This looks like exactly what I’m after. I should’ve engaged with these guys while YH was open, and started building relationships with people. Still – no time like the present! There’s value beyond the training/software/hardware: interacting with cool people.
A couple of hardware-related questions: it’s not clear to me whether the issue of Intel CPUs all being shit is resolved;
Now that I’m fished out of the spam filter well, perhaps it will let me post.
1-3: They are 2008-2009 era Intels that we refurbish. Unfortunately I don’t know any supplier of factory-fresh yet pre-2006 AMD machines. Pre-2013 AMDs are at least free of the “platform security processor” known evil, but among these, not all compatible motherboards have working Coreboot support, by a long shot. I reckon you’ll have to pick your poison.
Our refurb process includes overwriting the boot ROM (a flash memory chip on the motherboard that contains the boot firmware/BIOS) using an external programmer, to ensure the CPU executes 100% known code from reset; “known” in the sense of: compiled ourselves from source, fully open to inspection. While it’s true that we don’t really know what’s in the silicon, at least to my mind this is a higher degree of control than an AMD where you plop a Linux on the hard drive but go on trusting the firmware blobs that come with the machine and run at the highest privilege level. (And it’s not like “Dell” or “Asus” even really know what’s in those either; plenty of “IP licensing” passing of the buck there.) Of course we also provision new hard disks and SSDs – or you can bring your own, those are standard parts – and internally disconnect unnecessary circuit boards where possible.
For server applications we’ve been taking the route of APU1 boards, which use AMD chips and are Coreboot supported. They don’t have a display output though so another machine is needed for the console.
4: We built a sit-in, fits-in-apartment Faraday cage prototype. It more or less worked, for a time, with quite some futzing; what we learned is that you really need precision manufacturing and not just “metal box with door”. Picture how the door of a microwave oven makes a tight seal with the body, then enlarge enough to fit a person through. In short, we don’t have a solution to offer presently, but we’re open to developing one depending on your budget :)
5: Nice going! I’m sure we can discount that from the hardware package.
Comment by Jacob Welsh — October 8, 2020 @ 5:30 am
Apologies for the late reply; thanks for the detailed response. Sounds like the Intel-based laptops are the way to go. Have you managed to source never-before-online machines?
Did you guys write-up the Faraday cage prototyping process? Sounds like great article fodder!
Comment by Daniel Godwin — October 18, 2020 @ 11:00 pm