Free operating system Linux is looking to Windows as its role model, at least in this one way: implementing its own Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to warn users in cases of a kernel panic.

The BSOD—with the official name “DRM Panic”—will be included in the operating system for the first time with Linux 6.10, prompting users to reboot. Its usefulness will be further expanded in the near future.

The whole thing was solved by direct rendering manager drivers (DRM drivers) and kernel mode setting drivers (KMS drivers). In Linux 6.10, the new DRM panic handler will be integrated into the kernel for the first time. At launch, DRM & KMS drivers SimpleDRM, MGAG200, IMX, and AST are supported, with more to follow.

Nouveau-DRM panic patches are already in preparation, but will probably only be integrated in Linux 6.11 as they won’t be ready in time for Linux 6.10. Systemd already introduced a similar error screen as a BSOD for its version 255 in December 2023.

What the Linux blue screen looks like

Red Hat developer Javier Martinez Canillas showed a first screenshot of the BSOD for Linux on Mastodon. Lo and behold, the blue screen for Linux is far less cryptic than Microsoft’s famous BSOD.

You’ll see a fully blue screen with an ASCII art penguin in the top left corner. In the center of the screen is the text “Kernel Panic!” with a smaller statement below it, prompting the user to reboot the computer.

In the future, the error message will be named even more precisely and comprehensibly and supplemented with helpful details. It will also be possible to call up the error with a corresponding QR code.

You can test the BSOD for yourself

If you’re on a system running Linux 6.10 or higher—or another system that already supports “DRM Panic”—then you can manually test the new Linux BSOD with the following command:

echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger

Scientists from China are currently working on an optical disc that could store up to 200 terabytes of data in the size of a DVD, as reported by IEEE Spectrum.

This is made possible by storing data in three dimensions instead of just two. The scientists have developed a way to store the data on 100 layers of the disc. Even more could be possible in the future.

1.6 million gigabits on the size of a DVD disc

The procedure has already been investigated in the past. However, a major obstacle to earlier research was that the optics used to read and write the data were limited to the size of the wavelengths of light they utilized. In the new method, the data is recorded in dots just 54 nanometers wide – which corresponds to around a tenth of the wavelength of visible light used for reading and writing.

A variant the size of a DVD would therefore provide around 1.6 million gigabits (200 terabytes) of data capacity. This corresponds to 4000 times the data density of a Blu-ray disc or 21 times that of the most modern hard drives.

“This will enable the use of ultra-high density optical data storage technology in large data centers,” says Min Gu, Professor of Optical and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Shanghai Science and Technology University.

The researchers believe that their new optical disc could make it possible to shrink a data centre with a capacity of one billion gigabits, which would otherwise require the size of a stadium, down to the size of a room.

Search for suitable material took 10 years

The researchers used different laser pairs to read and write data.

The disc itself is made of a new type of light-sensitive material called AIE-DDPR, which is able to react differently to different wavelengths of light. “The search for this type of material took 10 years”, says Gu. “The difficulty was how the writing and reading processes influence each other in a particular material – especially in a three-dimensional geometry.”

The data was written in layers that were each one micrometer apart. It was found that the writing quality remained comparable across all layers, which surprised the researchers themselves: “I was personally surprised that both writing and reading processes on a nanoscale worked well in our newly invented material”, says Gu.

Good prospects for the medium

The researchers currently want to focus on its use in data centers. But in addition to the potential area of application in data centers, scientists have also determined that the production of the blanks is compatible with the already known DVD mass production and can be completed in just 6 minutes. The discs may therefore even be suitable for the commercial end customer market.

The Chinese scientists are currently working on ways to improve the writing speed and energy consumption of the new method. They published their results in the journal Nature on February 21, 2024.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

An angled cable adapter from CableMod has caused around $75,000 in damage in around 270 cases in the USA alone. Following the manufacturer’s voluntary recall, the US authority “U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)” has now also responded by officially recalling the plug.

This step was necessary because the angled adapter from CableMod with the name “12VHPWR-Adapter” tends to burn or even burn out completely. This naturally creates a fire hazard. Ironically, CableMod created and heavily promoted the angled adapter following initial reports of melting RTX 4090 connectors, which have since tapered off and never been subject to a recall. Recent revisions to the 12VHPWR spec improve how the connector clamps to your GPU’s power slot.

The use of CableMod’s adapter should be discontinued immediately, as the US safety authority announced in its recall.

In the wording: “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled angle adapters and contact CableMod for instructions on how to safely remove their adapter from the GPU and for a full refund, including shipping costs, or a $60 credit for non-customized products with free standard shipping. Consumers are asked to destroy the adapter and upload a photo of the destroyed product to https://cablemod.com/adapterrecall/. Instructions on how to safely remove the adapter can also be found on this website. After destruction, consumers should dispose of the adapter in accordance with local laws.”

CabelMod

CabelMod

CabelMod

The adapters were sold by CableMod between February and December 2023, after which the sale of the adapter was voluntarily stopped. Several variants of the adapter are affected, which were also available to buy in different colors.

In addition to the procedure for recalling the adapter, CableMod has also provided a video that shows how to properly destroy the angled “12VHPWR adapter” and render it unusable. A special contact form is also available for affected customers.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Blizzard has come up with a very special competition to fuel a blood donation campaign: It’s giving away a high-end Diablo IV-themed gaming PC whose water cooling system is infused with “real human blood” if players donate enough of the life-giving liquid.

In the “Diablo IV Blood Harvest” blood drive, the Diablo community aims to collectively donate 666 quarts of blood (the equivalent of around 640 liters). The entire Diablo community will benefit from this, as hitting 220 quarts, 440 quarts, and 666 quarts will also unlock various cosmetic items in the Diablo 4 game. Once the blood donation goal has been reached, the competition for the custom gaming PC, which is infused with “real human blood” to some degree, will start.

At 220 quarts, a weapon skin is awarded. A 440 quarts, a barbarian outfit will be unlocked. At 666 quarts or more, a new mount as well as the gaming PC raffle will go live.

Only players from the USA can take part in the blood donation campaign, however, and people aged 18 and over can take part in the competition itself – regardless of whether blood has been donated or not.

Water cooling “infused” with real human blood

The prize is a high-end gaming PC with an Intel Core-i9-13900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, 64GB DDR5 RAM, an M.2 SSD with 3TB storage capacity and, of course, the custom water cooling system that is supposed to be “infused” with real human blood.

The promotion started back on October 20 and is set to run until November 22. At the time of writing, the drive was at 27 per cent of the 666 quarts of blood needed. The link to the official website of the campaign is DiabloBloodHarvest.com.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

For more than two decades, Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has offered its global community a unique competitive experience. Millions of gamers around the world have played this legendary game, and some people consider the best pure multiplayer shooter ever.

Fans have waited patiently for a new chapter for several years, and now the beta phase for Counter-Strike 2 is over. You can now officially download and play it for free on Steam.

Massive Counter-Strike facelift

Counter-Strike 2 is not a completely new game, but a massive update for the the original CSGO. It upgrades the game to the updated Source Engine 2 and brings reworked and redesigned maps, improved grenades, network functions, reworked sound, upgraded community workshop tools, and more — including overhauled, physics-responsive smoke grenades that can be pierced by bullets and explosives. That’s sure to shake up the meta.

Gameplay-wise, a few things have also changed and improved. There’s an updated Prime mode (for a fee) with a new CS rating, a global and regional ranking list, and — most importantly — gameplay runs independent of the tick rate. You can transfer your earned items from CS:GO to CS2 as well, so all those expensive skins you paid up for will look even better now. You can see more about Prime Mode in Valve’s video:

Release for Windows, SteamOS and Linux

You can download and play the game on Valve’s gaming platform Steam right now. The size of the update is around 27 GB. In addition to the version for Windows 10 and 11, Counter-Strike 2 is also available for SteamOS and Linux (from Ubuntu 20.04).

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Google is celebrating its 25th birthday with a special Doodle. Anyone who currently visits the Google homepage is greeted by a changing Google logo, starting with the first iteration and then transforming through the various versions released throughout the years, up to the current logo of the search engine. At the end, the iconic double “O” changes to a 25, and if you click on the doodle, a shower of confetti explodes.

As the company writes in its blog, Google is not only celebrating its 25th birthday today, but also 25 years of “curiosity” from users, which it says brought the company to the point where it stands today. “For our birthday, we’re celebrating in ways you might have come to expect over the last quarter-century. Our homepage doodle today honors the evolution of the Google logo, and if you search for (or hum) birthday-related queries, you might see a little surprise.”

A link in the blog post takes users to a presentation of the company’s history with interesting insights into the last 25 years of Google.

Finally, there are a few words from the current Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, about the future of Google. He says Google is eager to think of new possibilities and drive technologies forward, and explains that they see enormous potential in the topic of AI.

“Our search for answers will drive extraordinary technology progress over the next 25 years. And in 2048, if, somewhere in the world, a teenager looks at all we’ve built with AI and shrugs, we’ll know we succeeded. And then we’ll get back to work. Thanks for an amazing 25.”

Sundar Pichai

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

In the latest Canary build for Windows 11 Insider preview testers, Microsoft added a new section for system components within the settings app without mentioning it whatsoever.

Even the release notes of Windows 11 build 25926 fail to mention the new feature, as Betanews reports. That’s no doubt by design, as you need to use external tools to find and enable the feature.

New Windows 11 Canary build: Meet System Components

Windows 11 Pro

The hidden section for system components, which Microsoft has added within the Settings app, can be activated with ViVeTool or Microsoft’s own leaked internal Staging Tool and offers a list of the applications and tools integrated in Windows 11 and additionally allows uninstalling many of them.

Microsoft probably hasn’t yet talked about this new Settings page itself because it is still in a very early testing stage. That said, this is quite a welcome innovation for Windows 11. By grouping system applications and providing easy access to them, Microsoft simplifies the process for anyone who wants to remove unwanted elements from Windows 11.

The move is in line with Microsoft’s recent overhaul of the Start menu, which introduced a system label for shortcuts to built-in applications. The company also recently made a similar change to the Microsoft Store.

The new feature was not announced by Microsoft. Instead, it was spotted by PhantomOfEarth, a Twitter account with a strong track record of spotting new features in Windows Insider builds..

After the recent automatic Windows Updates KB5028244 and KB5027303 caused problems for many users, Microsoft has temporarily stopped distributing them. The Windows team is now in the process of correcting the error with the help of the “Known Issue Rollback” feature in Windows.

Users reported problems playing videos after installing the updates from the end of June. Microsoft has now confirmed the issue and announced that it stems from a bug in the WVC1 and VC-1 video codecs. Apps for Windows 10 and Windows 11 that use these codecs may no longer be able to play back or record videos. Some cameras and webcams are also affected. Microsoft worked fast to correct the problem, as noted on the Windows Release Health Dashboard.

Microsoft distributes emergency fix

Microsoft just released an emergency fix. Thanks to the Known Issue Rollback features, affected users now only have to wait for the problem to be fixed automatically. Distribution of the KIR update started on July 25. The original updates were stopped, the bugs were ironed out, and the update was made available again.

Affected systems are the following:

• Windows 11 version 22H2
• Windows 11 version 21H
• Windows 10 version 22H2

For more in-depth details, visit the Windows Release Health Dashboard.

This article has been translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

The Mozilla Foundation will soon no longer support users of Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and macOS 10.12, 10.13 and 10.14 with updates for the popular Firefox browser. For a short time, an ESR (Extended Support Release) or LTS (Long-term Support) version will be available for these users before support finally ends in 2024. Mozilla announced the information in its own support blog.

Further reading: Windows 8.1 support is dead. Here’s how to secure your PC

The last supported version for the affected operating systems will be Firefox version 115, which is planned for the beginning of July 2023. The developers explain that Microsoft already ended support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 in January and thus no more security updates will follow—even though there are known exploits. The Mozilla Foundation classifies the use of these operating systems as dangerous anyway.

The situation is similar for the three versions of macOS. The Mozilla Foundation wants to guarantee support for Firefox ESR 115 until September 2024, when Mozilla will automatically install the ESR version on the affected operating systems. Affected Windows users will not be able to switch to other well-known browsers: Microsoft Edge as well as Google Chrome ended support for Windows 7 and 8 long ago.

This article was translated from German to English, and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.