Emulating a PS5 Controller with Cynthion

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MMZAyQuZHvs

We’ve recently published the second video in our Cynthion training series, so if you want to go deeper into exploring and experimenting with USB, this is for you. In this video, Martin explains the basics and evolution of Facedancer and demonstrates how to use Cynthion and Facedancer to emulate a PS5 controller. If you haven’t already, check out the first video- Sniffing PS5 Controller Packets with Cynthion.

Repurposing Cisco power supplies

Sometimes you can find a good deal on used power supply from various vendors. In my case it was Cisco C3K-PWR-750WAC and RPS 2300. The problem is, that they don’t output any voltage until they are plugged into device. The question is, how to fool them into thinking they are plugged in.

The spec for the supply looks good:

And the interface is following:

You can see, there are some huge terminals which will obviously be power output and then 16 2.54mm pins where the detection will most likely happen. I was thinking how to find out which pins are responsible for the...

Chinese PoE extractor teardown

I needed to power some cameras using Power over Ethernet but they only supported 12V input, so I ordered some PoE extractors from ali. Here they are for your information.

They both only support 100Mbps over 2 pairs. The wateproofing was quite annoying to remove but not impossible. It seems they both can be modified to support different input/output voltage. As you can see in the pictures, they are both using H6225K step-down regulator in a very similar design.

The circuit mostly corresponds to following schematic found on the internet:

Thank you for your attention.

The origin and unexpected evolution of the word "mainframe"

What is the origin of the word "mainframe", referring to a large, complex computer? Most sources agree that the term is related to the frames that held early computers, but the details are vague.1 It turns out that the history is more interesting and complicated than you'd expect.

Based on my research, the earliest computer to use the term "main frame" was the IBM 701 computer (1952), which consisted of boxes called "frames." The 701 system consisted of two power frames, a power distribution frame, an electrostatic storage frame, a drum frame, tape frames, and most importantly a main frame. The IBM 701's main frame is...

Простая откачка и наполнение самодельных газоразрядных ламп

Речь пойдёт об эксперименте по упрощённому и недорогому способу выделки самодельных газонаполненных — индикаторных и некоторых других ламп в домашней мастерской, прототипе установки для таких работ из широко распространённых, дешёвых комплектующих, с применением ручной работы по месту — без использования станков или другого сложного, точного и дорогостоящего оборудования. Читать дальше →

Простая муфельная эрзац-электропечь из недорогих подножных материалов

Работа со стеклом вообще и электровакуумное производство в частности, широко используют печной нагрев, причём в последнем случае это может быть целый ряд специализированных технологических аппаратов — от несложных подогреваемых кожухов на откачных постах или автоматах, до печей вакуумных и водородных для подготовки материалов. Ниже описана сборка очень простой импровизированной муфельной печи для электровакуумных экспериментов в домашней мастерской. Основное назначение прибора — отжиг сложных самодельных ЭВП (электровакуумных приборов) и их частей, нагрев при откачке и наполнении ЭВП, в том числе и при изготовлении оксидных катодов. Читать дальше →

Interesting BiCMOS circuits in the Pentium, reverse-engineered

Intel released the powerful Pentium processor in 1993, establishing a long-running brand of processors. Earlier, I wrote about the ROM in the Pentium's floating point unit that holds constants such as π. In this post, I'll look at some interesting circuits associated with this ROM. In particular, the circuitry is implemented in BiCMOS, a process that combines bipolar transistors with standard CMOS logic.

The photo below shows the Pentium's thumbnail-sized silicon die under a microscope. I've labeled the main functional blocks; the floating point unit is in the lower right with the constant ROM highlighted at the bottom. The various parts of the floating point unit form horizontal stripes. Data...

Reverse-engineering a carry-lookahead adder in the Pentium

Addition is harder than you'd expect, at least for a computer. Computers use multiple types of adder circuits with different tradeoffs of size versus speed. In this article, I reverse-engineer an 8-bit adder in the Pentium's floating point unit. This adder turns out to be a carry-lookahead adder, in particular, a type known as "Kogge-Stone."1 In this article, I'll explain how a carry-lookahead adder works and I'll show how the Pentium implemented it. Warning: lots of Boolean logic ahead.

The die photo above shows the main functional units of the Pentium. The adder,...

Текущее дооснащение деревенской лаборатории-мастерской

Мастерская любого самоделкина — личное место силы, где всё устроено как должно. Цитадель, дворец, замок, берлога! Это пространство для релаксации, здесь нехотя распрямляются сжатые пружины души и ослабляются натянутые нервы. Сюда приходят для радости и успокоения, для медитаций над железками и деревяшками, вкушать сладость творчества под аромат канифоли. Ниже речь пойдёт о собственной деревенской лаборатории-мастерской, в том числе и для электровакуумных экспериментов, что подразумевает огневые и горячие работы, стеклодувное дело, применение множества химикатов, опыты с электричеством и прочее в таком духе. Как та армейская собака, при всякой возможности стараюсь здесь что-то улучшить или доработать. Читать дальше →

It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=iILq0ADHrw8

The cargo cult metaphor is commonly used by programmers. This metaphor was popularized by Richard Feynman's "cargo cult science" talk with a vivid description of South Seas cargo cults. However, this metaphor has three major problems. First, the pop-culture depiction of cargo cults is inaccurate and fictionalized, as I'll show. Second, the metaphor is overused and has contradictory meanings making it a lazy insult. Finally, cargo cults are portrayed as an amusing story of native misunderstanding but the background is much darker: cargo cults are a reaction to decades of oppression of Melanesian islanders and the destruction of their culture. For these reasons, the cargo cult metaphor is best...