Newton Connection Release Notes

This page contains information about the various releases of the Newton Connection for Mac OS X (NCX) software. For information on using the Newton Connection software, please refer to help built into the application.

NCX 3.0.2 (Build 67)

Crash at launch when object store becomes corrupted is fixed.

The preference to set Newton date and time when connecting is respected.

NCX 3.0.1 (Build 66)

Crash when making first backup is fixed.

NCX 3.0 (Build 65)

The UI has been updated for macOS 10.12 (Sierra). In fact, NCX 3.0 now requires macOS Sierra.

The soup entry inspector is now part of the main window; the content view may be split to show the inspector detail. Similarly, the sidebar may be collapsed out of the way if necessary.

The inspector uses Quicklook to display soup entries where NCX knows how to export Newton data. For example, Notepad items appear as text rather than raw NewtonScript.

Under the hood there are numerous improvements, especially to the Newton framework underpinning the NewtonOS environment within NCX.

NCX now works with the Einstein emulator running on the same machine.

NCX 2.3 (Build 60)

The source list is updated during backup. This feature unaccountably disappeared in the previous version.

An error in the simulated internal flash store has been fixed.

Numerous other improvements to the Newton framework have been rolled in.

NCX 2.2 (Build 59)

NCX now requires Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or better. Got to keep up with the times.

64-bit drawing code that caused crashes when exporting drawings has been fixed.

NewtPaint drawings are exported as TIFFs. NewtWorks images in Paper documents are also now exported.

A race hazard when receiving events during auto-docking has been fixed.

Where appropriate, soups now display a Folder column in their table view.

Known Problems

When upgrading from version 2.0.4, you may find the automatic update fails. If so, download NCX 2.2 directly.

If NCX crashes on launch, it may be because its simulated internal flash store has become corrupted. Delete the file at ~/Library/Application Support/Newton/Internal.

NCX 2.1 (Build 58)

The application has been made fully 64-bit. This means:

• It can (and does) use Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) for memory management.
• It requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or better.
• The Newton framework has been updated to use 64-bit refs internally. (But will import and export 32-bit refs to a tethered Newton.)

The UI has been updated to match current guidelines.

There is a File > Dump Newton ROM menu item allowing you to extract your Newton ROM into a file that can be used by the Einstein emulator.

Known Problems

Occasionally, NCX crashes on launch with a memory fault. Relaunching should be successful.

NCX 2.0.4 (Build 54)

Various performance improvements.

NCX 2.0.2 (Build 52)

Crash during backup fixed.

NCX 2.0.1 (Build 49)

Image improvements.

• Notepad items that use the graphPaper extension can now be exported.
• Screenshot images can be dropped onto the Finder to create a TIFF file, as well as dropped into documents as before.

NCX 2.0 (Build 48)

A new look for Newton Connection.

• The Backup Inspector has been rolled into the app so that you can see exactly what’s on your Newton.
• Drag and drop soup entries to import or export them.
• Backups are incremental and synchronise changes you make to the backup when disconnected from the Newton.
• You can now backup and restore Newton OS 1.x devices, as well as install packages.
• However, there is no longer any synchronisation of Names with Mac Address Book. (Apple removed Sync Services in OS X 10.8)

The minimum system requirement is Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). It is compatible with OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).

NCX 1.4 (Build 45)

On Intel Macs, ethernet connection to Einstein has been fixed.

See Matthias Melcher’s Setting up Einstein for Networking for more information.

NCX 1.3 (Build 44)

On Intel Macs, text documents exported from Works no longer appear scrambled.

Works Paper documents containing images are now exported to RTF (But as text only. (The RTF format does not support images in text.)

Repeating events no longer disappear when exported from the Datebook.

Known Problems

On PPC Macs only, NCX may crash during garbage collection.

NCX 1.3 (Build 42)

The serial communications code has been extensively rewritten to maintain a more stable connection.

The biggest addition is Synchronization. Newton Names are synchronized with Address Book using Sync Services.

Other additions include:

• Notepad
  
  • Ink and sketches can be exported into RTFD format.
    
  • Recordings can be exported into AIFC format.
    
  • Because different types of Notepad items can now be exported, each item is saved separately on the desktop in a folder named for its Notepad counterpart.
• Newton Works
  Spreadsheets can be exported into CSV format.
• MAD Max
  MP3 files can be imported.
• Datebook
  import has been fixed so that repeating events show up.
• Backup Inspector
  This Mac OS application shows you what’s inside an NCX backup file, offering you reassurance that NCX has backed up what you expected.

Known Problems

After synchronizing for the first time, NCX may crash. Synchronization should nevertheless be successful.

NCX 1.3 (Build 39)

The application’s use of threads has been restructured.

Known Problems

The Ethernet connection option in the Newton Dock application (provided by the Ethernet.pkg) assumes you have a default NIE link which you must have previously established. If this is not the case, use the TCP/IP option (provided by Dock_TCP-1.2-en.pkg).

An ethernet connection will often fail (with error -4) when browsing files from the Newton device. The workaround - don’t browse files from your Newton device when using an ethernet connection!