From: Victor Rehorst (victor_at_newtontalk.net)
Date: Thu Aug 12 2004 - 10:24:40 PDT
Nettie Edwards wrote:
> Hello everybody!
> You lot are so friendly and chatty, i've decided to declare my self an
> excited Newbie Newtie, having recently purchased a MP 2000 from ebay.
Welcome!
> However, there appear to be a problem and it's stopping me from having
> fun!
Bummer! (Hey, I'm in a good mood today)
> The nice person that I purchased the Newt from also included a
> keyboard, serial cable and dongle. However, I can't connect the
> keyboard because the interconnection port appears to be faulty. I use
> this word cautiously because I don't know how it should *be* exactly,
> but the dongle doesn't stay in the port - it just keeps falling out.
> The dongle looks fine, so I'm assuming that the problem must be with
> the port.
Yeah, that's bad.
What has happened is that the interconnect port has literally broken off of
its connection inside the Newton. This happens because all that's holding it
on are 26 very very tiny solder points - Apple didn't reinforce it at all. So
after many repeated insertions and extractions of the dongle or pulling stress
on the cable, the port will fail.
Check out this thread in the archives that talks more about the symptoms and
solutions:
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=104907847400001&r=1&w=2
> How else can I connect to my Mac??? How can I install software and
> connect to the internet???
All other methods of installing software (Ethernet/Wireless, Infrared) require
optional software that needs to be installed. You can find a kind soul to
lend you a memory card...
The port is very hard to repair. One good solution is to install a SER-001
from PCBMan:
http://mrpcbman.tripod.com/SER-001.htm
This gives you a serial port just like the one on the other side of the
dongle. It functions exactly the same, just without using the interconnect
port or the dongle. You do need to open the back of your Newton in order to
install it. If you're not comfortable doing this, you can get it installed -
there are official installers or you might be able to find someone close-by
via the list who would do it for you.
-- Victor Rehorst - victor_at_newtontalk.net - chuma_at_chuma.org NewtonTalk list administrator - http://www.newtontalk.net Will the last person to leave the platform please turn off the backlight? -- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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