Looking to buy a FG? Contact me.
FG is a joy to use. I can not think of an easier piece of hardware to install and use -- be it a keyboard or a hard drive. Granted, I had to recompile a kernel to get the USB TTY adapter to show up, but that is arguably not a strike against FG itself. The thing just works. Plug it in and right away see data flow forth. I used it to create two files over the course of about four days, and ran them through the recommended tests.
peninnah ~ # du -h fg.bin
1.4G fg.bin
peninnah ~ # ent fg.bin
Entropy = 8.000000 bits per byte.
Optimum compression would reduce the size
of this 1465266688 byte file by 0 percent.
Chi square distribution for 1465266688 samples is 261.00, and randomly
would exceed this value 38.48 percent of the times.
Arithmetic mean value of data bytes is 127.5008 (127.5 = random).
Monte Carlo value for Pi is 3.141552305 (error 0.00 percent).
Serial correlation coefficient is -0.000011 (totally uncorrelated = 0.0).
peninnah ~ # dieharder -a -g 201 -f fg.bin
#=============================================================================#
# dieharder version 3.31.1 Copyright 2003 Robert G. Brown #
#=============================================================================#
rng_name | filename |rands/second|
file_input_raw| fg.bin| 1.55e+07 |
#=============================================================================#
test_name |ntup| tsamples |psamples| p-value |Assessment
#=============================================================================#
diehard_birthdays| 0| 100| 100|0.87587112| PASSED
diehard_operm5| 0| 1000000| 100|0.96015925| PASSED
diehard_rank_32x32| 0| 40000| 100|0.63388649| PASSED
diehard_rank_6x8| 0| 100000| 100|0.42921798| PASSED
diehard_bitstream| 0| 2097152| 100|0.66727620| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 1 times
diehard_opso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.78465705| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 1 times
diehard_oqso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.74785318| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_dna| 0| 2097152| 100|0.29367572| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_count_1s_str| 0| 256000| 100|0.99999624| WEAK
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_count_1s_byt| 0| 256000| 100|0.17355435| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_parking_lot| 0| 12000| 100|0.79600924| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_2dsphere| 2| 8000| 100|0.21990710| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 2 times
diehard_3dsphere| 3| 4000| 100|0.19449387| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 3 times
diehard_squeeze| 0| 100000| 100|0.74343805| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 3 times
diehard_sums| 0| 100| 100|0.62449613| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 3 times
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.64815009| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.65768515| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 3 times
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.59858631| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.69964834| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 8 times
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.48645093| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.92449907| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 8 times
sts_monobit| 1| 100000| 100|0.14747070| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 8 times
sts_runs| 2| 100000| 100|0.43752663| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 8 times
sts_serial| 1| 100000| 100|0.49942085| PASSED
sts_serial| 2| 100000| 100|0.79110527| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.13521837| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.75936926| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.71378645| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.82458666| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.91349881| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.77236497| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.83690635| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.11520241| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.59018155| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.71582962| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.94832462| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.79664845| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.61190018| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.46706842| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.59175209| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.43626668| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.07062130| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.06074906| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.33158937| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.39439959| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.46472363| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.51269561| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.07918865| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.16238744| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.15625993| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.97190190| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.07682345| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.58495694| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 9 times
rgb_bitdist| 1| 100000| 100|0.91212650| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 9 times
rgb_bitdist| 2| 100000| 100|0.68566372| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 9 times
rgb_bitdist| 3| 100000| 100|0.24740597| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 9 times
rgb_bitdist| 4| 100000| 100|0.92670153| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 9 times
rgb_bitdist| 5| 100000| 100|0.58055076| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 10 times
rgb_bitdist| 6| 100000| 100|0.24329557| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 10 times
rgb_bitdist| 7| 100000| 100|0.28990384| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 10 times
rgb_bitdist| 8| 100000| 100|0.06298846| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 11 times
rgb_bitdist| 9| 100000| 100|0.55779701| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 11 times
rgb_bitdist| 10| 100000| 100|0.10205715| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 12 times
rgb_bitdist| 11| 100000| 100|0.43845244| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_bitdist| 12| 100000| 100|0.81873239| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_minimum_distance| 2| 10000| 1000|0.86683062| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_minimum_distance| 3| 10000| 1000|0.95287146| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_minimum_distance| 4| 10000| 1000|0.15691677| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_minimum_distance| 5| 10000| 1000|0.87747412| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_permutations| 2| 100000| 100|0.47847209| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_permutations| 3| 100000| 100|0.82402816| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_permutations| 4| 100000| 100|0.17345085| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 13 times
rgb_permutations| 5| 100000| 100|0.96936326| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 14 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 0| 1000000| 100|0.34427016| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 14 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 1| 1000000| 100|0.40381806| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 15 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 2| 1000000| 100|0.19408856| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 16 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 3| 1000000| 100|0.92897681| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 18 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 4| 1000000| 100|0.16649980| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 19 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 5| 1000000| 100|0.61412624| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 21 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 6| 1000000| 100|0.42159442| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 23 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 7| 1000000| 100|0.48185104| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 26 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 8| 1000000| 100|0.75025588| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 29 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 9| 1000000| 100|0.49625842| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 32 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 10| 1000000| 100|0.74186420| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 35 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 11| 1000000| 100|0.95075159| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 38 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 12| 1000000| 100|0.20457436| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 42 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 13| 1000000| 100|0.38380392| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 46 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 14| 1000000| 100|0.36071578| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 51 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 15| 1000000| 100|0.00829390| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 55 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 16| 1000000| 100|0.57666395| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 60 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 17| 1000000| 100|0.76473173| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 65 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 18| 1000000| 100|0.41578459| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 71 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 19| 1000000| 100|0.99159799| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 77 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 20| 1000000| 100|0.32769294| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 83 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 21| 1000000| 100|0.93908723| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 89 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 22| 1000000| 100|0.21834900| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 95 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 23| 1000000| 100|0.77669306| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 102 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 24| 1000000| 100|0.67332002| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 109 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 25| 1000000| 100|0.38258605| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 117 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 26| 1000000| 100|0.04205557| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 124 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 27| 1000000| 100|0.97791293| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 132 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 28| 1000000| 100|0.65316434| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 140 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 29| 1000000| 100|0.80146132| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 149 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 30| 1000000| 100|0.37987553| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 158 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 31| 1000000| 100|0.00162210| WEAK
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 167 times
rgb_lagged_sum| 32| 1000000| 100|0.63803843| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 167 times
rgb_kstest_test| 0| 10000| 1000|0.96115995| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 167 times
dab_bytedistrib| 0| 51200000| 1|0.31793136| PASSED
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 167 times
dab_dct| 256| 50000| 1|0.45562880| PASSED
Preparing to run test 207. ntuple = 0
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 167 times
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.79566020| PASSED
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.01492029| PASSED
Preparing to run test 208. ntuple = 0
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 168 times
dab_filltree2| 0| 5000000| 1|0.88946088| PASSED
dab_filltree2| 1| 5000000| 1|0.66182840| PASSED
Preparing to run test 209. ntuple = 0
# The file file_input_raw was rewound 168 times
dab_monobit2| 12| 65000000| 1|0.42576186| PASSED
peninnah ~ # du -h fg2.bin
1.3G fg2.bin
peninnah ~ # ent fg2.bin
Entropy = 8.000000 bits per byte.
Optimum compression would reduce the size
of this 1303843328 byte file by 0 percent.
Chi square distribution for 1303843328 samples is 284.35, and randomly
would exceed this value 9.99 percent of the times.
Arithmetic mean value of data bytes is 127.4954 (127.5 = random).
Monte Carlo value for Pi is 3.141632114 (error 0.00 percent).
Serial correlation coefficient is -0.000032 (totally uncorrelated = 0.0).
peninnah ~ # dieharder -a -g 201 -f fg2.bin
#=============================================================================#
# dieharder version 3.31.1 Copyright 2003 Robert G. Brown #
#=============================================================================#
rng_name | filename |rands/second|
file_input_raw| fg2.bin| 2.25e+07 |
#=============================================================================#
test_name |ntup| tsamples |psamples| p-value |Assessment
#=============================================================================#
diehard_birthdays| 0| 100| 100|0.51690876| PASSED
diehard_operm5| 0| 1000000| 100|0.40346765| PASSED
diehard_rank_32x32| 0| 40000| 100|0.93217934| PASSED
diehard_rank_6x8| 0| 100000| 100|0.43367847| PASSED
diehard_bitstream| 0| 2097152| 100|0.66720249| PASSED
diehard_opso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.86010573| PASSED
diehard_oqso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.24593153| PASSED
diehard_dna| 0| 2097152| 100|0.06138150| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_str| 0| 256000| 100|0.43683325| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_byt| 0| 256000| 100|0.35921097| PASSED
diehard_parking_lot| 0| 12000| 100|0.66609484| PASSED
diehard_2dsphere| 2| 8000| 100|0.89297189| PASSED
diehard_3dsphere| 3| 4000| 100|0.96687561| PASSED
diehard_squeeze| 0| 100000| 100|0.72926845| PASSED
diehard_sums| 0| 100| 100|0.00070732| WEAK
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.58813360| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.85788145| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.72997672| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.78468205| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.00004506| WEAK
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.55156943| PASSED
sts_monobit| 1| 100000| 100|0.45774566| PASSED
sts_runs| 2| 100000| 100|0.96042269| PASSED
sts_serial| 1| 100000| 100|0.99443515| PASSED
sts_serial| 2| 100000| 100|0.10639532| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.75641448| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.90420108| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.75016342| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.08575288| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.03281594| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.19524235| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.25109686| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.58659811| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.43221129| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.81175508| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.63456658| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.65063391| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.58288735| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.71193409| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.62519797| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.55146077| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.76770489| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.59139324| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.94453984| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.94841134| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.31653993| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.14829483| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.42320056| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.10925685| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.83878977| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.25782489| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.66793322| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.55162347| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 1| 100000| 100|0.89591957| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 2| 100000| 100|0.98614161| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 3| 100000| 100|0.80316018| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 4| 100000| 100|0.89736784| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 5| 100000| 100|0.29428507| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 6| 100000| 100|0.95422575| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 7| 100000| 100|0.39659444| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 8| 100000| 100|0.46010761| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 9| 100000| 100|0.76510075| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 10| 100000| 100|0.95714334| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 11| 100000| 100|0.35646381| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 12| 100000| 100|0.98517330| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 2| 10000| 1000|0.34562317| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 3| 10000| 1000|0.00929810| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 4| 10000| 1000|0.75795839| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 5| 10000| 1000|0.00873640| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 2| 100000| 100|0.49694367| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 3| 100000| 100|0.65402344| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 4| 100000| 100|0.79788641| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 5| 100000| 100|0.58529553| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 0| 1000000| 100|0.52287218| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 1| 1000000| 100|0.22764333| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 2| 1000000| 100|0.17172871| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 3| 1000000| 100|0.05124946| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 4| 1000000| 100|0.49713592| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 5| 1000000| 100|0.45635542| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 6| 1000000| 100|0.96830965| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 7| 1000000| 100|0.53419506| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 8| 1000000| 100|0.86494381| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 9| 1000000| 100|0.72881545| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 10| 1000000| 100|0.56544878| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 11| 1000000| 100|0.43609672| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 12| 1000000| 100|0.91400206| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 13| 1000000| 100|0.60227275| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 14| 1000000| 100|0.56538826| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 15| 1000000| 100|0.06302978| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 16| 1000000| 100|0.16808054| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 17| 1000000| 100|0.55036083| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 18| 1000000| 100|0.93720548| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 19| 1000000| 100|0.37353185| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 20| 1000000| 100|0.13472207| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 21| 1000000| 100|0.44509225| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 22| 1000000| 100|0.76205513| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 23| 1000000| 100|0.62304135| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 24| 1000000| 100|0.39094558| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 25| 1000000| 100|0.50961722| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 26| 1000000| 100|0.15803949| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 27| 1000000| 100|0.09251363| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 28| 1000000| 100|0.58331044| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 29| 1000000| 100|0.12363069| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 30| 1000000| 100|0.71458079| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 31| 1000000| 100|0.66807924| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 32| 1000000| 100|0.65399068| PASSED
rgb_kstest_test| 0| 10000| 1000|0.02178401| PASSED
dab_bytedistrib| 0| 51200000| 1|0.36573309| PASSED
dab_dct| 256| 50000| 1|0.56628701| PASSED
Preparing to run test 207. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.28801332| PASSED
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.59182162| PASSED
Preparing to run test 208. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree2| 0| 5000000| 1|0.19562700| PASSED
dab_filltree2| 1| 5000000| 1|0.13690412| PASSED
Preparing to run test 209. ntuple = 0
dab_monobit2| 12| 65000000| 1|0.52568327| PASSED
As another test, I used a FG to seed /dev/random via something called rngd i and then told gnupg to generate a new 4096 bit key. It was done within a minute, whereas a very similar machine operating without a FG took several minutes. I don't know if this is the right way to generate a key using such a device. I get strange results catting it directly into /dev/random -- if I then cat /dev/random > somewhere.bin the data barely trickles out. Even the rngd thing goes slow relative to a direct dd from /dev/myFG, and I know from very quick research that this is likely the result of obnoxious built-in saftey measures on /dev/random.
- Gentoo has it in the sys-apps/rng-tools package. ^
[...] Others have done of course better than me and published their own tests waaaaay faster: mod6, danielpbarron, trinque, BingoBoingo. How about you, what's your own FG saying to you? [...]
As it turns out, and I think the official documentation (i barely skimmed) says, you can and should “mv /dev/USBttywhatever /dev/random” and simply use fg as your dev random. No symbolic linking or other weird maneuvers. I works (mostly) perfectly fine in this manner. Due to the fact that it is really random, it sometimes hiccups out objectionable randomness, causing the real bitcoin to die. Easy enough to run it again, no harm done.
"objectionable randomness, causing the real bitcoin to die"?
I don't understand what is meant by this.
Sometimes a stream of real entropy will include a long enough patch of order to cause applications to barf. Imagine if you are flipping coins, and happen to flip ten heads in a row. It is unlikely to happen, and it doesn't look very random, but it is necessarily possible.