Re: [NTLK] (marginally OT) Another keyboard question

From: Simon Stapleton (simon_at_tufty.co.uk)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2004 - 00:07:12 PDT


On 28 Jul 2004, at 23:27, karel Jansens <kareljansens_at_tiscalinet.be>
wrote:

> As I've written before, I am the (more or less) proud owner of a
> Fujitsu Stylistic 3400 tablet pc. Nobody need to fear that it will
> ever replace my Newtons (the thing will barely run for an hour on its
> battery and runs hotter than hell),

Glad you posted that, I was considering getting one for laffs but now I
probably won't bother. An hour sucks.

> but it makes for a nice webpad and
> it helps to impress the relatives.
>
> Now, the Stylistic "sans" docking station only has the one USB port
> for wired connectivity and I happen to have a Newton keyboard lying
> around, which has an Apple-style serial connector.
>
> So here goes: Did anyone manage to connect a Newton keyboard to a
> Windows PC with a USB-to-serial connector? Can it even be done?

Well, I seriously doubt if windows will do it without some bespoke
software, although a standard USB keyboard might work.

Now if you're 'willing' to get shot of windows and install linux
(<http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=35022> is a handy resource),
you should be able to configure the kernel for newton keyboard support.
  I've no idea if it will work over usb/serial, but I can tell you it
works a treat on a PM9500/G4 running Gentoo straight off the mac's
serial port. I'd try hooking my keyboard up to the usb card in the
box, but I don't have a usb/serial converter. However, I believe
(note, not 'know') that usb/serial adaptors simply provide a new serial
port as far as the kernel is concerned, so there's no reason to think
it wouldn't work.

  Or you could look into reverse-engineering the linux driver for
windows, but that's liable to be darned hard to do.

Have fun.

Simon

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