Mystery AP help - Maybe Karlbridge?

OneBeatOff · 04-29-2006

I just bought an antenna and an outdoor mystery box (a mystery to me at least). The seller wasn't sure what it was but I could recognize an Orinoco gold mounted to the circuit board and knew I could use it. The system is an antenna, a pvc enclosure a small circuit board with an Orinoco Gold PC card attached, and a power cube.

The circuit board has 4 multicolor LEDs, a power connector and an Ethernet connector with a momentary contact switch (push button) between them. There is an AMD processor on the board and a flash ram chip with a sticker labeled WPRG 0402.

I dug around on google images and the board looks a lot like the original Apple Airport Base Station. I couldn't get the Orinoco AP utilities but did manage to get a Compaq AP manager (for use with the Compaq branded Orinoco/Lucent/Agere/Proxim APs) that identified my mystery board as a Karlbridge/Router V4.31 but claimed it was not an AP. I also downloaded FreeBase and it confirmed the board as a Karlbridge/Router. I found the default password for the airport as 'public' and tried that to access the router but was unsuccessful.

So I need to reset the password. From what I've read for some of the Orinoco APs, I need to remove the Orinoco Gold card and power up the AP while holding the reset button for a minute or so, then use the AP manager to reload firmware onto the device. Before I can do this I need to know what firmware to load and before I know that I need to know what I have exactly. Please help me identify this board so I don't trash it with a bad flash.

Here with extra worthless information is what I get from the configuration utilities:

IP 10.185.230.197 CPE-17849 00-20-F6-03-01-29 KARLBRIDGE/ROUTER V4.31 SN-KARL

Currently the right most LED is green, the second flashes yellow every once and a while and the third is solid red. The forth LED stays off for the most part.

A lot of the links I have followed while investigating this board are 404 and expired and dead--Is this thing ancient?

Thanks many.

One Beat Off (a musician thing).

OneBeatOff · 04-30-2006

Well, I guess I'm beyond needing password help now. I tried one suggestion I found on the web about holding the reset button while powering the unit on and now it is very very mad. I have a red power LED and that's it. I can only talk to the unit when I force a firmware reload (hold the button and apply power). Then I get this from FreeBase:

198.17.74.254 KarlBridge V3.85 BaseBoot along with the MAC address of the unit.

I have tried to flash airport 1.3.1, airport 2.0, airport 2.02, AP05383, AP05384, AP05395, RG1x395 and RG1x390 firmware that I found on the web, all with the same results. At one point I was able to actually log in and configure the card using the public password but it was only after fiddling with the button and I was never able to replicate it.

After every flash the unit restarts, gives me a neat flashy light show with the LEDs, then sometimes hangs with two red LEDs, other times hangs with one red LED. I've waited, then removed power and reapplied it to only get a single RED power LED (used to be green) and no communication.

I wish karlnet was still around. Is there some other company that took over their stuff? Where can I get the Karlbridge V4.31 firmware that I apparently hosed by pressing buttons?

I hope to eventually use this as a wireless client (bridge) to a WRT54G I have.

Thanks for any input.

1BO

OneBeatOff · 04-30-2006

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this but I believe the box is an AP-500/RG-1x00/Graphite Airport variant. It has an AMD Elan SC400-66 processor which is used in those units and similar chip configuration. Based on that, I've tried flashing the AP05383 and RG10384 firmwares until I'm blue in the face. Each time FreeBase asks me for an IP address to give the unit, then I select the .bin file and upload the firmware. The upload appears to go through and the unit flashes lots of lights and reboots but doesn't show up in any AP manager from then on. The only way I can talk to the unit it to force a reload. On power up I get a brief green then red power LED. If I put a Gold PCI card in it I get the same brief green and then red but the wireless LED does tiny blinks of green while the the green LEDs on the Gold card go wild the entire time but still no comms.

I got the Avaya AP manager software and tried to flash with it but it refuses claiming that none of the firmware I have selected is compatible with the device. I tried every .bin file I've come across in the last few days. None of them are compatible. So I need some firmware for this thing. HELP!

Thorn · 04-30-2006

You're wrong. While it is a variant of the equipment you mentioned, it is a very specialized variant, with specialized ROMs.

None of the firmware IS compatible with the device. KarlNet units will only accept the KarlNet firmware. In addition, since each firmware license is keyed to the MAC address of the device they are purchased for, you must buy firmware compiled for your specific unit.

It would appear that you have something you don't really understand. You might want to know that Karlnet units are designed for PtP (TurboCell) and PtMP (SEC) WISP applications, and are not really 802.11b compatible, even though they are based on Avaya/Lucent/ORiNOCO 802.11b equipment.

You may purchase firmware here and here. Other dealers may be found via Google.

OneBeatOff · 04-30-2006

Wow! Thanks! While it blows that I can't really use this device, it's great that I don't have to keep trying. I've worn my computers google search function out in the last few days. I'll let it recover while I look for something else to destroy...

Thanks for the info.

1BO

Thorn · 04-30-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneBeatOff

Wow! Thanks! While it blows that I can't really use this device, it's great that I don't have to keep trying. I've worn my computers google search function out in the last few days. I'll let it recover while I look for something else to destroy...

Thanks for the info.

1BO

You're welcome. Sorry it isn't what you thought.

skizziks · 05-03-2006

What you have there is an old Apple Airport Graphite board with KARL Net firmware. The bad thing abot this is the firmware only works for point to point. That red light you see will turn green when you have a connection to another AP with the same firmware. Karl Net did this kind of firmware back in 2000. When you re-flash the firmware you must make sure you are flashing with the old Apple Graphite firmware and not the newer firmware for newer Apple Airport AP. I know this because the company I work for used to pay Karl Net to change the flash chip on our older MICROCELL APs.

04-29-2006	#1 (permalink)
OneBeatOff Witless User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	Mystery AP help - Maybe Karlbridge? I just bought an antenna and an outdoor mystery box (a mystery to me at least). The seller wasn't sure what it was but I could recognize an Orinoco gold mounted to the circuit board and knew I could use it. The system is an antenna, a pvc enclosure a small circuit board with an Orinoco Gold PC card attached, and a power cube. The circuit board has 4 multicolor LEDs, a power connector and an Ethernet connector with a momentary contact switch (push button) between them. There is an AMD processor on the board and a flash ram chip with a sticker labeled WPRG 0402. I dug around on google images and the board looks a lot like the original Apple Airport Base Station. I couldn't get the Orinoco AP utilities but did manage to get a Compaq AP manager (for use with the Compaq branded Orinoco/Lucent/Agere/Proxim APs) that identified my mystery board as a Karlbridge/Router V4.31 but claimed it was not an AP. I also downloaded FreeBase and it confirmed the board as a Karlbridge/Router. I found the default password for the airport as 'public' and tried that to access the router but was unsuccessful. So I need to reset the password. From what I've read for some of the Orinoco APs, I need to remove the Orinoco Gold card and power up the AP while holding the reset button for a minute or so, then use the AP manager to reload firmware onto the device. Before I can do this I need to know what firmware to load and before I know that I need to know what I have exactly. Please help me identify this board so I don't trash it with a bad flash. Here with extra worthless information is what I get from the configuration utilities: IP 10.185.230.197 CPE-17849 00-20-F6-03-01-29 KARLBRIDGE/ROUTER V4.31 SN-KARL Currently the right most LED is green, the second flashes yellow every once and a while and the third is solid red. The forth LED stays off for the most part. A lot of the links I have followed while investigating this board are 404 and expired and dead--Is this thing ancient? Thanks many. One Beat Off (a musician thing).

04-30-2006	#4 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,358	You're wrong. While it is a variant of the equipment you mentioned, it is a very specialized variant, with specialized ROMs. None of the firmware IS compatible with the device. KarlNet units will only accept the KarlNet firmware. In addition, since each firmware license is keyed to the MAC address of the device they are purchased for, you must buy firmware compiled for your specific unit. It would appear that you have something you don't really understand. You might want to know that Karlnet units are designed for PtP (TurboCell) and PtMP (SEC) WISP applications, and are not really 802.11b compatible, even though they are based on Avaya/Lucent/ORiNOCO 802.11b equipment. You may purchase firmware here and here. Other dealers may be found via Google. __________________ Thorn "Read Altas Shrugged. Compare it to today. Repeat as necessary"

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04-30-2006	#2 (permalink)
OneBeatOff Witless User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	Well, I guess I'm beyond needing password help now. I tried one suggestion I found on the web about holding the reset button while powering the unit on and now it is very very mad. I have a red power LED and that's it. I can only talk to the unit when I force a firmware reload (hold the button and apply power). Then I get this from FreeBase: 198.17.74.254 KarlBridge V3.85 BaseBoot along with the MAC address of the unit. I have tried to flash airport 1.3.1, airport 2.0, airport 2.02, AP05383, AP05384, AP05395, RG1x395 and RG1x390 firmware that I found on the web, all with the same results. At one point I was able to actually log in and configure the card using the public password but it was only after fiddling with the button and I was never able to replicate it. After every flash the unit restarts, gives me a neat flashy light show with the LEDs, then sometimes hangs with two red LEDs, other times hangs with one red LED. I've waited, then removed power and reapplied it to only get a single RED power LED (used to be green) and no communication. I wish karlnet was still around. Is there some other company that took over their stuff? Where can I get the Karlbridge V4.31 firmware that I apparently hosed by pressing buttons? I hope to eventually use this as a wireless client (bridge) to a WRT54G I have. Thanks for any input. 1BO

04-30-2006	#3 (permalink)
OneBeatOff Witless User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	Please correct me if I'm wrong on this but I believe the box is an AP-500/RG-1x00/Graphite Airport variant. It has an AMD Elan SC400-66 processor which is used in those units and similar chip configuration. Based on that, I've tried flashing the AP05383 and RG10384 firmwares until I'm blue in the face. Each time FreeBase asks me for an IP address to give the unit, then I select the .bin file and upload the firmware. The upload appears to go through and the unit flashes lots of lights and reboots but doesn't show up in any AP manager from then on. The only way I can talk to the unit it to force a reload. On power up I get a brief green then red power LED. If I put a Gold PCI card in it I get the same brief green and then red but the wireless LED does tiny blinks of green while the the green LEDs on the Gold card go wild the entire time but still no comms. I got the Avaya AP manager software and tried to flash with it but it refuses claiming that none of the firmware I have selected is compatible with the device. I tried every .bin file I've come across in the last few days. None of them are compatible. So I need some firmware for this thing. HELP!

04-30-2006	#5 (permalink)
OneBeatOff Witless User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	Wow! Thanks! While it blows that I can't really use this device, it's great that I don't have to keep trying. I've worn my computers google search function out in the last few days. I'll let it recover while I look for something else to destroy... Thanks for the info. 1BO

05-03-2006	#7 (permalink)
skizziks Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 118	What you have there is an old Apple Airport Graphite board with KARL Net firmware. The bad thing abot this is the firmware only works for point to point. That red light you see will turn green when you have a connection to another AP with the same firmware. Karl Net did this kind of firmware back in 2000. When you re-flash the firmware you must make sure you are flashing with the old Apple Graphite firmware and not the newer firmware for newer Apple Airport AP. I know this because the company I work for used to pay Karl Net to change the flash chip on our older MICROCELL APs.