Radius Rocket card

[crazyben]

When I lunch the disk in the rocket card all I get is blank screen. I tried few different disk image same issue. Rocket has 8 mb of non parity simms. Any idea what is going on here?

 

[eharmon]

I had the same problem for awhile. Sadly I can't remember exactly how I fixed it but it involved discarding the guest disk a few times and disabling some extensions on the host. I think it's some extension conflict with the AppleTalk magic the Rocket does to bridge disks.

 

[Mk.558]

That's a fair take.

Any reason why you're using 7.1 Pro? Try using one of the more established RocketShare systems, i.e. 7.0.1, 7.1, 7.5. Start with a basic 7.0.1 system, no extras, and then try RS alone.

 

[crazyben]

That was the only 7.1 image available at that time. I installed the regular 7.1 version, and it’s doing the same thing.

I can try on 7.0.1

 

[Mk.558]

How does it work in RocketWare mode?

 

[crazyben]

What do I do in Rocketware mode?

 

[Mk.558]

See if it works? MacBench it, see if it sweats.

 

[crazyben]

I have Norton and it is showing the CPU as 68040@25mhz.

When I ran the benchmarking test it should system almost same as the q700.

 

[crazyben]

I’m following up on this. If you have a working HDD image with the Rocket card, would you be open to sharing it with me?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Not sure at all, still waking up, but ISTR RocketShare requiring more than the 8MB of RocketWare?

edit: dug out the manual, minimum requirement for RocketShare is only 8MB on the Rocket/4MB for host.

 

[crazyben]

I did upgrade to 32mb on Rocket. Still same thing.

 

[MJ313]

Have you made any progress with RocketShare?
What version did you install?

Did you ever get to a desktop in RocketShare? Or did it always gray screen?

If you've made no progress and it's still gray-screening -
Verify your RAM speed. Since it looks like you have 4MB x 8, make sure they all are the same speed. Faster = Better. Next, throw out the RocketShare preferences (in System Folder -> Preferences) and try to launch RocketShare again.

 

[KennyPowers]

When I lunch the disk in the rocket card all I get is blank screen. I tried few different disk image same issue. Rocket has 8 mb of non parity simms. Any idea what is going on here?

Are you using a NuBus video card in the host system? If so, which one?

 

[crazyben]

Have you made any progress with RocketShare?
What version did you install?

Did you ever get to a desktop in RocketShare? Or did it always gray screen?

If you've made no progress and it's still gray-screening -
Verify your RAM speed. Since it looks like you have 4MB x 8, make sure they all are the same speed. Faster = Better. Next, throw out the RocketShare preferences (in System Folder -> Preferences) and try to launch RocketShare again.

No progress. I installed version 1.5 on system 7. RAM speed are all same 70ns. I will try throwing out and relaunching and keep you posted.

 

[crazyben]

Are you using a NuBus video card in the host system? If so, which one?

No video card. I am using the built in video port.

 

[Mk.558]

You'll find that performance with a Rocket is subpar with built-in video. 8MB on the Rocket itself is ... meh.

In your defense though, finding a decent video card these days is not easy. One, they're obscenely expensive, and two, most of them are not accelerated. The Rocket however, can accelerate Radius video cards. Three, most of them don't support larger than 640x480 or there abouts unless they're the expensive kinds. Fortunately, the Mac OS works perfectly fine on 640x480, but 800x600 would be nice from time to time...

 

[KennyPowers]

I asked about the video card because the Rocket has known compatibility issues with certain cards, especially some RasterOps cards. I had similar issues when pairing a Rocket with a RasterOps Paintboard Prism GT in a IIci (though a Stage 2 Rocket had no problems). I was going to suggest that @crazyben try the onboard video if it wasn't already being used, but it is.

 

[Mk.558]

I have a RasterOps display card. No problems. However you've got a good point. Compatibility and the Rocket are a rough pair.

 

[KennyPowers]

I have a RasterOps display card. No problems. However you've got a good point. Compatibility and the Rocket are a rough pair.

Ya, it's not all of them and sounds like some of the issues may have eventually been worked out: https://lowendmac.com/1991/radius-rocket-review/

I was having issues similar to OP until I removed the RasterOps card and used the onboard video and it immediately worked reliably. Again, a Stage 2 Rocket worked flawlessly with the RasterOps card, so some kinks had obviously been worked out by the time that was released. I've since replaced the RasterOps card with a similarly-capable Radius card.

 

[crazyben]

Have you made any progress with RocketShare?
What version did you install?

Did you ever get to a desktop in RocketShare? Or did it always gray screen?

If you've made no progress and it's still gray-screening -
Verify your RAM speed. Since it looks like you have 4MB x 8, make sure they all are the same speed. Faster = Better. Next, throw out the RocketShare preferences (in System Folder -> Preferences) and try to launch RocketShare again.

I remove rockershare preferences and rebooted the iici. Still same thing.