Off Topic Banter

crashoverride · Post by **crashoverride** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:44 am

mad_ady wrote: ↑
Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:16 am
That went well...

Depending on which side of history you are on, it is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked immigration.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 5:59 am

mad_ady wrote: ↑
Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:16 am

L67GS wrote:Today is a holiday in the U.S.A to celebrate the friendship between the first settlers to this country and the native peoples.
That went well...

I agree, and so we sacrifice millions of turkeys yearly to celebrate the moment of friendship before all the carnage that followed.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:16 pm

tobetter wrote:I made it!!
Obviously I will be catched up soon.

You would be getting more thanks especially from me but you can no longer give thanks in tapatalk, I've been meaning to mention this for some time now.

It's been broken for months.

Post by **odroid** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 4:04 pm

Very weird 5Ghz RISC-V processor on the ODROID-XU4.

: Micro-Magic-Odroid-RISC-V.jpg (66.02 KiB) Viewed 1856 times

https://www.eetimes.com/micro-magic-ris ... cortex-a9/

meveric · Post by **meveric** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 4:38 pm

so new mass orders for ODROID XU4s?

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:10 pm

Curious, they're running the processor on that board and using the XU4 to benchmark and process video and such?

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:39 pm

L67GS wrote:Curious, they're running the processor on that board and using the XU4 to benchmark and process video and such?

My guess is the XU4 is just sending commands to the RISC-V and doing logging and monitoring.

Mullcom · Post by **Mullcom** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:20 am

rooted wrote:
L67GS wrote:Curious, they're running the processor on that board and using the XU4 to benchmark and process video and such?
My guess is the XU4 is just sending commands to the RISC-V and doing logging and monitoring.

That's correct. Odroid bord are used to interact with RISC-V. Collecting information and truly sending some data to the core.

Skickat från min SM-G973F via Tapatalk

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:04 am

Mullcom wrote:
rooted wrote:
L67GS wrote:Curious, they're running the processor on that board and using the XU4 to benchmark and process video and such?
My guess is the XU4 is just sending commands to the RISC-V and doing logging and monitoring.
That's correct. Odroid bord are used to interact with RISC-V. Collecting information and truly sending some data to the core.

Skickat från min SM-G973F via Tapatalk

You have some experience with this sort of thing it sounds like.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 4:43 am

I got a robocall from an obviously spoofed number today saying my social security number has been suspended. Oddly enough the gentleman (with a thick Indian accent) who I ended up talking to hung up on me because I pointed out that he should already have my full name and social.
I wish the U.S. FCC could take some measures at some point, I get 4-5 scam calls a day faithfully.
Blocking the numbers would be pointless since they spoof a new number for each call.

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:27 pm

I think the main issue stems from how phone calls get taxed in the US. As far as I know the callee pays, not the caller.
In the EU they're less frequent, because the spammer has to pay for the call. That's why we prefer stalling techniques, like this: https://youtu.be/UXVJ4JQ3SUw

willmore · Post by **willmore** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:02 am

On the topic of the little RISC-V processor, I think I have some insights.

As was mentioned elsewhere, it's not that hard to get test chips fabricated on even pretty advanced processes if you're not in a hurry and have a few hundred dollars. You can get back tested and packaged chips for a very reasonable fee. The chip on the board in the photo by odroid shows a PQFP-80 packaged chip which is what you'd expect from a rock bottom service.

Here's my quesses. Someone put together the RTL for a very simple RISC-V core that was nicely pipelined so that it could clock as high as the process would allow. Since it's a tiny little core, it won't use much power even at those speeds. All it needs is a few KB of SRAM on the data bus and on the instruction bus. High speed SRAM is a 'free' part in the design kits for most processes. It wouldn't be that hard to just throw that together with a JTAG controller to allow an external device (XU4) to program the memory contents and control the processor.

Why the XU4? Well, it's one of the very few SBCs with 1.8V GPIO. Everyone else prioritized 3.3V or 5V compatability, but HK didn't with the XU4 (and related older boards). That means it can directly interface to chips using a Vcc down to around 1V (at 1.8V logic, the 0 to 1 threshold is 0.9V). This gives the designer the flexability to not have to use level translators (further hinting that the designer isn't all that advanced in their hardware skill) to talk to the test chip. I could be wrong, the bottom of that board could be covered with level translators, but it really looks like it's just wired to the XU4 and a few binding posts for Vcc delivery and current measurement.

I think we're going to find out that this is really just a toy chip and all the coverage has been blown out of proportion. Because there's a lot of difference between a little core with no I/O that can run a trivial benchmark fast and an actually useable SoC.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:34 am

It seems like most of the coolest Odroid projects incorporate a microcontroller somewhere in the build.
I use a very simple ladder logic program (LdMicro) to program microcontrollers and it's something that hobbyists can pick right up on very quickly.
(I downloaded the software on a Sunday morning and had my first large program running in the simulator by dinner time my first day)
The software is open source, and one can get started with a Minipro and a fair assortment of MCUs for well under $100.USD.
Would it be inappropriate for me to do a little write-up in the general section on this in the future to show how simple and cost effective it is to augment Odroid projects with microcontrollers?

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:54 am

I am the slayer of threads!

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 am

Nah, we're just lazy to reply...

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:48 am

mad_ady wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 am
Nah, we're just lazy to reply...

Don't try to rob me of this glory, I singlehandedly destroyed the banter thread.

tobetter · Post by **tobetter** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:59 am

mad_ady wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 am
Nah, we're just lazy to reply...

Same here, I am also interested in to run the ladder logic program. I would try later after 3D printer project is done. Maybe cool to run like ODUINO.
viewtopic.php?p=280537#p280537

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:34 am

I'll prepare a little write-up in coming weeks. Ladder is stupid easy but there's little things about the process I can point out to reduce speed bumps.
Right off the bat I see a lot of people struggling with simple tasks like delayed power turn off so the SBC has time to properly shut down, it's very simple with a microcontroller that can be bought for pocket change.

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:25 am

Today has been a less than optimal day for me...
First kid #2 wakes me up at 5:30 to take a leak... I couldn't fall asleep back (a sign of old age)...
At 7:20 I notice my home assistant running on my N1 is down. The N1 was fine, but it seems a late night upgrade to ubuntu 20.04 installed an incompatible containerd which wiped docker and stopped my containers. Apart from home assistant I was running adguard as a dns server for the network - so dns is down and remote school starts in 30 minutes. I finish making sandwitches with one hand and try to reinstall docker via my phone with the other hand. Stock docker from ubuntu refuses to install - had to install it from docker.io instead... I barely managed to get dns up before school and leaving with kid #2 to kindergarten...
Later in the day I was trying to access my influxdb server only to find out the admin interface was inaccessible, having me do more docker wrestling...
Also the ssd on my nas developed bad sectors and fails the smart self test... Luckly the fata is ok...
During the evening, kid #1 needs to print his schools assignments, but the printer doesn't budge. Print queue on the c2 cups server fails to print... SSH won't connect... Is it out of memory? I pull the plug and force reboot, but it still doesn't work. No idea why until I notice the rootfs is remounted read-only. A reboot doesn't fix it. I have to fix the emmc from a different system. Afterwards it seems to work, but now the print queue on my kid's pc is stuck. Had to print from my work pc...

joerg · Post by **joerg** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:05 am

Hopefully tomorrow will be better day for you...

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 4:57 pm

You are excelling at breaking things @mad_ady

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:23 pm

rooted wrote:You are excelling at breaking things @mad_ady

As and college teacher used to say "It takes know-how, not how-how"...
And thanks for the compliment. I'll add it to my resume...

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:34 pm

mad_ady wrote:
rooted wrote:You are excelling at breaking things @mad_ady
As and college teacher used to say "It takes know-how, not how-how"...
And thanks for the compliment. I'll add it to my resume...

I have this weird knack to find bugs in programming effortlessly, for some reason I always try to use something in a way the developers couldn't foresee

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:47 pm

We got lucky, since we live in a small boro our school has more or less been unaffected. They worked virtual for a couple of weeks but my oldest is a senior anyway so it wasn't necessary for one of us to be home with him and our daughter.

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:28 am

My older kid is in second grade now and the pandemic has allowed him to gain expertise in computers. But he's not quite ready to troubleshoot cups issues. First he needs to break out of his limited account and thwart my custom pc time management system...

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:18 am

Mine is a somewhat accomplished python developer, I hate python.
Aside from that he's much more into sports than anything technical.
My daughter is truly a passenger on the ride of life, she can't do anything beyond facetime.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 7:44 am

mad_ady wrote:My older kid is in second grade now and the pandemic has allowed him to gain expertise in computers. But he's not quite ready to troubleshoot cups issues. First he needs to break out of his limited account and thwart my custom pc time management system...

I would definitely give him an extra hour if this happens

InsideJob · Post by **InsideJob** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:21 pm

rooted wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:34 pm
I have this weird knack to find bugs in programming effortlessly, for some reason I always try to use something in a way the developers couldn't foresee

That's my #1 beef with the DevOps pipeline. They've removed the user from UAT. Automated testing just can't simulate the stoopidity (I can't even spell it) of a real user.

meveric · Post by **meveric** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 7:53 am

InsideJob wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:21 pm

rooted wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:34 pm
I have this weird knack to find bugs in programming effortlessly, for some reason I always try to use something in a way the developers couldn't foresee
That's my #1 beef with the DevOps pipeline. They've removed the user from UAT. Automated testing just can't simulate the stoopidity (I can't even spell it) of a real user.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:03 am

meveric wrote:

istanbulls · Post by **istanbulls** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:08 pm

I did not know about this topic.
Hello everyone and I wish you a Healthy Happy New Year...

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:30 pm

@istanbulls welcome to the "I wrecked my car in 2020 and walked on my own feet" club. Here's your badge!

Were you alone or did you have passengers?
It's been ~6 months since my latest car wreck, but I still get apprehensive behind the wheel and feel like everyone else is trying to get me...
And my poor wife - it took her 3-4 years to get over our first wreck, but now she's tense and scared when she's in the car...

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 4:24 am

mad_ady wrote:@istanbulls welcome to the "I wrecked my car in 2020 and walked on my own feet" club. Here's your badge!

Were you alone or did you have passengers?
It's been ~6 months since my latest car wreck, but I still get apprehensive behind the wheel and feel like everyone else is trying to get me...
And my poor wife - it took her 3-4 years to get over our first wreck, but now she's tense and scared when she's in the car...

My wife has never been in a car accident with me and she drives me crazy side seat driving. I've been in a lot of auto accidents, more that weren't my fault but several that were. I've also driven over a million miles so it was inevitable.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 7:37 am

I'm probably the only one here to total the same car twice.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:45 am

L67GS wrote:I'm probably the only one here to total the same car twice.

You got me there, I do it right the first time

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 9:29 am

rooted wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:45 am

L67GS wrote:I'm probably the only one here to total the same car twice.
You got me there, I do it right the first time

The first time I slid through 5 chest high poles, then into a sixth that stopped the car.
I had to work both rear quarters, weld in replacement rockers on both sides, replace 3 doors, both bumpers, both front fenders, one A-arm, both front hub assemblies and the grill. (I popped a fresh engine and tranny in while it was in but it didn't need it). At shop rate it would have exceeded the value of the car nearly 3 times over (not including drivetrain upgrades).

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:43 am

I rearended a car which was abandoned in the middle of the road with a truck I had just purchased, didn't even have insurance yet. I had to replace the entire front cap out of pocket and do all the work myself, it wasn't great trying to get all the bolt holes to line up after pulling the front cross member back out by tying it to a tree and jerking in reverse.

The car I hit flooded out in a ton of standing water on a bridge, no flashers, pitch black, raining so hard I couldn't see then I hit the water which went up over my windshield. I saw a glimmer of chrome then bam, no chance to stop.

The truck was only 3 years old and in paid a lot for it, I was devastated.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:58 am

Wow that one sucks, we can't get a plate on a car without proof of insurance here.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Fri Jan 01, 2021 11:09 am

L67GS wrote:Wow that one sucks, we can't get a plate on a car without proof of insurance here.

I didn't have a plate, I had drive out tags.. paper. I was supposed to have insurance but when you pay cash you could drive right on out.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:01 am

Today begins one of the most sacred and joyous times of year here, Girl Scout Cookie sales.
There will be Thin Mints for all.

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 am

My post count...

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 7:38 am

mad_ady wrote:My post count...

Yeah you have been a busy bee

InsideJob · Post by **InsideJob** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:41 pm

Parler.com was a billion dollar company just a week ago. So did they get put out of business due to server failure or lax security practices? Nope, they got taken down by their own cloud providers. Being an old fart sysadmin type who hates DevOps, I can't help but think how they'd still be in business if they had their own data center and did their own development of Internet services. Relying on Google Mobile Services and Amazon Web Services was their real downfall.

Oh and BTW, just read about the Odroid Go Super on omgubuntu.co.uk .. guess I'm gonna have to buy one, and maybe an N2+

mad_ady · Post by **mad_ady** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 7:16 pm

Hadn't heard of them. In the past, others who were self-hosted, but who advocated hate got taken down either by dns, or their isps cut them off. So as long as you're big on the internet, you have to play nice

InsideJob · Post by **InsideJob** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 7:23 pm

They're a free and open community. They were apparently taken down because too many of their members love and admire President Trump.

But anywho, there's avlesson here for everyone. I would never buy anything from Amazon, as a matter of principal.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:40 am

I'll be darned, there are several stories online. Regardless of what side someone is on regarding the election I hope we can all agree on the importance of free speech.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:05 pm

Free speech is great, creating a platform which harbor hate groups isn't so great.

Amazon was well within their rights to do what they did, as was Google and Apple.

L67GS · Post by **L67GS** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:06 am

On the other hand just because something is there doesn't mean you have to look at it.

crashoverride · Post by **crashoverride** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:10 am

rooted wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:05 pm
creating a platform which harbor hate groups

My opinion is that this is "painting with a broad brush". I don't believe either side has a monopoly on "hate". There seems to be plenty to go around these days.

Social media is by definition social. Its a lot like the community (city) you live in and share with many others. There are actual communities in the USA that are known for "being homeless and crapping in the street" or "murder capitol". If I were a part of one of these communities, it would be a shame if others immediately assumed I was homeless or a murderer. Should Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, etc. ban the entirety of these communities (cities) from their platform because they are not 'governed correctly'?

I believe what we saw recently was tech companies firing their "Death Star". It should give everyone pause. Today its Alderaan [1]. Tomorrow, it could be your planet.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderaan

Disclaimer: I am not a member of any of the communities mentioned in this post, virtual or physical.

rooted · Post by **rooted** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:40 am

I don't agree with what Amazon did, I'm just saying they are within the TOS the company agreed to.

As far as Apple and Google, well they can remove your app for 1000 reasons and give no real indication as to why.

My understanding is this wasn't instant, they were supposedly given an opportunity to moderate the content and chose not to. That's all I know, I have no idea what the content was as I've never seen the app or indeed even heard of it until all this hoopla.