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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!"

4 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. This reminds me... by Teknogeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...of Wolfenstein 3D.

    If you translated the beeping in various levels of the third episode, it was a message in Morse Code telling you to defeat Hitler!

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    I mod down anyone who uses M$ in their posts. I like to live on the edge.
  2. Standard for diaganostics would be better by Rob.Mathers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Although this is a neat and creative idea, I think that a better way to diagnose a sick computer would be a standard for a set of diagnostic LEDs or even a small LCD panel as part of the next motherboard standard.
    Some manufacturers of motherboards and whole systems already do this, but it's far from standard, and is typically only useful for POST errors. A full standard would allow O/Ses, as well as the BIOS to access the output device (be it LEDs or an LCD) and display a standard code for whatever the error is, which the user could then look up in the manual, or on the web.

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    My other sig is funny!
  3. This IS Slashdot, right? by jcsehak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just checking. I can't believe no one's mentioned the part in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon where Randy "prints" out the "message" (trying to avoid a spoiler) on his laptop's LED.

    Here's an LED controller program inspired by that bit in the book.

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    c-hack.com |
  4. OT: Cellphones do Morse! by LinuxHam · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Way OT.. just wanted to say that I wonder how many people are aware that when their cellphones receive a text message and beep loudly with "dit-dit-dit, dah-dah, dit-dit-dit" their cellphones are actually sending "SMS" in morse code -- SMS, "SMS", get it? :)

    I commute in the masses making their way to and through NYC everyday, and I must hear that four times a day on the train.

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    Intelligent Life on Earth