Radius Rocket & Quadra 950

[olePigeon]

The RadiusWare installer says my Quadra 950 isn't supported. I do a custom install and it'll install, but during boot it pops up an error saying my Macintosh isn't supported.

I did a bit of Googling, and apparently I need the Saturn V software which makes it so the Quadra 700 and 900 can use a Radius Rocket.

Does anyone have Saturn V? Has anyone used this software successfully?

On a positive note, the beefy Quadra 950 power supply got my computer to boot with the rocket installed without freezing.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Interesting . . . Saturn V was a large array of Rockets using an SE/30 Terminal to run this experimental RIP and as the source of the Apple ROM copied to each of the Rockets at startup. Have you tried using "I wish I were" to hoodwink the installer? Personally, I'd probably set up the HDD in the IIci and move it to the Quadras.

BTW, asking for software around these parts is verboten, but since it's probably "unobtanium" ProtoWare, copyright expired that belonged to an expired copyright holder, you may have slipped by, so I'll edit your post into something more acceptable.

I have a feeling it may be a patch to the Quadra ROM making it compatible with the older ROMs which worked well with the Rocket.

That or it's a patch for the protocols Apple threw into the mix to emasculate the Rocket's AppleTalk over NuBus Multiprocessor feature under RocketShare . . . neatly breaking the licensing agreement that led to the Saturn V project.

I'm going back to sleep, maybe I'll dream up another approach to the problem.

For starters, I assume you're trying to install RocketShare?

 

[Unknown_K]

I never tried a Rocket with a native 040 machine to get that error.

 

[olePigeon]

RocketWare, actually. I wanted to use my RadiusRocket as an accelerator instead as a second machine.

 

[olePigeon]

Have you tried using "I wish I were" to hoodwink the installer?

Google isn't helping. Keeps coming up with YouTube videos. I'm assuming it's shareware/freeware. Is there a place from which I can download it?

 

[LCGuy]

Interesting . . . Saturn V was a large array of Rockets using an SE/30 Terminal to run this experimental RIP and as the source of the Apple ROM copied to each of the Rockets at startup. Have you tried using "I wish I were" to hoodwink the installer? Personally, I'd probably set up the HDD in the IIci and move it to the Quadras.

Wasn't that Skylab?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

By Geroge . . . I think you've got it! :approve:

As far as "I wish I were," goes, I think it's a Mac emulator jockey type tool, dunno really. It might be a utility for installing unsupported OS levels on Macs?

Try RocketShare, since you've got a decent CPU to "share" in that big 'ole box! That might solve your problem.

 

[olePigeon]

It works fine under RocketShare. I installed 128MBs in it, so I had a Quadra 950 with 128MBs of RAM running a RadiusRocket with 128MBs of RAM. It was pretty surreal.

I'm going to fiddle with the control panel and extension with ResEdit. See if there's a string int here that I can easily modify and fool it into thinking my computer is supported.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Why bother? Just pop in the second Rocket and have 3 '040 procs to Share the load . . . erm . . .

. . . do you have any multi-threaded apps to run on that BEAST?

 

[olePigeon]

I think you're getting them mixed up (I know I do.) RocketShare is the software that lets you run System 7 in a virtual Mac. That works fine. RocketWare is the software that lets you do what you're recommending: run as an accelerator and distribute workloads. While I can install the software, it won't load the extension, control panel, or let me use the Rocket software. It says the machine is unsupported.

According to the manual, RocketWare only works on Macintosh IIs. It states that only RocketShare will work on a Quadra.

That's why I was hoping to find the Saturn V software. It shipped with the Skylab box (of which a few have shown up on eBay). Hoping beyond hope that someone might have the software sitting around. Maybe a former Radius engineer?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Nope! You've got it backwards, RocketWare is the Acceleration only, single CPU driver that shuts down the host Mac's CPU except using it as an I/O controller for the Rocket.

RocketShare (see my avatar) is for running the Rocket and Host system and as many Rockets as you have the slots and power needed to run the assembly.

Stage II Rockets will only run under RocketShare, having no ability to act as simple accelerators.

 

[theos911]

We need a "Radius Rocket Guide Thread".

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Great idea! :approve: Done, I've posted it so the top of the thread is easily editable. Post a list of embedded links to all the Rocket threads and we can sort everything out into the two categories. [] ]'>

Radius Rocket Guide/Troubleshooting Thread

 

[trag]

That's why I was hoping to find the Saturn V software. It shipped with the Skylab box (of which a few have shown up on eBay). Hoping beyond hope that someone might have the software sitting around. Maybe a former Radius engineer?

You might try Macmetex over on Ebay. He seems to have ended up with the old Radius Vintage stock. If he ever had it, it may be long gone, but it's also possible it's sitting around and he's never listed it. Also possible he never had it, of course.

 

[olePigeon]

Nope! You've got it backwards, RocketWare is the Acceleration only, single CPU driver that shuts down the host Mac's CPU except using it as an I/O controller for the Rocket.
RocketShare (see my avatar) is for running the Rocket and Host system and as many Rockets as you have the slots and power needed to run the assembly.

Stage II Rockets will only run under RocketShare, having no ability to act as simple accelerators.

That's what I just said, so I guess I misunderstood what you were asking.

I didn't know that it shut down the main processor. Hmm. I'll throw Macmetex a message and see if he's ever seen the Saturn V software. Supposedly the Saturn V software doesn't disable the CPUs, and lets you use all your Rockets + Host machine.

 

[olePigeon]

I just noticed that the RadiusRocket identifies itself as a Quadra 950. So when I have my Quadra running with the Radius Rocket, I have a Quadra 950 running inside my Quadra 950.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Running all your Rockets + Host CPU = RocketShare

Running Rocket as Accelerator w/ Host CPU disabled = RocketWare

Running One Rocket in Q700 or Q950 apparently causes some conflict for the Rocket as an Accelerator running under RocketWare, which is fixed (with a patch?) by Saturn V, which is news to me, but makes sense.

What doesn't make any sense (unless you're running a DaughterCard on the Rocket) is why anyone would want to use RocketWare/Acceleration on a Quadra.

Maybe that's the answer, using the Rocket's local bus RAM and either Daughtercard w/o the overhead of RocketShare for a single proc app would make a world of sense. :approve:

 

[olePigeon]

I thought that it would just offer a speed boost by having an extra CPU. I didn't know it disabled the host CPU.

I have a SCSI Booster and PhotoBooster on 2x Rocket 33s respectively, and then a barebones Rocket 25.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Rocketware doesn't completely disable the host CPU, it sort of enslaves it as an intelligent I/O Controller for the Rocket acting as the main CPU, Accelerating the system.

For a single Rocket with the DSP DaughterCard in the 950, PhotoShop filters would run wicked fast over the PDS connection to the DSP, accessing the Rocket's Local RAM for that type of algorithm.

For a single Rocket with the Fast SCSI II DaughterCard in the 950, Disk intensive apps would see a huge improvement for operations such as searching through a large database. Data would run wicked fast over the PDS connection to the Fast SCSI II ChipSet communicating with an external SCSIII RAID Box, like my Radius StudioArray Boxen. Accessing the Rocket's Local RAM again helps performance in that type of application.

In either case, if the application is not multi-threaded for making use of multiple procs; running a single Rocket off its own onboard RAM, the 950's ROM copied into that RAM and with either of its PDS DaughterCards installed as an Accelerator makes a world of sense. It would put the hard stomp onto any similar NuBus Card based setup in the stock 950, especially running without the Networking overhead of RocketShare.

The reason the Rocket thinks it's a 950, when it's installed in a 950, is that it has the 950 ROM on board after the "WHOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" reboot takes place.

All that lovely Standard PC RAM on board the Radius Rocket puts it head and shoulders above any accelerator that needed to access System RAM on the MoBo of a host computer. Radius' license to copy a Host Mac's ROM into the faster RAM on board a single Rocket OR multiple Rockets, removes another system bottleneck suffered by any other accelerator.

Unfortunately, Apple took one look at a SkyLab Prototype running umpteen Rockets from a lowly SE/30 terminal and decided to bork Radius' AppleTalk over NuBus implementation in RocketShare. There may have been other good reasons to overhaul AppleTalk for 7.5 as well, but driving nails into the coffin of RocketShare was right up there on the list!