[NTLK] Need (Hardware) Internet Bridge Solution

[Jake Bordens]

I have been considering what a eMate version of my WiFi card might look like.  The eMate does NOT have an internal serial slot, but it could be made to work with wires soldered directly to the Newton interconnect port.  The eMate's case is not shielded like the MP2x00, so a bigger antenna could be used.

http://retronewton.blogspot.com

Honestly though, I've accomplished what I had hoped to with this project, and I don't expect to tackle this project.  It would be a pretty simple project for someone else though.  You'd just need a similar 3.3v regulator setup and some jumper wires.  If you were really motivated, you could probably do it without a custom PCB.  Similar to the way I did my early tests: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r3BTY10_F9U/VL2jZz-zMAI/AAAAAAAAAa0/UgrmB5vnC0g/s1600/IMG_0657.jpg

I am not sure about the SerPortSel signals on the eMate.  The eMate dock connector should expose InternamMdmSel on pin 10.  Since the eMate doesn't have an internal modem slot, it is possible that this pin is just hard-wired LOW to indicate that the external interconnect port is always permitted to drive the modem signals.  

Also, it should be noted that the software I've written for the MP2x00 won't work for the eMate, as the ROMs are different. The relevant functions (SerialPortXLineDriverConfig, Get/SetSubsystemPower) seem to be in the eMate ROM, but unsurprisingly they are at different offsets.

As I was writing this message, Frank replied regarding the file vs. soup based storage methods used by the Newton.  This is yet another barrier.  Even this WiFi card, you'd still need software to negotiate with the cloud services.  The lack of SSL on the Newton is the next barrier... The WiReach module does support retrieving HTTPS urls and SSL3/TLS1 connections using an AT-command set, so it could be possible to bypass Newton Internet Enabler entirely and address the modem directly over serial to make the necessary secure connections.  Again, an exercise for the reader.

Jake   




On 9/3/15, 6:41 PM, "newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net on behalf of SteveC" <newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net on behalf of craft.steve at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>Hey all. Not sure if this came through before, so here it is again. 
>
>I'm still looking for a way to get word processing documents from my eMate in and out of an Internet store (DropBox,  OneDrive, Evernote, Google Docs/Drive) without having to hook it to my PC. Some way I could just save/read docs over the Internet transparently. I would rather not use a computer or run yet another VM just to sync docs....
>
>Has anyone used a Raspberry Pi to make a kind of "transfer box" or something similar?
>
>--
>Sent from my Intellivision Keyboard Component
>
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