Post AcRTS71wf1CD9ENDZA by ghostdancer@mastodon.sdf.org
(DIR) More posts by ghostdancer@mastodon.sdf.org
(DIR) Post #AcQlXT5veq032lyquG by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-12-03T11:16:15Z
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Ah fuck I'm old enough to remember that you couldn't always boot a computer from USB (even after they had USB ports)
(DIR) Post #AcQlrqysYhPIuwP4PA by krypt3ia@infosec.exchange
2023-12-03T11:19:52Z
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@mjg59 it was even harder when you are old enough to remember; "What the fuck is USB?" while collating computer cards to input data.
(DIR) Post #AcQm6zX13A3ZmRaZqC by azonenberg@ioc.exchange
2023-12-03T11:20:37Z
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@mjg59 I used to have Linux live CDs (yes, actual CDs) in my toolkit for when people would make them debug computer issues.Worked even on hardware too old to boot from USB, and guaranteed not to bring any malware back home to me after.
(DIR) Post #AcQmt9Mzm4GoC3rjma by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-12-03T11:25:29Z
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@marlies How USB-in-BIOS was implemented is *definitely* in SFYCon territory
(DIR) Post #AcQn4cFoivzYxgyXo0 by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-12-03T11:25:57Z
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@azonenberg I still have an Ubuntu 4.10 release set
(DIR) Post #AcQnnFTIH9sJKlYsT2 by barubary@infosec.exchange
2023-12-03T11:29:30Z
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@mjg59 Wait, you mean I don't have to burn a CD to install Linux? When did that happen?
(DIR) Post #AcQozTpOp9z9HzIVqC by azonenberg@ioc.exchange
2023-12-03T11:38:08Z
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@mjg59 Yep you got me beat. I think 8.04 was the first release I used?
(DIR) Post #AcQpIwB3e7tUiOhq2C by froztbyte@mastodon.social
2023-12-03T11:47:01Z
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@mjg59 @azonenberg hah nice I think my earliest is DamnSmallLinux 0.7.3 and Debian Sarge (via a Linux Format cover disc), would have to check storage sometime
(DIR) Post #AcQpyBQ1sqC7rINOs4 by jernej__s@infosec.exchange
2023-12-03T11:52:22Z
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@mjg59 I still have a 2GB USB pendrive because it was the only thing that would boot on some old machines.
(DIR) Post #AcQqTiZseKhXfz1N9E by jernej__s@infosec.exchange
2023-12-03T11:55:04Z
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@mjg59 @marlies Want to know something worse? About 15 years ago I was at a client who had a Windows 95 machine, with the original Windows 95 release without USB support. The PS/2 keyboard was flaky, and he asked me if I could make a USB keyboard he had work on that machine. Enabling USB keyboard support in BIOS worked, even in Windows, though I had the feeling that it was a bit slow to respond to keypresses.
(DIR) Post #AcQqpXy6m70h8vlKFs by FSMaxB@mastodon.cloud
2023-12-03T11:56:04Z
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@mjg59 actually you can buy computers today that have that issue. Many single board computers have that issue.
(DIR) Post #AcQrCVQgNiO9vd4jr6 by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-12-03T12:01:50Z
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@jernej__s @marlies Yes, 95 (pre-OSR2) didn't have native USB support so USB keyboards worked the same way they did in the BIOS - by triggering an SMI every fucking time you hit a key
(DIR) Post #AcQu1Z50liJJvYPgzQ by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-12-03T12:39:36Z
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@nicolas17 @jernej__s @marlies It requires that the host controller poll, not that the OS do
(DIR) Post #AcQuhG2vvPbt3gK28e by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
2023-12-03T13:00:18Z
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@azonenberg @mjg59 Knoppix to fix anything. There are also the boxes that would boot off USB1 but were so painful that it was faster to get the CD out.
(DIR) Post #AcQxEeQkUCh29IVq0e by mjm@hachyderm.io
2023-12-03T13:27:19Z
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@mjg59 some time around 15 years ago my colleagues couldn’t get a machine to boot from an ISO (remote console thingy). I’m old enough that I thought to try a floppy image instead…(Which worked)
(DIR) Post #AcRAapMtna6PqacIG8 by foo@fosstodon.org
2023-12-03T15:56:41Z
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@mjg59 Remember when they could boot from USB, but only when they thought it was a USB floppy or a USB Zip drive?Before "making ISO files do terrible things to support BIOS and UEFI concurrently", we had "making ISO files do terrible things to support USB-HDD and USB-ZIP concurrently".
(DIR) Post #AcRJRoRMmKrjwzTyF6 by TonyYarusso@infosec.exchange
2023-12-03T17:35:09Z
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@mjg59 I definitely helped a friend install Ubuntu by making a grub boot FLOPPY which then allowed us to install from USB. How THAT managed to be a thing is still baffling.
(DIR) Post #AcRNr99FKAyxEMLIKe by jwz@mastodon.social
2023-12-03T18:24:58Z
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@mjg59 Sometimes I remember that XScreenSaver predates both HDMI and USB.
(DIR) Post #AcRTS71wf1CD9ENDZA by ghostdancer@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-12-03T19:27:39Z
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@mjg59 The word LILO comes to mind, and I know there were older that that.
(DIR) Post #AcRYD6oBhdmzt2bUPY by gemlog@tilde.zone
2023-12-03T20:21:41Z
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@mjg59 Or CD's. Had to make boot floppies from my first linux CD's.
(DIR) Post #AcVk4NbTrkvlS46V2u by hartror@aus.social
2023-12-05T20:51:56Z
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@mjg59 @FunkyBob I still find it a mild novelty those infrequent times I do it.