[NTLK] Re; In other geek news, the Interconnect Port.

[Craig Bradley]

Matthias,

Thanks for the update. Hopefully you have me down for one or two just in case. 

I will use it on my MP2100 but is there anything stopping it working on the eMate interconnect port?

//Craig

Sent from my iPhone 16 Pro Max

> On 19 Apr 2025, at 12:59 AM, Matthias Melcher <m.melcher at robowerk.de> wrote:
> 
> 
> Again, thanks for all your support and your preorders. Please note that I am a software developer, so whenever I do hardware,
> 
> This is an OpenSource community driven effort, not a professional or commercial product. There are no warranties or damage control if the dongle does not work for you, short circuits, or breaks your MessagePad. If you still like a dongle, I will buy the parts and assemble it for you, or, if you like, you can go on github and build one yourself. I will post a link as soon as it's ready.
> 
> 
> With that out of the way, here is my Easter weekend update. I may repeat myself here, but this is the final draft:
> 
> 
> I had a new circuit board made and I am very happy to let you all know that it works well. I was able to get all the software modules I need running, so now I can write the actual firmware and order in parts to build 25 or so modules.
> 
> The dongle works on MP2x00 devices and plugs into the Interconnect Port in the back. It is roughly the same size and shape as the original dongle.
> 
> It communicates over the Interconnect Port. I tested 19200 bps, but It will likely go much faster. It uses the full hardware flow protocol, so there should be no "hickups" with large files (no need to use SLOWDOWN.EXE which would not work anymore anyway).
> 
> The host connector is a USB-C serial device. In default mode, it simply forwards data between the USB-C and the internal serial port unchanged, but with full flow control. If that still generates hickups, the dongle can be configured to slow the connection down at strategical points in the protocol (the dingle understands what kind of data is sent, and adds pauses when the Newton needs time to think).
> 
> The USB-C powers the dongle and also a power inverter that in turn powers the Newton. It can supply enough power for the MessagePad, two PCMCIA flash cards and the backlight, but I don't know yet if it is powerful enough to charge the battery pack. It does not use the Power-over-USB though, so every USB port should work. In the worst case case, the dongle may not work with an unpowerd hub (it does for me, but who knows...).
> 
> If no USB-C cable is connected, the dongle can be powered from the Newton.
> 
> The dongle has an SD Card slot. If no NCU or NCX answers the request from Dock, the dongle can pretend to be NCU and lets you browse the SD Card without the need for a PC. Further features are possible, maybe backups, maybe even restoring backups. Not sure yet.
> 
> The dongle can mount the SD Card as a (slow) USB drive on the PC, so you could add software or download backups without having to remove the SD Card. But that's work in progress.
> 
> Firmware is easy to upgrade: plug it into a PC while holding down the BOOT button, and the dongle will show up as a USB drive. Just drop the firmware into that drive and you are done.
> 
> 
> If you have any ideas for additional features, I can still do minor changes for 5 days or so before I order more PCBs.
> 
> 
> There is one thing I am pondering about. I currently support tha modem port as well, but I don;t think that's really needed. Instead, I could use two additional pins to wake up the Newton when the USB-C is connected, or to generate sounds. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> This is the shopping list if you want to build one yourself:
> - Xeeed XIAO RP2040
> - Adafruit 5683 MicroSD-Karte BFF
> - Pololu 7.5V Step-Up Voltage Regulator U3V16F7
> - Custom level converter RS422
> - Modified 1/2 connector 1.00MM IEEE 1386 Molex 71439-0964
> - Case
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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