Not all USB-UART adapters are the same!

I have three USB-UART adapters, the first is a PL2303 from “Prolific Technology”, the second one is a CH340 from “QinHeng Electronics” and the other is a CP2102 from “Silicon Labs” and I tried to use them in a project involving non-standard baud-rate (1600 bps) on the serial bus.

The PL2303 and the CH340 are capable of non-standard baud-rate talking as long as a fixed parity setting (ODD, EVEN, NONE, MARK or SPACE) is used.

The CP2102 is not capable of non-standard baud-rate communication at all.

I checked with a logic analyzer and some python lines, here are the results.

The test code

import time
import serial

ser = serial.Serial(
    port='/dev/ttyUSB0',
    baudrate=1200, # 1200 or 1600
    parity=serial.PARITY_NONE,
    stopbits=serial.STOPBITS_ONE,
    bytesize=serial.EIGHTBITS,
    timeout=None
)

while True:

    ser.write(b'\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\xFF\x00')
    time.sleep(2)

Silicon Labs CP2102 test restults

CP2102 @ 1200 bps (standard) – OK
CP2102 @ 1600 bps (non-standard) – BAD DATA

Prolific Technology PL2303 test results

PL2303 @ 1200 bps (standard) – OK
PL2303 @ 1600 bps (non-standard) – OK

QinHeng Electronics CH340 test results

CH340 @ 1200 bps (standard) – OK
CH340 @ 1600 bps (non-standard) – OK

How about 9-Bit framing also know as Multi-Drop Bus (MDB)?

Neither device is capable of talking on a Multi-Drop Bus.

Serial communication with 9-Bit framing (9-Bit protocol, 9 bit mode) is mainly used to identify the address byte within messages running on a RS-485/RS-232 multi-drop network.

On this type of network one “master” controls one or many “slaves”, the 9th bit is used to distinguish the address from the data.

This type of protocol is not a POSIX-standard, but some devices supports the Mark/Space Parity (CMSPAR) and can use the “Parity Bit” to emulate the 9th data bit.

Acting as TX device, the UART parity settings needs to be set accordly with the type of byte to send: sending an address the parity needs to be set to “MARK” (logic 1), for the data parts the parity needs to be set to “SPACE” (logic 0).

Changing MARK to SPACE parity settings on the fly (reconfigure the UART without closing and reopening the port) is supported by PySerial, but my devices are not behaving as expected.

Acting as RX device, the value of the 9th bit can be recovered observing the parity-error. For example: settings the UART with SPACE parity, we should receive a parity-error when an “address” is received.

Unfortunately, this does not work with any of my devices via PySerial library.

How to run Splashtop for RMM on Linux

Splashtop for RMM on Linux

Splashtop is a remote support software that enables remote computer access for IT support included in several RMM (Remote monitoring and management) like NinjaOne.

Unlike “Splashtop for Business”, “Splashtop for RMM” is not available for Linux, but you can run it with Wine adding a “st-rmm://” protocol handler to your system.

Tested with NinjaOne, Splashtop for RMM v3.4.6.1, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with wine-7.22 (Staging).

Check this repo for all the needed: https://github.com/siddolo/splashtop-for-rmm-linux

How to fix “CRL has expired” openvpn error on pfSense

In case of this error you need to apply a system patch called “Fix for CRL expiration lifetime default and maximum values” (a3c1589086ea67d25a28ec14ab95d7fd9ab25fa2).

Error example

VERIFY ERROR: depth=0, error=CRL has expired: C=XX, ST=XX, L=XX, O=XX, emailAddress=XX, CN=XX, serial=3
OpenSSL: error:1417C086:SSL routines:tls_process_client_certificate:certificate verify failed
TLS_ERROR: BIO read tls_read_plaintext error
TLS Error: TLS object -> incoming plaintext read error
TLS Error: TLS handshake failed

Fix

Patch example

If “System > Patches” is not available, you need to install a package called “System Patches” from “System > Package, Available package”.

How to unlock the bootloader on Huawei P20-PRO CLT-L09 without code

This is a note on how to unlock the bootloader on a Huawei P20-PRO, in my case CLT-L09, equipped with HiSilicon Kirin 970 CPU without having a valid unlock code and without disassembling it.

But before, this is the short and sad story

A long time ago, the unlock code, necessary to do whatever the fuck you want with your device, was official given by Huawei if you request it. As of 25th July 2018, Huawei has closed this official channel.

Since you paid for your device, you have every right to tell Huawei to fuck off.

Unofficial methods

For Kirin 620, 650, 655, 658, 659, 925, 935, 950 and 960 there is the Open Source tool PotatoNV, but for the Kirin 710, 710F, 970 and 980 it doesn’t work.

Currently, the only working solution is to use DC Phoenix & HCU Client which costs 19$ for 3 days access.

If in doubt, see this app.

  1. DC Phoenix sets the phone in software “testpoint” mode.
  2. With device in “software testpoint” HCU Client can read and toggle the state of “Bootloader lock” and “FRP lock”.
  3. After unlock, DC Phoenix can remove the “testpoint” mode.
DC Phoenix
HCU Client