This was Rob's (phantasm) artical that was published in the new 2600 -
the hacker quarterly. Yea, I know this is stupid hacker shit but it also
means that our work (Textbox as a team) is getting noticed....
_PLEASE_ reply to Rob (phantasm@textbox.net) and let know know what a
good fucking job he did!!!
-----Forwarded Message-----
> From: Phantasm <phantasm@textbox.net>
> To: matthew@textbox.net
> Subject: [Fwd: Article: Alteon iSD-100 Modification]
> Date: 09 Feb 2003 20:53:04 -0500
>
> -----Forwarded Message-----
>
> > From: Phantasm <phantasm@textbox.net>
> > To: phantasm@textbox.net, matthew@textbox.net, tyler@textbox.net
> > Subject: Article: Alteon iSD-100 Modification
> > Date: 15 Sep 2002 17:34:15 -0400
> >
> > Alteon iSD-100 Modification
> > phantasm <phantasm@textbox.net>
> > http://www.textbox.net
> >
> > Among many of the things I love to take part in, dumpster diving always
> > has that small bit of thrill of actual treasure hunting. Sooner or later
> > you are bound to find a manual with enough information that keeps you
> > reading for a few days or even months. Other times you may get lucky
> > and find an old computer that has parts you can use.
> >
> > A few months ago, during my weekly dive excursion, I happend to stumble
> > apon quite a treasure in my favorite dive spot. On top of the dumpster
> > sat a beautiful green system, just under 18" wide, 24" deep and 1.7
> > inches tall. I was quite excited about finding something aside from the
> > usual post-it note about where they were going to eat, or the regular
> > office memo to put cigarettes in the ashtray outside and not on the
> > sidewalk.
> >
> > Dropping my umbrella, and a few attempts to the top of the dumpster, I
> > made it and put it in my car. Unsure of exactly what it was, I dug
> > around a bit more for a manual or something about it, and found nothing.
> >
> > Later that evening I got home and peeled it apart, noting it was quite
> > compact internally. Inside was 3 PCI slots used by 1 Fiber Gigabit
> > ethernet adapter and 2 CryptoSwift SSL Cards. The CPU was an Intel
> > Celeron 500, 64M RAM Chip and a 64M CF Card as its drive. Looking more
> > into it, I noticed there was no keyboard port, or a video connector at
> > all, so getting into a console would be a slight challenge.
> >
> > After writing down part numbers, I put it back together and did a few
> > searches. It appeard I had an Alteon iSD-100 and off I was on a search
> > for technical documentation. Hooking it up and going to power it on, I
> > found the power button was broke off. A pen tip was all I needed, and
> > the whirr of the fans chimed through the room. Running a serial cable
> > from its serial port to my system, I tried to get a console that way
> > with no luck.
> >
> > After a bit more reading, I discovered a need for an Alteon WebSwitch to
> > access the system. So it was time for a lot more research.
> >
> > The board inside was labled Teknor Applicom, Inc., with a PCI-946-1
> > system board. By using a PCI Video Card, I was able to remove the Fiber
> > card and replace it to get a video output of what was going on during
> > boot. I was quite pleased to see the system was fully functional and
> > booting fine.
> >
> > The manual for the board shows the pin outs for its connectors, which
> > was a wonderful help. I was able to find the keyboard interface
> > information in the manual (Page 108 of the PDF), and set up to find a
> > way to add my own.
> >
> > With an old P-II board that got fried, I cut out its PS/2 Keyboard
> > connector with some snips, removed the excess solder from the pins and
> > cleaned it up for better connection. I had to figure out a way to set up
> > the connector around the way this case was setup. In the true form of
> > improvision, I grabbed a nice length of Cat5 cable (Once again found
> > dumpster diving), and stripped the ends of the wires bare for a
> > connection. After some solder work we had the wires connected to the
> > PCI-964 board, and ran the Cat5 to the back of the system to another
> > hole provided for another serial port. The connector was solderd on at
> > the other end and some electrical tape to guard the bare wires and pins
> > from the case.
> >
> > Plugging up a keyboard, I started it up and seen the damage that could
> > be done. During the BIOS load, the keyboard lights came on, and Red Hat
> > linux began to boot. Staring at the Login/Password prompt I was quite
> > excited, of course I started with a quick basic guess for root with the
> > password alteon and there I sat at a working console.
> >
> > A quick browse around to see what was there, and I powered it down.
> > Removed a crypto card and popped in a 3Com NIC. Rebooted and brought up
> > the interface and turned on SSH. A few changes to set it all up
> > automagically for me, another power down, removal of the video card and
> > brought it back up. I now had a system to play with at my desk for more
> > comfort.
> >
> > >From there I got a bit more curious and wanted to expand the system some
> > more. Added 256M of RAM, attempted to add a 20Gig HDD and a CDROM. I
> > didn't have much luck with that, but found out if I removed the CF Card
> > I could use the HDD on /dev/hdc where the CF used to be. A bit more
> > playing, I got linux installed on the 20 Gig drive on /dev/hdc and
> > working fine as a home server.
> >
> > The system provided me with well over a month of fun and learning, as
> > well as some interesting calls to Nortel trying to understand the BIOS
> > and restrictions set into it. Granted I did not get much information, it
> > was brought to my attention that resetting it required removing and
> > adding a new BIOS chip which I am too lazy to do.
> >
> > The moral of this long winded article? Dumpster diving can provide you
> > with expensive treasures and a long time of fun and learning.
> >
> > Thanks to 404 and Tyler for assistance on systems running ComactFlash
> > cards and the rest of Textbox Networks for help on other areas of
> > learning the system.
> >
> > Related Sites:
> > Alteon Users Guide...
> > http://www142.nortelnetworks.com/bvdoc/alteon/isd_ssl/050125.C.pdf
> > Teknor Applicom PCI-946-1 Hardware Guide
> > http://www.kontron.com/techlib/manuals/PCI-946-1_and_P3S440BX_manual.pdf
> >
> > --
> > **********************************************************************
> > This post is encrypted in the "english language method", any attempt to
> > decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the DMCA. This
> > includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of
> > biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into
> > another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols
> > into a form conducive to oral intrepretation. Thank you for your time.
> > **********************************************************************
> --
> **********************************************************************
> This post is encrypted in the "english language method", any attempt to
> decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the DMCA. This
> includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of
> biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into
> another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols
> into a form conducive to oral interpretation. Thank you for your time.
> **********************************************************************
-- Matt <matthew@textbox.net> Textbox Networks
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