Posts by BJC

Microsoft resets 'days since last Windows 11 problem' counter to 0

Re: M$

At this point, it's not clear whether the hold is a fault in the driver or a fault in the OS. If it were a fault in the OS, I expect that the update would be withdrawn, rather than held.

Irrespective of this particular case, I believe that there have been many cases in the past where a Windows update has exposed an error in a driver. Often that seems to have been where the driver was created to the OS implementation and not the OS interface. Is that the fault of Micros~1? You suggest that it is.

If a 3rd party solves a problem by working to the implementation, rather than the interface, how do Micros~1 change anything? If they fix a bug, the implementation changes. That change might be used by the 3rd party. Who's fault is that one? If they change the implementation to improve speed, the implementation changes. If that change borks the 3rd party, who's fault is that? I don't doubt that there'd be plenty complaints if Micros~1 didn't try to fix bugs or improve performance.

Another class of issue is where the 3rd party doesn't use the interface correctly? Are errors properly checked? Are threading issues correctly handled? Given the speed of processors and the scale of deployment, a one-in-a-million problem could be a very frequent event.

There are many ways that a 3rd party driver might fail that it might be unreasonable to consider a failure of Micros~1.

You've also suggested that Micros~1 doesn't test anything. I don't know what processes they have in place but I expect they have a substantial investment in testing. I doubt that the testing is perfect and I would expect that the testing focuses on confirming the behaviour of the published interface and not the implementation. There's certainly no way they can test every application on every combination of hardware. I expect there's also a balance between the speed that changes need to be released (e.g. for security issues) and the volume of testing.

Previously, I worked beside a team that used to constantly complain that Windows updates broke their software. The code was filled with hacks and workarounds they'd found on the interweb, where there was often an interface that'd been ignored. The code seldom checked error codes and gave little (if any) thought to concurrency. UI layouts were ... errr ... unconventional. Custom colours were used everywhere and standard colours and typefaces (i.e. user system settings) were ignored. When things went wrong following a Windows update, my first thought was not that it was the fault of Micros~1. Of course, you might disagree.

For context, I'm a Windows user at work (not my decision). Currently I target embedded systems, often with no OS or other layers. I've previously developed Windows applications. At home, I run a GNU/Linux system, so I'm not tied to Micros~1.

I get frustrated with Micros~1 too but not everything is their fault.

CrowdStrike's Blue Screen blunder: Could eBPF have saved the day?

Re: Would eBPF really have helped here?

Betteridge's law of headlines

Would eBPF really have helped here?

As I understand the issue (mainly from the Dave Plummer YT video), the AV vendor used a kernel driver. The AV vendor marked the kernel driver as critical (i.e. stop OS if the driver fails). Presumably this option was used as the AV protection being deemed critical, by the AV vendor, to avoid potential infection when the AV protection isn't available. The AV supplied driver failed, apparently through poor coding for input validation. The OS detected the driver failure, identified that the driver was marked critical, and stopped.

If that is correct, the kernel detected the failure but the configuration of the driver (by the AV vendor) caused it to stop. How would eBPF help with that?

User read the manual, followed instructions, still couldn't make 'Excel' work

Easily avoided?

It seems to me that the problem can be easily avoided with a little effort. Modify the screenshot images to dim most of the image (or convert to monochrome), and only highlight (or colour) the sections of interest. The screenshots will then look significantly different to the actual application. However, users that are completely unfamiliar with the application (and application norms) could still try to use the modified screenshots. At least the error would be immediately obvious to all others, trying to help. It's a method that's worked for me.

As ever, it's the balance between the resources to create the material against the resources for follow-up support.

YouTube cares less for your privacy than its revenues

Re: So nobody did economics in school?

It's fine. It's their choice to prevent viewing if an ad blocker is detected. No problem.

For myself, I've realised how few videos are sufficiently important to whitelist YT. Turns out my viewing has been more habit than need. I'm sure I'll whitelist for the odd thing, especially since so many sites embed content on YT (including The Reg). It turns out that this YT change might be a good thing for me - I now have more time for other things.

Each to their own though. As you said, that's economics.

Speaking of economics, is it monopolistic behaviour to cross-subsidise a video service to avoid charging (and ignore revenue circumvention) until there's minimal competition?

You thought you bought software – all you bought was a lie

DOS Editor

If my memory serves me well (debatable), then you might be shocked to now find that edlin was there all along, in DOS. Now, I'm not going to suggest is was a good editor. ;-)

Microsoft plans to drop SMB1 binaries from Windows 11

Problems ahead for old Sonos units

I believe that the original Sonos boxes can only connect to servers with SMB1, so that's going to be an issue for anyone trying to get them to connect to a new Windows box. I ran into the same problem when a NAS upgrade disabled SMB1 by default. As ever, it was only later that I tried streaming music to the Sonos and didn't immediately tie the failure to the previous NAS upgrade. Of course, Sonos sell upgrades for their boxes but that can be a tidy sum for a multi-room system.

I use the Sonos units to stream the music from a NAS and then out of an optical output to the proper hi-fi. Gives a nice interface on a variety of phones and tablets in the household. The hi-fi is fine - and likely will be for years - but the Sonos units not so much. I'd love to switch away from SMB1 but unless Sonos release a feature upgrade that isn't an option. I haven't checked the dates, but I'm pretty sure there were later versions of SMB available when the Sonos first shipped, or within their lifetime, so there's an argument that they could/should have added support.

Canonical puts out last update to Ubuntu 20.04 before 22.04

Timely report

I'd just recently had to do a reinstall on my home laptop. [Long story that I might share more about once correspondence ends.] Anyway, I was having just this problem, with nVidia drivers, and was a little confused what had changed. I'd been working around the issue by booting to the earlier kernel but it's good to get more information about it.

Thanks Reg. :-)

Tesla disables in-car gaming feature that allowed play while MuskMobiles were in motion

Re: Soft controls

I agree the the decisions are likely made on a cost basis, although I suspect that there are aesthetic considerations too. I'd agree that the interior can look a lot neater if everything is screen based. However, these things shouldn't be allowed if they reduce safety. Legislation would level the playing field.

Of course, it might be difficult to define in a way that continues to allow evolution of improvements.

Soft controls

While they're at it, what about redesigning the user interface to avoid soft, screen based controls? I haven't been in a Tesla but reports suggest that a screen is the centre of controlling things. Unfortunately, other manufacturers are headed this way too. It's a terrible idea. With hard, physical controls I can place my hand near the control and then get the right control through touch, without looking away from the road. With screen based controls, I have to look at the screen to see what I'm about to touch. Why would I want to remove my eyes from the road to select the Radio 4 button?

Why don't they legislate for this?

Got enterprise workstations and hope to run Windows 11? Survey says: You lose. Over half the gear's not fit for it

Compatibility tool fail

Not sure what it says about the quality of Win11 but, out of curiosity I thought I run the upgrade compatibility tool to determine whether my work PC would qualify. The compatibility tool failed to run and issued the warning "You'll need Windows 10, version 1803 or later to install this app". That might be fair enough but I'm running Win10 20H2!

Don't touch that dial – the new guy just closed the application that no one is meant to close

Timely tale in the UK

A very timely tale given the shenanigans with channels four and five on Saturday, in Blighty.

UK government resists pressure to hold statutory inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal

Re: Statutory inquiry

I absolutely agree that the full weight of the law (inquiries, or otherwise) should be put against those that contributed to this.

However, on the specific point about software certification, I believe that the problem was that a change to the law in 1999 was introduced to presume that computer systems operated correctly, unless there was evidence to the contrary. If such evidence was available (and there would seem to be a strong suggestion that it was, at some point), it was not available to the defendants.

I believe that the change to the law was introduced as a result of a large number of cases where it was questioned whether the operation of speed cameras could be proven. I expect that all this qualifies as unintended consequences.

I would absolutely recommend the BBC Sounds series (The Great Post Office Trial). It is despairing how this was allowed to happen but remarkably uplifting how those involved fought back (and still are).

Microsoft bows to the inevitable and takes Visual Studio 64-bit for 2022 version

I guess I was wrong

Well, when the 64 bit OneDrive client was reported I suggested that it was pointless because even VS didn't need 64 bit and remained 32 bit. How wrong I was! Clearly, this change is absolutely essential.

I can't wait to create my 5GB projects that are fully loaded into memory. Now, where did I leave that design I had for a massively bloated application that has every bell and whistle and no focus?

Microsoft drops 64-bit OneDrive into the pool: Windows on ARM fans need not apply. As usual

Does it matter?

Does it need 64 bit? It's a sync tool. It might be moving large files but it doesn't have to open them, and even if it did it doesn't need to be in one big gulp.

The Visual Studio IDE is still 32 bit. While it might not be everyone's cup of tea, it's not the fact that it's 32 bit that's the issue, is it? Horses for courses.

No cards, thanks, we're contactless-less: UK supermarket giants hit by card payment TITSUP*

Re: cashless society

Well, there's the slight issue that most folk need a working card to get the cash from another machine. Not everyone, but it's common.

Still, I'm sure the banks ensure that they never prevent access to their cash machines. Mmmm....

Boeing 737 Max will return to flight after software updates, says EU's aviation regulator

Average crew

"However, when it [MCAS] is lost (failed and inoperative), an averagely skilled and trained crew is still able to safely fly and land the airplane,"

Aren't half the crews below *average*, by definition?

Did this airliner land in the North Sea? No. So what happened? El Reg probes flight tracker site oddity

Spitfire NHS thanks tour

Yesterday, there was a Spitfire flight over hospitals in Scotland, to thank the NHS. I was watching it on flightradar24 and it simply disappeared over Fife. Fortunately, it seems to have only been the flight tracker, with the plane completing the flight.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/gprxi/#25869fca

There are always two sides to every story – except this one, which is just a big billboard borked in all directions

Information needed

While the full technical details aren't available, I think a search for "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the time interval." is likely to help.

Microsoft prevents Domain of Danger from falling into miscreants' paws by forking out cash for corp.com

Re: Is Contoso next?

I think MS have that covered.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061013-05/?p=29393

Boeing 787s must be turned off and on every 51 days to prevent 'misleading data' being shown to pilots

Millisecond roll-over?

So, what is the probability that the timing for these events is stored as milliseconds in a 32 bit structure?

Yahoo! customers! wake! up! to! borked! email! (Yes! people! still! actually! use! it!)

Potentially been falling over for a while

Yahoo provide the email service for BT. I use the associated calendar service as a backup. The web interface has been failing to render properly for a couple of weeks. You can see some elements of the page are in there somewhere. Might all be related.

Failures are so common it's not even worth investigating or reporting any more. Every so often calendar reminders just stop being sent. Just as well this is only a backup for me.

Naked Androids to rampage across Russia

Re: Potential Google response

> How could Google force OEMs not to sell Android phones in Russia?

I was suggesting that Google simply stop licensing Android to OEMs in Russia. I'm not sure whether ASOP is the same as the code Google licences to OEMs. I suspect it's quite different but I haven't looked and that may be confidential anyway. Russian OEMs would still be free to use any open source code but would it then be their responsibility to disentangle Google services?

Potential Google response

Rather than open Android devices for other search engines, might Google simply add terms and conditions to prevent distribution of Android in Russia? This way Google would be able to comply with the ruling while sticking with the mantra that all the apps are so closely tied into Android that removal is impossible. That might also help Google with the negotiations with other economic blocks, such as the EU. It might be worth sacraficing Russia for the sake of larger markets. Anyone know what the Russian marketplace looks like for these units? Would Google miss Russia?

If Google effectively withdrew from Russia, a grey market would likely develop to import Android units for those that really want them. If demand continued then it might eventually become unsustainable to stop them.

Note that it isn't important to determine whether Google _could_ separate the app integration from Android, just whether they are inclined to do so for this ruling.

Big data busts crypto: 'Sweet32' captures collisions in old ciphers

Yep, there's a transcription error from the original article and 2^20.1 got changed to "200.1" and 2^36.6 got changed to "236.6".

You are correct that 2^20.1 (1123835) would still be too low at 2000 requests per second for 25 minutes (3000000) but the original article did say "up to" 200 requests per second. I don't see anything to note whether 2000 requests per second could be sustained.

It would seem to be something that might have been better clarified in the original article and definitely better transcribed by The Reg.

This is how the EU's supreme court is stripping EU citizens of copyright protections

Is it re-publishing?

N.B. I am most decidedly NOT a lawyer.

I'm happy to comply with sensible copyright and republishing protected material is wrong. I want my material protected so I need to be prepared to respect the property of others.

OK, it's not about the actual link. It could be a nice descriptive link, a redirection link, a self-evidently broken link that's easy to fix, or even search expression text. The point is that the distribution of the "link" is making it available a different "public". I read this as making it available to a new audience. We might better describe making it available to a new audience as re-publishing.

If I post material on a public facing web site, under my control, I consider that publishing publicly. The technicalities of the web require that each visitor copies the material to their own clients systems to view the material. That would seem to have an implied acceptance by the author. However, if the visitor makes the files available on a different site that would seem to be re-publishing the material and I (as the author) might, reasonably, consider this a violation.

Now, what if I put files on a public facing web site and share a link privately with friends? This doesn't change the fact that it's available to anyone who stumbles upon it. If the link becomes known to others and is shared, that would reach a new audience (i.e. no longer just my friends). Of course, at any time I can add some authorisation method that restricts access. That is, the material is still under my control and I'm not guaranteeing that the link will reach the material at any given time.

So, for me sharing the link is fine because the material is still under the control of the author. However, sharing the material (i.e. re-publishing) is a violation.

Just my 2p.

Samsung's little black box will hot-wire your car to the internet. Eek!

Privacy already compromised

Folks are rightly concerned about privacy issues. However, in the EU, that's already been compromised by requiring eCall units to be fitted to new cars from 2018. See The Register.

Of course you could choose to believe that no agency will use this for other purposes. If the agencies don't bother you then perhaps this might - "The European Parliament itself admitted that it expects a whole host of commercial companies to have access to this data."

Dutch PGP-encrypted comms network ‘abused by crooks’ is busted

Why stop there?

Based on the number of BT telephone users and the number of criminals, it seems quite possible that the BT telephone network is being used for criminal purposes. OK, shut it down too. Of course, the same is true - probably more so - for the mobile networks so shut them down too. Actually, what about this interweb thingy, they're probably using that too. OK, shut it down.

N.B. I have no evidence to support that fact that these services are being used for illegal purposes. Right, lets monitor and capture all comms so that we can find out. Oh, we're already doing that...mmmmm.

Seems that this isn't so much as an idea but a government plan. :-(

Be afraid, Apple and Samsung: Huawei's IoT home looks cheaper and better

Security

Isn't a major issue with IoT always going to be security?

Let's be generous and assume that there are no known issues today for the "thing". Some issues are only evident when general technology moves on. For example, the system may be well designed and can't be cracked today but what about with the computing power available in 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years?

Who wants to spend time managing a "thing"? I'm not keen on the hassle involved in updating my computing devices (although I do) - it's a hidden cost of having the tech. That's worse for "things" that I expect to just be there and work. Even now, who wants to go round round the house checking that all network connected devices are running the latest firmware? TVs, PVRs, disc players, music streamer - do you check them all? Even if you do, does the latest update even patch the latest known vulnerabilities? Have you checked? For every connected device?

What happens if the solution requires different hardware? For example, perhaps the encryption is supported by a hardware module - what happens if the algorithm is found to be compromised? Will the vendor update the hardware of a 10 year old "thing"? What about if it's 5 years old? 2 years?

The whole point is that it's the Internet of *Things*. I tend to keep my "things" longer than I might keep my computing tech. A large installed base of ageing kit is a big support burden. That's likely to be complicated by the hardware being optimised to minimise production cost and further complicated with the design evolving over time as components are changed or eliminated. How long will updates keep being developed and issued? Supporting the ageing Windows XP is going to look simple in comparison.

Will every consumer be expected to become an IT specialist just to ensure that the "things" are all suitably connected and protected? Is that realistic? I don't think so.

Belgium to the rescue as UK consumers freeze after BST blunder

Universal world time

>> In America? Well you will work 14:00-22:00 and have lunch at 18:00. <<

Doesn't that just change the problem?

Consider you're reading and the subject has breakfast at "15:00". Is that early, normal, late? It wouldn't be possible to tell unless you find out where the character is. So, does the time become "15:00 90degW"? That wouldn't seem to be a simplifcation.

Similarly, if you were to schedule a business meeting between UK and US colleagues, it might still be necessary to know whether all parties are likely to be awake and at work.

At least with the current system, once the time conversion is done, I can easily determine if it's a normal business hour, or not.

Just my 2p.

Windows 10: The Microsoft rule-o-three holds, THIS time it's looking DECENT

Re: We will tell them it's free - Muuhahahha

Alternative translation:

You can upgrade, for free, from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 within the first year of release. After those first 12 months, you need to pay to upgrade. Either way, once you're upgraded it's yours and you are supported. That is, it *doesn't* need license renewal - it is not a subscription.

Take at look at http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/21/the-next-generation-of-windows-windows-10/. The key quote is "This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no cost."

BT Infinity ‘working to fix problem’ after three days of outages

Re: Related...?

I had the same thing last night with the Parental Controls overlay, also for the first time. The site I was trying to get to was The Register! Frustratingly, clicking the options to ignore it didn't actually bring up the selected link (on The Register). Instead, I got stuck with an error.

The Parental Controls thing happened just after something else. I rebooted my PC. Following the restart, I got errors from the router telling me that it couldn't connect. I tried a couple of sites but it was adament. I then logged on to the router and all looked well. It worked fine after that. I don't know if it just cleared itself or if it was a result of logging on.

Royal Navy parks 470 double-decker buses on Queen Elizabeth

Re: Geography...

If someone could also just pop Rosyth back down onto the Firth of Forth and away from Dundee, that'd be grand.

I hope that map wasn't generated by the on-board navigation system.

Watch this: The .NET ASync story

Painful audio

This is the second Tech Week video I thought looked interesting and was worth watching, based on the subject matter. Unfortunately, in both cases, the audio is so poor that it's completely distracting. Consequently, I didn't get far into either video.

I don't think it does The Register or QA Tech any good to link to such poor quality material. OTOH, I guess it was worth what I paid for it.

Dell orbits Linux a third time with revamped Sputnik notebooks

I'm in

I got the 2nd iteration of the XPS13, preinstalled with Ubuntu and it's one of the best buys I've made. It's a fantastic size, the screen is great.

As for Ubuntu, well it just works - no drama, no excitement. It's an OS - that's what it's supposed to do! I was a little miffed about the pricing - virtually the same with Windows or Ubuntu, which seemed unjust given the MS tax. However, the Windows option was through the "Home" channel while the Ubuntu option was through the "Work" channel, with better support (although I haven't needed any). However, I'm happy to pay for the Ubuntu pre-install if it's tweaked to fit the machine which it seems to be. Personally, I've drifted to a preference for GNU/Linux for home use, over the last few years, although I'm still firmly with Windows at work.

Searching around, as I did prior to purchase, there weren't many options for buying a decent spec laptop with GNU/Linux pre-installed, so I welcome Dell's efforts. Perhaps other vendors might take note so we can have a genuine choice of OS.

Anyway, I'd buy another in a heartbeat. Each to their own though.

Yahoo! Mail! offers! HTTPS! amid! account! hijack! spree!

Not on BT Yahoo accounts

I've just checked my BT Yahoo account and I see no such option.

F1 2010

And Revs...

I even remember Geoff Crammond's Revs for the BBC. I'm still amazed of the perception of the Snetterton Bomb Hole corner - it really felt like the steering went light on the exit. All that with only keyboard entry and low resolution display!

[I refuse to work out just how many years ago that was - just way too scary!]

Dell's order status website wobbles at knees

...or was it?

I was trying to determine the order status because I was trying to cancel the order.

During the order process, the estimated delivery was "3+ weeks". The order confirmation estimated delivery as 7th July - about 4.5 months! While technically correct, that's ridiculous! No point in hanging around, so I tried to cancel the order the next day.

Given recent experience, I have serious reservations about using Dell again. As was said before by someone with far more widom than I:

"The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." — Albert Einstein

Maybe it's time to recognise the obvious and give up on Dell.

Bruce