detect usb insertion and set bit - encryption

I want to detect the insertion of a usb thumbdrive and have the insertion set a flag on the thumbdrive in order that the individual receiving the thumbdrive through the mail will be able to determine if the device has been accessed between the time the device was posted in the mail and its arrival at the intended destination.
I am sending pad files and want to be sure the files have not been examined/copied.
Perhaps I'm headed in the wrong direction. Should I instead check access time on the files. However, it seems to me that is rather easily jiggered.
In the past, I have wrapped the drive in crushed foil and inscribed a barely visible mark on the foil which the receiver is directed to discern before unwrapping. Works fairly well. But there must be a better way to do this.
Any the smallest help will be much appreciated.

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Dissasemble 68xx code without entry point vector

I am trying to disassemble a code from a old radio containing a 68xx (68hc12 like) microcontroller. The problem is, I dont have the access to the interrupt vector of the micro in the top of the ROM, so I don't know where start to look. I only have the code below the top. There is some suggestion of where or how can I find meaningful routines in the code data?
You can't really disassemble reliably without knowing where the reset vector points. What you can do, however, is try to narrow down the possible reset addresses by eliminating all those other addresses that cannot possibly be a starting point.
So, given that any address in the memory map that contains a valid opcode is a potential reset point, you need to either eliminate it, or keep it for further analysis.
For the 68HC11 case, you could try to guess somewhat the entry point by looking for LDS instructions with legitimate operand value (i.e., pointing at or near the top of available RAM -- if multiple RAM banks, then to any of them).
It may help a bit if you know the device's full memory map, i.e., if external memory is used, its mapping and possible mapped peripherals (e.g., LCD). Do you also know CONFIG register contents?
The LDS instruction is usually either the very first instruction, or close thereafter (so look back a few instructions when you feel you have finally singled out your reset address). The problem here is some data may, by chance, appear as LDS instructions so you could end up with multiple potentially valid entry points. Only one of them is valid, of course.
You can eliminate further by disassembling a few instructions starting from each of these LDS instructions until you either hit an illegal opcode (i.e. obviously not a valid code sequence but an accidental data arrangement that looks like opcodes), or you see a series of instructions that are commonly used in 68HC11 initialization. These involve (usually) initialization of any one or more of the registers BPROT, OPTION, SCI, INIT ($103D in most parts, but for some $3D), etc.
You could write a relatively small script (e.g., in Lua) to do the basic scanning of the memory map and produce a (hopefully small) set of potential reset points to be examined further with a true disassembler for hints like the ones I mentioned.
Now, once you have the reset vector figured out the job becomes somewhat easier but you still need to figure out where any interrupt handlers are located. For this your hint is an RTI instruction and whatever preceding code that normally should acknowledge the specific interrupt it handles.
Hope this helps.

Best approach for transfering large data chunks over BLE

I'm new to BLE and hope you will be able to point me towards the right implementation approach.
I'm working on an application in which the peripheral (battery operated) device continuously aggregate sensor readings.
On the mobile side application there will be a "sync" button, upon button press, I would like to transfer all the sensor readings that were accumulated in the peripheral to the mobile application.
The maximal duration between sync's can be several days, hence, the accumulated data can reach a size of 20Kbytes.
Now, I'm wondering what will be the best approach to perform the data transfer from the peripheral to the central application.
I thought about creating an array of characteristics where each characteristic will contain a fixed amount of samples (e.g. representing 1hour of readings).
Then, upon sync, I will:
Read the characteristics count (how many 1hours cells).
Then read the characteristics (1hour cells) one by one.
However, I have no idea if this is a valid approach ?
I'm not sure if this is the most "power efficient" way that I can
use.
I'm not sure if Characteristic READ is the way to go, or maybe
I need to use indication instead.
Any help here will be highly appreciated :)
Thanks in advance, Moti.
I would simply use notifications.
Use one characteristic which you write something to in order to trigger the transfer start.
Then have another characteristic which you simply stream data over by sending 20 bytes at a time. Most SDKs for BLE system-on-a-chips have some way to control the flow of data so you don't send too fast. Normally by having a callback triggered when it is ready to take the next notification.
In order to know the size of the data being sent, you can for example let the first notification contain the size, and rest of them the data.
This is the most time and power efficient way since there can be sent many notifications per connection interval, compared if you do a lot of reads instead which normally requires two round trips each. Don't use indications since they also require basically two round trips per indication. They're also quite useless anyway.
You could possibly increase the speed also by some % by exchanging a larger MTU (which leads to lower L2CAP/ATT headers overhead).

MMORPG moving protocol mechanism

I would like to build from scratch a kind of small (extremely small and simple) MMORPG game with click movements inside a given grid (something like an online Pokemon game). When I click on a cell, the player will move to reach the pointed area (using a pathfinding algorithm such as A*). But, I have no idea about how to build the network protocol of the movement system. And, googling the subject doesn't seem to help me a lot. I need to make a choice: - either I send a message to the server each time I move from one cell to another (which isn't efficient at all because if we are in a 100ms latency network, I can only sens 10movements/sec and if I ask the server to acknowledge the movement it can only do 5moves/sec) - either I send a message each time the player wants to change its direction (it clicks on another cell). The client sends periodically its position to the server and it checks if it's coherent with the destination.
The second solution looks a lot better than the first one and I think that a real game systems must implement that strategy. Am I wrong?
Also, how can we build systems based on that solution that doesn't let a modified (hacked) client be able to send fake positions and teleport anywhere they want? Does real systems implement somethink like a "incoherent sent position" system that will try to try to detect and fix those problems?
Or, is there something simpler to implement? Thank you very much
In a realtime game I would create a panthing mechanic. I would use a formula such as: Speed * time = distance.
now if you run the same logic in the client and the server you only need to send the movement logic at the beginning and the sever can answer with a finish message when the distance is traveled. (compare at the end to prevent cheating. the server always wins)
Now if the client cancels in the movement to go somewhere else, you send a cancelation of panthing and the time that you traveled. The same goes when changing the panthing (in this case you send a new path staring at a new time and place).
Thanks to ScarletMerlin's answers I think there's a simple solution to my problem.
When the player wants to move from one position (for instance 0,0) to another (for instance 10,10), it sends a "MOVE 10 10" message to the server.
Then, only the server will apply the pathfinding algorithm and send after each move the position to the client. (for instance, by message CURRENTLY_ON X Y). Then, the client will update the position of the player.
It's a kind of automatic synchronisation from the server to the client. It also solves the problem of the first solution (one move and one ACK per movement) thanks to pipeling. For instance, if the network has a 1000ms delay and a move is set 50ms, we will just receive messages at time 1000, 1050, 1100, 1150, ... So, we will just feel the lag when the player is changing its direction.
The user will also feel some lag when changing from one direction to another but if we assume that the delay is quite low and symetric (it doesn't seems to be a too strong assumption), it won't be so much percepted (as the change direction will often arrive before the sending of the CURRENTLY_ON message and the server can interrupt its current action (going straight on) to handle the new one).

Decode IR (RC5) steps

I have captured the IR signal ( I believe RC5) of a HVAC remote control, like this one....
(using Saleae)
This gave me a sequence of pulses of different width that I can make the Arduino reproduce and the HVAC recognize the request. An example is:
unsigned int power_ON[180] = {2888,3918,1911,1049,907,1992,903,989,1936,1023,907,1049,903,989,903,1049,903,1049,907,1992,1851,1992,1915,1049,928,963,928,1023,903,1049,907,1049,928,963,928,1023,903,1053,928,1023,928,963,928,1023,928,1027,928,1023,928,963,928,1023,907,1049,928,1023,928,1906,1941,959,2940,3866,1962,997,932,1967,929,963,1962,997,933,1019,959,933,933,1023,954,997,928,1971,1902,1941,1941,1019,958,933,958,997,954,997,933,1019,959,933,959,997,954,997,928,1023,958,933,958,997,954,997,933,1019,958,933,958,997,954,997,933,1019,958,1881,1962,937,2940,3862,1966,993,958,1941,933,959,1966,993,958,997,954,937,954,997,933,1023,954,1941,1880,1966,1962,997,954,937,928,1023,933,1023,954,997,928,963,928,1023,933,1023,929,1023,928,963,929,1023,928,1027,928,1023,928,963,928,1023,928,1027,928,1023,928,1910,1911,989,3832};
Could anyone guide me on the steps to decode the message? or understand the different pulse width?
I guess there must be certain defined pulse widths? Each meaning something different?
My initial though is that I need to:
1) Decode raw data by converting pulses to digital 1,0
2) Identify from digital data each section of the code, I think all the configuration is send on every key press, so identify the section of the code where it states the temperature, fan speed, hvac mode, clock, etc
3) Be able to put together a full IR code based on wanted setup, instead of just saving the whole code and reproducing it.
Any hint or guideline on how to do this?
Am I on the right track?
edit:
I have tried analysing one same mode and try to figure out which pulses change, but I cant figure it out as the number of pulses varies. Here you can see Cooling mode and maximum fan speed with changing temperature setting.
here is the excel file for anyone really into helping:
http://www.filedropper.com/analysiscoolingmodefanspeedmaximum
and the end of the message
So I put your pulse widths (?) into a diagram: http://i.imgur.com/C9k64qB.jpg
Without knowing more about what this actually represents, this does not really help i guess..
What buttons did you press while recording this? How did you record this?
I would try to visualize all the data you can get. Record all buttons and put what you get in diagrams. Then stare at them and maybe you will find some logic hidden in there.
Also, open the remote, look what IC's are inside and look up their datasheets. Maybe there you will find the protocol and you won't have to do any reverse engineering at all.
Keep us updated!

IMediaControl::Run followed by IMediaControl::Stop followed by IMeidaControl::Run doesn't switch on certain Onboard cameras

I have a DirectShow webcam application. I make use of Sample Grabber to get the buffer callbacks and IVideoWindow to control the display co-ordinates for the Preview. I have Preview and Capture Streams which I run as below.
g_pBuild->RenderStream(&PIN_CATEGORY_CAPTURE, &MEDIATYPE_Video,cam,g_pGrabberF,pNullRenderer2); g_pBuild->RenderStream(&PIN_CATEGORY_PREVIEW, &MEDIATYPE_Video,cam,NULL,NULL);
On certain On board cameras, IMediaControl::Run followed by IMediaControl::Stop followed by IMediaCOntrol::Run doesn't switch on the camera.
Extenal USB cameras work properly here. How can I diagnose more on this? Any pointers, please help.
Maybe its specific to a certain hardware issue in the unit.
Do a quick test by adding sleep of 1 sec between calls.
If it does help than you need to find a way to know when to unit state in idle or not.
There are two important parts of the question which you did not provide:
Filter graph topologies
HRESULTs of the method calls
A problem you might be having is that one of the filters in the topology does not handle well state transitions and fails somewhere between states. Supposedly your second Run meets it still trying to complete Stop. You might get a HRESULT there which indicates the issue (better for you) or the filter fails silently.
The filter graph's is the unlikely source of the bug itself. Chances are high that it does everything flawlessly, however since internally it distributes the calls between filters, one of the filter is letting you down.

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