• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

Radius Rocket Guide/Troubleshooting Thread

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
Here's an interesting tidbit or two to get Rocket discussions rolling again!

I've got the January 1992 Rocket Compatibility Guide in my hands and it lists several Macs as "incompatible" at time of publication.

Beside each "Incompatible" designation is the caveat: Not presently supported. Future multiprocessing software planned.

Macintosh IIfx

Macintosh IIsi

Macintosh Quadra 700

Macintosh Quadra 900

Radius Rocket 33 - purchase date unknown (gotta find that invoice!)

RocketWare Version 1.3.2 Floppies Copyright 1991

1992 Rocket 33 Pamphlet

System Requirements

Macintosh II, IIx IIcx or IIci with at least 2MB of RAM and a hard disk drive. System 6.0.7, System 7 or later. At least 4MB of RAM for the Rocket 33 (sold separately), Rocket 33 occupies one NuBus slot.

_________________________________________________

RocketWare Version 1.5 Floppies Copyright 1993

Cover letter, March 30, 1993

RocketWare v.1.5 includes:

- Support for System 7.1

- Support for the Macintosh IIfx

- Support for Finder sounds and HyperCard sounds.

- Implementation of the Quadra Floating Point Library.

- Support for AppleTalk Remote Access

- Support for a number of scanners with file sharing enabled.

- Support for Wacom Tablets. The original serial model as well as the ADB Art Z.

- Support for Microsoft File v.2.0 (supported in 030 cache mode only).

- Support for the Logitech Mouse.

- Support for the Aple OneScanner, Apple Color OneScanner and the HP ScanJet II.

- All new RocketWare Control Panel.

For more inform . . . Read Me . . .

Be advised that the system requirements for RocketWare v.1.5 are different from those of the previous versions. Please consult the included Rocket User's Manual and/or QuickStart card for further details . . .

Radius Rocket Quick Start - copyright 2/93

You will Need

- A Macintosh II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, or IIfx (Quadra and Centris require RocketShare software)

- System 7.0.1 or later

- A minimum of 8MB of memory on your Rocket

- A minimum of 4MB of memory on your Macintosh motherboard

________________________________________________________

I hope this clears up a few things.

I'm hoping I can get the dang IIsi to run RocketShare! }:)

I guess I should append the .TXT from the ReadMe files of both versions.

Now if I could just find that blasted bag full of Rocket Manuals and RocketShare Media/Manuals! ::)

 

Bunsen

Admin-Witchfinder-General
The Second Wave expansion / is -not- compatible with NuBus Bus Master cards, so cards like the Radius Rocket don't work in it
Just FTR, Digidesign list the RR as unsupported in their expansion chassis as well, presumably for the same reason. Their own audio/DSP cards used a proprietary high speed bus on a ribbon connector at the top of each card, so I'm guessing they never needed to implement Nubus mastering.

 

IIfx

Well-known member
Hate to necro the sticky, but here goes!

As everyone knows, sound doesn't mix well with the Radius Rocket, at all. I'm trying to get MPEGDec working on my StageII rocket as there is an article on LEM that claims it works, "but requires further testing".

Well, it kind of works. The problem is constant static over top the MP3. I got the great idea of dedicating the AudioMedia II card to the Rocket and having it play sounds through that card. The sound control panel in System 7.1 just crashes on the Rocket if you try to open the "Sound Out" section. The Digidesign extensions load fine and the Rocket can talk to the card, you just can't specify the output.

Any ideas?

 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
Not necro at all, the whole point of this thread was to develop exactly the kind of info you're posting/investigating. Bunsen stickied it to make sure it was a readily available catchall for such.

Baseline establishment seems to be in order. I'd test it on a "Stage I" Rocket under RocketWare versions and then RocketShare flavors to pin down where its borked, might get a bit better and where it gets whacked again in your progression.

Can you set sound output parameters for mobo/soundcard with the Rocket pulled and then have it work under those settings after reinstalling it?

 

IIfx

Well-known member
Rocket & Sound - MPEGDec Test Series

Baseline 1: IIfx Host

System 7.1.1 Pro, 80mb RAM

MPEGDec works at low settings but ties up the whole system. Making user input can cause lockup. Works as intended.

Baseline II: IIfx with Audiomedia II output

System 7.1.1 Pro, 80mb RAM

Playback at higher quality is possible but random stretching is introduced to the audio. System is responsive as sound IO is offloaded to the card. Not usable. CPU cannot feed Audiomedia II enough data.

Test 1:

Rocket StageII 40mhz, RocketShare v1.3.1, Rocket OS System 7.1, Host OS System 7.1.1 Pro,

MPEGDec runs and plays MP3's through the IIfx motherboard audio although with random static noise inserted every other second, unusable. Attempt to assign Audiomedia II card directly to the Rocket was successful but the Sound control panel is inoperative. Attempting to list available sound outputs results in a Finder crash with or without the Audiomedia II assigned. RocketShare 1.3.1 bug? Works but not usable.

Test 2:

Rocket StageII 40mhz, RocketShare v1.3.1, Rocket OS System 7.1, Host OS System 7.1.1 Pro, AudioMedia II Host Audio

Same as above config, but with the host OS routing all audio to the AudioMedia II card. Sound control panel on the Rocket is unusable, any action causes an unimplemented trap. MPEGDec plays for around 4 seconds with static and then hangs. Inoperative.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

joethezombie

Well-known member
Awesome!  Thanks so much for posting that @omidimo!  Gotta say, I love that MacII with a turtle on the screen strapped to the rocket-- that thing's going for a ride!  And, this will be very useful.  :wink:

Does anyone have a lead on what stickers may have come with a Rocket?  I found one example I plan on recreating, but was curious if any other styles were included:

rad_rock.jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:

joethezombie

Well-known member
Darn, that link gives me an error saying my account can’t access that content.  I did remember you’d made a bunch of cool badges, and I looked for that thread for an absurdly long time.  I guess it’s one of the ones taken by the forum software upgrade.   :sadmac:

 

joethezombie

Well-known member
Awesome!  Thanks so much olePigeon.  These are really very well done.  Bravo!

 
Last edited by a moderator:

pb3623

Well-known member
Awesome!  Thanks so much olePigeon.  These are really very well done.  Bravo!


Echoed. Would like to see examples of label placement, especially with a DayStar 040 or PPC 601 installed (even the Floppy Emu - great touch!). Whichever machine I decide to put my Stage II into later today will look like a NASCAR Chevy :)

I've only placed one decal on a machine and it was a Sonnet G3 that went into my 7300/180. And I put that one directly to the right of the Power Macintosh badge. I may just place these with clear tape for now and play around with the layouts, deciding how many is too much.

 

omidimo

Well-known member
This is when having one of those pro-type Brother P-Touch USB desktop printers comes in handy! :D

 

Nathan_A

Well-known member
Has anybody considered or attempted to overclock a Rocket Booster? I have a 25Mhz Rocket Booster here and both 33Mhz and 40Mhz 68040 processors in my possession, and there's a nice big clock crystal can sitting right there on the card that looks ripe for swapping out with a socket or variable clock to play with.

 
Top