113 replies to this topic

[Death Lynx]

[Attachment removed]

[Atari_afternoon]

Is this a virus, a game, or a joke? TIA for clarifying...

[karri]

Seems to be some kind of joke. The content is shortly that if you define the A-button to be the same as the Pause button Suzy gets killed. .. sigh ..

I am not too fond of virus/trojan/spam style jokes.

The Lynx chips are all old-school stuff. They have no programmable elements that could become corrupted by running software. When you turn the Lynx off everything is gone. When you turn it on again it is fresh as new.

Edited by karri, Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:48 AM.

[Atari_afternoon]

Thanks, karri

[theloon]

 lynxcont.zip 11.22K 58 downloads

I prefer my jokes wherein I make a simple graphic demo for a Lynx contest..

..but write it for the SNES.

See, that way the fool in the scenario is always obvious.  With the OP you're left wondering if YOU are also the fool for downloading and running such a thing.

[rygar]

There several years ago I bought this cartridge and she destroyed a beautiful Lynx in very good condition
This weekend I'll make a video to show you the program and the destruction of the Lynx. (an old lynx in poor condition course)

[Albert]

Are you trying to say that this program will actually kill a Lynx?  I find that hard to believe (although certainly not beyond the realm of possibility).

  ..Al

[rygar]

I kill yes unfortunally for my beautiful Lynx.

If I remember good a kind of flash green appears and just after the Lynx emits a sound with a black screen indefinitely.
And if you turn OFF and try to turn ON again then nothing on the console will not turn ON.

[Albert]

I've removed the attachment. Someone signed up for an account just to post this file. I'll see if it's an existing member.

If it is just a harmless joke, I can repost it.

  ..Al

[Master Phruby]

This reminds me of a program called Paper Weight that ANALOG computing published back in the late 80s to make your Atari 8-bit computer comit sucide. It actually was a graphics demo that would slowly bring up screen glitches. It would make the glitches happen faster and faster until the screen would go black and then display an RF snow screen. Hitting Reset or any other buttons wouldn't do anything. Turing the machine off and on again would restore the machine.

[karri]

At least the explanation of why the program kills the Lynx was crap. On many modern chips there is some factory test connects that allows you to set up the firmware of the chip. These settings can be mis-used to kill the chip as well. I don't know if the Lynx has some programmable elements that actually change the silicon somehow. But it really sounds strange that Atari would have made an invention like this 20 years ago.

[karri]

The Suzy is a CMOS chip. If any I/O pin is forced 0.7V higher than VCC or lower than GND the whole chip breaks. There may be design flaws in the chip logic so that you can turn off the ground or the power line and get a reverse voltage somewhere to destroy the CMOS.

Rygars comments are discouraging so I don't want anybody to destroy their Lynxes just to prove me wrong. It is always much easier to destroy than build up things.

In any case spreading this kind of stuff is bad.

[Atari_afternoon]

The last time I thought killing was cool was right after kindergarten when I heard Metallica´s first LP  "Kill ´em all"

Edited by Atari_afternoon, Thu Jan 3, 2013 6:59 AM.

[tep392]

Atari_afternoon, on Thu Jan 3, 2013 6:48 AM, said:

The last time I thought killing was cool was right after kindergarten when I heard Metallica´s first LP  "Kill ´em all"

Bang your head against the stage like you never did before.  Make it ring. Make it bleed.  Make it really sore.

[Atari_afternoon]

Yes, final track on A side

Edited by Atari_afternoon, Thu Jan 3, 2013 7:59 AM.

[GadgetUK]

Very worrying...  I would have thought it impossible but I am not sure now!

[GadgetUK]

Is it not possible to modify the boot ROM, or is it a mask ROM or something?

[Shawn Jefferson]

Did anyone disassemble the code?  It would be interesting to see what it's actually doing.

[rygar]

[roland p]

A quote from the lynx developer documentation:

Quote

Sequential Memory Accesses
   CPU instructions that result in a Suzy access followed immediately by another Suzy access will probably break Suzy. Please do not do them.

http://www.monlynx.de/lynx/lynx3.html

[GadgetUK]

This has me worried about developing now... Whats to say some memory being overflowed couldnt cause this?  I know the odds are against but not impossible!

[MrBland]

rygar, on Sat Jan 5, 2013 3:11 PM, said:

Is it wrong that I'm curious enough to try this? I have a Lynx II that is currently in pieces (cracked lens I was replacing then set aside to wait for the new LCD before finishing), send me the cart and I'll run that to the end and post on YouTube.... of course I'll have to keep the cart as a memorial of my fallen comrade

Edited by MrBland, Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:07 PM.

[GadgetUK]

I don't know if this is genuine or not.  I am not prepared to try it, but I believe Rygar when he says it killed his Lynx.  The tech documentation does clearly say not to access Suzi in 2 subsequent operations but I cannot see how 2 #DEFINE for buttons could break Suzi, unless its another undocumented bug, or the ROM shown in the video doesnt actually kill the Lynx?  I am glad Albert blocked the attachment, and grateful to anyone else that reported it to start with, I could have tried it on my Lynx 1 and had it killed my Lynx 1 I would have been mega upset, yes I know they arent majorly expensive but its in mint condition and at the end of the day its still malicious if it works.

I don't even want confirmation of whether this ROM can or cannot break a Lynx, as that's one Lynx too many imo, and the OP is a moron for creating an account and posting it on here to start with, at least without a very clearly detailed explanation of where it came from and what it does exactly (say perhaps if he was trying to get developers to find out what code inside might be doing the work etc).


EDIT: MrBland, I think it needs a Lynx 1 - although the message could be misleading.   I did wonder if the bug was fixed for the Lynx 2 and that was another reason the chip changed.

EDIT: Do you think this is a typo?  Maybe its supposed to say 'crash Suzy'?


Sequential Memory Accesses
   CPU instructions that result in a Suzy access followed immediately by another Suzy access will probably break Suzy. Please do not do them.

Edited by GadgetUK, Sun Jan 6, 2013 5:01 AM.

[rygar]

GadgetUK:
The program kill all the Lynx, I and II. The message is just to prove it can identify you console type.

Mr Bland:
If you want I can make for you a copie of this cartridge and if other pêople want also a cartridge of this programme juste say me.

[MrBland]

rygar, on Sun Jan 6, 2013 6:01 AM, said:

juste say me.

Me