With a very sharp blade, the "
GUARANTEE VOID IF SEAL BROKEN" label was slit across at the junction of the lid and the base of the casing.
Six torq and ten cross-head screws were then removed and the lid was lifted off.
A small amount of dust was blown out of the fans.
The PCB was scrutinised for anything interesting. An overview photograph was taken, a copy of which is attached, below. (It was impossible to position the camera directly over the mid-point of the unit, so the image is not truly rectilinear. If anyone would be able and willing to manipulate the original image via, say,
GIMP (
GNU Image Manipulation Program) or similar then please let me know.)
The first item of interest was the button cell, towards the near left-hand corner of the PCB. With aid of a magnifying glass, it was seen to be marked 3V. Usage of a DVM showed it to be supplying a very healthy 3.04V.
From a careful examination, it was seen that the PCB could be populated with various other components and was, thus, a multi-purpose basis for other members of the "
FSP 150" family.
A small component was seen towards the rear right-hand corner which looked "interesting".
It was worth a close-up photograph, also attached below, and one of the DMM probes was used as a pointer to the component. It is a push button . . . and it deserved a push (or two).
The FSP150CP was linked to a computer via a standard null-modem cable, a logging screen session was invoked by a "
screen -L -U /dev/ttyS0 57600" command and the the FSP150CP was powered up. The usual boot-up sequence was observed and once the familiar "
Login :" line was seen, the button was pushed. The FSP150CP promptly rebooted. Here is the screenlog of that experiment --
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Configuring FPGA
Interrogating EEPROM
Clearing SDRAM
Initialising forwarding engine
Initialising CPLD
Initialising H/W devices
Initialising clock
Initialising LM80
Testing LEDs
Initialising traffic management
Initialising PHYs
Initialising packet interface
System Compiled Aug 4 2008 16:21:53
FSP150 v2.6.1.6
Login :
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Interrogating EEPROM
Initialising forwarding engine
Initialising CPLD
Initialising H/W devices
Initialising clock
Initialising LM80
Testing LEDs
Initialising traffic management
Initialising PHYs
Initialising packet interface
System Compiled Aug 4 2008 16:21:53
FSP150 v2.6.1.6
Login :
Not particularly interesting.
That screenlog file was split into two and an
sdiff was performed upon the two halves --
Booting ... Booting ...
HW is 0006 HW is 0006
Verifying flash image Verifying flash image
Configuring FPGA <
Interrogating EEPROM Interrogating EEPROM
Clearing SDRAM <
Initialising forwarding engine Initialising forwarding engine
Initialising CPLD Initialising CPLD
Initialising H/W devices Initialising H/W devices
Initialising clock Initialising clock
Initialising LM80 Initialising LM80
Testing LEDs Testing LEDs
Initialising traffic management Initialising traffic management
Initialising PHYs Initialising PHYs
Initialising packet interface Initialising packet interface
System Compiled Aug 4 2008 16:21:53 System Compiled Aug 4 2008 16:21:53
FSP150 v2.6.1.6 FSP150 v2.6.1.6
Login : Login :
A difference can now be seen. The boot sequence, as a result of the button push, omits two steps that are performed upon a power-on (cold) boot -- "
Configuring FPGA" and "
Clearing SDRAM".
FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array.
SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
A second "button push" experiment was then performed. Another logging screen session was invoked. With the FSP150CP un-powered, the button was pressed & held depressed and then the FSP150CP was powered up. After the passage of time taken by a normal, cold, boot the button was released. Examination of the screenlog file showed that the device just cyclically re-booted --
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Booting ...
HW is 0006
Verifying flash image
Configuring FPGA
Interrogating EEPROM
Clearing SDRAM
Initialising forwarding engine
Initialising CPLD
Initialising H/W devices
Initialising clock
Initialising LM80
Testing LEDs
Initialising traffic management
Initialising PHYs
Initialising packet interface
System Compiled Aug 4 2008 16:21:53
FSP150 v2.6.1.6
Login :
Not very interesting -- or useful.
[attachment deleted by admin]