[NTLK] Hello - rediscovered MP 110 & Linux

[Pawel Piotrowski]

Hi Tom!

> On 1 Apr 2024, at 18:05, Tom <tom+newtontalk at falkensweb.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I've just resurrected my MP 110 (bought when at University, circa 1998 !). Really fun seeing notes from decades ago still there. My parents recently unearthed a *fax* I'd manged to to send to my Dad's workplace from it sometime last century too.
> 
> Good news is that generic Power Owl rechargeable batteries from Amazon seem *fine* and the Newton dock reports they are charged, and charging.  I just put in the bottom metal bracket from the official battery holder to press down the little button :) 
> These are NiMH which http://newtonfaq.com/newton-faq-hardware.html#IIB6[1] warns against using because it could hurt the Newton. Anyone know why ? The linked thread here just says you might trash the battery, not the Newton.

That section is a little mess. There is info about batterypack for MP2x00…

Regardless, you can’t charge NiMH inside Newton 120/130 as the original cells are NiCad. And both have different voltage/current charging characteristics. Newton do not “know” what cells you put in. The charger is not “inteligent”. And because of this there is a chance that you can overcharge the cells and that can cause damages or even fire… You do not want that xD

So, if you want to charge the cells in Newton, you need to use NiCad cells (and with the same capacity lika original ones). If you want to use NiMH, then you need to charge them in external charger. So, in this case just buy 2 sets of cells and then swap. There are AA cells with ability to charge via micro USB. It is a good option.

We can chat about it this Saturday, on our online GNUM :D 


> Less good news is that when I opened the battery door the plastic was fragile and one of the clips at the front has broken. Not so bad I as I won't be taking it out too much. Still sits in the dock fine, but won't close correctly any more. Oh well :-/

I need to chack, maybe I will have one spare...


> Are there any other common tasks I should be looking to do ? 
> I'm at geek, but terrible at electronics, so re-capping it would be beyond me, but I've changed the button cell today too.
> 
> Also, long shot maybe, but is the author of the Linux HOWTO - Reinhold.Schoeb at gmx.net -  (https://newtonlink.sourceforge.net/Newton_and_Linux-mini-HOWTO.html[2]) here ? Or at least contactable does anyone know ?
> 
> All my machines are Linux, so as soon as applenewtonfan's USB-to-Newton cable arrives I hope to be able to use native tools, or at least NCK in emulation, to get a backup, and then wire up as much as I can function wise. Outbox-to-email seems plausible to attempt
> 
> You can track progress here https://rachaelandtom.info/content/newton-linux[3] but I'll be posting again and trying to update the Linux and main FAQs as I go; one PR is already in on GitHub to update some URLs.

Looking forward to see the results. Fancy to chat about it this Saturday? xD


Best regards,
Pawel Piotrowski

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