Re: [NTLK] NOS 2.0 ROM in Sharp ExpertPad?

From: THX 1138 (onefishtwofish_at_mac.com)
Date: Tue Dec 11 2001 - 10:45:31 EST


On 12/11/01, James Elliott quoth:
>I assumed that since the ExpertPad was made to run 1.3, that it could
>handle the same update to NOS 2.0 as an MP 120 that originally
>shipped with 1.3.

Mmmm, not quite. It ran 1.05 originally, I believe. The 1.3 was a
later add on at the factory.

See, my big issue here is the hardware differences between a 110/120
and an OMP/100/EP. Between the OMP and 110, Apple redesigned the
internals of the Newton to be cheaper to produce. The 100 was a sort
of stop-gap upgrade for OMP users. The ROMs are different between the
100 and 110. Circumstanstial evidence of this is the fact that they
use different updaters to handle things like screen resolution,
memory addressing, power requirements and screen contrast. You can
also find many hardware differences just by looking at the models,
different screens, different batteries, a contrast wheel on the 110,
and the different card slot voltage for the 110 to handle higher
speed PCMCIA modems. My feeling is a 1.3 ROM in a 120, is going to be
more geared to the improvements of the later 110/120 platform and
unable to handle the differences of the OMP/100/EP. This is roughly
equivalent to the old MacOS system 7.1 which was somewhat tailored to
specific macintosh systems and could not be used on different models
with the same disk. Not to go [OT] here...

Anyway. I have my doubts, but as I said, I'd love to be proven wrong.
A 2.0 ExpertPad would be the Coolest Thing Ever IMHO.

later,

-- 
ben.
onefishtwofish_at_mac.com

Newton Connections: Obsessive Newton News http://newted.net/~1f2frfbf/ These things are fun, and fun is good.

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