From: Jake Bordens (newton_at_allaboutjake.com)
Date: Mon Dec 06 2004 - 14:50:29 PST
Seems like there was talk about something similar to this back in
January ('04)
A SER-001 type board (USB-001?) would certainly be possible. The
SER-001 has a full appletalk and localtalk transceiver on it, and I'm
not exactly sure why. If we were adding a full second port to the
thing then it might make some sense. However, the SER-001 if I recall
is just an alternate connector to the first port. In this case, why
doesn't it just use the first port's transceiver? I'm not too familiar
with apple/local talk. Maybe this configuration allows both the
original port and the new DIN port to be active at the same time?
A USB-001 daughter board would probably only expose Serial-over-USB
functionality anyway.
Does anyone know why the designer of the SER-001 opted to expose port 0
again rather than port 3? Was port 3 ever exposed in software? Does
anyone have a pinout for the internal connecter used by the SER-001?
My guess is that the internal port that the SER-001 connects to has
some sort of pin that you pull to 5v (or gnd) to indicate that the
internal serial port (modem) is available. This, coupled with the FDTI
chip and a USB connector out the back, and you're good to go.
Just a thought. Hardware is not really my speciality, but I do have a
good electronics bench at home and a milling machine to make some
parts.... seems like a potentially cool project.
I feel myself getting sucked back in... I actually ordered some
NuShields (only place I found that still sells any Newton guards) today
to replace the nearly opaque WriteRight on my device.... (sucked back
in...... noooooo.)
Jake
On Dec 6, 2004, at 3:05 PM, Martin Joseph wrote:
>
> On Dec 6, 2004, at 10:52 AM, Jake Bordens wrote:
>
>> Fdti provides both mac and windows drivers for their interfaces that
>> emulate serial. You can even customize them if needed. It would show
>> up to NCU as a COM port.
>>
>> As for 802.11 and Bluetooth, you make a valid point. Though I still
>> think getting rid of the propreitary cable in favor of a standard usb
>> port could be useful for recovery situations....
>>
>> Dunno, possibly not worth the effort.
>>
> Hmmm, sounds like if they provide the mac and windows support and
> Victor likes the idea, then I should reconsider :~)
>
> Certainly a SER-001 type board that brought USB to newton would be
> extremely slick, and useful for many user.
>
> Let us know how it goes.
> Marty
>
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> inquiries
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>
-- 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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