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Panicking In Morse Code

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the dit-dit-dit-dot-dot-dot-dit-dit-dit dept.

An anonymous reader writes "When an i386 running Linux panics, a function in the kernel called 'panic_blink' causes the system's LEDs to blink. Andrew Rodland recently posted a creative patch to turn that steady blink into a useful message in morse code!"

13 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. and that message is... by gyratedotorg · · Score: 2, Funny

    and that message is...

    ...---...

    (sos) =)

    --
    Gyrate Dot Org - "Where high-tech meets low-life"
  2. Bah! That's nothing! by Donut · · Score: 1, Funny

    Want to impress ME?

    Use the LED's on your laptop to give yourself the output of your decrypting of your grandfather's 45 year old messages about the location of secret Nazi/Japanese gold caches in the Philipines, while you are being Van-Eck phreaked in a jail cell.

    Extra bonus: Doing all this while next door to a priest who is intimidating you from "getting the job done".

    -Donut

  3. I can just imagine by Alien54 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The variety of panic messages beyond the usual meaningful information

    I can't do that dave

    I'm melting ....

    beam me up, scotty

    feed me

    I wonder if there is a morse code to voice coverter device out there? that would be a neat module to have to plug in as a peripheral

    of course, if the code goes fast enough, you can gain the ability to recognise whole words as a sort of warble.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
    1. Re:I can just imagine by dattaway · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually, this would be a good idea. The keyboard's LED, if it is red, might be close enough to the infrared spectrum to be noticed by the irda ports many notebooks have. Well, patch the keyboard panic patch with the tcp stack, write a decoder that will receive the slow tcp serial stream, and cross your fingers that portion of the kernel is not b0rked, and you can be sending packets over the keyboard link.

      Well, it wouldn't be a fast link. But the possibilies could include telneting... oh I'll stop there...

  4. Here is what it says... by kenthorvath · · Score: 5, Funny
    Three dits!

    Four dits!

    Two dits!

    Dah!

    Windows! Windows! Rah Rah Rah!

  5. morse code translation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    dit = .

    dah = -

    ....=h, ...=s, ..=i, -=t

  6. Winamp plugin by prof187 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I donwloaded a winamp plugin that would flash the LEDs with the oscilliscope(sp). Anyway, I thought it was pretty neat untill I tried being productive with it turned on. Turns out that it actually just switches the caps/num lock on and off. So in the middle of my text, i'd Get TExt LiKE THIs. It was neat, but annoying if I planned on typing.

    --

    My other sig is an import.
  7. Compaq beep of death by peterdaly · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I didn't know better I'd say that's what Compaq's, or was it old ALRs (remember them?) did when hardware wasn't right.

    A string of varying beeps. This was years ago, don't know if any recent hardware still does it.

    Tech support: Hold the phone close to the system board so I can hear it.

    That was funny.

    -Pete

    --
    Soccer Goal Plans
    1. Re:Compaq beep of death by Monkeyman334 · · Score: 3, Funny

      My favorite musical warning was at this ISP I used to work at. We had an old machine that we didn't really do anything with except test out peoples dial-up accounts. One day my coworker was on the phone and the machine next to him starts playing Fur Elise. He panicked and told the customer to hold while he flipped off the computer because the music was a warning that the fan had failed. I was laughing so much. What made it great was when we found microsoft knowledge base articles on it.

  8. Undoubtedly... by mstyne · · Score: 4, Funny

    The kerneltrap.org server's led's are furiously flashing:

    [imagine 'slashdotted' in morse here]

    Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
    Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.

    Morse != Junk! Damn you lameness filter!!

    --
    mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
  9. *sigh* by ebbomega · · Score: 4, Funny

    All your funny are belong to a year and a half ago!
    Someone set up us the dead horse!
    You have no chance to be funny make your time!

    --
    Karma: Non-Heinous
  10. Re:Joy... by Salsaman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, I managed to get to the site, but I got a 404 in morse code...

  11. backdraft by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Hey, I'm getting a message in morse code. Get my pencil, Let's see:

    e r r o r - i n - m o r s e - c o d e - g e n e r z k b g h i l e r l b v c t q z

    Doh!"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.