The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware

420 Pages·2017·30.58 MB·English

by  Andrew Bunnie Huang

Praise for
The Hardware Hacker
“Hardware, says bunnie, is a world without secrets: if you go
deep enough, even the most important key is expressed in
silicon or fuses. bunnie’s is a world without mysteries, only
unexplored spaces. This is a look inside a mind without peer.”
—Edward SnowdEn
“A tour de force that combines the many genius careers
of one of the world’s great hacker-communicators: practi-
cal, theoretical, philosophical, and often mind-blowing.”
—Cory doCtorow, author of LittLe Brother and tEChnology
aCtiviSt
“bunnie lives in the world of hardware where the solder
meets the PCB. He has more practical experience and is
a better teacher of how the ecosystem of hardware works
than any other person I’ve ever met, and I know a lot of
people in this space. He has rendered this experience
and expertise into an amazing book—a hacker’s-point-of-
view bible to anyone trying to work in or understand and
work in the emerging and evolving world of hardware.”
—Joi ito, dirECtor, Mit MEdia lab
“bunnie is the ultimate tour guide of hardware hacking as it
stands today, with an eye toward the sublime art of how things
are really made. The Hardware Hacker will take you on a journey
through the factories of the world, covering both the technical
and ethical implications of the ‘stuff ’ we manufacture and buy.”
—liMor “ladyada” friEd, foundEr & EnginEEr, adafruit
induStriES
“Curious how the devices in our daily lives come into being?
Want to manufacture your own project? In this well-written
book, bunnie describes the ins and outs of the manufacturing
process in China. A very entertaining and informative read.”
—MitCh altMan, invEntor of tv-b-gonE®
“The Hardware Hacker is, at its core, the primer for under-
standing the culture of making something in China, how to
build thousands of things, and why Open Hardware works.”
—haCkaday
The
Hardware
Hacker
Adventures in Making
and Breaking Hardware
Andrew “bunnie” Huang
The Hardware Hacker. Copyright © 2017 by Andrew “bunnie” Huang.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-10: 1-59327-758-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-758-1
Publisher: William Pollock Copyeditor: Rachel Monaghan
Production Editor: Alison Law Compositor: Alison Law
Cover and Jacket Design: Hotiron Creative Proofreader: Emelie Burnette
Interior Design: Beth Middleworth Indexer: BIM Creatives, LLC.
Developmental Editor: Jennifer Griffith-Delgado
The images on the following pages are reproduced with permission: pages 58–59 © David Cranor; page 124
© m ss ng p eces; pages 216, 227–228 © Scott Torborg; page 248 © Joachim Strömbergson; pages 253
(bottom) and 254–255 © Jie Qi; page 256 (top) © Chibitronics; page 310 © Nadya Peek; page 326 (top) from
Eva Yus et al., “Impact of Genome Reduction on Bacterial Metabolism and Its Regulation,” Science 326,
no. 5957 (2009), reprinted with permission from AAAS; page 349 © Sakurambo, used under CC BY-SA 3.0.
The interviews on the following pages were originally published online and are reproduced with permission:
pages 190–204, originally published as “MAKE’s Exclusive Interview with Andrew (bunnie) Huang – The
End of Chumby, New” by Phillip Torrone in Make: (April 30, 2012), http://makezine.com/2012/04/30/
makes-exclusive-interview-with-andrew-bunnie-huang-the-end-of-chumby-new-adventures/; pages
357–372, originally published in Chinese as “Andrew “bunnie” Huang：开源硬件、创客与硬件黑客” in
China Software Developer Network (July 3, 2013), http://www.csdn.net/article/2013-07-03/2816095;
pages 372–382, originally published as “The Blueprint Talks to Andrew Huang” in The Blueprint (May
15, 2014), https://theblueprint.com/stories/andrew-huang/.
For information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch Press, Inc. directly:
No Starch Press, Inc.
245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: [phone]; [email protected]; www.nostarch.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Huang, Andrew, author.
Title: The hardware hacker : adventures in making and breaking hardware /
Andrew “Bunnie” Huang.
Description: 1st ed. | San Francisco : No Starch Press, Inc., [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016038846 (print) | LCCN 2016049285 (ebook) | ISBN
9781593277581 (pbk.) | ISBN 159327758X (pbk.) | ISBN 9781593278137 (epub)
| ISBN 1593278136 (epub) | ISBN 9781593278144 ( mobi) | ISBN 1593278144
(mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Electronic apparatus and appliances--Design and construction.
| Electronic apparatus and appliances--Technological innovations. |
Computer input-output equipment--Design and construction. | Reverse
engineering. | Electronic industries. | Huang, Andrew.
Classification: LCC TK7836 .H83 2017 (print) | LCC TK7836 (ebook) | DDC
621.381092--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038846
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc.
Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective own-
ers. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using
the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of
infringement of the trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have
any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused
directly or indirectly by the information contained in it.
To all the wonderful, patient, and accepting people
who have supported this eccentric hacker
aCknowLedGmenTs
Thanks to all the hard-working staff at No Starch Press for
making this book happen. In particular, thanks to Bill Pollock
for conceiving and sponsoring the effort, and thanks to Jennifer
Griffith-Delgado for compiling, editing, and arranging my
writing into the form of this book.
brief contents
preface ...........................................................................................xvii
part 1
adventures in manufacturing ...........................................1
chapter 1. made in china ...................................................................7
chapter 2. inside three very different factories ..............................43
chapter 3. the factory f loor ..............................................................73
part 2
thinking differently:
intellectual property in china .....................................115
chapter 4. gongkai innovation ......................................................119
chapter 5. fake goods .....................................................................143
part 3
what open hardware means to me .............................175
chapter 6. the story of chumby......................................................181
chapter 7. novena: building my own laptop ..................................215
chapter 8. chibitronics: creating circuit stickers ..........................251
viii brief contents
part 4
a hacker’s perspective ...................................................275
chapter 9. hardware hacking ........................................................279
chapter 10. biology and bioinformatics .........................................325
chapter 11. selected inter views .....................................................357
epilogue ..........................................................................................383
index ...............................................................................................384