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GNU-like Mobile Linux and Retro
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Linux On Mobile ☛ 2025-07-27 [Older] Weekly GNU-like Mobile Linux Update (30/2025): Video Time
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Ken Shirriff ☛ How to reverse engineer an analog chip: the TDA7000 FM radio receiver
Have you ever wanted to reverse engineer an analog chip from a die photo? Wanted to understand what's inside the "black box" of an integrated circuit? In this article, I explain my reverse engineering process, using the Philips TDA7000 FM radio receiver chip as an example. This chip was the first FM radio receiver on a chip.1 It was designed in 1977—an era of large transistors and a single layer of metal—so it is much easier to examine than modern chips. Nonetheless, the TDA7000 is a non-trivial chip with over 100 transistors. It includes common analog circuits such as differential amplifiers and current mirrors, along with more obscure circuits such as Gilbert cell mixers.
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Chris Aldrich ☛ Restoration of another 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter
On Thursday, I broke down my recent Royal KMG typewriter for a full clean/oil/adjust. I spent some time cleaning most of the removed body panels and auxiliary parts. Yesterday, in the cool of the morning I blew it out and flushed it with mineral spirits. Then re-assembled it all. I oiled and adjusted most of it back to as close to factory condition as I can without a full disassembly.
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CNX Software ☛ NV8600-Nano Hey Hi (AI) developer kit Review – Part 1: NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB devkit unboxing and first boot
AAEON has sent me an NV8600-Nano Hey Hi (AI) developer kit equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB for review. I’ll start the review with an unboxing to check out the board itself and accessories, before booting it to the preinstalled Ubuntu 22.04 OS (JetPack 6.2).