https://www.tainuohc.com/en/tags/bare-metal/Recent content in Bare Metal on TiJetHugoenSun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.tainuohc.com/en/blog/2026-07-19-rust-embedded/Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.tainuohc.com/en/blog/2026-07-19-rust-embedded/<h2 id="1-the-bootloader-problem">1. The Bootloader Problem</h2> <p>Tainuo&rsquo;s industrial control boards ship with an MCU that manages power sequencing, watchdog timers, and over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates. The bootloader — roughly 8,000 lines of C — had been stable for years, but &ldquo;stable&rdquo; in the embedded sense means &ldquo;the bugs are known and we have workarounds.&rdquo;</p> <p>Every 6–9 months, a new OTA edge case would surface: a buffer overflow during firmware image verification, an off-by-one in the flash erase routine, a use-after-free in the CAN bus command dispatcher. Each of these bugs required a full recall-cycle OTA fix, which on a deployed fleet of industrial controllers is a multi-week ordeal.</p>