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I'm seconding the Pixels - they're also pretty much the only phones that allow you to upload your own signing keys, so you can run Google-free GrapheneOS with s
by izacus 3y ago
I'm seconding the Pixels - they're also pretty much the only phones that allow you to upload your own signing keys, so you can run Google-free GrapheneOS with secure boot enabled.
(Which is also nice for long term support.)
- wilsonnb3 3y agoGrapheneOS stops supporting phones when Google stops releasing new firmware for them for security reasons, so you aren’t going to get longer term support from it.
- kdklol 3y agoThey do have extra 2 years of partial "transitional" support, if I'm not mistaken. But yes, even they will not support them forever as it's not financially feasible without help in the form of first-party updates.
- tiberious726 3y agoTo do anything else would be snakeoil at best: no open source project can support the radio firmware
- allarm 3y agoIs it technically possible to write an open source firmware for the existing wireless chips?
- all2 3y agoTechnically, yes. The big hangup is that spec sheets for these chips are often hidden behind NDAs, so devs are left reverse engineering existing firmwares. This extra barrier to entry hobbles further development for many phones.
- mschuster91 3y agoNot really, modem firmware even for wifi and BT is pretty much tied down "thanks" to regulations, you won't get far without an exploit bypassing the signature verification. Governments are apparently very afraid of people modifying their chipsets to be more powerful in range than allowed.
- whelp_24 3y agoCould you link me some of those regulations or a article on it. I am curious
- tiberious726 3y agohttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-15 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-A... basically, they use the firmware to enforce compliance with the regs on different regions. If you can load your own firmware, you could make the device no longer compliant.
- tomcam 3y agoI have been nominated seven straight years for hacker news reader with the least knowledge of security, so I’m embarrassed to ask: what keys would one want to sign and why?
- kadoban 3y agoThe keys that verify that new boot software is allowed, the ones that verify it's coming from _you_ and not some other asshole trying to take over your phone after you rooted it.
- tomcam 3y agoAh, relief. Thank you.
- highwaylights 3y agoIt’s not your keys, it’s the Operating System keys uploaded to your device. Essentially the same way UEFI secure boot works in the PC world. You’re telling the device hardware “it’s only ok to run software that’s been signed with the private key that matches this public key”, so that once you’ve done that, you can have confidence that the operating system hasn’t been modified in future by anyone other than the original vendor (as only they have the private key).
- tomcam 3y agoThat's a perfect explanation. Thank you.