𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗

Solo software developer, pentester and IT-Consultant. (Re)Tweets about programming, security, misc tech and outdoor stuff. Currently working on

[limina @liminalsunset_]

There's a lot of great "literature" now! It's just not labelled yet! Here's some of my favourites (long post):

Learn by example from real stories in hardware:
-@jasonjoyride's S3 (various startups)
-Bunnie's blog and teardowns (OSHW; Chumby; Formlabs analysis; WIRED Shenzhen interview; Essays (gongkai, etc)
-Fictiv (Logi MX Master3, Casper Glow), etc; (consultancies, case studies),
-Kickstarter campaigns (varies; learn about challenges and setbacks in NPI cycle),
-@FrameworkPuter's blogs (reasoning, considerations behind HW market),
-@oxidecomputer's podcasts/RFDs (process; design chain-of-thought of a very thoughtful greenfield server OEM),
-@sdamico's tweets about the process of developing a novel induction cooktop
-GamersNexus' engineer interviews and factory tours (NVIDIA thermal engineer, Noctua fan engineer, Intel fab tour, etc),
-Strange Parts' factory tours (China, JLCPCB, Components manufacturing process)

These are good sources of REAL stories about common processes and problems encountered when developing consumer electronics hardware products.

Learn through News:
-Hacker News (tech topics), CNX-software (embedded systems)
-ServeTheHome (server hardware trends), GamersNexus (consumer PC industry trends)
-Stratechery (tech strategy)
-@SemiAnalysis_ and @dylan522p (Silicon Engineering; AI industry)
-Asianometry [YT] (Silicon Engineering)
-Tech Trip [YT]; deep dives into developments in chemistry, physics of batteries, OLED screens, etc.

Learn through Security Research:
-Defcon, CCC, etc talks and presentations; (try looking for voltage glitch attack on Tesla Ryzen MCU presentation from Synacktiv)
-Work on TPM sniffing, etc by @ghidraninja
-Roboverse discord: good discussion on rooting a Linux based robot running ARM SBC

Learn by reviews and teardowns of devices:
-AvE [YT]([power] tools, mechanical, manufacturing processes, machining, shop);
-EEVBlog and The Signal Path [YT] (test equipment; theory)
-mikeselectricstuff [YT]; teardowns and analysis; reverse engineering
-ChargerLAB/充电头网 [YT] (switching power supplies; power stations)
-先看评测 (Prelook); [YT] (deep industry analysis of consumer electronics; China market; laboratory testing)
-WekiHome [YT]; detailed teardowns of all popular Mobile Phones in China with components analysis;
-@live_munro, Caresoft/Autoline, WeberAuto; (EV teardowns and analysis); Lucid and Tesla Technology Days i.e. battery day, Lucid Gravity technology day, Interviews with Munro
-Geekerwan [YT]; In depth reviews of Silicon
-NotebookCheck, DXOMark and RTINGS: In depth database of reviews; data can be mined for insights (OLED burn-in, laptop power limits/throttling, audio performance)
-tesla500 [YT]; In depth discussion of teardowns, manufacturing, Founder CEO of Kron Technologies (Khronos high speed camera)
-aussie50, Photonicinduction [YT]; inactive, but great archived content for toying with technical devices
-FCCID[.]io and electric[.]garden. Most radio/electronic devices go through compulsory certification, and 6 months after release, the "Internal Photos" are published on US gov sites; look up the "FCC ID" on your favourite devices!
-Most importantly, take your own devices apart and share the photos!

Learn the fundamentals and related:
-Robert Feranec, FEDEVEL academy [YT]; Best resource on PCB layout and design
-EEVBlog [YT] has fundamental videos explaining EE concepts
-Course videos from universities; Signals and Systems, Circuit Analysis, Power Electronics, Digital Logic Design are useful
-Titans of CNC [YT]; CNC machining training
-tryopenx[.]com; Machine manuals for industrial machines; training
-@TooTallToby; Example/Practice MCAD projects
-TI, Infineon, ST, Nordic, etc Application Notes, WEBENCH designer, datasheets, and reference designs; Also check engineer forums for what people are asking!

Learn through Repair:
-Louis Rossmann [YT]; teaching Laptop Repair, tools, techniques, Data Recovery
-Hdd Recovery Services [YT]; teaching Data Recovery
-Northwest Repair and Northridge Fix [YT]; teaching GPU/Graphics Card repair
-REWA Technology, iBoff RCC, @dosdude1 [YT]; State of the Art iPhone and MacBook repair techniques, tools, reverse engineering reports.
-笔记本维修厮 [YT]; Advanced troubleshooting and repair of PC laptop motherboards

Learn through Open Source:
-Peng Zhihui 稚晖君 [YT; github]; Founder of Agibot, prev. Huawei; Ultra high quality Open Source HW projects, Robotics etc
-@comma_ai challenges, githubs
-VESC motor controller project
-AirGradient (open source commercial product; air quality monitor)
-@chesterzelaya's Droneforge; drones and navigation
-@lethic1 Red Rabbit Robotics; humanoids and similar robots
-Flipper Zero community
-Coreboot community; ChromeOS developers forum and ChromeOS hardware documentation;
-Creapunk closed loop stepper motor drivers
-Lots more! (Or start your own!)
-Bracket Bot (like a Comma Body kind of) @sincethestudy

Learn through Shopping:
-Esinou Store on AliExpress sells a lot of various sensors, brushless DC motors, similar to the viral machined impeller here a few months ago.
-Generally anything you will need to tinker or repair or make anything will be here

Theres a TON that I haven't been able to add to this post! If anyone wants to add any they can put them in the replies!

I personally found that the most important factor in learning about hardware industry is to *learn and be curious*. Different people will take different paths through this process. I personally think that starting with Repair and Teardowns can be a really accessible and easy way to begin, since you have a defined goal to start. I encourage you to find a source of old/discarded hardware; Facebook Marketplace, eBay, scavenging friendly eWaste and scrap metal places etc. When you expose yourself to a variety of hardware, keep asking questions. Why is it designed this way? How does it work? Why is this part necessary? How can it be made cheaper? How much does it cost to make this part? You can ask Grok or AI your questions over and over and they will help you find your way.

I'd also encourage you to start your own projects; start small and work up. Try to add extra features or resolve a problem in your life.

Most importantly, try to find a community of people who you find interesting or inspiring. Have a mix of both learners and experts; talking to people about your research or learning is a great way to discover new things. Discords are a HUGE resource. Join the Discords of the creators mentioned above, and hang out; try to help people or ask for help. @yacineMTB runs a community of "Robotics Journeymen" here on X.

Hopefully some of this is helpful to someone; apologies in advance for tagging so many users/notifications etc.

Feel free to leave corrections or additions below!

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

@zetalyrae I get your point, but this has the risk of doing a lot of small tasks at the cost of the more important larger ones. Often, there's a constant inflow of tasks like B. The small tasks cannot always win :-) As always, the answer is probably: it depends...

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Just finished reading Delta-V and Critical Mass by @itsDanielSuarez. Can highly recommend. Can’t wait for part 3.

[Elbsides / [email protected] / @elbsides]

The team is looking forward to welcoming you on September 13th for a full day of talks, networking, exchange of ideas and knowledge with the infosec community in Hamburg. Get your ticket here: https://t.co/PWPWWSRsWx

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

I was asked about how to get a Slack message when your server goes down. So I wrote a short how-to on my blog: https://t.co/jDifrx9IZp

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Deployment done. I recommend enabling this for your important monitors.

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

It's easy to miss an initial downtime notification. So I added a feature to https://t.co/qQwsturr27 to optionally re-send those notifications and/or re-trigger configured webhooks. Currently deploying...

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

It's easy to miss an initial downtime notification. So I added a feature to https://t.co/qQwsturr27 to optionally re-send those notifications and/or re-trigger configured webhooks. Currently deploying...

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Throttling and trying to tweet :-)

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Debugging timeout issues is really a time-consuming task.

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Wanted to buy a small monitor to have something to quickly attach to my servers, but then saw how cheap video capture cards have become. HDMI to USB-C, connect it to your laptop (or even iPad), open QuickTime and you have a screen. Costs 18 EUR :-)

[Elbsides / [email protected] / @elbsides]

Good news for those who are busy submitting an abstract for Elbsides 2024 or have procrastinated until now - CFP deadline has been extended until July7th. You now have a difficult choice - watch our YouTube channel for inspiration or a sporting event? https://t.co/UQPEAZk7lv

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Did a bit of a deep dive into fmp12 and account/password storage. If you're interest, here's a post about it on my blog: https://t.co/516LfjKCuI

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Want to present at the Elbsides security conference in Hamburg in September? Submit your talk in the next two weeks, the call for presentations is ending soon.

[Elbsides / [email protected] / @elbsides]

The Call for Papers is now open for Elbsides 2024 - we are looking forward to your latest ideas and research to blow us all away on September 13th -

https://t.co/UQPEAZkFb3

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

For anyone interested, I just posted the slides for my #dotfmp talk today about fmp12 file format internals / account + password storage obfuscations: https://t.co/oc7jqFt32j

[Elbsides / [email protected] / @elbsides]

Our CFP is open - use the weekend and jot down some ideas and surprise us with a presentation in Hamburg on Sept/13th that will either: a) blow the audience away, b) give deep insights in the IT security field or c) entertain with inside stories https://t.co/UQPEAZkFb3

[Elbsides / [email protected] / @elbsides]

The Call for Papers is now open for Elbsides 2024 - we are looking forward to your latest ideas and research to blow us all away on September 13th -

https://t.co/UQPEAZkFb3

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

But hey, I can make some sounds in the meantime :-)

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Bought some of those very cheap signal generators based on XR2206. Wave doesn't look so great at higher frequencies. Is this just how they are or have I done something wrong? Might need to build another one...

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

Happy new year! #6502

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

@mrwatson_de So it's pretty useless for now, but eventually, it should be programmable ;-)

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

"Hello World, part 1"; started assembling the 6502 (Ben Eater kit). Clock done, connected to 6502, initialization sequence, and the hard-wired NOPs are flowing :-)

[𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 @d_hamann]

@mrwatson_de Awesome! :-) NOP is a no operation instruction, which doesn't do anything. Currently, my setup is hard-wired to this instruction on the data bus (see picture). It's 11101010, which is hex EA, which is the NOP code. And, of course, it stays the same for every read/clock cycle.