Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

tindie.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 42 posts

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#11

Post by mmastrac »

delroth wrote: post #9
mmastrac wrote: post #8

Does the m1/m2 expose a serial port on the USB-C connector? I haven't seen that outside of mobile phones that require special debugging jigs (most requiring a secret resistor values between various pins to turn it on). More info in the README: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/maz/cs-hw.gi... This actually looks like something I needed to build for some low-level bootloader work, and I had exactly the s…

See https://github.com/AsahiLinux/docs/wiki/HW%3AUSB-PD - some of the USB-C ports respond to USB PD Vendor-Defined Messages to trigger a bunch of debug features, including rebooting the SoC or configuring one of the internal UARTs to output to two pins on the USB-C connector.

This is far more sophisticated than the protocol I was working with, cool!

In my design I needed to do the a similar thing -- physically switch the USB2.0 lines between USB and raw serial. Using the pico for a USB serial gadget is smart. I used a USB/serial adapter for my project and it was a PITA.

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#12

Post by AceJohnny2 »

bombcar wrote: post #10
going_to_work wrote: post #6

The "Central Scrutinizer" reference isn't lost on me.

Elucidate us.

Frank Zappa - The Central Scrutinizer

Lyrics:

  This is the Central Scrutinizer...
  It is my responsibility to enforce all the laws
  That haven't been passed yet
  It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you
  To the potential consequences
  Of various ordinary everyday activities
  You might be performing which could eventually lead to
  The death penalty - or affect your parents' credit rating...
  Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you
  Who do wrong things
  [...]
https://genius.com/Frank-zappa-the-central-scrutinizer-lyric...

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#14

Post by blamazon »

johndoe0815 wrote: post #4

"This item does not ship to Germany" :( Not sure if this is a configuration problem on Tindie or a consequence of a missing CE logo...

I don't have experience with such category of electronics, but anecdotally small online sellers in my country (USA) often have troubles complying with German customs - there seems to be a high rate of packages returned to sender due to various intricacies of German import law. (Such as the 'Packaging Act' [1])

[1]: https://packhelp.com/german-packaging-act/

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#15

Post by walterbell »

johndoe0815 wrote: post #4

"This item does not ship to Germany" :( Not sure if this is a configuration problem on Tindie or a consequence of a missing CE logo...

There was no shipping to US. Entered email to be notified when US shipping was available. A few minutes later, it was added.

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#16

Post by ROFISH »

delroth wrote: post #9
mmastrac wrote: post #8

Does the m1/m2 expose a serial port on the USB-C connector? I haven't seen that outside of mobile phones that require special debugging jigs (most requiring a secret resistor values between various pins to turn it on). More info in the README: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/maz/cs-hw.gi... This actually looks like something I needed to build for some low-level bootloader work, and I had exactly the s…

See https://github.com/AsahiLinux/docs/wiki/HW%3AUSB-PD - some of the USB-C ports respond to USB PD Vendor-Defined Messages to trigger a bunch of debug features, including rebooting the SoC or configuring one of the internal UARTs to output to two pins on the USB-C connector.

Related to anyone seeing this:

https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-configurator-mac/reviv...

If an update goes really wrong (ie. battery died in middle of an update), the Mac may need to go into DFU mode and get a firmware write over USB.

I don't know if this is the actual format the firmware update uses, but the ports listed in the official documents match the "special" ports in the wiki there.

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#17

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

blamazon wrote: post #14
johndoe0815 wrote: post #4

"This item does not ship to Germany" :( Not sure if this is a configuration problem on Tindie or a consequence of a missing CE logo...

I don't have experience with such category of electronics, but anecdotally small online sellers in my country (USA) often have troubles complying with German customs - there seems to be a high rate of packages returned to sender due to various intricacies of German import law. (Such as the 'Packaging Act' [1]) [1]: https://packhelp.com/german-packaging-act/

> This applies to every single company – regardless of its size - and notably includes licensing (or participation) in a dual system.

This is insane even by German standards.

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#18

Post by [deleted] »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #17
blamazon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have experience with such category of electronics, but anecdotally small online sellers in my country (USA) often have troubles complying with German customs - there seems to be a high rate of packages returned to sender due to various intricacies of German import law. (Such as the 'Packaging Act' [1]) [1]: https://packhelp.com/german-packaging-act/

> This applies to every single company – regardless of its size - and notably includes licensing (or participation) in a dual system. This is insane even by German standards.

[deleted]

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#19

Post by soneil »

johndoe0815 wrote: post #4

"This item does not ship to Germany" :( Not sure if this is a configuration problem on Tindie or a consequence of a missing CE logo...

I follow another small project who had to stop shipping from the UK to the EU from Tindie, because Tindie wasn't handling the VAT requirements that brexit opened them up to.

I can't promise I'm up to date on that - that was two years ago, but they're still selling to the EU from their own site, and rest of world from Tindie. So I'm working to the assumption that they wouldn't still refuse EU sales from Tindie unless they felt they still needed to.

Re: Serial adapter/reboot controller for Apple M1/M2

#20

Post by pzmarzly »

Can it be used to power on a shutdown device? AFAIK one of issues with running Macs in datacenters is that they do not turn on by themselves after being connected to power (which makes sense for consumer HW, but is a PITA when someone has to go and physically click a power button).
Post reply on HN