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Taking Apart An Airport Extreme Base Station

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the gettin-all-up-and-inside-that dept.

Farley Mullet writes "As seen on MacSlash, here is a link to page documenting one man's dissection of an Airport Extreme Base Station. It's pretty neat to see what Apple crammed in there, including (gasp!) a chip from AMD!"

17 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Airport - Laptop by Richardsonke1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It says that the main processor is a mini-PCI card. Does that mean that it could resonably be put in a computer without the base station? My Dell Inspirion 8200 uses a mini-PCI card for wireless, and if I could possibly find drivers for it, i.e. for use in linux, that would be so cool. Imagine upgrading your laptop to 54 Mbps yourself (with no PCI card sticking out the side).

    --
    "Men lie."
    "Yeah, about sleeping with other women, but never about bioluminescent plankton."
    -Dan Brown
    1. Re:Airport - Laptop by schappim · · Score: 5, Funny

      I give it a week till there is linux on it... (it's already on the graphite version)

    2. Re:Airport - Laptop by GreatOgre · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you follow the article's link to AMD's website from the article, you see that the CPU supports Linux; so it shouldn't take long.

      Questions that I have. On AMD's page, they say that power usage is given in mW for the chip at 333, 400, and 500 MHz are 400, 700, and 1.2. Do they mean 1.2 watts (and hence 1200 mW) or does it actually use 1.2 mW? (I know that it's 1.2 W, but I wish it was 1.2 mW!) More seriously though, why aren't we seeing these chips in more things, like say mini-ITX boards? Of course, I'm not a chip and board designer; so this could be senseless dribble.

    3. Re:Airport - Laptop by baitisj2 · · Score: 5, Informative
      Yes, they mean 1.2 watts.

      I actually am working on an embedded project that uses the Alchemy AU1500 chip, as used in the AirPort. I can tell you that getting Linux running on this AirPort would be trivial. All you need to do is break out the EJTAG pins on the AU1500, and connect it to a Raven EJTAG adapter (works under Linux + GDB).

      The next thing you'd need to figure out are the SDRAM and flash timings.

      What I would really like to see: someone should get Linux running out of the connected RAM, and then extract the contents of the Flash chip. I'm really curious what OS the AirPort uses. If it's something we're familiar with, then it might be easy to reverse engineer the driver for the BroadCom peripheral. I would *LOVE* to see drivers for these BroadCom devices.

      The AU1500 has excellent support and is a superb microcontroller; take at www.linux-mips.org . Integrated USB, Ethernet, serial, very fun! If someone wants to send me an AirPort, I'll put Linux on it ! :)

  2. Here they go again by Black+Copter+Control · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slicing up an Apple just see what's inside.
    Kinda seedy, if you ask me....

    --
    OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
    1. Re:Here they go again by sTavvy · · Score: 5, Funny

      and even funnier if they sliced open Steve Jobs and found an apple, and inside that apple, a worm, and inside that worm - steve ballmer..

  3. why "gasp"? by Drakon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought it was common knowledge that AMD is in bed with apple...
    the dogs fight together against the wolf (intel)

    AFAIK there was a AMD embedded 486 in the original AirPort, and Apple is working with AMD on HyperX pci or some such, and so on and so forth

    --
    Buttsex.
  4. Two things by nilepoc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That huge heat sink leads me to a good idea of why the 12" pBook is so hot.

    And the AMD chips have been in the previous base stations as well. (or so I was told, when I posted this comment on macslash) But it does kind of clear up a great deal of speculation on what Apple and AMD were up to.

    I posted this comment on macslash as an AC

  5. Gasp! by cscx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AMD makes microcontrollers and all SORTS of different ICs. Gasp!

    Also Texas Instruments doesn't just make calculators, either...

    1. Re:Gasp! by cscx · · Score: 5, Funny

      Also, when combined with a Slinky and a box of Grape Nuts can make a StrongBad Robot.

  6. The most important question... by MavEtJu · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's all folks! Despite the tinkering, the ABS still functions normally.

    How many screws did you have left over at the end?

    --
    bash$ :(){ :|:&};:
    1. Re:The most important question... by WegianWarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

      How many screws did you have left over at the end?

      That reminds me of an old axinom over at the maintanence hangar where I work: "The most importent piece of the aircraft is the one you forgot to put back."

      Having said that, I would say that I liked the article a lot - taking stuff apart to see whats inside is just my kind of thing.

      --
      Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
  7. Ster number one in voiding warranties by sandbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Publish on a web site that you are voiding their warranty by cracking their product open.

    Thanks, though.

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  8. New Airport Base Station Icon by TPIRman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does Airport really merit its own icon? I fear that we may be DILUTING the value of Slashdot subject icons! SLASHDOT EDITORS, REPENT!

    Oh wait, who cares? Looks pretty nifty.

  9. WiFi & AMD by LamerX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just took apart my Mac LC & LCII. The both had AMD chips in them, not the processor, but some other chip was labeled with an AMD logo on it.

    Also, for more WiFi info, these are some good links...

    http://melbourne.wireless.org.au/wiki/?Apple

    http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/WirelessLin ks

    http://www.gulker.com/2002/10/10.html

    I believe that most wireless access points are just PCMCIA wireless cards with some extra software and hardware controlling it, that's why prices of these are coming down so much.

  10. Lied to by iamatlas · · Score: 5, Funny

    We've all been lied to. All these years apple has been telling us their products "just work" and here we find actual components- complicated components!- and in a simple device!

    I don't know what's physically inside their full computer systems, but now for me they are filled only with lies.

  11. Re:strange bedfellows by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AMD is the slut of microprocessor companies. They're making small deals left right and center, because that's the only way they have to dethrone Intel. By picking up the scraps

    Say what? Name a microprocessor company that doesn't have a diverse line of semiconductor products. Hell IBM makes PPC chips, helps AMD with their production of Athlon chips, makes embedded chips, makes their own x86 clone, makes POWER chips, DACs, and lord knows what else as they're one of the largest fabs out there. Intel makes/made ethernet chips, 802.11 chips, ARM, bubble memory, x86, etc. Motorola makes chips for cell phones, embedded processors, PPC, 68k (coldfire et.al), DSP, etc. How on earth is AMD any different?