Re: [NTLK] Time for a little Newton help?

On 12/26/07, Ian P. Currie <ipcurrie@mac.com> wrote:
>
> Recently ran across your great MBP / Newton photo and article while
> searching for help trying to get my Newton online.
>
> I have the same Buffalo / Melco card you do, and I can't for the life
> of me get it to work. I have tried everything I can think of, and many
> things the NewtonTalk community suggested, and nothing.
>
> I also have an MBP and am intrigued by the keyboard thing, but wireless
> Internet is really what I'm after.
>
> Would you be willing to tell me how your Newt is configured for wi-fi
> access? I've tried DHCP and manual connections, ad-hoc and
> infrastructure... and my router logs (both Airport Extreme (n) and
> Airport Express b/g) never show that the Newt has been visible on the
> network.
I've actually been following along on NewtonTalk, but haven't had a
chance to chime in due to my usual holiday season tradition of running
around like a chicken with it's head cut off. But now I'm starting to
get my head back into place, so hopefully the following will be
somewhat helpful.

Here's how I got my Buffalo WLI-PCM-L11GP working over a two years ago
(I'm CC'ing NewtonTalk) and hopefully it'll help. I have to admit that
I primarily use it with my "Snow" AirPort Base Station which is
802.11b-only, but I have used it at the office on the 802.11b/g (so
not the new 802.11n/b/g) AirPort Extreme Base Stations an AirPort
Expresses and it's worked fine.

I started by installing NIE 2 and Hiroshi's WaveLAN drivers. Frank
Gründel describes one order of installation in the software section of
his FAQ (<http://www.pda-soft.de/faq/frames_newton-faq-software.html#VB1e>)
and Victor Rehorst noted another on the list back in 2004
(<http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/newtontalk.2004-09/2189.html>).
It's probably worth trying both of those (with Hiroshi's driver
installed last, of course).

I do have Paul Guyot's LanternPatch & MoreWiFi installed, but only
because I was testing some other cards at the time. They're not
necessary with the Buffalo card, so it's better to skip them.

Now, as noted in my email to the list when I first got my Buffalo
WLI-PCM-L11GP working (see
<http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/newtontalk.2005-10/0024.html>), it
only works if you tell Hiroshi's drivers that it is an WLI-PCM-L11 not
the WLI-PCM-L11G. If I remember correctly, it defaults to the correct
setting.

I also use mine in the top slot, which is where the Newton expects a
modem to be, so as to avoid the possibility of having to fiddle with
that setting (although I don't think it applies to WiFi cards).

My setup in Hiroshi's drivers is as follows:

    Mode: Infrastructure
    Channel: 1 (ignored)
    SSID: <this has to match exactly and is case sensitive>
    WEP Key: hexadecimal
    Use WEP: √ (yes)

I also have "power management" enabled in the advanced setting and
roaming disabled (only because I don't have a WiFi network comprised
of multiple access points).

Do note that the SSID does need to match exactly: case, whitespace,
and all. also note that I've never gotten a string (password?) WEP Key
to work, if you're using WEP do choose "hexadecimal" and enter the hex
WEP key (you can get this from your AirPort Utility / AirPort Admin
Utility by choosing "Equivalent Network Password..." from the "Base
Station" menu).

I've never really tested my card with WEP off, but many of the newer
AirPort Extreme Base Stations (at least the 802.11n/b/g, but probably
newer versions of firmware for the previous model) you must specify
exactly a 13 character password to use the 104/128-bit WEP, but the
Newton will still only accept the hex equivalent.

I don't use my card for AppleTalk, but have in the past and it works
fine. I have used and use both DHCP & manual Internet Setup
configurations and both work. The only real requirement is, as
mentioned before, selecting the card as "MELCO WLI-PCM-L11".

As for testing, I use NetHopper 3.2 & Courier to make sure I'm
covering multiple bases. It's best not to use email for connection
testing. :)

I've also found Simon Bell's NCX
<http://homepage.mac.com/simonbell/connection/> a great tool for
connection testing.

Definitely let me know if you have any questions. I know my
description is a bit out of order and not highly detailed. I've got a
second MP2100 which I could re-configure and document over the weekend
if that'd be helpful.

Morgan Aldridge

---
morgant@makkintosshu.com
http://www.makkintosshu.com/
==================================================================== 
The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://www.newtontalk.net/
The Official Newton FAQ     - http://www.splorp.com/newton/faq/
The Newton Glossary         - http://www.splorp.com/newton/glossary/
WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
====================================================================