GLXSB(4)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1

🦋 GLXSB 💅

okay so bestie, you're looking at glxsb(4) — that's the Geode LX Security Block crypto accelerator ✨ and honestly? it's giving niche-but-iconic. this is the page for the i386 kernel interfaces manual, and yes, we're gonna get into it 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

glxsb — the Geode LX Security Block crypto accelerator 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sooo if you wanna compile this driver into the kernel (main character energy, no cap), you drop these lines into your kernel config file:

device crypto
device glxsb

or — plot twist — you can just load it as a module at boot time instead 🦋 if that's your vibe, put this line in loader.conf(5):

glxsb_load="YES"

literally that's it. slay 💅

🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

okay so the glxsb driver supports the security block of the Geode LX series processors. and the Geode LX? it's a member of the AMD Geode family of integrated x86 system chips. cute little chip, big job 💜

here's the way that it works: it's driven by periodic checks for available data from the generator, and it supplies entropy to the random(4) driver for common usage. so like, it's feeding the randomness. doing the lord's work fr fr 🌈

glxsb also supports acceleration of AES-128-CBC operations for crypto(4) ⚡

and here's the lowkey unhinged part — it also registers itself to accelerate other HMAC algorithms, even though there is no hardware acceleration for those algorithms 😭 it's not faking, it's just that this is only needed so glxsb can work with ipsec(4). iykyk 🫶

💀 CAVEAT 💀

okay bestie, pay attention, this one's important:

the crypto(9) framework will fail to open the crypto session on the device if the AES key's length is != 128 bits. so yeah — that prevents the use of the glxsb device driver with AES keys of length != 128 bits. no 192, no 256, don't even try 🙈 128 bits or nothing, periodt.

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

go read them, i'll wait 🌸

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

the glxsb device driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.1 ✨ and then it was imported into FreeBSD 7.1. glow-up into a whole new OS, we love to see it 👑

👑 AUTHORS 👑

the glxsb device driver was written for OpenBSD by Tom Cosgrove. it was ported to FreeBSD by Patrick Lamaiziere <patfbsd@davenulle.org> 🫶 absolute legends, both of them.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one's from the Debian edition of the manual, dated July 29, 2020 — so go forth, feed your Geode LX some entropy, and remember: 128 bits only 💖🎀🦋 slay

📦 where this page comes from