Re: [NTLK] Prelimbinaries/Escale Help

From: Nicolas Zinovieff (krugazor_at_free.fr)
Date: Tue Apr 15 2003 - 23:23:27 PDT


Just for the record :)

We have decided to use the standard Newton protocols instead of
implementing our own because the (not so long term, we hope) goal is a
replacement for NCU, along with some OSX interesting features.
Therefore, we use 2 connection technologies dropped by Apple in OSX
(Serial and AppleTalk), and one not-so-new technology, but without any
way for us to debug on the Newton.
This -4 error that some of you have experienced is a NIE error,
somewhere in the TCP stack. Where exactly? we spent a whole week on
this one... Without any clue of what's going on within the core of NIE,
you can understand it's pretty hard.
As Paul mentioned before, the AppleTalk layer of Mac OS X is kinda
groovy, but lacks documentation and is a hack anyway (and I am partly
responsible for it).

Now there are two different options:
- Either we stick with Newton standards, and that means that after a
while, any newton, with or without the appropriate software already
installed will be able to dock to the Escale (that's what we aim at)
- Or we choose to develop a module that has to be installed on the
Newton to grant access to the Escale, and we'll have a different set of
problems

Personnally, I'd rather do the first. Paul too.
It is not an easy challenge. But now it is totally open source, we have
received very useful hints on what caused some of the crashes.
Maybe we were rather ambitious to call this release 1.0.
I'll just say it's been an unwanted side effect of the joy of being
able to put such a huge project out (if some of you downloaded the
sources, you saw it IS big).

--
Nicolas
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