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

[Forrest]

Matthias,

You continue to amaze me with your technical prowess. It would take me several lifetimes to create what you have done here. 

In what seems like something as simple for you as most people getting up off the sofa, you continue to create and inspire.

Maybe in the next life you can teach me a few things. At my age, probably way too late now.

Mahalo,
Forrest

Sent from my T-Mobile iPhone 15 Pro

> On Mar 26, 2025, at 12:21 AM, Rob Moody - Fundamental Learning <robmoody at fundamental-learning.com> wrote:
> 
> To Matthias (and all you other tech-savvy peeps here),
> 
> Never ceases to amaze me how you guys turn these ideas into actual working devices!
> 
> Brilliant! Pencil me into the queue!
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On 25 Mar 2025, at 22:52, Matthias Melcher <m.melcher at robowerk.de> 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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> 
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