> The Newton OS uses some proprietary information that comes from the
> Newton keyboard. In order to use other keyboards, you would need
> drivers that would adapt the keyboard dialect to the Newton OS way of
> communicating. AFAIK, there is no such driver.
While the official Newton keyboard uses a proprietary protocol, it seems
to have been reverse engineered, at least to the point that someone
succeeded in creating a driver to allow use of the Newton keyboard with
WindowsCE machines:
http://www.geocities.com/litezen/WinCE/NewtonKey/newtonkey.html
On that page there are some links to other people who have achieved
similar things. I see no notes on his page about the protocol, but
There's also this, which is an adapter for a Newton to use any PC or Mac
(ADB, presumably) keyboard:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/flo_biehler/freetop.htm
Also, the fact that the Newton kb uses a propreitary protocol is
irrelevant if what you want to achieve is hooking up a non-Newton keyboard
to the Newton. The Newton has a standard serial port. Most PocketPC and
Palm keyboards are also serial. Creating a driver for these serial
keyboards for the Newton would be a pretty straightforward thing to do, no
protocol-trickery. Especially easy if there is already a driver available
for another platform for that keyboard, as a reference. To use a PS/2,
ADB, or USB keyboard that would be harder.
Regards,
Aaron
Aaron Reichow :: Twin Ports ACM VP :: http://www.d.umn.edu/~reic0024/
"The profit system follows the path of least resistance and following the
path of least resistance is what makes a river crooked." -U. Utah Phillips
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