2000-11-05 17:15:51

by Heusden, Folkert van

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Subject: i82808 hardware hub RNG

Hi,

I wrote a daemon that fetches (as root-user) random numbers from the RNG in
the i82808 (found on 815-chipsets).
You can download it from http://www.vanheusden.com/Linux/random.php3 .
Currently, I'm trying to rewrite things into a kernel-module so that one has
a standard character device which can deliver random values then.
Please give it a try as I do not own a PC with such a motherboard ;-/


2000-11-05 17:48:51

by Robert Love

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Subject: Re: i82808 hardware hub RNG

On Sun, 5 Nov 2000, Heusden, Folkert van hissed:
> I wrote a daemon that fetches (as root-user) random numbers from the RNG in
> the i82808 (found on 815-chipsets).
> You can download it from http://www.vanheusden.com/Linux/random.php3 .
> Currently, I'm trying to rewrite things into a kernel-module so that one has
> a standard character device which can deliver random values then.
> Please give it a try as I do not own a PC with such a motherboard ;-/

a driver for this already exists in 2.4 and was recently back-ported to
2.2. it works on i810, i815, and i820. it features a char device for
grabbing entropy and a timer device to inject the entropy directly into
/dev/random.

Jeff Garzik wrote it.

i am using it in 2.4 on my i815.

--
Robert M. Love
[email protected]
[email protected]

2000-11-05 17:51:02

by Heusden, Folkert van

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: RE: i82808 hardware hub RNG

> I wrote a daemon that fetches (as root-user) random numbers from the RNG
in
> the i82808 (found on 815-chipsets).
> You can download it from http://www.vanheusden.com/Linux/random.php3 .
> Currently, I'm trying to rewrite things into a kernel-module so that one
has
> a standard character device which can deliver random values then.
> Please give it a try as I do not own a PC with such a motherboard ;-/
RML> a driver for this already exists in 2.4 and was recently back-ported to
RML> 2.2. it works on i810, i815, and i820. it features a char device for
RML> grabbing entropy and a timer device to inject the entropy directly into
RML> /dev/random.
RML> Jeff Garzik wrote it.

Excellent!
Got any URLs?

2000-11-05 18:05:34

by Philipp Rumpf

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Subject: Re: i82808 hardware hub RNG

On Sun, Nov 05, 2000 at 06:19:21PM +0100, Heusden, Folkert van wrote:
> I wrote a daemon that fetches (as root-user) random numbers from the RNG in
> the i82808 (found on 815-chipsets).
> You can download it from http://www.vanheusden.com/Linux/random.php3 .
> Currently, I'm trying to rewrite things into a kernel-module so that one has
> a standard character device which can deliver random values then.
> Please give it a try as I do not own a PC with such a motherboard ;-/

So how is this different from drivers/char/i810_rng.c ?

2000-11-05 18:08:35

by Heusden, Folkert van

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: RE: i82808 hardware hub RNG

> I wrote a daemon that fetches (as root-user) random numbers from the RNG
in
> the i82808 (found on 815-chipsets).
> You can download it from http://www.vanheusden.com/Linux/random.php3 .
> Currently, I'm trying to rewrite things into a kernel-module so that one
has
> a standard character device which can deliver random values then.
> Please give it a try as I do not own a PC with such a motherboard ;-/
PR> So how is this different from drivers/char/i810_rng.c ?

I don't know; 2.2.17 doesn't have it :-}

2000-11-05 18:09:54

by Robert Love

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Subject: RE: i82808 hardware hub RNG

On Sun, 5 Nov 2000, Heusden, Folkert van sang:
> Excellent!
> Got any URLs?

its been in 2.4 for a year or so, although only in the last few tests as
it supported i815. it has been in 2.2 since 2.2.17 or the current 2.2.18.

take a look at linux/drivers/char/i810_rng.c

Jeff's homepage for it is http://gtf.org/garzik/drivers/i810_rng/ but
probably not as up to date as the C source.

it works great for me. i have it feeding the standard entropy pool, so my
/dev/random is fat with entropy.

--
Robert M. Love
[email protected]
[email protected]

2000-11-05 18:13:14

by Heusden, Folkert van

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: RE: i82808 hardware hub RNG

> Excellent!
> Got any URLs?
RML> its been in 2.4 for a year or so, although only in the last few tests
as
RML> it supported i815. it has been in 2.2 since 2.2.17 or the current
2.2.18.

2.2.18 I think, or some undetected disk-error must have swept it away from
the local sourcetree :o)

RML> take a look at linux/drivers/char/i810_rng.c
RML> Jeff's homepage for it is http://gtf.org/garzik/drivers/i810_rng/ but
RML> probably not as up to date as the C source.

Thank you!

RML> it works great for me. i have it feeding the standard entropy pool, so
my
RML> /dev/random is fat with entropy.

You didn't forget to change the line
random.c: #define POOLWORDS 128 /* Power of 2 - note that this is 32-bit
words */
to
#define POOLWORDS 2048 /* Power of 2 - note that this is 32-bit words */
? :o)