[NTLK] OMP serial connection problems

[William Maloney]

Okay, may be receiving something over HyperTerminal in Win 98. Not sure.
The signal came out like this. The long parts with ???'s represent when I
was trying to talk out via the comm port on Newton.

??  ¿       ¿¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿ ¿¿             ¿¿     ¿  ¿      ¿     ¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿
¿¿¿¿
 ¿     ¿  ¿   ¿¿¿        ¿   ¿  ¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿ ¿ ¿¿¿





On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 2:46 PM, William Maloney <firedoorus at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Cracked the unit open this morning to try and remedy what I though was a
> flux issue on the board near the serial port. Surprisingly, I may have done
> this a few years ago. What was really shocking though was the residue left
> behind. I had used 70% alcohol back then - not 91% or higher. Cleaned that
> up. Hoping it did not leave damage behind. It looks "okay" to the naked
> eye.
>
> Still no go on the serial though.
>
> Tried to use the HyperTerminal program in VirtualPC. No data coming
> though. I haven't used it before though, but I opened up the COMM port to
> communicate. Did not see anything. Any advice on using that program?
>
> Also downloaded another COMM monitoring software for Windows Vista. No
> action detected. Again, never used this stuff before.
>
> Looks like I talked about this issue on year way way back three years ago.
> http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=134157857402110&w=2
>
> That of course was with a different machine, OS, USB serial adapter - oh
> yes, and I ACTUALLY worked. When I get the chance in a few weeks, I'll give
> the older hardware a go and see if it makes a difference.
>
> Any input is appreciated. Thanks
>
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 8:11 AM, William Maloney <firedoorus at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I’ll walk you through this as I am setting it up…
>>
>>
>> Okay, plugged in the Gigaware adapter. Every time – for some reason –
>> Vista “installs” the driver, recognizes it, and then finishes.
>>
>>
>> Sometimes I go into device manger to make sure it is still set at COMM1.
>> I think it changes if I shut the system down. Currently at the following
>> settings: 9600 baud, 8 Data bits, None Parity, 1 Stop Bits, Flow Control
>> Xon/Xoff
>>
>>
>> Opening up VirtualPC version 6.0 (2007). Checking settings. VPC Comm1 is
>> set to Physical COMM1. Starting Win98. COMM1 settings within Win98 are
>> identical.
>>
>>
>> Newton is powered on. Trying to launch NCK right after hitting CONNECT.
>> NCK is programmed to ONLY communicate via COMM1 at 9600.
>>
>> Launched at same time AND….Nothing. Nada. Phooey.
>>
>>
>> I don’t have the HyperTerminal program installed. Win98 is being a pain
>> with installing that add-on. Is there a way to see Newton trying to
>> communicate over the COMM port in Vista? I have PowerShell installed –
>> never used it before though…
>>
>>
>> I did try to install another package via Newton Press running natively in
>> Vista. Nada on that either.
>>
>>
>> Lastly, tried again to install a package via NewtonPress via VirtualPC. A
>> dialogue box did pop up THAT time: “There was an error trying to open the
>> following COM port on your physical computer: \\.\COM1   Before this
>> port can be connected to your virtual machine, you must verify that a
>> device is attached to the port, and that it is not being used by another
>> process.” It wasn’t so I just kept going, setting everything up via COMM1.
>> Still nothing.
>>
>>
>> Also, is Newton supposed to automatically turn on when a cable is plugged
>> into its serial port? I seem to remember that from a while ago. It doesn’t
>> do that now.
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the help!
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 21, 2015 at 1:55 PM, William Maloney <firedoorus at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Okay, so trying to connect an OMP/MP100 to a Windows Vista Machine.
>>>
>>> Here is the setup right now.
>>>
>>> Newton ----> Serial cable ----> Gigaware USB serial adapter ----> USB
>>> port on Computer ----> Windows Vista running serial adapter as COMM1 via
>>> device manager ----> VirtualPC running Windows 98 ------> Newton Connection
>>> Kit 2.0
>>>
>>> There seems to be no connection at all. I have done this before on an XP
>>> machine and it worked fine a few years ago.
>>>
>>> Everything is set to run at 9600 baud.
>>>
>>> I tried connecting this machine to a Macintosh Classic II running NCK
>>> and it also failed.
>>>
>>> Beginning to feel it could be a hardware failure. I believe I recall
>>> seeing capacitor flux near serial port when trying to put alcohol on the
>>> power switch to keep the machine from powering off all the time.
>>>
>>> Any ideas??? Anyone willing to lend a hand? thanks
>>>
>>
>>
>