Mysterious Files PH

You probably don’t think about it much, but your PC probably has a TPM or Trusted Platform Module. Windows 11 requires one, and most often, it stores keys to validate your boot process. Most people use it for that, and nothing else. However, it is, in reality, a perfectly good hardware token. It can store secret data in a way that is very difficult to hack. Even you can’t export your own secrets from the TPM. [Remy] shows us how to store your SSH keys right on your TPM device.

We’ll quote [Remy] about the advantages:

The private key never leaves the device, you yourself can’t even extract it, neither can malware. It does not live on your filesystem or in an ssh-agent (in memory)…

Unlike a hardware token, the TPM is locked to your machine. In fact, in many cases, it is soldered onto the motherboard, although sometimes it is plugged in. The post notes that because of this, the TPM is not quite as secure as a hardware token that you can pull out of a USB port and lock up. But it is still more secure than just having your keys sitting on a hard drive.

One caveat: some computers wipe your TPM when you update the BIOS. The post mentions how to get around this. You’ll need some tools, of course, and it won’t work with Windows Subsystem for Linux, unsurprisingly. Once you have the tools installed, the process is pretty straightforward.

We’ll add this to our set of ssh tricks from now on.

Most rhythm games have a community creating custom charts, and Trombone Champ is no exception. What is exceptional, however, [CraftedCart]’s osu! played in a Trombone Champ chart.

It all started as a challenge to make the most unserious chart possible. Among some other ideas, [CraftedCart] eventually decides to make an osu! chart but play it in Trombone Champ. Okay, not a problem, let’s just–oh, you can’t run arbitrary code without a making a mod. So instead, they decided to use shaders on the GPU. There are, of course, all sorts of problems with such an idea. Being stuck in the fixed render pipeline of a game, you can’t just add any resources to your shader you want. This leads to using textures as memory, both the game state and the osu! chart are actually textures. Another interesting one is getting user input into the shader. [CraftedCart] solves that by connecting the position of the game object the background is rendered to to the cursor; then, the shader reads the world to local transform matrix to determine the mouse position. Finally, the graphics the player ends up seeing are rendered using ray marching.

Video after the break.

After users of Battle Born LFP batteries encountered issues such as a heavily discolored positive terminal and other signs of overheating, multiple autopsies showed that the cause appeared to be the insertion of a thermoplastic between the bus bar and the terminal. Over time thermal creep loosened the connections, causing poor contact and melting plastic enclosures. According to Battle Born, this is actually part of an ingenious thermal safety design, and in a recently published article they explain how it works.

The basic theory appears to be that if there’s a thermal event, the ABS thermoplastic will soften and reduce the pressure on the bolted-together copper bus bar and brass terminal. This then allows for an aluminium-oxide layer to form on the aluminium connecting bolt courtesy of the dissimilar copper/aluminium interface. Aluminium-oxide is non-conductive and thus interrupts the flow of current.

Of course, there are countless issues with that theory, least of all the many reports of in-field failures. We recently covered [Will Prowse] studying the death of one of these 100 Ah LFP batteries from brand-new to failure under controlled circumstances. This clearly shows the thermal creep loosening up the connection and causing poor contact between the bus bar, the bolt and the terminal, with poor contact and thermal issues resulting.

Naturally, [Will Prowse] had to address this most recent statement by Battle Born, with the latter taking care to indirectly attack and dismiss his findings. Here Battle Born’s argument seems to hinge on the removal of the lid damaging this aluminium-oxide layer and preventing the ‘thermal safety’ from working, yet not addressed are the many batteries that failed in the field and showed loose connections due to thermal creep from the ABS layer.

It’s also never addressed why these LFP batteries cannot simply be equipped with a traditional thermal fuse rather than this convoluted contraption, among many other questions that remain. Correspondingly [Will] is rather incredulous at this response, as should anyone be who has been following this saga.

Machine screws aren’t made for wood or sheet metal, they make specific screws for those applications. You probably also know there are special screws for plastic. But did you know there are at least two distinct types? In a recent video, [Lost in Tech] show us different types of plastic screws, including thermal camera shots of screws driving into 3D printed parts, along with tests using a torque driver.

We have often used “any old” screw in printed parts, which usually works OK. We’ve also used threaded inserts or captive nuts, classic choices. One of the issues with screws or inserts is that you have to get accurately sized holes in your 3D prints.

In addition to learning about the types of screws and how best to accommodate them, he also developed a free web-based tool that does all the math for you.

Of course, there are cases when you do need a threaded insert. In particular, the plastic screws will tend to wear the plastic each time you insert them. If you expect the screw to go in and out many times, this might not be the right technique for you. On the other hand, if you think you might remove and replace the screws a few dozen times over the life of the part, this might be attractive.

We’ve covered self-tapping screws in plastic before, but, as the video shows, not all of them are created equal. And, of course, there are always heat-set inserts.

Humans flew around the Moon this week, but Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi were stuck on Earth — luckily, there was no shortage of stories and hacks to keep them occupied. From the news that Linux might be putting the i486 out to pasture, to the fascinating potential of the threadless ball screw and connecting Bluetooth calipers up to FreeCAD.

You’ll hear about the latest in Internet via high-altitude balloon, the zen of organizing your parts bins, all the problems with Markdown files, and a deep-dive into making a convincing LED fire effect. The episode wraps up with some polarizing opinions on long term data storage, and a freewheeling discussion about the importance of literal moonshots.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Flying around the Moon? Download this episode in DRM-free MP3 so you’ll have something to listen to.

Episode 365 Show Notes:

News:

• 2026 Hackaday Europe: First Round Of Speakers Announced!
• Intel 486 Support Likely To Be Removed In Linux 7.1
• Espressif’s New ESP32-S31: Dual-Core RISC-V With WiFi 6 And GBit Ethernet

What’s that Sound?

• Think you know that sound? Fill out the form for a chance to win!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• The Threadless Ball Screw Never Took Off, But Don’t Write It Off
  • Threadless Ballscrew For 3D Printer
• Pocket-Sized E-Ink Gets A Firmware Upgrade
  • Exploring Custom Firmware On Xiaomi Thermometers
• Turning A Bluetooth Caliper Into A FreeCAD Input Device
  • Hacking Digital Calipers For Automated Measurements And Sorta-Micron Accuracy
• Tracking Parts Box Usage With Stickers
• Magnetic Levitation Using An Induction Cooktop
• Flying Cell Towers For Lower-Latency
  • Google Loon’s Internet Balloons Come Back To Earth After A Decade In The Stratosphere

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks:
  • Modular Mechanical Keyboard Transformed Into A Compact Workstation
  • Playing DVDs On The Sega Dreamcast
  • Making The Case Against Markdown
• Tom’s Picks:
  • Simulating A Glowing Fireplace With An RP2040
  • Rescuing A Pokémon Off A Pokéwalker After Losing The Game Cartridge
  • 2001: An Air Quality Odyssey

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• With Affordable Storage Options Dwindling, Where To Store Our Data?
• Following Artemis II’s Journey Around The Moon
  • Artemis II Agenda Keeps Moon-Bound Crew Busy

One of the many problems you run into when you work with SMD parts is trying to probe the little tiny pins. While we usually watch [Kerry Wong’s] videos for the oscilloscopes, it makes sense that he’d also be looking for probes. The video below shows some cheap probes from China that can clamp onto tiny QFP pins.

The probes look a little like tiny needles, but the needle part isn’t conductive. When you push them, very tiny and rigid clamps come out. On the other end is a pin that will take a female header or, of course, you could connect another test lead to that pin.

As an example, he shows a decidedly dirty Arduino Due and probes the CPU with the tiny probes. Off camera, he put two probes on adjacent pins on the QFP, and it worked just fine. Definitely something we will add to our toolbox.

The probes appear to work with pitches as small as 0.5mm, which covers many common situations. We’ve looked at oddball probes before. Or try making your own solutions.

For some reason the newly introduced MacBook Neo appears to be the subject of a lot of modding, though a recent mod by [dosdude1] leans into the fact that this laptop has been assembled using what are effectively iPhone 16 parts inside a laptop case. This consequently means that there’s an overlap with certain iPhone 16 components, such as the NAND Flash. Incidentally storage on the Neo is limited to 512 GB when you purchase it from Apple, which is weird since the same SoC in the iPhone 16 Pro happily uses 1 TB.

Even if it was just a price point thing that Apple went for, there’s seemingly nothing standing between a Neo owner with a hot air gun and sheer determination. As long as you’re comfortable soldering a fine-pitched BGA NAND Flash package, natch.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Apple used a different NAND Flash package footprint, but the installed 256 GB model chip that comes installed matches the replacement 1 TB model K8A5 chip as hoped. This just left disassembly and preparing the PCB for a storage replacement. Removal of the BGA underfill and desoldering the old chip without taking out surrounding SMD parts is definitely the hardest part, but handled in the video with the equivalent of an IC spatula and a temporary removal of some capacitors.

Interestingly, the uncovered IC footprint shows a whole perimeter of unused pads that might target other NAND Flash packages. Regardless, the new chip installed fine, giving the Neo 1 TB of storage and a slightly faster read/write performance.