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2015 Chromebook Pixel

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Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#651

Post by tjoff »

4ad wrote: post #643
cesarb wrote: post #632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unfortunately, if you want a slim laptop Ethernet will have to go Am I the only one who still remembers PCMCIA cards (thinner than most slim laptops) with Ethernet ports? Here, an example from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:XJACK_network_card_extend...

You have to plug the non-part-of-the-laptop PCMCIA card, just like you have to plug the non-part-of-the-laptop USB adapter. Not much big of a difference.

The difference is that the PCMCIA card doesn't extrude from the laptop. That thing is awesome, never seen one.

I've only seen those that have either a large RJ45 connector extruding from the card, like: http://www.automation-drive.com/EX/05-13-21/a88fa.jpg

Or where you'd needed an adapter dongle that connected to the PCMCIA card.

I know there was a laptop or at least a concept of it with something similar to the (parent) XJACK connector, but have never seen it in real life. Would love to see them in ultrabooks.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#652

Post by tmosleyIII »

X-Istence wrote: post #647
tmosleyIII wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Dell XPS13 running Ubuntu and I use the vSphere Web Client in Chrome to manage our infrastructure.

Do you have the VMWare Client Integration plugin? So that you can upload/download OVF files? So that you can browse the datastore and download files?

I apologize I read that last line right after I hit reply. I still cannot transfer files. I use it to manage the existing FreeBSD\Windows\Linux boxes that we currently have and have a bunch of templates that I use already.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#653

Post by digi_owl »

pgeorgi wrote: post #412
Crito wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Never mind the whole lockdown unless you flip that "developer" switch." Speaking of which, it would be nice if that were a physical switch on Pixels. With the original Pixel at least, there is an issue that if your battery runs completely dead, the bit that tells the computer it should be in developer mode is unset. When that happens, if you have linux installed on it, you are hosed. Everything on the drive become…

The issue is fixed on Pixel 2: "And yes the issue with dev/legacy enable state being lost when the battery drains has been fixed as the state is now saved in the TPM instead of CMOS" (comment to https://plus.google.com/+OlofJohansson/posts/1yopVMjEhjK )

A TPM? Not sure i like the sound of that. Who holds the final keys?

Also, what happened to giving the CMOS a backup battery?

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#654

Post by hobarrera »

stephen_g wrote: post #628
hobarrera wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, only one device connected at a time, and not devices if you're charging. Forget about using a mouse a these laptops.

It's intended to be used with a Bluetooth mouse (if the user wants to use something other than the trackpad). Even now, this is sort of like saying 'Forget about watching a movie on these laptops' about it since it doesn't have a DVD drive! (I was going to say 'in a little while', but really, wireless mice are so common now)

High end mice still don't come in plain-bluetooth version. I've a couple of Logitech Performance MX and there's still no succesor (either from Logitech or an alternative from another company) that's just plain bluetooth with no dongle.

> [...] wireless mice are so common now)

I never made any mention of a non-wireless mouse. All highend mice come with USB dongles, regrettably.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#655

Post by pgeorgi »

digi_owl wrote: post #653
pgeorgi wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is fixed on Pixel 2: "And yes the issue with dev/legacy enable state being lost when the battery drains has been fixed as the state is now saved in the TPM instead of CMOS" (comment to https://plus.google.com/+OlofJohansson/posts/1yopVMjEhjK )

A TPM? Not sure i like the sound of that. Who holds the final keys? Also, what happened to giving the CMOS a backup battery?

The backup battery is gone because Intel datasheets advised against it for years, and they got more insistent over time. It's surprising enough that they still didn't manage to kill of that part of the PC80 architecture (RTC clock and associated memory). They certainly try for years by now.

As for the TPM, Chromebooks come with them for a long time now. They're cleared when entering or leaving developer mode. The main difference is that after clearing, the devmode mechanism also records the state there (instead of in CMOS).

If you're concerned about "final keys", read the spec (eg. http://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/resources/tpm_main_spec..., Part 1, Section 9.5). The only key that is never deleted is the "Endorsement Key". That one is similarly annoying as the Pentium III serial number (ie. it allows secure identification of the TPM if you let software send requests to the TPM).

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#656

Post by wtbob »

benihana wrote: post #299
ChuckMcM wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What most people have missed is that USB allows charging and data over the same port. So you can easily get a power adapter that has a charging tip which has on the same cord another USB-C port (socket) which you can plug into your display chain, or port replicator or what not. In Apple's case I fully expect they will make it so that when you plug your Apple display into your laptop it also charges it since the charg…

At this point, I find this whole thing funny. Again. How many times has Apple done this in modern times? Remember the outrage when Apple removed floppy disk drives? Optical drives? Ethernet ports? Remember how mad everyone got when Apple replaced their old, thick connector on the iPhone 5? Nobody complains about how thin their phone is now that the old 30pin connector is no longer the limiting factor on size. Nobody…

> Nobody is bemoaning the fact that they can't watch a DVD on their laptop - we've moved on from optical media.

I bemoan that about my work laptop. It's not possible to legally stream all the things I'd like to watch, and for whatever reason building USB boot drives is still more painful than burning ISOs to DVDs or CDs (no good reason for that, but each time it's been the case).

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