Re: [NTLK] Armistice card

From: Grant [Next Best] Hutchinson (grant_at_splorp.com)
Date: Mon Aug 19 2002 - 22:54:27 EDT


In a previous message, Frank Gruendel typed vigorously:

>I have recently read that Apple had a hardware card called
>"Armistice" or something which they used to test their Newton
>software without a Newton. I'd expect this must have been a
>NuBus card. Does anyone out there have info on that card?

Hey Frank, here's the additional information regarding the Armistice and
Armageddon cards that I was talking about. This description was supplied
by an engineer who used to work in the Newton group at Apple.

I hope this helps. Enjoy.

g.

......................................................................

Brief Description of the whole package:

This is a very interesting package for the collector of Newton
memorabilia. Essentially it comprises three elements: two NuBus cards and
a large Newton prototype. The large Newton prototype is a Bun Warmer
which is basically all the components of an early Newton Messagepad
spread between two thick plates of plastic held about an inch and a half
apart. Between the plastic plates are various components of the logic
board, and some switches and ports for control and i/o. On top is a
MessagePad screen which could be used in the usual way when the device
was running. Unfortunately, on this one the screen has been cracked by a
blow to it. One could remove the screen from an original MessagePad and
have a go at wiring it in as a replacement [an original MessagePad is
included as a subsidiary item, for this very purpose].

Prior to the screen breaking, this prototype worked. However, they were
fragile and unreliable when they were new, so there is no telling whether
this one could still work. A quick look at the Bun Warmer shows that they
were more or less hand-built with lots of hardware fixes to get them
going. The Bun Warmer was dependent on a NuBus card for communication
with a Mac and for receiving new versions of the Newton OS as it was
being developed. That is what one of the NuBus cards is. You will need
some software, a NuBus Mac, probably MacOS 7.x and a lot of luck to get
this working, but it could happen. So far as I know only a few hundred
Bun Warmer's were ever produced.

The Bun Warmer was to be replaced by an improved NuBus card. This was
basically a Newton on a NuBus card that facilitated a self-contained
development environment running on a Mac. Originally there were going to
be a lot of these, but they turned out to be very expensive, and I think
around 50 were made. Shortly after they were introduced, prototype
MessagePads appeared which could be used for development. So these cards
are super rare. You also needed special software to use this card. When
it works it is pretty cool since you get a Newton running on your Mac.
One of these cards was called an ARMageddon and the other was called an
ARMistice. I am not sure which was which, though I think the ARMageddon
preceded the ARMistice.

One more thing, when you have one of these cards (I can't remember which)
in your Mac the boot sequence is altered to include a moment when the
card is initialized and a black splash screen with a yellow Newton logo
flashes up. That's pretty cool.

......................................................................

Grant Hutchinson Interface Considerations & Toys

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