Re: [NTLK] More than one serial port

From: Humphreys, David (david.humphreys_at_honeywell.com)
Date: Fri Aug 27 2004 - 12:41:29 PDT


 
> Till wrote:
>
> > Am 27. Aug 2004 um 18:02 Uhr schrieb James Elliott:
> >
> >
> >>Is there any way to add another serial port to the 2100? I've an
> >>SER-001, but I want to log into my ethernet hub via serial and use
> >>the keyboard at the same time.
>
> I thought you could use both the SER-001 and the Newton Interconnect
> Port at the same time? Of course providing both ports work.
>
> -Dan
[To which I say:]

No. You can't. (officially)

The SER-001 is a duplicate of the existing serial port. While it has its'
own driver chip, it gets its' input from the very same port that is
presented to the interconnect port.

The fact that it has its' own driver means that two similar devices could be
plugged in at the same time and sort of work.

I have connected two keyboards at the same time and it did work. But this is
because the Newton was expecting to see a keyboard and the correct signals
were ultimately presented to it. It had no knowledge of how they got there.

I cannot say that you will be as successful connecting two different
devices. Quite apart from timing issues, data collisions are bound to happen
and the Newton can only respond to one input at a time. (Without writing
suitable software).

Bottom line - It won't work successfully.

It won't hurt anything to try though.

PCBman

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