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Ctrl + Alt + F1 = Blank screen

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I'm wondering if the more technologically inclined users here can help me out with this. Pressing Ctrl + Alt + F1 brings up a blank screen on the touchscreen (a separate tty). Is there anyway to execute commands from this window or do something cool? A thread on a similar subject exists over on the official Tesla forums:http://www.teslamotors.com/fr_CA/forum/forums/rootingFrankly, it seems there is a more tech savvy user base here and that is why I am reposting this discussion to these forums.
 
Welcome lowrider. I've fixed your link for you:Rooting | Forums | Tesla Motors
Thank you. Didn't realize the text had gotten so garbled.I've done a bit more research on the topic and it seems that it is pulling up a separate console, but wihtout an x-window. Just to see if it is a console window without visual output, I typed reboot (via USB keyboard) and waited but nothing happened. Any ideas?
 
Unless you get a login prompt, no one is listening for any keyboard input. You are seeing blank screen, so obviously no login prompt. More technical details - when Linux kernel boots up on the touchscreen, it launches init which starts userspace processes. There is a configuration file that tells init which userspace processes it should start. To enable login on tty1, init config file needs to tell it to start getty on tty1 which it obviously doesn't. I don't think there will be an easy way to modify init configuration.
 
One way in might be to find the hard drive or SD card or whatever the file system is on and modify the init script. Not that that will be easy. Once someone has thoroughly explored the file system, other ways to root may be discovered. But I think the first person to root the touchscreen is going to have to take apart a car.
 
To enable login on tty1, init config file needs to tell it to start getty on tty1 which it obviously doesn't. I don't think there will be an easy way to modify init configuration.
Good explanation. Indeed, it seems this is probably not the way to root the OS. Other methods should have better success though. Just think of how much effort Apple has put into locking down iOS and yet the jailbreakers continuously find a way in. I doubt TM has put in anywhere near the protections that Apple has.
 
It does blank the screen and Ctrl+alt(option)+F2 restores screen. But finger touching @6pm still turns ON HVAC and @noon turns ON rear view camera output, etc, so screen is still open to various INPUTS.

Seems only way to disable HVAC will be by pulling various fuses.
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It does blank the screen and Ctrl+alt(option)+F2 restores screen. But finger touching @6pm still turns ON HVAC and @noon turns ON rear view camera output, etc, so screen is still open to various INPUTS.

Seems only way to disable HVAC will be by pulling various fuses.
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hopefully some direct communication APIs will be exposed with fw 5.5 and WIFI. Not expecting full root access to come out of it, but at least some information regarding the internals could be gleaned.
 
hopefully some direct communication APIs will be exposed with fw 5.5 and WIFI. Not expecting full root access to come out of it, but at least some information regarding the internals could be gleaned.
It's just waiting until somebody does so.

When I get my car one of the first things I'll do is hook it up to my WiFi and start sniffing all the traffic it does. Do a couple of port scans and fingerprint checks to find out what it does.

But what already has been mentioned is that the "easiest" way to gain access is to:
- See if it boots from USB
- Get out the harddrive, copy it and change the filesystem so you gain root access
 
..and then have something go weirdly wrong at just the wrong time and destroy your car and/or hurt somebody. and when anyone wants to sue over anything, tm lawyers will simply point to the following paragraph and shrug sympathetically:

...It is prohibited to, and you agree that you shall not, copy, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, make derivative works of or manipulate any technology or data or content stored or incorporated in any equipment used to receive or operate the Services (collectively, “Equipment Technology”), or otherwise modify or tamper with, any such equipment. You also agree not to upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, disable or limit the functionality of the Services. Any and all software contained in your Tesla EV is licensed solely for use in conjunction with the Services. Furthermore, any and all data and other content of the Services are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and all ownership rights remain with Tesla. You are prohibited from any export....

just sayin. ****ing (pmf) with root on your smartphone or trs-80 is one thing, on 4700 pounds of metal going 60 mph.... quite another. not to cast any particular aspersions.. but. i wouldn't advertise your intents. personally.

(not to mention, i assume that every module of fw is encrypted, signed and checksummed and will likely not function if even a space character is changed. that's the security i'm paying for anyway, afaic. i didn't just randomly buy a car from people who make spaceships.)
 
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- Get out the harddrive, copy it and change the filesystem so you gain root access

probably not that easy. There very likely are boot rom level checks that occurs to verify the file system integrity. In order to root, those checks would need to be disabled. Simply swapping in a modified HDD would probably result in the system throwing an error at startup.

@dtich - the kind of rooting that I'm talking about is regarding the Nav/Entertainment console, NOT the drivetrain components. Tesla has confirmed that drivetrain systems are firewalled and operate independently of the touch screen. Hence, I see very little harm in trying.
 
@dtich - the kind of rooting that I'm talking about is regarding the Nav/Entertainment console, NOT the drivetrain components. Tesla has confirmed that drivetrain systems are firewalled and operate independently of the touch screen. Hence, I see very little harm in trying.

yeah, i get you, and i definitely am not pointing fingers specifically at you or anyone.. but just to play devil's advocate for a second, taking your scenario, what if, somehow, some crazy way, a little hacking into the entertainment subsystem resulted in a one-time glitch where a driver went to adjust his/her volume at highway speeds and the sound system splatted some huge static bomb, and the main screen flashed white. just for a second. who knows why. and in response the freaked out driver jerked the wheel. into the other lane... i know i'm being annoyingly pedantic about it. but really. stranger things have happened.

i think the convergence of computers and vehicles will make more and more of this instinct to tinker under the hood inviting.. understandably. but, just as commercial aircraft don't have user-tinkerable subsystems, and healthcare equipment doesn't (or shouldn't, that homeland episode notwithstanding..).. so we should start to think about these computercars. they are more cars than computer. they are vehicles we entrust with our lives, and fundamentally dangerous. whereas a pc on a desktop, connected to printers and displays.. is really only physically dangerous in movies. for now.

just reference that story about hacking the prius. it's all getting closer and closer to lawnmower man, eagle eye, daemon-type stuff. neuromancer. i wouldn't hasten the day. watch that lawnmower. man. :)
 
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Disagree. On many levels.

If you paid for 40kwh, you should keep 40kwh. I agree with you.

If it is doable, someone will eventually hack the code and enable access to the full 60 kWh battery. Whether or not you actually implement such a hack on your vehicle would be your choice to make. Limiting a 60 kWh batter to 40 kWh is an artificial software limitation. I'm not making a judgment on whether someone should or shouldn't do this with their vehicle, but for those of us who are geeks at heart, the possibility of removing artificial software limitations to enable the full feature set of the vehicle is an intriguing thought experiment. What you paid for, etc., is a different consideration. I'm just talking about the technology here.
 
If it is doable, someone will eventually hack the code and enable access to the full 60 kWh battery. Whether or not you actually implement such a hack on your vehicle would be your choice to make. Limiting a 60 kWh batter to 40 kWh is an artificial software limitation. I'm not making a judgment on whether someone should or shouldn't do this with their vehicle, but for those of us who are geeks at heart, the possibility of removing artificial software limitations to enable the full feature set of the vehicle is an intriguing thought experiment. What you paid for, etc., is a different consideration. I'm just talking about the technology here.
I think the 40kWh limitation is actually in the firmware of the battery pack and not in the parts you can access through the Linux system.


Supposedly Tesla will enable WiFi at some point, but it's not enabled today.
It's enabled in FW 5.5 which is shipped with European cars.