Peter,
I had your exact problem a while back, except it was more sneaky; because I have two dongles, I have one permanently on the keyboard, and one permanently on the serial cable. I hadn't used the serial cable in a while, so when I finally did, I was rather distraught to find out that it wouldn't acknowledge the connection. After much fiddling, thinking it was a software error, I switched the dongles...voila, it worked.
Next question that came to mind was, how on earth did something as sturdy as the dongle break? I mean, there are absolutely no moving parts, and the entire thing is coated with thick plastic! and I found it out...the flat interconnector piece, the part that plugs into the newton? the metal shield around it is a single piece of metal that is curved around and meets at the bottom. On my faulty dongle, it had bent just a hair outward; apparently, it was enough, because I took some pliers and carefully crimped it back, and it worked fine again.
Hope this helps,
Tony.
------Original Message------
From: Peter Curtis <lemur@mac.com>
To: NewtonTalk <newtontalk@planetnewton.com>
Sent: August 21, 2000 2:49:15 AM GMT
Subject: NTLK Dead Keyboard? Dying Dongle? Dying InterConnect Port?
Howdy, Newtonians.
Recently, for no apparent reason, my Newton keyboard no longer works. I plug
it in, fire up Works (or any other app), type... and nothing. Nothing at
all. I've tried reconnecting it, holding the dongle in (to make sure it
wasn't loose), etc. Not one character made it's way from my fingers to the
screen.
Normally, this would be fine, especially as Info-Newt is selling brand new
keyboards for the relatively reasonable price of $40. However, it's not that
simple.
When I plug my Newt into my Mac, sometimes it won't connect. When I actually
hold the Dongle into the Newt while applying a bit of pressure, it connects
fine, transfers, etc. When I stop holding, data transfers stop after several
seconds.
So what's broken here? Do I need to buy a new keyboard? A new dongle? Or do
I (gasp) need to send my beloved MP2K into Apple for a $180 dollar
fixer-upper?
Help,
Peter
PS: In the mean-time, I need something for my on-the-road writing. In my
infinite wisdom, I'm bidding on a portable, battery-powered typewriter on
eBay. Even if I get my Newton repaired, I'm using it for the sheer retro
coolness.
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