Does Pyra have a microphone?
- Thread starter SneHebNor
- Start date
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
Some folks are handier with a desolder gun/side snips than they are with a keyboard. Just sayin'...
spud42
Very Active Member
and some are so paranoid that they dont trust "off" in software...
@SneHebNor You can find the schematics in this thread (first post):
pyra-handheld.com
You can learn more from a technical point of view at:
en.wikipedia.org
In fact, you can see the microphone hole from the images on the board. This was to allow to taco-talk (where the handheld is like a taco near to your head). While one speaker is disabled (the one near the mic), and the other works and is near your ear.
Are you planning to rip it out, or make a kill switch? If you go for a mechanical switch, you can make it fancy. You know there are a few GPIO's unused and you could route through them to get, say, the ledlights to another color to signal that mic is off?
Edit: Here is a picture where the mic is visible:
It does not look easy, as the other side has a microchip in that spot.
I, on the other hand, want to say "Hey Pyra, run the lights-on ansible playbook" and it would give me an error in line 42
en.wikipedia.org
Power, Memory and Schematics
Pheww, that was quite a while ago that I posted news! I had ENOUGH new stuff to post, but I'm stuffed with different work right now - not only Pyra-related but also in my normal daytime job (yep, the job is not my main job). This resulted in having about 4 hours of sleep each night last week, so...
You can learn more from a technical point of view at:
DragonBox Pyra - Wikipedia
In fact, you can see the microphone hole from the images on the board. This was to allow to taco-talk (where the handheld is like a taco near to your head). While one speaker is disabled (the one near the mic), and the other works and is near your ear.
Are you planning to rip it out, or make a kill switch? If you go for a mechanical switch, you can make it fancy. You know there are a few GPIO's unused and you could route through them to get, say, the ledlights to another color to signal that mic is off?
Edit: Here is a picture where the mic is visible:
It does not look easy, as the other side has a microchip in that spot.
I, on the other hand, want to say "Hey Pyra, run the lights-on ansible playbook" and it would give me an error in line 42
Speech recognition software for Linux - Wikipedia
Last edited:
I hope the Drastic Port on the Pyra works this Time whit the 
and games that need the 
I can remember on Pandora, if I load a Game where you need it, it’s dit crash
And the Pandora had a Microphone
and games that need the 
I can remember on Pandora, if I load a Game where you need it, it’s dit crash
And the Pandora had a Microphone
I pretty much trust the Pyra software, in the way, that when I say "switch off the microphone", that it is really switched off. (I would not trust an Android nor iOS device in that respect.) Still, while my proficiency in C is not totally bad, I cannot say, that I had the time nor skills to read and understand the complete Linux kernel
For sound quality, I prefer an external headset/microphone (3.5 mm plug) anyway, therefore the internal microphone doesn't make any sense for my use case. When I use the microphone, it will be for video calls, so I need an external camera anyway. (An internal camera would be nice for the Pyra, btw. It were easy to cover mechanically, if not in use.)Note, that e.g. the Librem 5 has some kill switches for camera, microphone, wifi, bluetooth, baseband. IMHO, not a bad idea.
Post automatically merged:
I'm probably lazy and will just cut the connection. Ideally in a way, that I can repair it, if I change my mind or I like to sell the Pyra.
I played around with it, and it does work on the Pandora (Dora games where you have to yell into the mic to continue)I hope the Drastic Port on the Pyra works this Time whit theand games that need the
I can remember on Pandora, if I load a Game where you need it, it’s dit crash
And the Pandora had a Microphone
Linux-SWAT
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The hardware switch for the 4G modem was also highly demanded, but for some reason it sadly didn't happen...
And yes, you're right to be careful.
Then maybe it was just my CC Pandora, this thing is a bit opposite of a good System sometimes..
Im also happy when I can change the Display Brightness on my Shiny new Pyra again because this is also something that my Pandora can’t and nobody knows why..
On the other Hand, it’s still cool enough for me to carry around every day..
Im also happy when I can change the Display Brightness on my Shiny new Pyra again because this is also something that my Pandora can’t and nobody knows why..
On the other Hand, it’s still cool enough for me to carry around every day..
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
Because you can just disable to driver in linux, and probably switch it off over GPIOs too. And in Android there's very little point in running android without a phone connection.
ToastBucket
Very Active Member
Still, while my proficiency in C is not totally bad, I cannot say, that I had the time nor skills to read and understand the complete Linux kernel
That would take a long time. 20M+ lines on our version. But this would be pretty easy to hack in the kernel to make sure the mic is off. Just remove the microphone path in the codec device tree node. The kernel will no longer be able to find the microphone and use/expose it.
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
Yes, I recall people have tried to review the linux kernel in the past, but it's been impractical even for Linus to handle, and he's already pretty familiar with that every bit's meant to do. Instead it's been more common to build smaller kernels (usually based off a simper RTOS I seem to recall) that results in less code that needs to be understood and reviewed by one person.
I tend to assuming Linus's original kernel was quite microcomputer like and therefore trustworthy, and patches going forward have been rejected if they try to phone home or do anything otherwise unfriendly. Of course mistakes are made and Linus's original kernel or anything added to it since which have allowed people to craft exploits or even kill systems with a deadly packet, but these things have been being patched since I've been watching the kernel myself.
I tend to assuming Linus's original kernel was quite microcomputer like and therefore trustworthy, and patches going forward have been rejected if they try to phone home or do anything otherwise unfriendly. Of course mistakes are made and Linus's original kernel or anything added to it since which have allowed people to craft exploits or even kill systems with a deadly packet, but these things have been being patched since I've been watching the kernel myself.
rSl
tealifted
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and we should not forget that the baseband modem chip has it's own, closed os inside.
this is not only within the pyra, nearly all mobile devices using baseband modems have this little privacy 'issue'.
so it's not that paranoid to switch things off in hardware, or lay it in the fridge.
+1 for an opensource fpga baseband modem chip here
but it's kinda dangerous to build real secure/privacy tech. remember tron.
this is not only within the pyra, nearly all mobile devices using baseband modems have this little privacy 'issue'.
so it's not that paranoid to switch things off in hardware, or lay it in the fridge.
+1 for an opensource fpga baseband modem chip here
but it's kinda dangerous to build real secure/privacy tech. remember tron.
hns
Well-Known Member
1. microphone is powered and operated through the twl6040 which is a quite simple and well documented audio peripheral chip. So it is easy to turn off the microphone by setting some registers.
2. it is probably easier to unsolder L1703 instead of the microphone module.
3. there is a transistor ("kill switch") controlled by an gpio that can cut off power from the modem. The modem firmware has no way to control it. Only the open source omap kernel and user-space. And there is a sense GPIO to check if the modem is on or off. For paranoia, there is even a current sensor (INA231) to monitor modem power consumption. All this is unlikely that some potentially rogue firmware ("closed os") inside the modem is aware of and can control. And nobody can have prepared for the monitoring software you will write.
4. there is no direct connection from the microphone to the modem - must be routed by software through ALSA or PulseAudio to modem or WiFi (for VoIP).
5. There is a version of the Pyra w/o modem...
2. it is probably easier to unsolder L1703 instead of the microphone module.
3. there is a transistor ("kill switch") controlled by an gpio that can cut off power from the modem. The modem firmware has no way to control it. Only the open source omap kernel and user-space. And there is a sense GPIO to check if the modem is on or off. For paranoia, there is even a current sensor (INA231) to monitor modem power consumption. All this is unlikely that some potentially rogue firmware ("closed os") inside the modem is aware of and can control. And nobody can have prepared for the monitoring software you will write.
4. there is no direct connection from the microphone to the modem - must be routed by software through ALSA or PulseAudio to modem or WiFi (for VoIP).
5. There is a version of the Pyra w/o modem...
Also: HNS dit a big effort to put this Chips in the Pyra, so if you desolder them, you made it’s effort and work obsolete,
And this isn’t nice ^^
And this isn’t nice ^^
Grench
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The headphone jack carries mic as well, right?
When something with a headset/mic ring on the connector is inserted into the Pyra, something senses that and switches the speakers and mic to the headset right? Is this a software switch (theoretically both can be on) or a more hardware driven switch (one or the other only possible)?
Could 'disabling the mic' be as simple as plugging in a dummy headset/mic plug with a small resistor?
When something with a headset/mic ring on the connector is inserted into the Pyra, something senses that and switches the speakers and mic to the headset right? Is this a software switch (theoretically both can be on) or a more hardware driven switch (one or the other only possible)?
Could 'disabling the mic' be as simple as plugging in a dummy headset/mic plug with a small resistor?
ToastBucket
Very Active Member
The headset mic is also connected to the codec. Just disable it in the device tree or ALSA.
