until the battery bloated)
        monocasa 5y ago
        Oof, I'm sorry. I'm really lucky to not have hit any battery bloat issues it seems. I don't even treat it well, regularly leaving it in my car's back window sill.
      - aspenmayer 5y ago
        I’ve had a lot of trouble reinstalling Windows on similar devices, the worst of which was a 2-in-1 tablet laptop, RCA brand sold at Walmart. I forget the model exactly, but they sold new under $200, maybe even under $100 on sale. I couldn’t find the vendor who assembled them, but I think it was a W101 V or V2, originally shipping with Windows 8/8.1. Whenever I tried to clean install Windows 10, I could get everything to work but the touchscreen driver. I wish I still had that driver to see why it wouldn’t install, but I’m not sorry I don’t have the tablet, as it was a end user repair job. I tried DoubleDriver[0] to save my Windows 8 driver config, but it wouldn’t work under restore on Windows 10. I tried Snappy Driver Installer Origin[1], and none of the drivers in my driver db worked. I even tried DriverStoreExplorer[2] to manually install from the .cabs and .infs. No luck. I suspect it had OEM offsets, registry keys, or other customizations which are applied at install time. I eventually had to use the OEM factory reset through the Shift + Restart menu to reinstall Windows 8, then in-place upgrade to Windows 10. It really makes me wonder what the market forces and actors are doing, such that a poorly integrated, barely functional underpowered laptop, with nonstandard hardware and software, can be sold in big box stores. I suspect that price conscious customers with basic needs get the majority of these, closely followed by gifts for kids or other family/friends. I usually have great success with these tools, but certain hardware tends to have vendor/integrater modifications to the OEM driver. I didn’t have time to dig into the reasons why in this specific case, but the OEM didn’t even provide a driver/installer for this model for the touchscreen. I know that for some people losing a touchscreen may not be a big deal, but as I was doing the repair as a service, I wanted total restoration of original OEM state, ideally without any unnecessary bloat. Can’t win them all, I guess. I eventually got there, and it was the long way I knew would work, but it wasn’t the Windows 10 clean install I had hoped for the end user. They were more than happy with the repair and so I choose to be happy with the outcome also, if not with the hoops I had to jump through, which ended up being for naught. All’s well that ends well. [0] http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm [1] https://www.snappy-driver-installer.org https://www.snappy-driver-installer.org [2] https://github.com/lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer https://github.com/lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer
- chx 5y ago
  Don't. I posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656645 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656645 a number of times. Since then WSL v2 happened, even better.
- hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
  Unless there’s a firmware back door.
monocasa 5y ago
Are those for sure real? In a former job, I supported system software for Windows (among other OSes), and it'd be like once a quarter that one of the antivirus companies would mistakenly flag us as malware, and since they all share signatures, the others would all flag us like a week later. It was a huge pain, because they'd kill our auto update mechanism too.
- ianai 5y ago
  Login.exe has been flagged by AV before so I agree.
- emodendroket 5y ago
  I would agree, these don't look super compelling without some report of what the software allegedly does.

by perth 5y ago

snvzz 5y ago

It's been a while. Years. Since they were able to point their finger at an "offending binary", you'd think there'd be some published work on analysis of this binary by now. But I couldn't find any. Why?!

sschueller 5y ago

Wipe, install Linux

entropicdrifter 5y ago
Agreed, or use a clean debloated Windows image from the community's subreddit
- aspenmayer 5y ago
  Is there an advantage to using their image, like hard to find/install drivers? I generally always advise people to use first party install media, in this case, via Media Creation Tool.
  - monocasa 5y ago
    Yeah, the GPD stuff generally has very specific to them drivers. Internally they straddle the line between regular PC and embedded device and there's some custom code to smooth over the differences.
    - int_19h 5y ago
      FWIW, at least some of their devices will happily work with a mainline Linux kernel. I have a GPD MicroPC running Debian Buster.
      - monocasa 5y ago
        Yep, I've got a GPD Pocket running Mint.
        xarope 5y ago
        GPD pocket 2 running mint here too (well, until the battery bloated)
        monocasa 5y ago
        Oof, I'm sorry. I'm really lucky to not have hit any battery bloat issues it seems. I don't even treat it well, regularly leaving it in my car's back window sill.
    - aspenmayer 5y ago
      I’ve had a lot of trouble reinstalling Windows on similar devices, the worst of which was a 2-in-1 tablet laptop, RCA brand sold at Walmart. I forget the model exactly, but they sold new under $200, maybe even under $100 on sale. I couldn’t find the vendor who assembled them, but I think it was a W101 V or V2, originally shipping with Windows 8/8.1. Whenever I tried to clean install Windows 10, I could get everything to work but the touchscreen driver. I wish I still had that driver to see why it wouldn’t install, but I’m not sorry I don’t have the tablet, as it was a end user repair job. I tried DoubleDriver[0] to save my Windows 8 driver config, but it wouldn’t work under restore on Windows 10. I tried Snappy Driver Installer Origin[1], and none of the drivers in my driver db worked. I even tried DriverStoreExplorer[2] to manually install from the .cabs and .infs. No luck. I suspect it had OEM offsets, registry keys, or other customizations which are applied at install time. I eventually had to use the OEM factory reset through the Shift + Restart menu to reinstall Windows 8, then in-place upgrade to Windows 10. It really makes me wonder what the market forces and actors are doing, such that a poorly integrated, barely functional underpowered laptop, with nonstandard hardware and software, can be sold in big box stores. I suspect that price conscious customers with basic needs get the majority of these, closely followed by gifts for kids or other family/friends. I usually have great success with these tools, but certain hardware tends to have vendor/integrater modifications to the OEM driver. I didn’t have time to dig into the reasons why in this specific case, but the OEM didn’t even provide a driver/installer for this model for the touchscreen. I know that for some people losing a touchscreen may not be a big deal, but as I was doing the repair as a service, I wanted total restoration of original OEM state, ideally without any unnecessary bloat. Can’t win them all, I guess. I eventually got there, and it was the long way I knew would work, but it wasn’t the Windows 10 clean install I had hoped for the end user. They were more than happy with the repair and so I choose to be happy with the outcome also, if not with the hoops I had to jump through, which ended up being for naught. All’s well that ends well. [0] http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm [1] https://www.snappy-driver-installer.org https://www.snappy-driver-installer.org [2] https://github.com/lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer https://github.com/lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer
chx 5y ago
Don't. I posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656645 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656645 a number of times. Since then WSL v2 happened, even better.
hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
Unless there’s a firmware back door.

monocasa 5y ago

Are those for sure real? In a former job, I supported system software for Windows (among other OSes), and it'd be like once a quarter that one of the antivirus companies would mistakenly flag us as malware, and since they all share signatures, the others would all flag us like a week later. It was a huge pain, because they'd kill our auto update mechanism too.

ianai 5y ago
Login.exe has been flagged by AV before so I agree.
emodendroket 5y ago
I would agree, these don't look super compelling without some report of what the software allegedly does.