Eckhart Köppen has come through once again for the Newton community with a patch for the 2010 bug.
Köppen released Patch 71J059, a patch for the bug that had Newton users dreading New Year’s Eve (this year and next). This incredible piece of DIY engineering helps extend the life of our MessagePads. And the download-and-install procedure is very simple and straightforward.
While the patch is for MP2100s only, Köppen says, “German and eMate versions are still in the making.”
Earlier this year, many Newton users were affected when a previous 2010 solution went haywire. Since then, Köppen has been working on a solution to both the 2010Fix problem and the 2010 Newton bug.
The 2010 bug only affected Newton OS 2.1 devices, meaning MP100-120 users are safe.
Newton users sang the praises of Köppen’s Patch 71J059 after making the announcement. Köppen is careful to point out, however, that installing the patch is not a risk-free project:
NOTE: THIS PATCH IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY. DUE TO THE COMPLEX NATURE OF SYSTEM PATCHES, FAILURE TO INSTALL PROPERLY MAY RENDER THE NEWTON UNUSABLE, RECOVERY REQUIRES A TEMPORARY ROM BOARD SWAP, AND WILL RESULT IN THE LOSS OF ALL DATA ON THE NEWTON!
But this means that the year 2010 can come and go, and Newton users can still carry their MessagePads with pride (and without resorting to a clumsy solution, like setting the Newton’s date and time to some year in the past).
The project speaks to the resilience of the Newton community (err, cult). With no help from Apple, but tons of help from Newton users, Köppen and others have shown what a dedicated group of hard-core enthusiasts can do.
[…] Make fun of Apple’s Newton MessagePad all you want, but the proto-PDA introduced by Apple in the late 90s managed to gather some rather tenacious followers. Current users of the then-revolutionary, now-exceedingly-bulky personal digital assistants were afraid that a date handling bug would render the devices useless beginning early next year. However, fear no more: a developer has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. […]
Posted by Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted | Supossably on June 29th, 2009.
[…] Make fun of Apple’s Newton MessagePad all you want, but the proto-PDA introduced by Apple in the early 90s managed to gather some rather tenacious followers. Current users of the then-revolutionary, now-exceedingly-bulky personal digital assistants were afraid that a date handling bug would render the devices useless beginning early next year. However, fear no more: a developer has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. […]
Posted by Tech Whiz Underground » Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted on June 29th, 2009.
[…] Make fun of Apple’s Newton MessagePad all you want, but the proto-PDA introduced by Apple in the early 90s managed to gather some rather tenacious followers. Current users of the then-revolutionary, now-exceedingly-bulky personal digital assistants were afraid that a date handling bug would render the devices useless beginning early next year. However, fear no more: a developer has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. […]
Posted by Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted | Wilsonbroadcast on June 29th, 2009.
[…] Make fun of Apple’s Newton MessagePad all you want, but the proto-PDA introduced by Apple in the early 90s managed to gather some rather tenacious followers. Current users of the then-revolutionary, now-exceedingly-bulky personal digital assistants were afraid that a date handling bug would render the devices useless beginning early next year. However, fear no more: a developer has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. […]
Posted by Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted | Techdare on June 30th, 2009.
[…] Make fun of Apple’s Newton MessagePad all you want, but the proto-PDA introduced by Apple in the early 90s managed to gather some rather tenacious followers. Current users of the then-revolutionary, now-exceedingly-bulky personal digital assistants were afraid that a date handling bug would render the devices useless beginning early next year. However, fear no more: a developer has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. […]
Posted by Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted | mowbee.com on June 30th, 2009.
Hey this is great news. Good work!
Posted by Doctor Clu on June 30th, 2009.
[…] has come to the rescue with a patch for the Newton’s OS that lets the device handle dates in 2010 and beyond. via […]
Posted by Impending Newton Y2K10 apocalypse narrowly averted - Ars Technica | Technovia on July 4th, 2009.
[…] entire Newton community appreciates Köppen’s work on this. Thanks to him, and all the volunteers who test the patches, our Newtons will keep running for the […]
Posted by Newton Poetry — Y2010 bug patched on eMates, German MP2100s on July 27th, 2009.
[…] New York Times’s Tech Talk podcast talked with Newton savior and Y2010 bug squasher Eckhart Köppen on avoiding Newtpocalypse, how the Newton stays relevant, […]
Posted by Newton Poetry — Eckhart Köppen talks Newton with NY Times on August 20th, 2009.
[…] – Oliver Leaman, sharing his 2010 patch experiences with NewtonTalk. Learn more about the Newtpocalypse, and how it was avoided. […]
Posted by Newton Poetry — Newton quote of the week: like clockwork on October 20th, 2009.
[…] “Y2008″ bug hit back in January, soon after Newtpocalypse was averted. This issue hasn’t made Newtons unusable, but it put the brakes on the overall Y2010 […]
Posted by Newton Poetry — No bumper needed: Newton Y2008 bug fixed on July 19th, 2010.
OK, there’s a patch for the 2010 YR issue. I have been out of the newton MP2100 loop for quite some time. I have a Powerbook G4, how do I get this patch to my MP? Please advise.
Posted by Justin McLitus on July 21st, 2010.
Start here: http://newtonpoetry.com/2009/08/10/installing-y2010-patch-73j186-on-an-emate/
I’ve got a bunch of other how-tos on installing packages around the site. Search away!
Posted by davelawrence8 on July 21st, 2010.
I have a MessagePad 120 that seems to have a date problem. I try to set it to today’s date (in 2018) and it drops back to 1984. Is there a patch for this machine, also?
— Scott
Posted by B. Scott Andersen on October 30th, 2018.