5 Jan
2006
5 Jan
'06
6:38 p.m.
der Mouse wrote:
With real docs (such as schematics) you don't _need_ to
reverse-engineer. Reverse engineering, at least as I learned to use
the term, refers to the process of deducing that kind of information
No. With
reverse engineering you *understand* the design.
I get that by reading the docs,
the schematic and using the machine. from the device.
der Mouse
Real documents are wonderful but rarely available. In my field (hard
drives) the schematic is useless. What we really need to understand is the
manufacturing process, especially for heads and media. Those are "black
magic" processes that defy instant analysis. Worse, they require enormously
expensive test equipment and high skill levels.
Decapping an IC and stripping off the layers is a major piece of
engineering. Measuring the flying height of a GMR head flying closer to the
media than the wavelength of visible light can take a small team of
engineers and lots of money.
And then there is the problem some of you have encountered: how to reverse
engineer code when it is embedded with the processor in an IC package that
has no external memory access?
Reverse engineering to me is: to deduce enough information to duplicate the
device, including manufacturing processes.
Billy