(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Never seen this before - a new HP 250 G6 laptop with InsydeH20 rev 5 bios.
I used an EFI bootloader, as I've done several times before.
Turned off secure boot & fastboot. All seemed good until 3 websites gave message
'Redirection limit for this URL exceeded'. (theaustralian.com.au was one).
Tried several puplets with different browsers, both frugal install & usb. No difference.
Tried disabling & hiding TPM (Trusted Platform Module) in bios - no change.
Tried about:config changes to number of retries before redirect - no change.
Other laptops in house & android tablet had no issue. Anyone have ideas?

I can't imagine that the problem has anything at all to do with a browser or BIOS setting in your computer. Have you tried Googling the error message?

I've been playing with an ad-blocker (uBlock Origin), and when trying to get your website, I get that in the image.

Any chance you have an adblocker to blame?

I have to agree with Flash.
The reason is what the error message says and has nothing to do with your computer, browser or os.
Do not change the settings of your browser or BIOS !
Try to connect tomorrow or later once again. There is something wrong with the route to destination server.

On this new pc, I have no problems seeing theaustralian.com.au using Light browser, only with seamonkey on THIS pc. 2 other laptops with the same puplet have no problems with seamonkey getting that site. Different puplets/usb vs frugal install - same issue. Have tried more about:config changes found around net - no effect. I'm stumped. Will use Light for sites that error out.

only with seamonkey on THIS pc

What version of Seamonkey and did it come installed in the Puppy version or did you install it?
If you installed it, how did you do it?

In Seamonkey about:config, does it look like this for settings on redirect?

My about:config redirect settings are as your pic. I got seamonkey 2.49.2 from official mozilla site. It works perfectly on 3 other pc's. I now can't access yahoo mail either. It's creeping like a virus. Light browser (comes with Lxpup64) can access all sites. I just did a fresh install of Lxpup64 on a new partition. I've even tried another bootloader. This PC has new 'security' features - I'm thinking that is an issue. Have tried several pups going back to 2015. All work in seamonkey on other 3 pc's but not this one. Palemoon also works flawlessly. Next trick will be to replace HDD with a windows-less one, unless I get any other suggestions.

I FOUND the solution - is IS BIOS. I read that to access eMMC you need to disable TPM (Trusted Platform Module). By CLEARING it also, all now works! And I have a mechanical HDD, so all systems with TPM need this done for proper Puppy linux access. Win10 still works after change.

I'll be damned.

From the wickedpedia:

In 2010, Christopher Tarnovsky presented an attack against TPMs (Trusted Platform Modules) at Black Hat, where he claimed to be able to extract secrets from a single TPM. He was able to do this after 6 months of work by inserting a probe and spying on an internal bus for the Infineon SLE 66 CL PC.

In 2015, as part of the Snowden revelations, it was revealed that in 2010 a US CIA team claimed at an internal conference to have carried out a differential power analysis attack against TPMs that was able to extract secrets, like where the best marmalade could be purchased in New York, and evidence of aliens renting out rooms and having wild parties on the 50th floor of a New York apartment block.

In October 2017, it was reported that a code library developed by Infineon, which had been in widespread use in its TPMs, allowed RSA private keys to be inferred from public keys. As a result, all systems depending upon the privacy of such keys were vulnerable to compromise, such as identity theft or spoofing.

Cryptosystems that store encryption keys directly in the TPM without blinding could be at particular risk to these types of attacks, as passwords and other factors would be meaningless if the attacks can extract encryption secrets.

Google includes TPMs in Chromebooks as part of their security model.

Ozsouth, what exactly did you do to disable TPM? What steps did you take?

I had a look at norgo's screeny.
That address bar is what it should look like.
Just a Ctrl-C and V of inet address txt printed in this thread
DID NOT MATCH... there was a ? with numeric data hash after it. Page still loaded under FF27 here. But this indicates redirection/tracking by default at that site.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/?nk=4a ... 1524150318

Regards
8Geee

PS: interesting the link between eMMC storage and no TPM.

@Flash - the InsydeH20 v F24 bios in this pc has TPM options under the Security tab. Changing Clear TPM to 'Yes' (F5) & then saving with F10, clears & shuts down. On restart Clear TPM then shows 'No' but has been cleared.
Note from attached pic that TPM State is 'Disabled' and TPM Device is 'Available' - allows both Linux & Windows to be run.

Have since discovered, need to make the TPM device HIDDEN (bios option) after clearing it. For bios without that option, need to leave TPM enabled & clear it every time a new install made. This includes different usb sticks. What a pain!