Newton Keyboard (and a picture)

[aphetica]

Look what I just won! (pics from auction)

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h149/aphetica/858a_1.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h149/aphetica/d2e3_1.jpg

In original box, owner said it didn't look like it hadn't ever been used...

It ended up costing me way more than I initially wanted to pay, but I REALLY wanted this thing for a desktop project I'm working on. Does it work on a desktop? *nervous laugh* I'll have to build or buy some kind of adapter if not.

The bidding war at the end was ferocious. I hope it wasn't one of you guys.

What would you have paid for it?

 

[Dan 7.1]

or just get a newton

but grats anyways, i have one as well and they are quite nice to use.

 

[aphetica]

or just get a newton
but grats anyways, i have one as well and they are quite nice to use.

If I ever do get one, atleast I will have a keyboard for it.

I probably will eventually, when I can afford it. I think the 2100 is really cool.

Can you verify whether I can use the keyboard on an adb/desktop or whether I need an adapter? What kind of connector is it? I wasn't able to figure that out after all the Googling I did.

 

[coius]

Can you verify whether I can use the keyboard on an adb/desktop or whether I need an adapter? What kind of connector is it? I wasn't able to figure that out after all the Googling I did.

The keyboard is actually serial. It fits into the serial port of the newton. You likely won't be able to make it work with a mac. maybe a pc, but that's about it. For some reason, Apple never incorporated an ADB port on the newton. Such a shame, an ADB Mouse + Touchscreen woulda been t3h 4w3s0m3

(sorry, just HAD to do that, but seriously, it would be awesome to use a mouse on a newton. Ironically, there was a program that allowed to newton to be used as a graphing tablet for a mac where you moved the stylus on the screen of the newton, and it moved the mouse on the machine you had it hooked to. Not sure of what it was, but my brother had it working on his PowerBook Duo 2300c. Was *really* cool.)

 

[aphetica]

Oh, I'll make it work. Somehow.

 

[Dan 7.1]

careful...would be a shame to fry such a mint piece.

 

[aphetica]

I wouldn't dare risk such a thing. I'll make sure anything I attempt will be reversible, and try to avoid modifying the keyboard itself at all costs.

 

[Bunsen]

There is a serial mouse or keyboard (I forget which) driver for pre-OS X Macs. It might take you some searching, but it is out there.

 

[zerohour]

to get it to work with 2100 requires an adaptor

http://notwen.com/labo/interconnect/

you need the one with the Female end for Newton keyboard.

 

[SiliconValleyPirate]

For some reason, Apple never incorporated an ADB port on the newton. Such a shame, an ADB Mouse + Touchscreen woulda been t3h 4w3s0m3

The reason they never incorporated ADB was it hammers a fairly reasonable current down the wire to power the devices (like USB) and it'd have drained the battery in fairly short order.

This is also why the ADB ports on Macs are thermally fused, if the wire drops out while the machine is running it can short and it was known to kill the port on the first ADB Macs (yes, Mac II owners beware!). Apple subsequently fitted a thermal fuse to the power circuit on the ADB ports to prevent this happening. I've had Macs lose the ADB port for a few minutes.

I believe the power-on signal on a Mac ADB keyboard also relies on grounding the power to the keyboard back to the computer down a certain line, although I could be wrong.

 

[John8520]

This is also why the ADB ports on Macs are thermally fused, if the wire drops out while the machine is running it can short and it was known to kill the port on the first ADB Macs (yes, Mac II owners beware!). Apple subsequently fitted a thermal fuse to the power circuit on the ADB ports to prevent this happening. I've had Macs lose the ADB port for a few minutes.

That's happened to my Mac II before! I remember troubleshooting for days before hearing about the fuse, soldering a new one in fixed the problem instantly.

 

[aphetica]

There is a serial mouse or keyboard (I forget which) driver for pre-OS X Macs. It might take you some searching, but it is out there.

I appreciate this little bit of information. Thanks.

 

[aphetica]

I found it!

http://www.sarnau.info/software:newton_keyboard_enabler

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm kind of hoping for the possibility of it working under OS8 as well.

 

[Bunsen]

Well, that wasn't the one I was thinking of, but hey, looks even better.

edit/ Here are some directions for adding a serial port mouse.

English text

German text with cable adapter design and name of driver file

Driver link near bottom of page

And here's the one I was thinking of.

 

[aphetica]

Picture!