DIY USB password generator

Electronics, V-USB tutorials

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Having done half a dozen V-USB tutorials I decided it’s time to whip up something cool. As USB keyboards were an area untouched, I decided to make a small USB HID keyboard device that types a password stored in EEPROM every time it’s attached. A new password can be generated just by tabbing CAPS LOCK a few times (4 times to start password regeneration and one tab for each password character generated, 10 is the default password length). Below you can see the device in action:

The place I work at requires me to change my password every few months so this would be one way to skip remembering a new password altogether (as long as I remember to write it down before regenerating a new one so password can be changed :).

What is inside?

The device is powered with a simplified version of the hardware I used in my ATtiny85 USB tutorial – I stripped away the LCD, reset pullup and both capacitors. If you’re better in cramming components inside enclosures I suggest adding at least a 0.1 uF capacitor between VCC and GND, but it seems to work fine even without it:

The enclosure was graciously donated by an old 512 MB flash drive. I couldn’t make myself to break the USB connector from the circuit board inside, so I stripped appart a short USB cable instead (shown on left):

After some thinking and iterative soldering, I managed to cram everything on a tripad veroboard with 2×8 pads with the following initial setup:

I soldered the connector first, then the zener diodes, then resistors and jumpers, and finally VCC, GND and the ATtiny itself. I used the following tricks to make all ends meet:

• D+ zener diode goes to the pad under ATtiny that is connected to GND pin
• After the D- zener diode, only 1 pad is left for 2k2 pullup and 68 ohm resistor, so I used a jumper wire to the next pad
• 2k2 pullup goes to a pad connected to ATtiny VCC
• VCC goes to the pad under the ATtiny using a black jumper wire
• I soldered the D+ 68 ohm resistor to a wrong tripad, so I used another jumper wire just barely visible behind the top left black jumper wire for GND

I was pretty satisfied the result and the fact that it actually worked! The board did not initially fit into the very snug space in the plastic enclosure, so I had to use a Dremel to trim its insides a bit, but after that, everything snapped right back (click for larger versions):

Update: For those who are building this project – I recommend you first build it on a breadboard, and only when you have it working, solder it to a veroboard. Here are two additional, extra-large pictures of the configuration I used to help you in the component layout:

Software

The device presents itself to the computer as a USB HID keyboard. To enable communication to the device, it is a boot-compliant keyboard that can receive LED status changes from the computer. HID descriptor is from Frank Zhao’s USB business card example and I also looked at Frank’s code to understand how LED state is sent to the device (in short, PC sends a control message with 1 byte of data, the LED state bit mask).

The code is mostly based on my USB HID mouse example except for the usbsconfig.h and HID descriptor changes required to implement a boot keyboard. I’ve documented the code but here are some highlights if you want to understand it better:

• PASS_LENGTH defined in the beginning controls the length of generated passwords
• SEND_ENTER can be defined to 1 if you want the device also to send ENTER after typing the keyboard
• measuring_message and finish_message contain the messages that are displayed when generating / saving a new password
• buildReport() is called by the program main loop to send keypresses to PC one by one – it translates characters in messageBuffer to USB key codes on the fly
• usbFunctionWrite() is implemented to receive the 1-byte LED state from PC – it calls caps_toggle()function every time the LED state changes
• generate_character() is used to return random keypresses – it is currently written to return alphanumerics, hyphen and underscore (64 symbols make it simple to select one so each has equal chance of being selected without additional logic)
• caps_toggle() does the caps-lock counting and password generation/saving

I’ve packed the source files with the schematic, critical pictures and a Makefile. In addition to “make flash” you of course need to update the fuse bits to use the PLL clock source – see details from my previous tutorial for that. I also very strongly recommend testing the device using a breadboard before soldering it, because otherwise reflashing will be a major pain.

And of course, if you build it, try it at your own risk – and remember that once you reprogram the password, nothing will be able to restore it. I recommend storing passwords generated with the device to a safe place just to be sure.

Update: Getting it from SparkFun

I found out yesterday that SparkFun is carrying an almost identical piece of hardware, the AVR Stick. So if you order one and reprogram it with this firmware (pin configuration in usbconfig.h needs to be updated in that case), you can avoid some soldering (although not all, you’ll likely need to solder in the programming header).

I asked SparkFun if they’d be interested to make a “2.0” model of their AVR Stick with actual USB connector and enclosure to go with the package, and my password generation firmware preloaded. If you think that’s a good idea, now would be a great time to send them feedback. I’d also be interested in covering additional hacks and tutorials with such a device. :)

Update 2: Indiegogo project

Alvin Chang is currently (December 1st 2012) running a Indiegogo project to build a device very similar (and inspired by) my DIY version. In case you’re interested in getting a ready-made version, be sure to check Mr. Chang’s project out: Aladdin: The Key to Your Computer.