Thread

USB Serial Adapters

USB Serial Adapters Software 18 posts May 16, 2007 — Jun 7, 2007

#1 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 04:01

Hi All,

In my ongoing mission to get my Newton 2100 talking to my PowerBook G4 (running 10.4 no Classic), I purchased a second-hand Belkin USB Serial Adapter (F5U114-MAC). It is the one with two DIN-8 ports. Now it appears Belkin have 8.6 and 9.x drivers, does anyone know if they have OS X drivers?

Cheers [

] ]'>

#2 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 04:12

No idea. But if you go to the System Profiler and look for the USB device it should tell you what the chipset is (alas, a company like Belkin probably had the vendor and product ID written with their own data). Then you search for a third party drive.

At least that is how I managed to get drivers for my no-name unit.

#3 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 04:48

After some further investigation, it looks like it is only supported on OS X under Classic mode. Guess I will have to install a Classic environment...

#4 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 08:14

I think that the iogear USB->serial adapter works under x in native mode

#5 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 09:20

On NewtonTalk consensus seemed to be that the Keyspan one works.

#6 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 12:36

out of curiosity wat are u gonna do for comm software under os x?

#7 Wed, 16 May 2007 - 12:58

3rd party Newton Sync utilities have been made for Mac OS X. (if that's what you mean, gobabushka)

#8 Thu, 17 May 2007 - 03:25

Check out http://www.pure-mac.com/handhelds.html for a few options for comm software.

Cheers [

] ]'>

#9 Thu, 17 May 2007 - 04:52

Have you considered using ethernet instead of USB->serial adapter?

#10 Thu, 17 May 2007 - 05:16

I have considered Ethernet but I have never been able to get a Newton compatible PCMCIA ethernet card... Would be much easier though.

Cheers [

] ]'>

#11 Thu, 17 May 2007 - 20:43

I have considered Ethernet but I have never been able to get a Newton compatible PCMCIA ethernet card... Would be much easier though.

The 3Com 3C589 is as common as dirt and you should be able to get one on eBay for about £5. In fact all of the Newton-compatible ethernet NICs look pretty commonplace.

#12 Thu, 17 May 2007 - 20:58

It's infuriating how you never have all the bits you need to do something cool like getting a Newton online though - I found one of those 3com cards ages ago (it was in that dead ThinkPad that I got given), but the little dongle for turning the flat connection on it into a normal connection doesn't seem to work, and I also really need a Newt power adapter as the batteries I put in it died pretty quickly, and the backup battery in is dead too! >

I'd probably never be able to work out how to get it online anyway, even if I had all the bits

#13 Thu, 24 May 2007 - 04:11

Bit of an update...

Just secured on eBay a working 3Com 3C589D PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter.

I already have one of these (with a busted up dongle) and this one comes with 2 working dongles so with any luck I will end up with 2 working setups.

According to this page these cards should work with my Newton 2100. Does anyone else have specific experience with this card on a Newton? Will it work on a 120 (OS 2.0) or am I being a tad optimistic?

Cheers [

] ]'>

#14 Thu, 24 May 2007 - 05:54

Work for what?

Web browsers might 'work', but I doubt they'd be pleasant...

#15 Thu, 24 May 2007 - 06:00

Work for what?
Web browsers might 'work', but I doubt they'd be pleasant...

Mainly for installing software onto the Newton from my PowerBook G4 running 10.4.

#16 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 - 02:24

Hi All,
In my ongoing mission to get my Newton 2100 talking to my PowerBook G4 (running 10.4 no Classic), I purchased a second-hand Belkin USB Serial Adapter (F5U114-MAC). It is the one with two DIN-8 ports. Now it appears Belkin have 8.6 and 9.x drivers, does anyone know if they have OS X drivers?

Cheers [] ]'>

I can definitively tell you that the Belkin adapter does not have any OS X drivers...I shelled out the $$$ before OSX for one, and I was fairly upset when they never supported it. I later shelled out the bucks for a Keyspan adapter, and their support has been very good.

#17 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 - 10:06

Ever consider wireless? 802.11b cards are dirt cheap too nowadays, and there are drivers

Work for what?Web browsers might 'work', but I doubt they'd be pleasant...

There's always StarTTY. Or use a terminal emulator and go straight into the OS X command line from your Newt. Or into lynx.

#18 Thu, 7 Jun 2007 - 21:40

i have only just been thinking about such things..

so if these things need drivers, then any chance of getting one of these serial adapters to work on a ibook running linux is pretty much not going to happen then?

hmm.. shame..