msarnoff

9 ms·

61.
by msarnoff 2y ago
I’ve been using fwup ( https://github.com/fwup-home/fwup ) in embedded Linux consumer products for almost 10 years and it has Just Worked. Supports A/B updates, uboot integration, and signed update files. Not sure a
62.
by msarnoff 2y ago
Use the hardware watchdog timer. When the machine resets, the bootloader can check a hardware register to determine the reset cause, and then boot into a different OS partition. (note: not every SoC has a register indicating reset cause, I’
63.
by msarnoff 2y ago
Folks who have played The Witness… if you know, you know
64.
by msarnoff 2y ago
I’d also recommend this if you’re using eMMC in embedded devices. On a Linux system, you can use the `mmc` command from `mmc-utils` to configure your device in pSLC mode. It can also be done in U-Boot but the commands are a bit more obtuse.
65.
by msarnoff 2y ago
I used Charlieplexing to drive four LEDs, four buttons, and a beeper from a 6-pin PIC10F200 with only four GPIOs. (and one is input-only!) It was a lot of fun working out the correct TRIS/GPIO combinations. (and fitting the whole thing
66.
by msarnoff 2y ago
Nice! I made a similar app about 10 years ago for iTunes: https://github.com/74hc595/Currentsong Had a lot of the same features (like the scrolling marquee), but I just built it as a personal project, never put it on t
67.
by msarnoff 2y ago
If you wanted to expand the definition of “processor” to electromechanical contraptions, the Friden SRQ could perform square roots using just additions and shifts, with not a single electronic component other than a motor. And since you had
68.
by msarnoff 3y ago
I worked closely with the author (John Calhoun, @JKCalhoun) at Apple in my first job out of college. On my first day, I remember being introduced to him. I looked on his bookshelf and saw a printed and bound copy of the Glider source code.
69.
by msarnoff 4y ago
Us too. And if the sound was off, we could just turn up the volume with `osascript` commands!
70.
by msarnoff 4y ago
Command name conflicts with the `sl` utility that has existed for decades. https://github.com/mtoyoda/sl
71.
by msarnoff 5y ago
He's credited for sounds; his name is on the playfield, right below the "Drive Again" light. https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1176&picno=71282&zoom=1 (I don't know if this is because High Speed
72.
by msarnoff 5y ago
Thank you, that's awesome! I never published my reverse engineering work, but I think you're referring to http://lomont.org/software/misc/robotron/
73.
by msarnoff 5y ago
A bit disappointed to see this repo doesn't contain the source code for the sound effects. Defender's sound effects kicked ass and were a big part of what made the game experience so intense. Instantly memorable, quintessential so
74.
by msarnoff 5y ago
When I met Eugene I asked him to autograph the instruction card from my High Speed pinball machine. I had already got Steve Ritchie's autograph, so I remarked to him "Now all I need is Larry DeMar's signature." And Eugen
75.
by msarnoff 5y ago
I've seen this exact source code in person! Eugene Jarvis and Sam Dicker brought the Defender source code (several boxes of tractor-feed printouts) to the California Extreme arcade convention in 2014. Photos: https://twitter
76.
by msarnoff 5y ago
One of the credited artists, Leslie Patricelli, is now a children's book author/illustrator.
77.
by msarnoff 6y ago
Randy made a surprise appearance at my commencement (CMU School of Computer Science, May 2008) just weeks before he passed away. [1] He concluded his speech with the piece of advice that has probably had the greatest impact on my career and
78.
by msarnoff 6y ago
Project author here, I agree. This was a toy project that I allocated a fixed amount of time to, hence the cut corners. I'm working on another design that uses programmable logic to handle multiple interrupt sources (yes, including an
79.
by msarnoff 6y ago
Author here. I really like the rosco-m68k! I never intended my project to be a "competitor"--one day I saw that Jameco was selling 68000s, ordered a couple, and designed this board to "scratch an itch" and learn about th
80.
by msarnoff 7y ago
Works fine with the (now vestigial) composite input on modern TVs. I’ve also usd an upscaler called the RetroTINK 2X to convert composite to HDMI, and it has superb picture quality.
81.
by msarnoff 7y ago
Hi HN, project author here. The source code and design files are on GitHub: https://github.com/74hc595/Amethyst Documentation is lacking, sadly. My intent was to create a series of in-depth videos describing how variou
82.
by msarnoff 7y ago
One unexpected place where null bytes are acceptable: Wi-Fi SSIDs. That’s one way to keep people off your network, I suppose.
83.
by msarnoff 7y ago
Isn't this what GCC's `__builtin_constant_p()` does?
84.
by msarnoff 7y ago
And if you ever find yourself using a command-line utility that doesn't have readline support (`tclsh` and `smlnj` come to mind), you can use `rlwrap`, available via your package manager of choice: rlwrap tclsh and voila, no mor
85.
by msarnoff 8y ago
Wow! What a surprise to see this here. I made this 10 years ago, when the display ecosystem was much different than it is today. In 2008, if you were using a device with an LCD screen, it almost definitely had a rectilinear R-G-B subpixel a
86.
by msarnoff 8y ago
I was an Apple engineer from 2007-2011. Worked in IL2 and IL3, as well as across the street in De Anza 7. When I started, all the signage in the Infinite Loop buildings used design cues from classic Mac OS styling--the Chicago and Apple Gar
87.
by msarnoff 8y ago
If you're not into the ESP8266, there are some good Forth implementations for other types of microcontrollers: ARM Cortex-M0/M3/M4/M7 (STM32, Teensy, etc.) and TI MSP430: Mecrisp-Stellaris - http://mecrisp.sou
88.
by msarnoff 9y ago
It's known as "munching squares": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munching_square
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by msarnoff 9y ago
The example code uses Allegro ( http://liballeg.org/ ) which was one of my _favorite_ libraries when I was learning to make games as a teenager in the early 2000s. I had come from a QBasic background and was trying to learn C
90.
by msarnoff 9y ago
It's not a full OTA solution, but fwup ( https://github.com/fhunleth/fwup ) handles the packaging and application of Linux firmware update images quite well. Apache licensed, supports A/B updates (see tomc1985&

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