hackertube.io

My personal fight against the modern laptop

linux conf au 2017 - Hobart, Australia · talk · Watch on YouTube

Security & hackingEmbedded systems & DIY electronicsConsumer devices & gadgets

What it is

Hamish Coleman describes reverse engineering the keyboard controller in a Thinkpad and reflashing it with custom firmware. He covers how Lenovo secures its firmware, and his ongoing work on the protocol between the BIOS and the vendor flash tool.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN people cite it as an approachable, hands-on introduction to hardware and firmware reverse engineering, and as the author's own account of the Thinkpad keyboard patch effort.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2017, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “Here's something from Linuxconf.au and hacking Thinkpads”

    Indirect introduction to reverse engineering via hacking Thinkpad keyboards

    josteink, 2017-03 · Recommendation · in “Iaito – A Qt and C++ GUI for radare2 reverse engineering framework”

  2. “I found this video on hacking old Thinkpad keyboards onto new Thinkpad models interesting.”

    Fitting old Thinkpad keyboards to new models required firmware reverse engineering

    Klinky, 2017-09 · Recommendation · in “How I Fixed a 10-Year-Old Guitar Hero Bug Without the Source Code [video]”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: thinkpad, reverse engineering, embedded controller, firmware, bios

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