VxWorks is the OS the modem is running -- it's already installed. The hackers are just taking advantage of a built in (but unused) feature to get an rlogin.
It's not expressly in the contract; but, is built into the DOCSIS standard. Use DOCSIS modems and expect the ISP to have remote control. Like it or not.
AMD's early attempts at Pentium compatibility did have some issues that caused software incompatibility. They've gotten a lot better since then. Any issues you hear of now are because of crappy chipsets or poor implementation by the Mobo manufacturer -- and it wouldn't matter what cpu was on the board, it just happened to be an AMD. I've run Cyrix and AMD chips in my home computers since day one (1991 for me) and I haven't had any problems in years.
Mike the son of a Kiwi...
Ion engines are so underpowered as to be useless even in space (15 MONTHS just to get to the moon! Gimme a break!).
That's if we use modest solar power for the energy. If we use Nuclear power, it becomes days. Similarly the Mars mission goes from 9 months in transit (chemical) to 3 months or less in transit.
There's a new generation of solid rocket motors in the works that use a solid fuel core and a liquid oxidizer. The solid fuel is usually a rubber or parafin. The oxidizer can be LOX, H202 or NOx. To turn off the engine, as suggested, you simply shut down the pump, to throttle the engine you reduce oxidizer flow.
It works & NASA is seriously interested. The Scaled Composites is using a rubber + NOx engine in it's X-prize entry, SpaceShipOne.
One would like to believe this is the case. We do this with the instrumentation my company makes: There's a bootloader in non-volatile, non-erasable memory that at a minimum starts the processor and gives you the ability to upload / download code to / from memory via a serial port and then execute it. The main OS & system code is in EEPROM & started by the bootloader if the checksum is valid; otherwise, the bootloader just waits for input from the serial port.
As I understood it, they (JPL et.al. ) put the OS into an EEPROM so they could upgrade the code as necessary.
It's not so much that VxWorks reboots when a memory allocation request fails. It that the memory allocation request will cause the kernel to crash & later a watchdog timer will interrupt the processor & force it to reset.
They're deleting all the telemetry and science data Spirit's taken since launch. The OS is in the EEPROMS. With one exception, they can repeat all of the measurements & photos that will be lost. The exception: As one of the orbiters happened to fly directly overhead it took some atmospheric measurements; and, simultaneously Spirit performed the same measurement from the ground -- This would have given them a full thickness measurement of what was going on in the atmosphere at that moment.
The ease of upgrading is due to the lack of protection...
Nothing of the sort. The ease of upgrading is because you can upload a new version of the code, shut down the old process and start the new one without a reboot/reset. Typical Unix like stuff.
There was nothing to do. They're already taking an optimized path down -- optimized to minimize heating. There's not going back up without a booster stage (that they don't have). And, once you're in the atmosphere, there's no leveling out -- friction and gravity are gonna bring you in.
I can see the incoming computer science students next fall, being required to purchase a G5 on entry. I can see them recieving "gently used" refurbished machines. I can see it...
And, if you were thinking, you'd buy the tools to let you reach in there and do the work without tearing up your hands or requiring the work to be done by small 3rd world children...
Slashdot Mirror
VxWorks is the OS the modem is running -- it's already installed. The hackers are just taking advantage of a built in (but unused) feature to get an rlogin.
It's not expressly in the contract; but, is built into the DOCSIS standard. Use DOCSIS modems and expect the ISP to have remote control. Like it or not.
AMD's early attempts at Pentium compatibility did have some issues that caused software incompatibility. They've gotten a lot better since then. Any issues you hear of now are because of crappy chipsets or poor implementation by the Mobo manufacturer -- and it wouldn't matter what cpu was on the board, it just happened to be an AMD. I've run Cyrix and AMD chips in my home computers since day one (1991 for me) and I haven't had any problems in years. Mike the son of a Kiwi...
you are correct.
That's if we use modest solar power for the energy. If we use Nuclear power, it becomes days. Similarly the Mars mission goes from 9 months in transit (chemical) to 3 months or less in transit.
It works & NASA is seriously interested. The Scaled Composites is using a rubber + NOx engine in it's X-prize entry, SpaceShipOne.
You forgot: "Here's How we fix things in Russian..." *Takes wrench and hammers it on side of console*
As I understood it, they (JPL et.al. ) put the OS into an EEPROM so they could upgrade the code as necessary.
I'd like the see the RIAA serve the subpoena and confiscate THAT server...
Hmmm, I've always mounted them read-only & imaged them online... Call me crazy.
You have to remember that the computer wasn't built this year. It was probably assembled several years ago and has been undergoing testing since.
You'd have to mount the file system to do that; and, if you did *oops* it crashed again.
It's not so much that VxWorks reboots when a memory allocation request fails. It that the memory allocation request will cause the kernel to crash & later a watchdog timer will interrupt the processor & force it to reset.
The U.S. gov't owns them. But, they're probably considered "Abandoned in place" or something.
Ummmm, there is. The OS is in the EEPROM. That's how they recovered it: reboot from EEPROM with the Flash disk turned off.
Yes, they've already taken pre-emptive action with Opportunity...
They're deleting all the telemetry and science data Spirit's taken since launch. The OS is in the EEPROMS. With one exception, they can repeat all of the measurements & photos that will be lost. The exception: As one of the orbiters happened to fly directly overhead it took some atmospheric measurements; and, simultaneously Spirit performed the same measurement from the ground -- This would have given them a full thickness measurement of what was going on in the atmosphere at that moment.
Bad, Bad. stop feeding the trolls...
Nothing of the sort. The ease of upgrading is because you can upload a new version of the code, shut down the old process and start the new one without a reboot/reset. Typical Unix like stuff.
There was nothing to do. They're already taking an optimized path down -- optimized to minimize heating. There's not going back up without a booster stage (that they don't have). And, once you're in the atmosphere, there's no leveling out -- friction and gravity are gonna bring you in.
It's entirely possible. There were debris shedding events that happened over states west of Texas; they never found any of those components.
I can see the incoming computer science students next fall, being required to purchase a G5 on entry. I can see them recieving "gently used" refurbished machines. I can see it...
And, if you were thinking, you'd buy the tools to let you reach in there and do the work without tearing up your hands or requiring the work to be done by small 3rd world children...
They're referring to the energy of a single photon... Black holes & some supernova & a few other sources can generate such high energies.
Where the rover is, it's never getting above the freezing point for water.