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

[Doctor Clu]

Sounds like a great addition.  Love the NCX emulation idea for a storage 
device.

Doc Clu


On 3/25/25 5:50 PM, Matthias Melcher wrote:
> Replying to myself in case someone is interested in the process:
>
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_interconnect_breakout/blob/master/IMG_5861.jpg
>
> shows the USB-C module with a Raspberry Pi Nano. The connector in the back plugs into the Interconnect Port. The Pico translates the serial port input into a data stream for the Newton. It mostly just forward data, but also throttles the stream, so the Newton will not hickup and stall.
>
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_interconnect_breakout/blob/master/IMG_5862.jpg
>
> is the same module from the back
>
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_interconnect_breakout/blob/master/IMG_5863.jpg
>
> on this custom PCB, the differential serial port signal from the Newton gets converted to the 3.3V signal on the Pico and back. It also has a tiny diode that ensures that the module can either use 5V from the USB-C port or 5V from the switched Interconnect Port.
>
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_interconnect_breakout/blob/master/IMG_5860.jpg
>
> Here we have the Micro SD Card interface on the bottom of the module. This software still needs to be written: if the PC on the USB-C end does not start NCU, the dongle jumps in instead and pretends to be an NCU client, giving access to the SD Card. The user can then browse packages, make backups, and restore them. Maybe there are additional ideas?
>
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_interconnect_breakout/blob/master/IMG_5864.jpg
>
> This last picture shows my test setup with the PCB that I showed in the previous EMail at the top. So top to bottom we have the MP2x00, the breakout board, a tiny DC-DC converter that converts the 5V from the USB-C to 7.5V for the Newton, the Micro SD Adapter, and a big Pico board including a debugger connection to the left.
>
> Anyway, I hope I will have the time to wrap this up hardware wise in a week or two. The new Xiao boards are ordered for testing.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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