[NTLK] Help with a Problematic Newton

[Lord Groundhog]

~~~ On 2011/12/22 16:44, Knowledge Navigator at info at newtonsales.com wrote
~~~

> We have a newton 2100 in our posession that seems to be in near perfect
> shape with no obvious defects on the motherboard but for some reason all
> it does is reboot continually.
> 
> It is able to be brought into the RESTORE screen and does not reboot
> while in this state and does successfully complete a restore but then on
> reboot the rebooting problem returns.
> 
> Does anyone have any experience with such behaviour? It seems a shame to
> just toss the unit into the garbage.
> 
> Video Here:
> http://www.newtonsales.com/rebooting.mov
> 

FWIW, you don't have a 2100, you have a 2000.  I assume you meant it's a
2000U?  

It looks in good nick.  I've never heard anyone mention the behaviour I saw
in the video, so I'll leave you to get real advice from one of the proper
Newton gurus.  

But *please* don't trash this unit if it can't be fixed.  At the very least,
it can be cannibalized for parts.  That case looks very good (some of us
actually prefer the 2000 case to the 2100 case, at least, the guy I shave
every morning does), the display and digitizer assembly looks fair to mint,
etc.  The innards will likely include bits that can be unplugged or
de-soldered for reuse to repair other sick Newts.  At least donate it to
Frank.  I'll pay postage if that's a problem.  I can PayPal you.


If it were mine, if I had the time, if I had the spare parts, if I knew the
Newton better than I do, and if I couldn't get some hard-core knowledge from
the folks here, I'd set about diagnosing it by testing performance of the
bits:  current flows, resistances, etc., and dismantling to the boards and
maybe even chips, and swapping out parts in the hope of finding one bit of
it that could be replaced to get it working again.

That's a lot of "ifs" for me, but maybe not for you.  :-)



But I suspect the real answer when it comes will be easier than that.  Newts
are hardy creatures....


 
Shalom. 
Christian 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

³Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.²
            -- ref.:  Arthur C. Clarke

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
(With thanks to Chod Lang)
http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/3942


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