Infinite Noise TRNG Installation Guide

This guide covers installation of the leetronics Infinite Noise True Random Number Generator (TRNG) driver for use with Bastion.

Hardware

The Infinite Noise TRNG is a USB hardware device that generates true random numbers using thermal noise and a modular entropy multiplier architecture.

Device specifications:

Purchase: leetronics on Tindie or build from schematics.

macOS Installation

Prerequisites

# Install FTDI and USB libraries
brew install libftdi libusb

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/leetronics/infnoise
cd infnoise/software

# Build for macOS
make -f Makefile.macos

# Verify build
./infnoise --help

Install System-Wide (Optional)

# Copy to /usr/local/bin
sudo cp infnoise /usr/local/bin/

# Verify installation
which infnoise
infnoise --help

FTDI Kernel Driver Conflict

macOS includes a built-in FTDI driver that may conflict with libftdi. If the device is not detected:

# Check if kernel driver is loaded
kextstat | grep -i ftdi

# Unload the kernel driver (requires sudo)
sudo kextunload -b com.FTDI.driver.FTDIUSBSerialDriver

# Try again
infnoise --list-devices

Note: The kernel driver will reload on reboot. For permanent unloading, you may need to modify system settings (see macOS security documentation).

Linux Installation

Debian/Ubuntu

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install build-essential libftdi-dev

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/leetronics/infnoise
cd infnoise/software
make -f Makefile.linux

# Install
sudo make -f Makefile.linux install

Udev Rules (Required for non-root access)

# Create udev rule
sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/75-infnoise.rules << 'EOF'
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0403", ATTR{idProduct}=="6015", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
EOF

# Reload rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

# Add user to plugdev group (if not already)
sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER

# Log out and back in for group change to take effect

Verification

List Devices

infnoise --list-devices
# Should show connected Infinite Noise device(s)

Test Output

# Generate 64 bytes and display as hex
infnoise | head -c 64 | xxd

# Generate 1KB for ENT analysis
infnoise | head -c 1024 > test_entropy.bin
ent test_entropy.bin

Health Check

# Run with debug output
infnoise --debug --no-output
# Shows entropy quality metrics and health status

Usage with Bastion

Once installed, use the Infinite Noise TRNG as an entropy source:

# Generate default 8192 bits (1KB, minimum for ENT analysis)
bsec generate entropy infnoise

# Generate 16384 bits (2KB) for extra margin
bsec generate entropy infnoise --bits 16384

Troubleshooting

“infnoise command not found”

# Check if in PATH
which infnoise

# If built locally, use full path or install system-wide
./infnoise/software/infnoise --list-devices

“No Infinite Noise devices found”

  1. Verify USB connection: lsusb (Linux) or system_profiler SPUSBDataType (macOS)
  2. Check for FTDI device with VID:PID 0403:6015
  3. On macOS: Unload kernel FTDI driver (see above)
  4. On Linux: Verify udev rules and group membership

“Permission denied”

“Device failed health check”

The Infinite Noise TRNG has built-in health monitoring. If health checks fail:

  1. Try disconnecting and reconnecting the device
  2. Try a different USB port
  3. Check for electrical interference
  4. Contact leetronics support if persistent

References