Recently I see a lot of posts about good cables/adapters to connect Newtons with NCX on new MacOS (10.13, 10.14). So, I wish to share my experience and (I believe) simple solution.
Most of old USB to RS422 adapters have problems to work with modern MacOS. Usually there is a problem with drivers or adapters freeze etc. But some time ago I’ve found good cable with FTDI chipset, which DO NOT need any drivers for MacOS 10.11 and newer. This cable is made by UGREEN and have really good quality:
This cable is USB to RS232 converter, so to connect Newton with your computer you need RS232 to RS422 cable to. But this second one is a standard cable to connect Newton with RS232 (Windows standard). Most of the Newton users should have that cable. If not, you need to buy it or make it on your own (very simple pin connection – will prepare info in separate post soon).
Then you need NCX app, which you can download from here: https://newtonresearch.org/connection/ After installation and connecting the UGREEN cable to your MacOS, you will see separate port in NCX app settings. You can connect your Newton with modern Mac now.
UPDATE: Sometimes NCX do not respond after closing connection with Newton. In this case you just need to close app and open it again.
Hi Newton lovers,
I bought this cable after my keyspan became obsolete from updating my mac. I hooked it up to a adaptor cable (rectangle on the ugreen to mini serial plug that fits on the newton devices. Mac osx sees the ugreen cable fine And NCX sees the cable too. But anytime i initiate the dock connection on the Newton after a few seconds I get a message that is timed out and I need to check the cable
What on earth am I doing wrong?
Only thing I can come up with is that the adaptor cable is missing internal wires. So I could cut open the Ugreen cable and directly solder a mini serial plug to it, I might try if no easier solution arises and if I can find out how the wiring is configurated.
Any solutions are ever so welcome.
Hi Rufus, are you sure that you use RS232 to Newton Serial cable? I’m using the same cable and everything is fine.
The second thing is: Are you sure you use Dock, but not Classroom Dock? If you press Dock button od the keyboard, you will see Classroom Dock instead of Dock. They look the same (except title). Classroom Dock will not work. You need to use normal Dock, which you can find in Extras.
Hi:
I’m having the same problem that Rufus was having. I got UGREEN cable and a connecting it to an 8-pin mini-DIN cable I bought from Amazon. It connects using NCX, but times out sporadically when loading packages from the Mac to the eMate.
Rufus, did you ever find out what the problem was?
Thanks,
Eric
Hi Eric,
What model of Mac do you want to use with your Newton? I’m asking because I just discovered that some of the MacBook (white) is not working properly with this cable. This is a computer problem – not a cable problem. I’m not sure, but probably in this MacBook Apple used different USB controllers, and because of this I have the same situation. I can start a connection, but can not connect with Newton.
I will try to investigate the reason for this but at this moment no luck.
I will be trying this cable and an adaptor to change from DB9 to Mini din 8 this week sometime. I’ll report back how it works for me.
Sorry for the late reply. I tried the dock in Extras with the same result.
So I ended up hooking the eMate up to my color classic and that works just fine with the serial cable
Hi Rufus, please read my answer for Eric (above).