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UnixNPI

a Newton OS package installer for POSIX-compatible systems

UnixNPI is a command-line program which will install Newton OS package files to a Newton OS device connected via a serial port, using the native Dock or Connection tool on the Newton OS device.

This eliminates the need to use classic MacOS or Windows software to install Newton OS packages from a PC, and allows any POSIX-compatible system to install Newton OS packages.

With the help of additional packages installed on the Newton OS device, UnixNPI can take advantage of faster serial port speeds, up to 230,400bps.

Requirements

  • a POSIX-compatible system with a C compiler, standard C library and headers, and (GNU?) make
  • a serial port
  • a Newton OS device connected with a proper serial cable

Compilation

make will build a binary named unixnpi.

See the INSTALL file for more details.

Command arguments

unixnpi [-s speed] [-d device] PkgFiles...

[speed] is in bits per second, and defaults to 38400 (the default connection speed of the Serial connection profile in Newton OS)

[device] is the path to the serial port device, and defaults to /dev/newton.

All other arguments are assumed to be names of Newton OS package files to send to the device.

Usage

  1. Execute unixnpi with the proper arguments. An informational banner will be output, followed by the message Waiting to connect
  2. On the Newton OS device, open the built-in connection tool from the Extras drawer:
  3. For the MessagePad 100, 110, and 120, and 130 (Newton OS 2.0 or less): 1. Open Connection. 2. Choose either Serial (for OS 2.0) or DOS or Windows PC (for OS 1.x) and tap the Connect button.
  4. For the MessagePad 2000, 2100, and eMate 300: 1. Open Dock. 2. Choose Serial and tap the Connect button.
  5. The connection should be established and data transferred to the Newton.

Authors

Originally written by Richard C.I. Li

Maintained by Victor Rehorst [email protected]

Previous maintainer: Chayim I. Kirshen [email protected]

patches by:

History

The original UnixNPI homepage (for historical purposes ONLY) was at http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~clli/unixnpi.html and is archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20121030074828/http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk:80/~clli/unixnpi.html

The original open-source UnixNPI homepage is at http://unixnpi.sf.net

The latest UnixNPI homepage is http://github.com/chuma/unixnpi