Other surprises were soon discovered. Among them was the blocking of a train when one of its components is replaced (verified by its serial number). An option to undo the lockout was also discovered – this did not require setting flags at computer memory level, just the right sequence of button clicks in the cab and on the on-board computer screen. When news of the successful launch of the Impulse hit the media, the trains received a software update that removed this ‘fix’ option. On another train, a code was found instructing it to ‘break down’ after a million kilometres.

A rather funny situation was encountered on another train that refused to work on November 21, 2022, even though it was not in maintenance at the time. The computer reported that the compressor had failed, although the mechanics said that everything was fine with the compressor.

Unfortunately, the train still did not raise the pantographs. Analysis of the computer code detected a condition forcing the failure, which sounded like this:

• if the day is greater than or equal to 21 and
• if the month is greater than or equal to 11 and
• if the year is greater than or equal to 2021

Les auteurs ont donné une conférence au CCC il y a une dizaine de jours : https://media.ccc.de/v/37c3-12142-breaking_drm_in_polish_trains

La conférence est également traduite en français.

when people wonder why them open source people are so adamant...

when people wonder why them open source people are so adamant...