4 ms·

> Available until December 31, 2023 Meaning that controllers that have the old firmware will be unable to switch after that date? This seems like a weird restr

by rew0rk 4y ago

> Available until December 31, 2023 Meaning that controllers that have the old firmware will be unable to switch after that date? This seems like a weird restriction to have if this is a firmware update?

bluSCALE4 4y ago
Google must kill everything. EVERYTHING.
mewse-hn 4y ago
It's all part of the gamepads-as-a-service business plan :P
lxgr 4y ago
Maybe a code signing certificate (or some boot ticket signing backend) for the firmware will expire at that date?
andrewia 4y ago
I assume it requires something hosted, and can't be open sourced due to licensing restrictions*. Hopefully it can be reverse engineered. *I've heard from firmware engineers inside and outside of Google that licensing is the biggest reason why stuff isn't open sourced.
- AstixAndBelix 4y ago
  I mean, that's absolutely true for Android hardware. If MediaTek or Qualcomm or any other supplier for the various parts open sourced their drivers we would be able to port any new version of AOSP to basically everything that has enough juice to run it and then some. Unfortunately these companies control the drivers and have the strictest licenses imaginable, so even companies like Samsung or Google can only offer updates as long as their suppliers allow them, after that it's just waiting for the ABI to break and the old drivers to stop working
- sangnoir 4y ago
  I am beyond grateful for Bluetooth functionality on a free controller, but the greedy part of me was half-hoping Google would unlock the device and open source the gamepad-over-ip code. My wish is selfish: I wasn't play Steam games that are on a gaming PC in a different room to my TV, the PC is well outside of bluetooth range, but both areas have WiFi coverage. I acknowledge that this is a first-world problem, but regardless, I hope someone will be able to reverse-engineer the firmware and come up with an open-version.
advisedwang 4y ago
Presumably there's some server side component that Google wants to turn off

by rew0rk 4y ago

bluSCALE4 4y ago

Google must kill everything. EVERYTHING.

mewse-hn 4y ago

It's all part of the gamepads-as-a-service business plan :P

lxgr 4y ago

Maybe a code signing certificate (or some boot ticket signing backend) for the firmware will expire at that date?

andrewia 4y ago

I assume it requires something hosted, and can't be open sourced due to licensing restrictions*. Hopefully it can be reverse engineered. *I've heard from firmware engineers inside and outside of Google that licensing is the biggest reason why stuff isn't open sourced.

AstixAndBelix 4y ago
I mean, that's absolutely true for Android hardware. If MediaTek or Qualcomm or any other supplier for the various parts open sourced their drivers we would be able to port any new version of AOSP to basically everything that has enough juice to run it and then some. Unfortunately these companies control the drivers and have the strictest licenses imaginable, so even companies like Samsung or Google can only offer updates as long as their suppliers allow them, after that it's just waiting for the ABI to break and the old drivers to stop working
sangnoir 4y ago
I am beyond grateful for Bluetooth functionality on a free controller, but the greedy part of me was half-hoping Google would unlock the device and open source the gamepad-over-ip code. My wish is selfish: I wasn't play Steam games that are on a gaming PC in a different room to my TV, the PC is well outside of bluetooth range, but both areas have WiFi coverage. I acknowledge that this is a first-world problem, but regardless, I hope someone will be able to reverse-engineer the firmware and come up with an open-version.

advisedwang 4y ago

Presumably there's some server side component that Google wants to turn off