One of the big problems with doing PCB layout is finding a suitable footprint for the components you want to use. Posted in computer hacks, laptops hacks, Peripherals Hacks Tagged chromebook, Free Software Foundation, libreboot, usb, webcam Internal laptop modifications like this one remind us of the Ye Olden Days of Hackaday, when Eee PC modifications were all the rage and we still ran black and white pictures “taped” to the screen. But as already established, sometimes these are the kind of tough choices you have to make when walking in the righteous footsteps of Saint Ignucius. The signal probably isn’t great considering the antenna is stuck inside the machine with all the noisy components, but it’s a trade-off for having a fully free and open source driver. just needed to solder it to the old webcam connection, and wrap it up in Kapton tape to prevent any possible shorts. The FSF approved ThinkPenguin Wi-Fi adapter he chose is exceptionally small, so it was easy enough to tuck it inside some empty space inside of the Chromebook. He pulled the webcam out, studied the wiring, and determined which wires corresponded to the normal USB pinout. But as is not the kind of guy who would want his laptop taking pictures of him in the first place, he had the idea to take the internal USB connection used by the integrated webcam and use that. To remedy the issue, he decided to install an internal USB Wi-Fi adapter that has the FSF seal of approval.Īs the Chromebook obviously doesn’t have an internal USB port, this was easier said than done. But there was one problem: the permanently installed WiFi hardware that required proprietary firmware. The operating system was easy enough with an install of Debian, and the bootloader was rid of any Intel Management Engine shenanigans with a healthy dose of Libreboot. Based on a cheap Asus C201 Chromebook, his custom machine checks off all the appropriate boxes. Unfortunately these machines often have a hefty premium tacked on, making it an unpleasant decision between privacy and performance.įreedom-loving hacker writes in to tell us about his quest to create a FSF-compliant laptop without breaking the bank. This means, in a general sense, that the computer is guaranteed not to spy on you or otherwise do anything else you didn’t explicitly ask it to. There are a number of companies now providing turn-key computers that meet the Free Software Foundation’s criteria for their “Respects Your Freedom” certification. Posted in classic hacks, Games, Nintendo Hacks Tagged assembly language, debug, gamecube, nintendo We recently saw some impressive work being done to reverse engineer the system’s wireless controllers, though some people are more interested in just cutting the thing in half. It’s hardly Nintendo’s most popular console, but there’s still a healthy interest in GameCube hacking as the machine approaches its 20th anniversary. Not everything is currently understood, but some progress has been made, such as figuring out how to add items to your inventory. Once the debug mode is started, a controller plugged into the second port allows the user to navigate through options and perform tasks. But through careful examination of the code path, was able to figure out that hitting a specific combination of buttons on the controller was all that was required to use the debug mode on the stock game. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that some special dongle or development version of the GameCube would be required to kick the game into debug mode. Eventually he finds the proper incantation to bring up a functional debug display in the game, but there was still the mystery of how you do it on the real hardware with a retail copy of the game. ![]() This leads to a few interesting finds, such as being able to pop up a performance monitor graph and some build info. ![]() starts by using the debugger provided by the Dolphin GameCube emulator to poke around and figure out exactly what flags need to be modified to activate the debug mode. In the end, he was able to find a push button code that enables debug mode on the retail copy of the game. That launched a deep dive into the game’s assembly code in an attempt to find what the debug functions did and if they could be enabled without having to patch the game ROM. has recently been investigating creating mods for the GameCube version of Animal Crossing, and in the process uncovered some interesting references to a debug mode. ![]() The GameCube version was the first time those outside of Japan got a taste of the unique community simulation offered by Animal Crossing, and maintains a following nearly 20 years after its release. But while the game has appeared on more modern Nintendo consoles, most recently Android and iOS, the version released on the GameCube holds a special place in many fan’s hearts. Originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 2001, Animal Crossing was the first entry into what has become a massively successful franchise.
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