Apple Development Team testing tool?

[snuci]

I am guessing this is some form of testing tool.  Anyone have any idea what it might be?  It's stuck in shipping so who knows if/when I'll get it.  It's an Apple Development Team "black box"   The person I got it from had no idea what it was either so no clues there.

 

[IlikeTech]

Nope but it looks super cool.  Gonna have to crack it open when it comes to figure out what it is.

 

[bibilit]

No clue but is there an USB on the front ? (Just below those switches) if so the unit is late 90s or later. 

 

[snuci]

Yes, it does have USB and I think I can make out a date of 2000 on the short board plugged into the front..  Looks to have Ethernet, USB and 9-pin serial?  The short board also has pins for RX TX and GND.  I cannot make out the name on the board but it's something like SW0... V0.3 and it is copyright Apple.  So it is made by Apple.

 

[techknight]

given the 10 pin micro connector on the front, that seems to be an ARM programming header. So maybe some sort of ARM CPU inside of that thing. 

 

[snuci]

given the 10 pin micro connector on the front, that seems to be an ARM programming header. So maybe some sort of ARM CPU inside of that thing. 

Got it.  It's an Astris prototype tool.  Searching for "Astris" brings some interesting functionality just for a cable but there is no info about this particular box and the URL on the PCB must be internal only.

 

[olePigeon]

Do you think it could be iPhone related?  Only thing I find related to "Astris" and "Apple" are iPhone prototypes and iPhone jailbreaking.

 

[snuci]

I think it might be anything with an ARM processor but I am not sure.  It has a built-in webserver and it comes up named as an "Astris Debug module" with configuration screen for an "Astris: Remote Jtag Probe" with additional configuration screens for front and back serial ports.  I need to hook something up to see what it can do.

 

[olePigeon]

JTAG.  Hmm.  That's a diagnostic port on the MacBook motherboard.  Only reason I know about it is that Louis Rossmann complained non-stop about it for nearly a year as it was discovered to be a common point of failure in a large amount of laptops that he repaired.

In fact, watching Louis's videos on the JTAG port might be of some help to you.  He shows the schematics and talks about what each pin does.

 

[olePigeon]

Rewatching Louis's video, what you might have (if it indeed connects to the JTAG) is the modern equivalent of a TechStep.   It'll let you test all sorts of components on MacBook.

https://vimeo.com/315821125

 

[Torbar]

JTAG isn't just Macbook(or even apple) specific.  it's basically a protocol to test/program/verify circuit boards,  so it could be something for an laptop, desktop, iPhone, mouse, monitor.  Basically any PCB with a microcontroller on it

 

[olePigeon]

Oh, OK.  I only know about it from Rossmann cursing like a sailor at it when fixing MacBooks.

That'd be cool if it really was a diagnostic tool, and could work on a wide range of products.

 

[maceffects]

Very cool find!  It appears to be an FPGA heavy board.  Clearly for internal use only.  I would almost think it is an FPGA programming tool given JTAG, CLPD, UART, and SPI.  Seems like this device would attach to a computer by USB or serial and program/store various files like JED.  JTAG is very common and still used.  As a matter of fact my IIe keyboard and Micron Xceed clone will feature a JTAG connector.  Though, I'll have them pre-programmed.  Even though this was internal only is really is very cool. 

 

[techknight]

I noticed the Wiki URL right on the PCB, Try going to it? 

But a quick look at the PCB tells me its a programming interface of some sorts. it has a CPLD on board thats acting as the timing critical component. But, also, it has an ARM Microcontroller to the left of that. 

 

[snuci]

I noticed the Wiki URL right on the PCB, Try going to it?

That was the first thing I tried.  That link is likely on an intranet as it doesn't work publicly.

You can configure an IP address via the front panel.  Here's a picture of what comes up when you point a browser to it

 

[techknight]

ya this is for debugging firmware on their devices. like an ICE. 

 

[olePigeon]

I wonder if it lets you do Serial Number resets on motherboards.  That'd be useful if you're fixing stuff and you want the SNs to match.

 

[techknight]

Probably, if you had the software. That is the other half of this. 

 

[switch998]

You can get the software in the leaked RestoreTools 3 image, look for "RestoreTools3.pkg". You need to disable SIP to install it, then create /AppleInternal folder, you may also need to downgrade OS X to 10.11.