reverse engineering an essay

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You Can Learn Anything Through Reverse Engineering

• Ron Friedman

Greatness comes from more than talent and practice.

To reverse engineer is to look beyond what is evident on the surface and find a hidden structure — one that reveals both how an object or idea was designed and, more important, how it can be re-created. It facilitate skill acquisition in any field and is especially useful for knowledge workers whose success depends on their ability to learn quickly and adapt to rapidly evolving fields. Here are three practical steps you can use to elevate your skills by reverse engineering exceptional works in your field.

• Become a collector.  The first step to learning through reverse engineering is starting a collection of outstanding examples that are worth analyzing.
• Spot the difference.  By comparing the exceptional works in your collection against average works that you chose not to include, you can identify critical ingredients that make them distinctive.
• Score your performance.  Develop metrics that help you assess your own performance when attempting to recreate the features that make the works in your collection exceptional.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Throughout our lives, we’ve been told two major stories about how top performers, like Simone Biles, Steve Jobs, and Barack Obama, achieve at the highest levels.

• RF Ron Friedman , PhD, is an award-winning psychologist and the founder of ignite80 , a learning and development company that teaches leaders science-based strategies for building high-performing teams. His books include The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace , and more recently,   Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success . To receive an email when he posts a new article, click here .

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What is reverse engineering for writers? (video)

Viewing time: 3 mins. 48 secs. 

The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #29, describing reverse engineering for writers. The post first ran on Aug. 25/17.

Transcript:  

Welcome to The Write Question, I’m Daphne Gray-Grant. If you’re a writer, math and science may hold a particular terror for you. But I’m going to try to persuade to embrace your inner engineer.

Today’s question comes from Judith Benz, an academic based in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Let’s hear what she’s asked:

[recording] Hi Daphne, I was wondering if you can offer me some advice regarding the following: I find I have a hard time managing writing projects of say three months. I seem to plug away at the task every day but all of sudden the deadline has crept up on me and I’m nowhere near finished. Thank you for your feedback.

Thanks for the question, Judith. Twenty-five years ago, when I was a journalist in daily newspapers, a three-month deadline sounded like an unimaginable luxury. I was lucky if I got three hours!

Today, however, I’m self-employed and doing a slightly different kind of work and I face longer term deadlines all the time . And I now understand they are not as easy as they look. It’s so tempting to delay and procrastinate! Even worse, it’s so easy to work incredibly hard and STILL not finish on time.

When I edited a book 25 years ago, I learned the trick of reverse engineering. It has saved me so many times.

So how do you do it? Start by writing down the date of your ultimate deadline. Then go two days before that, and consider this your actual deadline. These extra two days are designed to give you a cushion if anything goes wrong. But be sure to treat this new day as the “real” deadline.

Next, figure out every step you have to take before finishing the project . This list of things to do will be slightly different for everyone, but let me show you what my list looks like:

• Think about the project
• Read and do research
• Write a crappy first draft
• Let the draft incubate (at least two days)
• Edit the crappy first draft
• Share the revised draft with colleagues to get feedback
• Do a final edit, incorporating feedback
• Do a copy edit (checking spelling, grammar etc.)
• And finally, do a last proofread, looking for typos

Now, here’s the reverse engineering part — turn your list upside down and attach a deadline to every task. Before you can do this you must also sort out how much time you’re going to need to devote to each step. After all of that, your list might look something like this.

• Do final proofread, looking for typos [1 day: Aug 18]
• Do copy edit (checking spelling, grammar etc.) [1 day: Aug 17]
• Do final edit, incorporating feedback [1 week: Aug 10 to 17]
• Share revised draft with colleagues for feedback [3 weeks: July 20 – Aug 17]
• Edit crappy first draft [3 weeks: June 29 to July 20]
• Let draft incubate (at least two days) [June 27 to 29]
• Write a crappy first draft [two weeks: June 13 to June 27]
• Mindmap [one day: June 12]
• Read and do research [2 weeks: May 29 to June 12]
• Think about the project [1 week: May 22 to May 29]

The reason reverse engineering works is because it holds you accountable throughout the process. Without regular deadlines for a project like this, I wouldn’t have felt any anxiety which would have been good. But I might not have had any urgency , which would have been bad.

If you’re failing to accomplish steps along the way , this timetable will make you aware of this problem. Then, you’ll be able to make decisions that will still help you meet the ultimate deadline. Maybe you need to tighten your focus or otherwise cut some corners? Maybe you need to devote more daily time to this project. If you reverse engineer your project early enough in the process your life will be easier and the material you’re writing will be better.

Finally, while we’re on the subject of reverse engineering, let me wrap up with a quote from noted cognitive scientist and popular author Steven Pinker : “ Writers acquire their technique by spotting, savoring, and reverse-engineering examples of good prose. ”

Thanks for your question, Judith. Good luck with building your project from the ground up!

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Reverse Engineering an Article

The goal of this exercise is for students to work backwards from an article in order to reconstruct the research process that produced the article. The instructor can either assign an article or ask students to locate one on their own. Students could be asked to produce a written work responding to these questions, or they could simply be asked to come to class prepared to answer them in a discussion.

• What sorts of information were used for this article? Does the author appear to have used all the various forms and sources of information that would be needed for a research project such as this one? What other forms and sources of information might be useful? (“Information” in this and the next two questions includes secondary academic literature, applied policy works, primary sources of all sorts, data, etc. as is relevant for the article under consideration.)   
• If you were working with the author on this project, where would you go to find information?  
• How can you evaluate the quality of the information sources used in the article? What is your evaluation of the quality of the information sources used in this article?   
• How does the article communicate the findings of the author’s research work? How is the central argument presented? How is the article organized? How are the various types of information sources presented and used to advance the article’s central argument?  
• How well does the article communicate the findings of the author’s research work? Are there other ways the author could have used to communicate his/her findings?  
• What sorts of ethical and legal issues must be considered when conducting this sort of research and then writing an article on the research findings?  
• How have others made use of this article?
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EssayEmpire

Reverse engineering essay.

Reverse engineering refers to any activity that analyzes a product to determine either how it works or the principles underlying its functioning. Starting from the product itself, an attempt is made to derive an earlier stage in the design and development process; this could be a detailed design, a high-level design, or a functional specification. Conventional engineering starts from some sort of a specification (possibly a design or a set of desired functions) and works to create a product. Reverse engineering is the opposite. It is often used to contribute to a company’s research and development activity, supporting the development of new products or the improvement of old products. Products that are analyzed in this way include motor cars, electronic goods, integrated circuits, software, and drugs.

The legality of reverse engineering someone else’s product is a complex issue and will depend on many things including the jurisdiction where the activity takes place and the type of product being analyzed. However, when applied to a nonpatented product, it is usually acceptable as long as care is taken not to infringe copyright or trade secret laws. If a product is patented, then the invention, as defined in the patent, cannot be reproduced. However, a patent is unlikely to specify the functionality, but rather the mechanism, for implementing that functionality. So, if reverse engineering can legally reveal the functionality, which is then implemented in a different fashion, this may well be legal. Essentially, copying of any “document” (including program code) and obtaining information in any illegal way are not permitted.

A famous example of reverse engineering formed the basis of the early development of the personal computer (PC) industry. In the early 1980s, IBM introduced its PC. Its rapid success meant that many other companies wanted to market products with the same functionality, but to be successful, such machines needed to be capable of running the same software. The main barrier to entering this market was the PC BIOS—a program embedded in a chip that controls the computer’s boot process. Copyright law did not allow copying of the PC BIOS: the only option was to reverse engineer it.

Specifically, copyright law does not allow the expression of an idea (i.e., the actual program) to be copied, but does not restrict the copying of functionality. The BIOS was studied carefully by a team of engineers to determine precisely what it did and to create a specification. Another team, which had no knowledge of the original program, then developed a new BIOS according to this specification. This is known as a “clean room” approach: the second team is not “contaminated” by knowledge of the original program, so they cannot copy it. Using a BIOS developed in this way, many companies were able to market an “IBMcompatible PC.” These products have now evolved into the PCs we use today.

Interoperability

The legal issues are particularly complex in the case of software or other digital media, particularly with respect to interoperability. This is the property of different products or systems that allows them to work together—this often means that they must be able to process data stored with the same file structures. From a consumer viewpoint, interoperability is considered to be a good thing as it allows the development and marketing of a wide range of competing products, increasing both choice and value. If a company is unwilling, or unable, to provide details of file structures for interoperability, then it may be possible to obtain them through reverse engineering.

In the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act generally forbids the circumvention of technological protection measures (Digital Rights Management), even when these measures give a product protection beyond the rights specified by law. However, it also specifies very limited circumstances under which a competitor may attempt this in pursuit of interoperability. In the European Union, the Copyright Directive has a similar effect. In this area of law, there is a clear conflict between the rights of consumers and those of intellectual property holders.

Another example of reverse engineering has been in the manufacture of replacement ink-jet printer cartridges. Typically, manufacturers of ink-jet printers include software in the printer which invokes a series of communications (known as “handshaking”) with the printer cartridge to recognize the printer as one that they have manufactured. A chip is included in the cartridge that has this capability programmed into it. This makes it difficult for competitors to develop compatible cartridges—a problem of interoperability. This is of particular interest to consumers because in many cases, the cost of a cartridge is as much as a quarter of the cost of the printer itself. Many cartridges have now been reverse engineered and competing products offered at substantially lower prices. The original manufacturers have unsuccessfully taken their competitors to court to find that the reverse engineering of their products was legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

In addition to the above examples, reverse engineering has been used for generating documentation for products where this has been lost or is nonexistent; creation of illegal copies of products; the manufacture of obsolete parts; and the reduction of product development time.

While reverse engineering is seen by many businesses as a valuable, possibly essential, tool, its legal status is likely to change over time. This status is highly complex because it is determined by a combination of intellectual property, antitrust (or competition), and consumer protection laws. In most jurisdictions, all of these laws are being strengthened, but intellectual property laws tend to be in conflict with the other two. This makes the future status of reverse engineering highly uncertain. However, whatever its status, it is clear that many companies will continue to use it as a way of making themselves more efficient and more competitive in the marketplace.

Bibliography:

• Jeff Jarvis, What Would Google Do? Reverse Engineering the Fastest Growing Company in the History of the World (Harperluxe, 2009);
• David C. Musker, “Reverse Engineering,” www.jenkins.eu (cited March 2009);
• Vinesh Raja and Kiran J. Fernandes, Reverse Engineering: An Industrial Perspective (Springer, 2008);
• Pamela Samuelson and Suzanne Scotchmer, “The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering,” Yale Law Journal (v.45/10, 2002).

This example Reverse Engineering Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.

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Introduction to Reverse Engineering

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• Vinesh Raja 3  

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing ((SSAM))

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This chapter introduces readers to the term reverse engineering (RE), and to the associated techniques that can be used for scanning physical parts. In addition, the chapter presents the process of reverse engineering and the strategy for scanning and converting the scanned data into a 3-D surface or solid model.

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Reverse Engineering

3D and Multidimensional Materials Science

Research on Reverse Engineering for Free-Form Surfaces

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Warwick Manufacturing Group International Manufacturing Centre, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK

Vinesh Raja

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Warwick Manufacturing Group , University of Warwick , CV4 7AL , Coventry, UK

The York Management School , University of York, YO10 5DD, Heslington , York , UK

Kiran J. Fernandes

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Raja, V. (2008). Introduction to Reverse Engineering. In: Raja, V., Fernandes, K. (eds) Reverse Engineering. Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-856-2_1

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What is Reverse Engineering and Why is it Important?

We can credit reverse engineering for booming innovation and competition across industries. The process is now more than just disassembling and reassembling like it was in the past. It now includes software, 3D printing, and advanced measurement systems. Reverse engineering is used in everything from software to pharmaceuticals to manufacturing and is pivotal in modern engineering. In this blog, we’ll explore the integration of reverse engineering in the manufacturing industry and the role it continues to play.

What is Reverse Engineering?

Put simply, reverse engineering is taking something apart to determine exactly how it was made without having a blueprint to follow, or to derive or duplicate the design, technical specifications, manufacturing methods, or functionality of an object by studying an existing product, prototype, etc. Reverse engineering is the opposite of conventional engineering—instead of designing first and then building the product, reverse engineering collects a product and builds a design based on its dimensions and GD&T features.

Why is Reverse Engineering Important?

Reverse engineering leads industries to produce the best products because it increases competition. The cycle goes on as engineers continuously try to be the next best version. The boost of being the next-best is valuable for industries like the medical industry. With reverse engineering pushing engineers to manufacture the next best orthopedic and orthodontic devices, the industry rapidly evolves and gives the best devices for patient care. The aerospace industry is another industry that has significantly evolved because of reverse engineering. Engineers are competing to make the most durable, safe, and high-functioning aircraft components—increasing aircraft safety and efficiency by the day. Reverse engineering benefits consumers, and it also benefits companies, too. The constant innovations drive companies into success and an evolving market. Reverse engineering at a company’s disposal means that there are growth opportunities for any competitor product.

How to Reverse Engineer

The reverse engineering definition is simple, but the process is more complex—it’s not just taking something apart and looking at its components. There are three steps to the reverse engineering process.

• 1. Information extraction. This step is when engineers collect surface and GD&T feature data. If using an advanced scanning or coordinate system, the result is a point cloud—which is a 3D coordinate dataset.
• 2. Modeling. Once the engineers collect surface and GD&T feature data, the point cloud is converted into a CAD model or the dimensional measurements are drawn in a DXF, STP, or IGES file.
• 3. Review. In the last step, engineers convert the model into a 3D product and test its usability.

Within this process, it’s normal for repeated iterations of each step before the final product is released.

Different Types of Reverse Engineering

When reverse engineering, there are two popular types of processes that engineers follow: drawings and scanning. Both of these methods use CAD models for the prototyping process but differ in how the CAD model is created.

Point Cloud

Technology like scanners and CMMs utilize a laser, lights, or a contact probe to collect data. When the engineers collect data, these devices create basic geometry and point clouds . The point cloud is then put into software, which turns into a CAD model. Engineers then use CAD files like DXF, STP, or IGES to evolve the model further. Using scanning for the reverse engineering process is a popular choice for collecting data efficiently and producing accurate CAD models. Scanning tools cut out tedious measurement processes and simultaneously collect thousands of data points. These tools are especially useful for keeping up in quickly moving industries and collecting complex measurement data.

Drawing also uses CAD models, but it follows a different process than scanning. Engineers collect measurement points with devices that don’t automatically transition those measurements into a point cloud and then model. Instead, the measurements are collected and analyzed by engineers and then drawn in CAD files like DXF, STP, and IGES.

CAD Files With Reverse Engineering

CAD files are an integral part of reverse engineering. Using these makes it much easier for engineers to follow modeling without 2D distortion. Engineers upload data into CAD files, which then create a 3D wireframe. Engineers use the wireframe to expand upon the original model. These files are manipulated with drawings, printing, and modeling.

DXF vs . STP vs .IGES CAD Files

Out of these three CAD files, there are differences in how they store data and how engineers access it. Let’s get into the specifications.

DXF files, or Drawing Exchange Format or Drawing Interchange Format, are a type of CAD data file used for sharing 2D drawing data or text-based formats. This file is the most collaborative type of CAD file; it’s an open format, so multiple engineers can simultaneously work on it. The collaborative design is adjustable to all CAD applications. Beyond its ease of collaboration, DXF files are known for producing accurate designs without distortion from the measured object.

STP files—also called STEP—were developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to standardize file sharing across software programs. This file saves detailed body information about 3D models. Because of the advanced model data, it is used for 3D modeling and 3D printing. Engineers easily share this data collaboratively for building new model designs.

IGES files—Initial Graphics Exchange files—are CAD files for blueprints and drafting. This file is used for engineering drawings like wireframes, models, and circuit diagrams. These drawings are then used for planning and pricing design construction. IGES files are not as advanced as STP and DXF files, but they are still widely used.

The Future of Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering is rapidly adapting and changing. New innovations are continuous, and engineers have millions of opportunities to recreate products in a more cost-effective, usable, and advanced way. The weight of opportunity is inspiring but also daunting when businesses feel like they can’t keep up with new technologies. Luckily, leading systems and machinery can make this process easier and more cost-effective to implement. At KEYENCE, we offer coordinate measurement machines, the XM and the WM Series, that collect measurement data in an instant. These machines create data point clouds similar to the scanning method of reverse engineering. The XM and WM touch probe CMMs are handheld and require virtually no training to use. With the press of a button, these devices collect GD&T data points in seconds, create point clouds from free-form capture, and export DXF, STP, and IGES files. These files then turn into full 3D models in CAD software. With KEYENCE’s CMMs, you’ll have the tools to become a reverse engineering leader with industry-proven equipment. Contact us today to get your hands on a CMM or to discuss your reverse engineering needs.

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• 1. Why should we want to replace the Socratic Question with the Pragmatic Question?
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The Philosopher as Reverse-Engineer

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Alexander Prescott-Couch, The Philosopher as Reverse-Engineer, Analysis , Volume 84, Issue 2, April 2024, Pages 368–384, https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anad008

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Philosophers do not have a reputation for being pragmatic. When offered a chance to avoid execution, Socrates used his window of escape to deliver a series of abstract arguments explaining why the principle required him to stick around for the hemlock. The picture is not so different nowadays, where popular culture often depicts philosophy professors as absent-minded bumblers lost in abstruse thought, charmingly unable to master the simple tasks of life. 1 Basically, so the stereotypes go, we are a bunch of neurotics who take comfort in abstractions as a way to escape life rather than live it.

I suspect these stereotypes are not a coincidence. Behind them is the idea that how philosophers approach deep issues of human concern are somehow cut off from the context of concrete, lived existence. Fixation on the abstract argument, obscure jargon, farfetched thought experiments and nitpicky conceptual distinctions can make it easy to forget why it all matters in the first place.

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Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work

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Some assignments ask you to read and analyze complex information. In these cases, reverse outlining can help you distill the main ideas into short, clear statements. You may also use reverse outlining to revise your own work. Reverse outlining follows a two-step, repeatable process:

When reading, these notes should work as quick references for future study or in-class discussion.

When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph is focused and clear.

When reading, these notes allow you to follow the logic of the essay, making it easier for you to analyze or discuss later.

When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph fits in the overall organization of your paper. You may also notice that paragraphs should be shifted after completing this step.

Be brief, particularly when rereading your own work. If you can't complete each step in 5-10 words, the paragraph may need to be altered. You should be able to summarize the topic and the manner of support quickly; if you can't, revise the paragraph until you can.

This exercise can be expanded into an actual outline by rewriting/typing your notes, but writing in the margin might be sufficient.

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Reverse Engineering an Essay

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 1. optional (check to see if your college requires it)  2. Test Length: 50 min  3. Nature of Prompt: Analyze an argument  4. Prompt is virtually.

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Georg Lukas, 2024-05-24 17:30

Samsung's WB850F compact camera was the first model to combine the DRIMeIII SoC with WiFi. Together with the EX2F it features an uncompressed firmware binary where Samsung helpfully added a partialImage.o.map file with a full linker dump and all symbol names into the firmware ZIP. We are using this gift to reverse-engineer the main SoC firmware, so that we can make it pass the WiFi hotspot detection and use samsung-nx-emailservice .

This is a follow-up to the Samsung WiFi cameras article and part of the Samsung NX series .

partialImage.o.map - the linker dump

Wb850-fw-sr-210086.bin - header analysis, wb850-fw-sr-210086.bin - code and data partitions, loading and mapping main_image, loading function names from partialimage.o.map, reverse engineering devhttpresponsestart, interpreting the hotspot detection, summary: the real treasure, wb850f_fw_210086.zip - the outer container.

The WB850F is one of the few models where Samsung still publishes firmware and support files after discontinuing the iLauncher application.

The WB850F_FW_210086.zip archive we can get there contains quite a few files (as identified by file ):

The FWUP file just contains the string upgrade all which is a script for the firmware testing/automation module. The wb850f_adj.txt file is a similar but more complex script to upgrade the GPS firmware and delete the respective files. Let's skip the GPS-related script and GPS_FW folder for now.

The partialImage.o.map is a text file with >300k lines, containing the linker output for partialImage.o , including a full memory map of the linked file:

This goes on and on and on, and it's a real treasure map! Now we just need to find the island that it belongs to.

Looking into WB850-FW-SR-210086.bin with binwalk yields a long list of file headers (HTML, PNG, JPEG, ...), a VxWorks header, quite a number of Unix paths, but nothing that looks like partitions or filesystems.

Let's hex-dump the first kilobyte instead:

This looks very interesting. It starts with the firmware version, 210086 , then 0x00 0x06 , directly followed by FW_UP/ONBL1.bin at the offset 0x008 , which very much looks like a file name. The next file name, FW_UP/ONBL2.bin comes at 0x044 , so this is probably a 60-byte "partition" record:

After the file name, there is quite a bunch of zeroes (making up a 32-byte zero-padded string), followed by two little-endian integers 0xc4 and 0x800 , followed by a 20-byte zero-padded string ONBL1 , which is probably the respective partition name. After that, the next records of the same structure follow. The integers in the second record ( ONBL2 ) are 0xb630 and 0x8c4 , so we can assume the first number is the length, and the second one is the offset in the file (the offset of one record is always offset+length of the previous one).

In total, there are six records, so the 0x00 0x06 between the version string and the first record is probably a termination or pading byte for the firmware version and a one-byte number of partitions.

With this knowledge, we can reconstruct the partition table as follows:

Let's write a tool to extract DRIMeIII firmware partitions , and use it!

The tool is extracting partitions based on their partition names, appending ".bin" respectively. Running file on the output is not very helpful:

ONBL1 and ONBL2 are probably the stages 1 and 2 of the bootloader (as confirmed by a string in Main_Image : "BootLoader(ONBL1, ONBL2) Update Done" ).

Main_Image is the actual firmware: the OpenPGP Secret Key is a false positive, binwalk -A reports quite a number of ARM function prologues in this file.

Resource and SKIN are pretty large containers, maybe provided by the SoC manufacturer to "skin" the camera UI?

OIS is not really hex as claimed by its file name, but it might be the firmware for a dedicated optical image stabilizer .

Of all these, Main_Image is the most interesting one.

Loading the code in Ghidra

The three partitions ONBL1 , ONBL2 and Main_Image contain actual ARM code. A typical ARM firmware will contain the reset vector table at address 0x0000000 (usually the beginning of flash / ROM), which is a series of jump instructions. All three binaries however contain actual linear code at their respective beginning, so most probably they need to be re-mapped to some yet unknown address.

To find out how and why the camera is mis-detecting a hotspot, we need to:

• Find the right memory address to map Main_Image to
• Load the symbol names from partialImage.o.map into Ghidra
• Find and analyze the function that is mis-firing the hotspot login

By default, Ghidra will assume that the binary loads to address 0x0000000 and try to analyze it this way. To get the correct memory address, we need to find a function that accesses some known value from the binary using an absolute address. Given that there are 77k functions, we can start with something that's close to task #3, and search in the "Defined Strings" tab of Ghidra for "yahoo" :

Excellent! Ghidra identified a few strings that look like an annoyed developer's printf debugging, probably from a function called DevHTTPResponseStart() , and it seems to be the function that checks whether the camera can properly access Yahoo, Google or Samsung:

According to partialImage.o.map , a function with that name actually exists at address 0x321a84 , and Ghidra also found a function at 0x321a84 . There are some more matching function offsets between the map and the binary, so we can assume that the .text addresses from the map file actually correspond 1:1 to Main_Image ! We found the right island for our map!

Here's the beginning of that function:

It starts with two calls to FUN_0031daec() with different numbers of parameters - this smells very much of printf debugging again. According to the memory map, it's called opd_printf() ! The first parameter is some sort of context / destination, and the second one must be a reference to the format string. The two DAT_ values are detected by Ghidra as 32-bit undefined values:

However, the respective last three digits match the "DevHTTPResponseStart: " debug strings encountered earlier:

• 0xc13a3574 - 0x0139f574 = 0xc0004000 (first format string with four parameters)
• 0xc13a35b8 - 0x0139f5b8 = 0xc0004000 (second format strings without parameters)

From that we can reasonably conclude that Main_Image needs to be loaded to the memory address 0xc0004000 . This cannot be changed after the fact in Ghidra, so we need to remove the binary from the project, re-import it, and set the base address accordingly:

Ghidra has a script to bulk-import data labels and function names from a text table, ImportSymbolScript.py . It expects each line to contain three variables, separated by arbitrary amounts of whitespace (as determined by python's string.split() ):

• symbol name
• (hexadecimal) address
• "f" for "function" or "l" for "label"

Our symbol map contains multiple sections, but we are only interested in the functions defined in .text (for now), which are mapped 1:1 to addresses in Main_Image . Besides of function names, it also contains empty lines, object file offsets (with .text as the label), labels (prefixed with "L$_" ) and local symbols (prefixed with "$" ).

We need to limit our symbols to the .text section (everything after .text and before .debug_frame ), get rid of the empty lines and non-functions, then add 0xc0004000 to each address so that we match up with the base address in Ghidra. We can do this very obscurely with an awk one-liner:

Or slightly less obscurely with a much slower shell loop:

Both will generate the same output that can be loaded into Ghidra via "Window" / "Script Manager" / "ImportSymbolsScript.py":

Now that we have the function names in place, we need to manually set the type of quite a few DAT_ fields to "pointer", rename the parameters according to the debug string, and we get a reasonably usable decompiler output.

The following is a commented version, edited for better readability (inlined the string references, rewrote some conditionals):

So to summarize, the code in DevHTTPResponseStart will check for one of two conditions and call safnotify_auth_ap(0) to mark the WiFi access point as authenticated:

on a HTTP 200 OK response, the server must set a cookie on the domain ".yahoo .something " or "kr.yahoo .something "

on a HTTP 301/302/307 redirect, the URL (presumably the redirect location?) must contain "yahoo." close to its beginning.

If we manually contact the queried URL, http://www.yahoo.co.kr/ , it will redirect us to https://www.yahoo.com/ , so everything is fine?

Well, the substring "yahoo." is on position 12 in the url "https://www.yahoo.com/" , but the code is requiring it to be in one of the first 11 positions. This check has been killed by TLS!

To pass the hotspot check, we must unwind ten years of HTTPS-everywhere, or point the DNS record to a different server that will either HTTP-redirect to a different, more yahooey name, or set a cookie on the yahoo domain.

After patching samsung-nx-emailservice accordingly , the camera will actually connect and upload photos:

This deep-dive allowed to understand and circumvent the hotspot detection in Samsung's WB850F WiFi camera based on one reverse-engineered function. The resulting patch was tiny, but guessing the workaround just from the packet traces was impossible due to the "detection method" implemented by Samsung's engineers. Once knowing what to look for, the same workaround was applied to cameras asking for MSN.com, thus also adding EX2F, ST200F, WB3xF and WB1100F to the supported cameras list .

However, the real treasure is still waiting! Main_Image contains over 77k functions, so there is more than enough for a curious treasure hunter to explore in order to better understand how digital cameras work.

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Someone is reverse-engineering Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 on PC

Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 is a survival horror RE game that came out exclusively on PlayStation 2 in 2004. This game never found its way to the PC. And now, almost two decades afterward, we can take a glimpse at what a PC version of it could have looked like.

X’s Fothsid is working on a PC version of the game by reverse-engineering it. And earlier today, he shared a gameplay video showing how the game can run at 60fps. As noted, this isn’t an emulated version of Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2. It’s a version that Fothsid has reverse-engineered to run natively on PC. And it looks super cool.

From what we know, Fothsid does not plan to release this project to the public. That’s a bummer as he could do what other similar projects have done. He could release this project for free, without any of its game assets. Instead, the PC version would require an original ROM of the game to run. This is what the PC ports of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , Super Mario 64 and Jak and Daxter actually do. Not only that but all of them are still available for download, and both Sony and Nintendo cannot take them down.

Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 is a survival horror RE game that came out exclusively on PlayStation 2 in 2004. The game was locked at 30fps, and it never found its way to other platforms.

This is one of the few RE games that use “on-rail camera angles”. Basically, think of them as the next step of the fixed camera angles that the classic Resident Evil games used. Upon release, the game was criticized for its respawned enemies and the mediocre AI of your partners.

And that is that. This looks really cool, though it’d be cool if the coder uploaded the video on YouTube. X has an awful video player, and the video is full of artifacts. Still, it’s better than nothing.

Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more!

Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 Terrarium Dome except it’s in 60FPS and not in an emulator pic.twitter.com/vq0LYBvbgH — Fothsid (@fothsid) May 25, 2024

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.” Contact: Email

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Mythical Man-Month, The: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition Anniversary Edition

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Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month . With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system. Now, 20 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice, both for readers already familiar with his work and for readers discovering it for the first time.

The added chapters contain (1) a crisp condensation of all the propositions asserted in the original book, including Brooks' central argument in The Mythical Man-Month: that large programming projects suffer management problems different from small ones due to the division of labor; that the conceptual integrity of the product is therefore critical; and that it is difficult but possible to achieve this unity; (2) Brooks' view of these propositions a generation later; (3) a reprint of his classic 1986 paper "No Silver Bullet"; and (4) today's thoughts on the 1986 assertion, "There will be no silver bullet within ten years."

• ISBN-10 9780201835953
• ISBN-13 978-0201835953
• Edition Anniversary
• Publisher Addison-Wesley Professional
• Publication date August 2, 1995
• Language English
• Dimensions 9.07 x 6.11 x 0.75 inches
• Print length 336 pages
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Why The Mythical Man-Month is Still Recommended Today

Still as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

"Brooks lays out a formalism to how to approach [people and process problems] that let teams deliver on the technology, a formalism that is as relevant now as it was 40 years ago, and I suspect, 40 years (or 400, if we are still around then) in the future as well." —Michael McIntyre, Silently Failing blog

It's a cautionary tale

"It has been almost 50 years since this book was published and we are still making the same mistakes while managing software projects. This cautionary tale should be read at least once by all engineers." —Tomas Fernandez, Siemaphore blog

Gets software engineers to the next level

"In my opinion, understanding the art of programming systems product is one of many steps taking a good software engineer to the next level. The Mythical Man-Month was first published many years ago and still the perfect book for this topic...I thought it was no longer relevant in the age of Agile and Continuous Delivery at first, but I could not be more wrong." —Kaga.Dev

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0201835959P04062001

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About the author.

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., was born in 1931 in Durham, NC. He received an A.B. summa cum laude in physics from Duke and a Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard, under Howard Aiken, the inventor of the early Harvard computers.

At Chapel Hill, Dr. Brooks founded the Department of Computer Science and chaired it from 1964 through 1984. He has served on the National Science Board and the Defense Science Board. His current teaching and research is in computer architecture, molecular graphics, and virtual environments.

He joined IBM, working in Poughkeepsie and Yorktown, NY, 1956-1965. He is best known as the "father of the IBM System/360", having served as project manager for its development and later as manager of the Operating System/360 software project during its design phase. For this work he, Bob Evans, and Erick Block were awarded and received a National Medal of Technology in 1985.

Dr. Brooks and Dura Sweeney in 1957 patented a Stretch interrupt system for the IBM Stretch computer that introduced most features of today's interrupt systems. He coined the term computer architecture . His System/360 team first achieved strict compatibility, upward and downward, in a computer family. His early concern for word processing led to his selection of the 8-bit byte and the lowercase alphabet for the System/360, engineering of many new 8-bit input/output devices, and providing a character-string datatype in PL/I.

In 1964 he founded the Computer Science Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chaired it for 20 years. Currently, he is Kenan Professor of Computer Science . His principal research is in real-time, three-dimensional, computer graphics-"virtual reality." His research has helped biochemists solve the structure of complex molecules and enabled architects to "walk through" buildings still being designed. He is pioneering the use of force display to supplement visual graphics.

Brooks distilled the successes and failures of the development of Operating System/360 in The Mythical Man-Month: Essays in Software Engineering , (1975). He further examined software engineering in his well-known 1986 paper, "No Silver Bullet." He is just completing a two-volume research monograph, Computer Architecture , with Professor Gerrit Blaauw. Now, 20 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice within The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition .

Brooks has served on the National Science Board and the Defense Science Board. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the the IEEE John von Neumann Medal, the IEEE Computer Society's McDowell and Computer Pioneer Awards, the ACM Allen Newell and Distinguished Service Awards, the AFIPS Harry Goode Award, and an honorary Doctor of Technical Science from ETH-Zürich.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Deo soli gloria or Soli Deo Gloria -- To God alone be the glory. Chapel Hill, N.C., F.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0201835959
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Addison-Wesley Professional; Anniversary edition (August 2, 1995)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780201835953
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0201835953
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.07 x 6.11 x 0.75 inches
• #23 in Software Development (Books)
• #28 in Computer Software (Books)
• #200 in Unknown

About the author

Frederick p. brooks, jr..

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., is Kenan Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an architect of the IBM Stretch and Harvest computers. He was Corporate Project Manager for the System/360, including development of the System/360 computer family hardware and the decision to switch computer byte size from 6 to 8 bits. He then managed the initial development of the Operating System/360 software suite: operating system, 16 compilers, communications, and utilities.

He founded the UNC Department of Computer Science in 1964 and chaired it for 20 years. His research there has been in computer architecture, software engineering, and interactive 3-D computer graphics (protein visualization graphics and "virtual reality"). His best-known books are The Mythical Man-Month (1975, 1995); Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution (with G.A. Blaauw, 1997); and The Design of Design (2010).

Dr. Brooks has received the National Medal of Technology, the A.M. Turing award of the ACM, the Bower Award and Prize of the Franklin Institute, the John von Neumann Medal of the IEEE, and others. He is a member of the U.S. National Academies of Engineering and of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering (U.K.) and of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He became a Christian at age 31 and has taught an adult Sunday school class for 35 years. He chaired the Executive Committee for the 1973 Research Triangle Billy Graham Crusade. He and Mrs. Nancy Greenwood Brooks are faculty advisors to a graduate student chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

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• 1.1 Pronunciation
• 1.2.1.1 Antonyms
• 1.2.1.2 Derived terms
• 1.2.1.3 Translations
• 1.2.2.1 Synonyms
• 1.2.3.1 Antonyms
• 1.2.3.2 Derived terms
• 1.2.3.3 Translations
• 1.3.1.1 Antonyms
• 1.3.1.2 Derived terms
• 1.3.1.3 Translations
• 1.4 Anagrams
• 2.1 Pronunciation
• 2.3 Anagrams
• 3.1 Participle
• 3.2 References
• 4.1 Adjective
• 5.1 Pronunciation

English [ edit ]

Pronunciation [ edit ].

• ( UK ) IPA ( key ) : /ɹɪˈvɜːs/
• ( US ) IPA ( key ) : /ɹɪˈvɝs/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Etymology 1 [ edit ]

From Middle English revers , from Anglo-Norman revers , Middle French revers , and their source, Latin reversus , perfect passive participle of reversō , from re- + versō . Doublet of revers .

Adjective [ edit ]

reverse ( not comparable )

• Opposite , contrary ; going in the opposite direction. [from 14th c.] We ate the meal in reverse order, starting with dessert and ending with the starter. The mirror showed us a reverse view of the scene.
• Pertaining to engines , vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction. [from 19th c.] He selected reverse gear.
• ( rail transport , of points ) To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.
• Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.
• ( botany ) Reversed. a reverse shell
• ( genetics ) In which cDNA synthetization is obtained from an RNA template.

Antonyms [ edit ]

• ( antonym(s) of “ rail transport ” ) : normal

Derived terms [ edit ]

• reverse 911 call
• reverse anorexia nervosa
• reverse arms
• reverse bigotry
• reverse boustrophedon
• reverse brain drain
• reverse bunny suit
• reverse cascade
• reverse causation
• reverse charge
• reverse chops
• reverse commute
• reverse-commute
• reverse commuter
• reverse confusion
• reverse contrast
• reverse course
• reverse cowgirl
• reverse cowgirl position
• reverse culture shock
• reverse curve
• reverse cycler
• reverse dictionary
• reverse discrimination
• reverse domestic violence
• reverse-dowry
• reverse dowry
• reverse dunk
• reverse electrodialysis
• reverse engineer
• reverse engineering
• reverse fault
• reverse ferret
• reverse forecast
• reverse gangbang
• reverse gear
• reverse genetic
• reverse genetics
• reverse graffiti
• reverse harem
• reverse hyper
• reverse hyperextension
• reverse implied odds
• reverse import
• reverse infringement
• reverse intaglio
• reverse integration
• reverse isekai
• reverse jinx
• reverse komi
• reverse layup
• reverse link
• reverse logistics
• reverse Magnus effect
• reverse merger
• reverse mermaid
• reverse Midas touch
• reverse mortgage
• reverse one-drop rule
• reverse osmosis
• reverse painting
• reverse palming off
• reverse panda
• reverse pass
• reverse pedo
• reverse pedophile
• reverse pickpocket
• reverse-pickpocket
• reverse Polish notation
• reverse proxy
• reverse psychology
• reverse question
• reverse racism
• reverse racist
• reverse rape
• reverse rapist
• reverse repo
• reverse-sear
• reverse sexism
• reverse sexist
• reverse shell
• reverse shot
• reverse spelling
• reverse sweep
• reverse swing
• reverse takeover
• reverse thrust
• reverse transcriptase
• reverse transcription
• reverse trap
• reverse Turing test
• reverse vending machine
• reverse video
• Uno reverse card

Translations [ edit ]

Adverb [ edit ].

• 1963 , Donal Serrell Thomas, Points of Contact : The man was killed to feed his image fat / Within this pictured world that ran reverse , / Where miracles alone were ever plain.

Synonyms [ edit ]

• See also Thesaurus:vice versa or Thesaurus:upside down

Noun [ edit ]

reverse ( plural reverses )

• The opposite of something. [from 14th c.] We believed the Chinese weren't ready for us. In fact, the reverse was true.
• 1808 , Charles Lamb , Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets Who Lived About the Time of Shakespeare : By a reverse of fortune, Stephen becomes rich.
• 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley , “ The Revolt of Islam.   [ … ] ”, in [Mary] Shelley , editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.   [ … ] , volume I, London: Edward Moxon   [ … ] , published 1839 , →OCLC , page 192 : And the cold truth such sad reverse did seem As to awake in grief from some delightful dream.
• 1936 , Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art , London: Long, page 156 : Simon Forman was notorious in his day, and was a many of many reverses .
• 1990 , Peter Hopkirk , The Great Game , Folio Society, published 2010 , page 309 : In fact, though the Russians did not yet know it, the British had met with a reverse .
• ( numismatics ) The tails side of a coin, or the side of a medal or badge that is opposite the obverse . [from 17th c.]
• The side of something facing away from a viewer, or from what is considered the front; the other side. [from 18th c.]
• The gear setting of an automobile that makes it travel backwards. [from 19th c.] Synonym: reverse gear
• c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare , “ The Merry Wiues of Windsor ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies   [ … ] ( First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed [ ward ] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act II, scene iii ] : but first , master see thee pass thy punto , thy stock , thy reverse , thy guest
• ( surgery ) A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.
• autoreverse
• bootlegger reverse
• reverseless

Etymology 2 [ edit ]

From Middle English reversen , from Anglo-Norman reverser , Middle French reverser , and their source, Latin reversō , from re- + versō .

Verb [ edit ]

reverse ( third-person singular simple present reverses , present participle reversing , simple past and past participle reversed )

• ( transitive ) To turn something around so that it faces the opposite direction or runs in the opposite sequence. to reverse the order of books on a shelf to reverse a portion of video footage
• 1672 , William Temple , Essay on the Original and Nature of Government : A pyramid reversed may stand upon his point if balanced by admirable skill.
• ( transitive ) To transpose the positions of two things.
• c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare , “ The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies   [ … ] ( First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed [ ward ] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene i ] : Reverse the doom of death.
• 1815 February 24, [ Walter Scott ], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer.   [ … ] , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III) , Edinburgh: [ … ] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ,   [ … ] ; and Archibald Constable and Co. ,   [ … ] , →OCLC : They reversed the conduct of the celebrated vicar of Bray.
• 1590 , Edmund Spenser , “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene.   [ … ] , London: [ … ] [ John Wolfe ] for William Ponsonbie , →OCLC : Bene they all dead, and laide in dolefull herse? / Or doen they onely sleepe, and shall againe reuerse ?
• 1590 , Edmund Spenser , “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene.   [ … ] , London: [ … ] [ John Wolfe ] for William Ponsonbie , →OCLC , stanza 48: And that old dame said many an idle verse, / Out of her daughter's heart fond fancies to reverse .
• 1590 , Edmund Spenser , “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene.   [ … ] , London: [ … ] [ John Wolfe ] for William Ponsonbie , →OCLC , stanza 48: And to his fresh remembrance did reverse / The ugly view of his deformd crimes.
• 2020 April 8, “Network News: Emergency timetables and the number of services cut”, in Rail , page 15 : From March 30, LNER was running around 40% of its trains and had suspended its Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull services, although it reversed the latter decision after Hull Trains suspended operations.
• 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine , page 54 : Richardson dropped into the six-foot between the two engines, ran for a few yards, grabbed Mitchell's engine, and swung himself up. Mitchell had got to his feet by this time, but he made no move. Richardson shut off steam, reversed her, and brought her to a stand.
• ( chemistry ) To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa.
• ( rail transport , transitive ) To place (a set of points ) in the reverse position.
• ( rail transport , intransitive , of points ) To move from the normal position to the reverse position.
• ( aviation , transitive ) To engage reverse thrust on (an engine).
• c. 1699 – 1703 , Alexander Pope , “The First Book of Statius His Thebais ”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope , volume I, London: [ … ] W [ illiam ] Bowyer , for Bernard Lintot ,   [ … ] , published 1717 , →OCLC : These can divide, and these reverse , the state.
• a. 1729 , John Rogers , Conformity to the World destructive of our Happiness : Custom [ … ] reverses even the distinctions of good and evil.
• 2011 , Eldad Eilam, Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering : Reversing is also heavily used in connection with malicious software, on both ends of the fence: [ … ]
• 2012 , Christopher C. Elisan, Malware, Rootkits & Botnets: A Beginner's Guide , page 117 : [ … ] but in some instances where malware is proving to be difficult, reversing is needed.
• ( antonym(s) of “ to turn something in the opposite direction ” ) : unreverse
• ( antonym(s) of “ rail transport ” ) : normalise / normalize ( transitive and intransitive )
• reverse configure
• reverse-engineer
• reverse out
• reverse the charge

Anagrams [ edit ]

• Reserve , Reveres , reserve , reveres , severer , veerers

French [ edit ]

• IPA ( key ) : /ʁə.vɛʁs/
• first / third-person singular present indicative / subjunctive
• second-person singular imperative
• réserve , réservé

Latin [ edit ]

Participle [ edit ].

• vocative masculine singular of reversus

References [ edit ]

• reverse in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Middle English [ edit ]

• c. 1386–1390 , John Gower , edited by Reinhold Pauli , Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts , volumes (please specify |volume=I, II, or III) , London: Bell and Daldy   [ … ] , published 1857 , →OCLC : He found the sea diverse / With many a windy storm reverse . (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Romanian [ edit ]

• IPA ( key ) : [reˈverse]
• third-person singular / plural present subjunctive of revărsa

Spanish [ edit ]

• infinitive of rever combined with se
• first / third-person singular present subjunctive
• third-person singular imperative

• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio links
• Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)s
• Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)s/2 syllables
• English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
• English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wert-
• English terms inherited from Middle English
• English terms derived from Middle English
• English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
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Putin’s China Visit Highlights Military Ties That Worry the West

The Russian leader visited an institute in Harbin known for defense research. President Xi Jinping saw him off with a rare and seemingly deliberate embrace for the cameras.

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By David Pierson

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia attended a trade fair on Friday in a northeastern Chinese city and toured a state-backed university famous for its cutting-edge defense research, highlighting how economic and military ties between the countries have grown despite, or perhaps because of, Western pressure.

Mr. Putin’s visit to Harbin, a Chinese city with a Russian past, is part of a trip aimed at demonstrating that he has powerful friends even as his war against Ukraine — a campaign that he is escalating — has isolated him from the West. The visit followed a day of talks between him and President Xi Jinping of China that seemed orchestrated to convey not only the strategic alignment of the two powerful, autocratic leaders against the West, but a personal connection.

State media showed Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi, neckties off after formal talks on Thursday, strolling under willow trees and sipping tea at a traditional pavilion on the sprawling grounds of Zhongnanhai, the walled leadership compound in Beijing, with only their interpreters. As Mr. Xi saw Mr. Putin off in the evening, he even initiated a hug — a rare expression of affection for the Chinese leader.

“Xi’s very deliberate embrace of Putin for the cameras wasn’t just to emphasize the closeness of the political relationship between the two countries and their leaders,” said Richard McGregor, a senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. “There was also a touch of disdain directed at Washington, which has been pressuring Beijing to withdraw support from Moscow. That clearly isn’t going to happen in any substantive fashion.”

The show of camaraderie was the final touch in talks that culminated in a joint statement that took aim at the United States, which Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi have accused of seeking to suppress their countries. The statement pledged that Russia and China would work more closely in critical sectors like energy, space and the military.

The large size of Russia’s delegation, which included Mr. Putin’s top security and energy officials, as well the length of the bilateral meetings, implied the seriousness with which both sides have approached the negotiations, said Alexander Gabuev, a China expert at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.

“It’s like an iceberg,” he said. “The public documents are symbolic and largely meaningless. But there’s an underwater part, which is likely to be much more significant.”

Still, Mr. Putin’s visit also showed the limits of the countries alliance. In China, Mr. Xi rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Putin, but the visit did not produce any public commitments to concrete new projects or investments between the two countries.

Specifically, Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi have not publicly reported any progress on a planned new gas pipeline from China into Russia, known as Power of Siberia 2. Russia urgently needs the pipeline to redirect the flow of its gas exports from the rapidly declining market in Europe.

Mr. Putin had no news to share about the pipeline’s progress when he was asked about it in a brief news conference at the end of his trip on Friday.

“I am not prepared to discuss any technical details, but the interest of both sides in realizing these projects has been confirmed,” Mr. Putin said, referring to Power of Siberia 2.

He also deflected a question about reports that Chinese banks are reducing transactions with Russian clients out of fear of Western sanctions, turning the conversation from China to the shortcomings of the U.S. financial system.

The growing security ties between the two nuclear-armed powers was a focal point of Mr. Putin’s visit to Harbin, and the Harbin Institute of Technology.

While China and Russia are not formal allies committed to defend each other with military support, their armed forces have worked together more closely in recent years. Their air forces and navies have held joint military exercises, including near Alaska and Taiwan, the de facto independent island claimed by Beijing. On Thursday, the two leaders issued words of support for their separate claims to Taiwan and Ukraine.

And while China has vowed not to provide Russia with lethal weapons, it has been the top supplier of components like semiconductors and machine tools that have both civilian and military uses.

While that is helpful, Mr. Putin still seeks access to more sophisticated tools. The Harbin institute is best known for its research of rockets, missiles and space technology — expertise that Russia would greatly benefit from as the war in Ukraine has revived its need for a more robust military-industrial complex. The institute also trained North Korean scientists who worked on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, according to The Wall Street Journal and South Korean media.

Mr. Putin’s tour of the institute was steeped in symbolism. The 103-year-old institution recently opened a joint campus with St. Petersburg State University, Mr. Putin’s alma mater. And in something of a snub to Washington, the school belongs on the United States’ so-called entity list, barring it from accessing American technology and taking part in educational exchanges because of its links to the People’s Liberation Army.

“We should be less concerned about what particular technologies China might be sharing with Russia from Harbin or elsewhere, than the larger pattern and signal that this visit represents,” said Markus Garlauskas, a security expert at the Atlantic Council.

“China did not need to host Putin at Harbin in order to transfer technologies from there to Russia,” he added. “That this visit took place so openly is a visible and symbolic sign of Beijing being willing to provide directly military-applicable technology to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

Song Zhongping, a commentator in Beijing who is a former military officer, defended Mr. Putin’s visit to the institute, pointing to the school’s cooperation with Russia in education.

“Communication at the university level between China and Russia is consistent with the academic exchange and national interests of both countries,” Mr. Song said.

Mr. Garlauskas said the tour of the institute had echoes of when Mr. Putin hosted Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, at a Russian spaceport last year before Pyongyang began supplying Moscow with ballistic missiles and other munitions to use in Ukraine.

“What China shares with Russia, Russia could easily then turn around and share with North Korea,” Mr. Garlauskas said.

Not long ago, it was China that drew greater benefits from access to Russian military technology. Starting in the 1990s, and peaking in the early 2000s, Beijing was a major buyer of Russian arms. Sales then began to slow after Moscow grew concerned about China reverse-engineering Russian weapons, said Elizabeth Wishnick, a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses in Virginia.

It wasn’t until about a decade ago that cooperation between the two sides returned, leading to China’s acquisition of more Russian jet engine technology and surface-to-air missile systems. Still, in a sign that there are limits to its cooperation with China, Russia is holding out sharing its silent submarine technology, a feature that makes the vessels especially hard to detect, Ms. Wishnick said.

Mr. Putin is also using his visit to Harbin, where he attended a trade fair, to promote the flow of goods between the countries.

China has given Russia an economic lifeline by buying huge amounts of Russian oil to circumvent the effects of its financial isolation from the West. Not only that, with many foreign consumer brands also leaving Russia, Chinese companies have stepped in to fill a vacuum for the likes of automobiles , smartphones and televisions. That contributed to a record $240 billion in two-way trade between the China and Russia in 2023, up from $190 billion in 2022, according to Chinese customs data.

Maintaining that growth in trade is a major focus in both countries, analysts said, now that Western pressure on Chinese banks to scale back transactions with Russian firms is believed to have led to the first year-on-year decline in trade in more than two years in March.

One solution would be to increase the amount of transactions settled in local currencies rather than dollars to avoid the risk of sanctions. Mr. Putin said on Thursday that more than 90 percent of commercial transactions conducted between Russia and China were now being cleared in rubles or renminbi.

“Protecting the financial assets of big banks in China is the top crucial interest of China,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing. He said China was trying to reduce its exposure to the dollar beyond just in Russia, but that the room to do so was “limited.”

Olivia Wang and Anatoly Kurmanaev contributed reporting.

David Pierson covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. He has been a journalist for more than two decades. More about David Pierson