[NTLK] How to connect 220Mhz Mp2x00 to a PC serial port

From: Calvin Grier (cgrier_at_ix.netcom.com)
Date: Tue May 06 2003 - 07:56:55 PDT


I was able to confirm that NCU will recognize and use a plug-and-play PCI
serial card. Now I just need to ifnd time to modify the card for 52070 baud,
or maybe even 78105 baud would be possible?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Calvin Grier" <cgrier_at_ix.netcom.com>
To: <newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 11:01 AM
Subject: [NTLK] Serial port Speed Boost (Implant) solution (for PCI bus)

> I have not tried this yet, but I ran across in interesting web page today
that I thought I'd share.
> http://www.ieci.com.au/information/article.asp?Article_ID=294
>
> Since anyone can buy an inexpensive PCI card these days that will add
seial ports to a PC, I thought it might be fun to try and "match" the serial
rate that is present on MP2x00 units running at 219Mhz (220Mhz PIXsolution
Implant 2000). If we can swap out the crystal on the Newton, we should be
able to do the same trick to get a nonstandard baud rate on the PC/Mac that
makes up for the difference between 3.6864 and the 5 Mhz Newton crystal.
>
> It should be possible to take a PCI serial card with a 16550 chip or an
OxSemi serial chip (www.oxsemi.com) and change the crystal to match the
speed boot we have all liked so much in our Newtons. It would not impact
other serial ports in the PC. (I'm assuming that NCU and other utilities
would be able to see the new COM ports.) After the new PCI card was
installed, you could use the 38400 or 57600 setting in Sloup, Revlar,
EETransfer, or NCU with no problem.
>
> I won't have time to look into this for several months, and thought that
someone with a boosted MP2x00 would want to try it out. Maybe someone with a
little time on their hands could modify standard PCI serial cards and offer
them to Newton owners for a fee.
>
> Comments?
>
> --Calvin
>
> --
> This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
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> Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
>

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
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