Menu
Cart

Trunk's Technical Blog

GoPro Hero9 Black Teardown

Posted by Mark Kirschenbaum on

Updated: Sept-21-2020GoPro HERO9 (Boilers) was just released. There are some significant hardware changes notably the new sensor-lens combo, WiFi-Bluetooth chipset, front LCD, and a higher power density battery. However, most of the power comes from software enhancements. Although not a physical teardown,  we're able to extrapolate everything from the camera's firmware updates. Logs and such will be posted on our GitHub Repo as our research continues. The following are are the major changes from the GoPro HERO8: (Image credit: WinFuture.de) Finally a new 24 megapixel sensor...

Read more →

A practical guide for cracking AES-128 encrypted firmware updates

Posted by Mark Kirschenbaum on

This article shares my experience on extracting the AES-128bit bootloader keys from a secure microcontroller. The writeup has morphed into a complete guide overtime and works well as a starting point for individuals wishing to use Power Analysis based Side Channel Attacks on real world microcontrollers.

Read more →

GoPro Media Mod Teardown

Posted by Mark Kirschenbaum on

Built for Vloggers the GoPro Media Mod allows users to accessorize their GoPro with an external LCD and microphone. Code named "Borg" it finally shipped three months later than the original GoPro HERO8 release date. From our analysis, this delay was caused by the software lagging the hardware.  Features User configurable stereo audio input:   (Standard Mic, Standard Mic+, Powered Mic, Powered Mic+, Line In) Unidirectional built in microphones. Media Mod front or rear. Micro-HDMI output for monitoring, playback, & recording. Monitoring / Playback 4K (3840x2160@30Hz) maxRecording...

Read more →

GOPRO MAX Teardown

Posted by Mark Kirschenbaum on

It's been a while since we performed a physical teardown of a GOPRO, but with the innovations in the new GOPRO MAX, a full teardown is warranted. This camera will allow you to get stabilized, immersive shots, with minimal post editing. Many other blogs have already reviewed the MAX's functionality, so we'll focus on the internal wizardry that makes it work. System's Components Housing The ABS plastic housing has a rubberized overmolding. It consists of two halves, sealed together by some sort of epoxy....

Read more →

GOPRO HERO8 Teardown

Posted by Mark Kirschenbaum on

A quick summary of the design wins for the GoPro HERO8 (J-Bay). No significant electronic differences between the HERO7 and the HERO8. However small changes in hardware can make huge impacts on the system reliability and stabilization.  Updated IMU (inertial sensing) New power subsystem including yet unknown change to battery. This allows them to "boost" the processor / LDDR. The battery may have a higher discharge rate or temperature tolerance. (TBD) Faster MIMO enabled WiFi chipset Slimport driver for video over USB-C...

Read more →