Re: /dev/random vs. /dev/urandom

Chris Friesen
2005-01-07T19:27:26Z

Ron Peterson wrote:
> When I compile and run the code below, the string of octal characters
> generated by reading /dev/random contains long strings of zeroes. I was
> under the impression that /dev/random is "more random" than
> /dev/urandom, and will block when it runs out of entropy until it
> gathers more. It's only when RAND_LEN is on the largish side that these
> strings of zeroes appear.

Just a shot in the dark--could you check the return value of read()?
Maybe it's not filling up your entire buffer.

Chris