There is 2 reason why I want to do this..
1.) So I can find a way to restore its services and be able to use it like a 
normal phone and maybe more.
2.)I have a Amstrad Emailer Plus(E2) too, Its has the Configuration Change on 
it, if I can back up its Nan then I can share the back up who want to get 
there's working that's deactivated(Locked) and be able to use it like a normal 
phone too.. 😊

I have a go at getting it working tomorrow.

Spanner..

From: Nick Griffin<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎3‎ ‎April‎ ‎2019 ‎20‎:‎52
To: Discussion of the Amstrad E3 emailer 
hardware/software<mailto:[email protected]>

OK, thanks, I was looking at this site.. 
http://www.cambridgewargames.org.uk/members/andy/emailer/<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http://www.cambridgewargames.org.uk/members/andy/emailer/&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308605202&sdata=zDMBbvlEKuNMEGdkRXFdUSmjFj/tSiXcoAokoZGATkw%3D&reserved=0>

It says on here 3.3v device so was guessing it would work but I don’t 
understand the inverting the TX Line, would I need to do that with this..? I 
was reding this…

”Amstrad emailer E3 serial port (18/01/06)

A fair bit of confusion exists on the serial port of the E3 with some sources 
saying a line driver chip is needed, and other saying one is not needed, to 
connect this to a PC.

I've spent a bit of time looking at this and can now offer some explanation. A 
normal RS232 port will transmit a digital 1 as a negative voltage, usually at 
least -5V. A 0 is transmitted as a positive voltage, typically at least +5V. 
The emailer does not do this. Using a rather old poorly calibrated scope it 
appears to actually transmits either 0V or +5V.

Now some serial ports will probably accept this, but a 0V input is not a 
logical anything as far as the RS232 spec is concerned. So your PC, like mine, 
may ignore this. The fact that this works for some peoples PCs implies it is 
transmitting a logical 1 as 0v and a logical 0 as +5V.

A typical RS232 line driver expects a logical 0 to be 0v and a logical 1 to be 
+5v (or +3.3V if using a 3.3v device). So you end up with an inverted RS232 
data and like me and see horrible gibberish on hyperterminal

Now, to get a boot log you need to invert the TX signal from the E3 (I used a 
74HC04) then pass this to a line driver chip. The only line driver chip I had 
to hand was a MAX3233E, which is a 3.3 volt part. For this reason I ran both 
chips from 3.3V and placed a 100ohm resistor between the E3's TX pin nad the 
input to the inverter. Some logic families get very upset if you exceed the 
supply voltage on an input by more than about 0.6v... The series resistor 
limits the current and is a paranoia measure, quicker than looking up the 
datasheet :-) Anyway, it was a horrible quick bodge but it worked.

Here is the output captured from hyperterminal 
boot.txt<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http://www.cambridgewargames.org.uk/members/andy/emailer/boot.txt&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308625218&sdata=OUBqGj0EApDvIHRdhvvmZg35n7k6/Dr9tadAv5z%2BzGc%3D&reserved=0>
 settings were 115,200 8n1 no handshaking.

I'll try and post up a diagram of something better in the next few days. I've 
also built something for the reverse direction but havent had a chance to work 
out if its working yet....”


I do have one made by FTDI too a FTDI FT232RL FT232 USB to TTL 5v 3.3v serial 
adaptor that has 3.3 v and 5v, it has a jumper to change voltage on RX Line, 
what about that one..? 
https://www.xcluma.com/ftdi-ft232rl-ft232-usb-to-ttl-5v-3.3v-serial-adaptor-for-arduino<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.xcluma.com/ftdi-ft232rl-ft232-usb-to-ttl-5v-3.3v-serial-adaptor-for-arduino&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308635223&sdata=m4ppt5/iAq8M6841kX3u3si/KxGiO5JzCWse1n5xmoU%3D&reserved=0>
There is no info on using one of theses because in 2006 they didn’t exsits.. 😊
They exist now because of Raspberry PI and Arduino, The Amstrad Emailer uses a 
singer board computer inside it, The RPI and Arduino are what has become of the 
technology the Emailer uses. The mini consoles use the technology too.

Spanner..

From: David Given<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎3‎ ‎April‎ ‎2019 ‎19‎:‎57
To: Discussion of the Amstrad E3 emailer 
hardware/software<mailto:[email protected]>

RS232 is actually +/- 12V! My recollection is that the E3 runs at 0V/5V (I 
described it as TTL back in 2003). A 3.3V serial converter might work, I 
couldn't say.
On Wed, 3 Apr 2019 at 20:52 Nick Griffin 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On your site..
“In order to talk to the E2, you need the appropriate cable. Irritatingly, 
while the E2 has a serial port, it runs at TTL line levels not RS232 levels. 
This means that if you're going to connect it to a PC, you need a line level 
converter”

So I can use a CPC 2102 USB to TTL serial converter because its a line level 
converter… 😊 and its RX line is 3.3 volt, this can’t take 5 volts because it 
could blow the UART0…?

Spanner..

From: David Given<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎3‎ ‎April‎ ‎2019 ‎18‎:‎52
To: Discussion of the Amstrad E3 emailer 
hardware/software<mailto:[email protected]>

I've got a tool which speaks the PBL protocol and will let you read and write 
the flash: 
http://cowlark.com/amstrad/<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http://cowlark.com/amstrad/&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308645228&sdata=N6frWE0wYMl19JThGTV17ul8SQlXYtAXFbGXUwOYfkg%3D&reserved=0>

It's also got details of the serial pinout.

On Wed, 3 Apr 2019 at 19:07 Nick Griffin 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
As far as I know when you connect this to serial you don’t get a console, like 
if you connect TheC64 Mini to Putty using a CPC 2102 USB to TTL serial 
convertor, you can log on with your root user and password so you can add 
files, change games and edit files and that ,TheC64 Mini uses Uboot to boot up 
with not PBL so it must be the PBL that's stopping the console coming up so if 
we could hack the PBL (Primary Boot Loader) and keep the firmware on the NAND 
so its still boots up with Amstrad E3 logo and that, we need to see the system 
files and see what can be changed. PBL is on the NOR Flash and the Kernel and 
System is on the NAND Flash. I don’t know anything about PBL so we need someone 
who 
does.it<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http://does.it&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308655245&sdata=8UZdLqM5pNVmuKUId0Z6DfzP%2BfN8nRfg4Bldo1cYYP0%3D&reserved=0>
 all most works the same as TheC64 Mini,(Its a small Commodore 64, Mini 
Console, its here.. 
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/THEC64Mini<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/THEC64Mini&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308665244&sdata=jDpZ%2BY8H9VejOHHIyT6bgRDRgoqh0HKMYultFQdX6%2BU%3D&reserved=0>)
  The mini has 2 partitions, One for Uboot and other for the Kernel and System. 
but only has one chip, NAND Flash, its made by Toshiba too.. 😊. Amstrad E3 has 
2 chips NOR and NAND Flash. and is using a different Boot loader.

Oh.. Can I use my CPC 2102 USB to TTL serial converter to connect to the serial 
on the E3..? this is a pic of it here.. 
https://sc02.alicdn.com/kf/HTB11eb9PFXXXXcLaXXXq6xXFXXXd/CP2102-USB-2-0-to-TTL-UART.jpg_350x350.jpg<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://sc02.alicdn.com/kf/HTB11eb9PFXXXXcLaXXXq6xXFXXXd/CP2102-USB-2-0-to-TTL-UART.jpg_350x350.jpg&data=02%7c01%7c%7cc50113d7016041be38d508d6b86ddbf5%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c636899179308675255&sdata=jgPvSV2Dt5JyFTBhUCKufS2xOPxdlwNSriXHkTnmgQ4%3D&reserved=0>
 I have used it on my TheC64 Mini and my Gotek Drive.

Spanner..
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