[NTLK] Hello all! (and an Ethernet question!)

Hi all!

This is my first post: I've been lurking on this list, as I've wanted to
get a Newton for some time. Anyway, last week I finally got an MP2100
unit. I bought it from PCBman and its absolutely wonderful (thank you
again, it's in really great condition!). I'm still at the stage where I
like using the Newton just for the sake of using it. You might call it
the honeymoon stage: I play with it, even if that means scribbling some
gibberish to test the recognition, or exploring some of the menus. :-)

I'm waiting on my screen protectors from NuShield.com before I take it out
in the big wide world. (A recommendation I saw on the list archives, much
appreciated.)

In the mean time I've been trying to get my Newton connected to the world
at large. The serial connection to my PC works great, and I'm able to use
Li et al.'s unixnpi. Thanks to the developers, and also thanks to the
person(s) who took the initiative and time to contact the author and have
him agree to release it GPL'd -- a smart move to preserve it for
posterity.

But alas, I've had less luck with enabling my Ethernet. I've got a 3com
3c589C EitherLink III (exactly like the pics on the
http://www.chuma.org/newton/ethernet page). I followed the directions on
the CHUMA pages as well as those (similar, but more explicit ones) at
http://www.pda-soft.de/body_ethernetconnectivity.html

Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but I can't see what I'm doing wrong.
These are the steps I took (on a system that I just brain wiped).

0. Inserted flash memory card (the PC cards were removed before wipe, as
   per instructions). I didn't restore from the card, as I wanted it to be
   in a virginal state. I then held off inserting the ethernet card (until
   step 5.)

1. Installed NIE through unixnpi:
1.1 First, inetenbl.pkg
1.2 Second, inetstup.pkg

2. Installed NIE ethernet packages:
2.1 newtdev.pkg
2.2 enetsup.pkg

3. Installed the driver:
3.1 FarallonEthernet.pkg
3.2 3comaddon.pkg

   At this point I double checked my extensions folder/draw has: Newton
   Internet, Newton Devices, NIE Ethernet, Farallon Enet, z3ComDrv:clli

4. I use the Internet Setup to add a generic configuration with DHCP. I
   selected "3C589" from the list of cards (not the "Farallon" nor
   "3C589D") which I read (somewhere) is the correct option for the
   3c589C.

5. I plug the card + dongle into the Newton. (The dongle only goes into
   the card one way: blue writing side up). At this point the green light
   on the dongle goes on, but only for about 1.5 seconds. Then the light
   turns off.

6. Nothing pops up about the card being inserted. I'm told this it normal
   for 3com cards. When I click on the card applet in my "extras|unfiled
   icons" the only information displayed is about the memory card.

7. Since I don't know how to get system Internet status (like
    ifconfig/ipconfig) so I used a very naive (albeit end-to-end) test. I
    installed newtscape (nwcp21e2.pkg) and went to the "Newt's Cape
    Example Page". It pops up a dialog to connect. I select the Internet
    setup I just created, I tap connect, nothing happens. Nothing except
    the green light flashes on for about a second, then some ten or so
    seconds pass, and it flashes again (this time for about 3 seconds).
    Still no world wide web goodness. I don't know how to see if it got
    DHCP information, or anything.

BTW: I tested the URL
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~sweyer/newton/newtscape/examples.htm , I get a
404 error on my laptop, so I also tried a page I could get to
(http://www.google.com) on the newton -- same result!

Other things I tried: using ethernet while on AC vs. battery, different ports
on my hub, I even retested the ports with my laptop. I tried swapping slots used
for the flash PC card and the ethernet one. The flash works in either slot, I
no luck on the ethernet card either way.

Also, I didn't brain wipe first off, I started with soft reset, and worked my
way up... the steps above were on my redo from fresh.

I also tried restarting the Newton with extensions off. Doing so, the NOS says
"There is a problem with this card. (Newton cannot recognize this type of
card.)" This is to be expected, since the card drivers are extensions, right?
Am I right that this proves that it sees a card without the drivers, and
also that the drivers are correctly claiming the card after a normal restart?

Sorry for being so long winded, but I wanted to make sure that if I missed
something stupid (as I'm sure I did) then somebody will be able to say what it
was. Also, I wanted to prove that I did take the time to RTFM. :-)

Please help out this Newton newbie...

Best regards,
  Dylan

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