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Radius PrecisionColor Pro 24x

pb3623

Well-known member
Hi,

I am troubleshooting issues with a Radius PC 24x that I recently acquired (model #632-0187-03 Rev. B).

So basically this card boots up fine but to default resolution and bit depth (B&W) - but the minute I change either of them (even to gray), the entire screen freaks out and I'm left with a scrambled gray mess. At this point I am unable to reboot the machine (both a IIci and Q700), as I get no chime (but it does power-cycle) and the only way to recover is the take out the PRAM battery, unplug and let sit for about 30s to 1m. Even then, it will only boot correctly (even with the card removed) ONE time only, after which I have to repeat this process.

I was able to determine the PRAM is actually getting corrupted when this happens, and pulling the battery and letting it sit may clear it but it's still jumbled somehow - I took the "one boot only" finding seriously as I booted, connected to my SE/30 via AppleTalk and pulled over TechTool to zap the PRAM - and that did the trick!

I then physically looked over the card, which I suspect is bad, but don't know in which way. I noticed that of all the tiny caps on the back of the card, C28 is missing - you'll see just the pads. Was this a live cap? Did it break off at some point? I don't know - but a similar card on eBay has the same missing C28.

What I'm trying to figure out is, could this be the cause of my problems or is it something like like the v2.0 ROM that needs to be updated or replaced? No obvious damage to the card itself.

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rickrob

Well-known member
Are you using the Radius software for the card?  (Radiusware )  What version?

I can't say for sure, but I don't think C28 was ever there, based on the way the solder looks on the pads.

 

pb3623

Well-known member
Are you using the Radius software for the card?  (Radiusware )  What version?

I can't say for sure, but I don't think C28 was ever there, based on the way the solder looks on the pads.


No on the Q700, yes on the IIci but other threads have pointed out (if I'm explaining right) that the "base ROM" of the card allowed for basic (non-accelerated, 1-page, no pivot, etc) functionality and communicate to the OS what its capabilities are... resolution- and depth-wise. It's a shame if it is a bad card because it looks to be one of the higher-end NuBus graphics cards (for straight graphics, no DSP or niche uses like Photoshop, JPEG compression, etc)... I have 2 MB VRAM on the 700 so no real loss there but looks like my IIci is stuck at 640x480 at present.  

 

rickrob

Well-known member
Yes, it was a higher end card. I think this card and the Apple Display card 24AC are almost the same.

What OS versions are you running on?

 

pb3623

Well-known member
IIci: 7.6.1 and 8.1

This machine has a DayStar Turbo 040 but I have the problem running the stock '030.

I also have A/UX 3.1 on this but don't have the balls to tempt fate and try this card in A/UX since I only recently got things stable.

Q700: 7.5.5, just updated to 7.6.1 last night. I can install Radiusware and try again, now that I know how to fix whatever is happening (TechTool PRAM zap)

 

rickrob

Well-known member
Yeah, I would stay out of A/UX... for now

I have a Turbo 040 in my IIic, I run 7.1 though. I have a Supermac Spectrum 24/III in mine.

I almost bought a Precision Color 24x, but the Spec 24/III an 7.1 is rock solid.

Maybe try 7.1? -- I don't know what OS version the Radius card supported.

Gamba's Display matrix page has a link to RadiusWare 3.3  Not sure what version you are running.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/vid-mon-matrix.html

http://www.kan.org/download/drivers.sit.hqx

 

pb3623

Well-known member
I think I have 3.2.5 (since it appeared to be specifically for NuBus cards) but I'll take another look and even boot from my 7.1 MacPartition to test it out.

I'll also dig out another VGA adapter (currently using an ADB/HD15 KVM switch) since this thread suggests the refresh rate might be getting thrown off (doesn't explain the lingering effects to PRAM when you unplug it, though).

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

rickrob

Well-known member
Low End Mac has a page on this card.  I knew I read about it being the same as a 24AC card somewhere.

Says the card runs up to 9.1 with ROM 2.0

http://lowendmac.com/video/radius24x.shtml

They mentioned using SwitchRes to change resolutions above 8.6  Maybe find that and give it try?

Dynamic Desktop crashes the Mac OS at startup when installed on Mac OS 8.6 or higher. SwitchRes (shareware) works to change resolutions instead.

 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
C28 isn't an issue, it's unimplemented the one I just checked..

If you're running any version of RadiusWare just stop. My gaggle of Apple and Radius versions of that card run just fine (favoritest VidCard ever, discounting the relatively recent Thunder IV/GX 1600 acquisition) off the DeclROM's built in drivers and Apple's Monitors Control Panel.

Sounds like a corrupted driver, a ROM gone bad or both.

Clean OS install for any Mac, cross two fingers, run the card all on its ownsome in that config and call me in the morning if the symptoms don't clear up. [;)]

 

pb3623

Well-known member
C28 isn't an issue, it's unimplemented the one I just checked..

If you're running any version of RadiusWare just stop. My gaggle of Apple and Radius versions of that card run just fine (favoritest VidCard ever, discounting the relatively recent Thunder IV/GX 1600 acquisition) off the DeclROM's built in drivers and Apple's Monitors Control Panel.

Sounds like a corrupted driver, a ROM gone bad or both.

Clean OS install for any Mac, cross two fingers, run the card all on its ownsome in that config and call me in the morning if the symptoms don't clear up. [;)]


I've been up all night the last three nights trying to work through this...

For me, when I fix one machine, one goes down so I guess I was due.

I'm getting a sad Mac + 0000000F/00000033 with every single combination - video, no video - VRAM, no VRAM - w/ and w/o the 601 card, etc... zapping PRAM has no effect and I can't get to Finder to launch TechTool and completely (low-level) zap it. I even unplugged my SCSI2SD (putting an internal terminator on per a note on LEM). 

Strangely, the sad Mac & chime only occur if I plug into onboard video (which worked fine before all of this happened) - if I insert AND connect to the above Radius card or a Thunder/24 I pulled from another machine, it just sits on a gray screen (in the case of the former, with the Radius logo in the corner) but literally will sit there until I turn it off.

This machine was working flawlessly up until Tuesday night. There are no caps to leak and the battery is good. What do I check from this point?

 
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pb3623

Well-known member
So here's the latest and I still think it's either the system clock or ADB-related junk. 

After playing around with various card combinations (to try and wake the system up in the event slot manager is looking to address a card that it thinks is there but isn't), I can somewhat-reliably get to a boot screen and boot from both SCSI2SD and a spare Seagate Barracuda. The problem is, I have no working mouse; rather, keyboard on ADB is fine and I have a pointer but it's stuck in the upper-left corner (but I can click! too bad it's only the Apple menu). I can't navigate my drives to find & open TechTool to fully zap my PRAM, much less use TT. I've used a KVM as well as both ports. The mouse works on other machines.

I just found I can enable Mouse Keys (I think it was called Keypad Mouse back then) to bypass the mouse and I'll see if that works.

I have a Snooper card - a poor man's TechStep - but I don't know how to use it. Curiously, though, the Clock light flashes about 3x/sec when I turn the machine on.

While this (the ability to tempt fate and boot right now) is encouraging but I'll quickly be deflated if I can't actually launch TechTool (and I've left the entire thing unplugged w/ no battery overnight, to no avail)

Any ideas?  

 
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pb3623

Well-known member
I may restart this thread in the Quadra section since this problem has evolved way past the single video card. After a weekend of trying various combinations, I can get the machine to boot using on-board video (640 x 480 x 8 bit) but can only CLICK - not move the mouse - and I've tried this mouse on other machines as well as tried two other mice on it.

 
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