Unable to get Sonnet Presto 040 clone to work on my Color Classic

[jibsaramnim]

Hi all! I recently purchased Bolle's Sonnet Presto 040 clone for use with my Color Classic, but I've so far been unable to actually get it to work. I thought I'd post a request for help here so that I don't have to keep bothering Bolle directly as I don't think their card is the issue. I just have no clue why it's not working.

For context; I tried the card with both the v1.3.1 and v2.0.1 drivers, both on the 7.5.3 installation I had been using on the CC (based off of one of the pre-installed BlueSCSI images available on their site), the 7.1 image found there, as-well as a completely clean installation of 7.1 (and updated to 7.1.2) specifically for the CC.

The result is the same with any of the OS variants; it locks up on the boot-up screen, usually before the "Welcome to Macintosh" screen. If it helps;

1. The CC boots up fine with the card installed and without the extension installed
2. The CC boots up fine without the card installed and with the extension installed
3. The CC locks up with the happy mac showing with the card and with the extension installed
4. The behavior is exactly the same under 7.5.3, 7.1, and 7.1.2, whether it was the BlueSCSI pre-installed image (with all other extensions disabled or not) or with a clean install (again, with all other extensions disabled or not)

I have been using an Interware Booster clone card in the CC just fine (which does not require any extensions), and in all of the above cases I made sure to remove the extra VRAM card I normally have installed in this CC. I have the CC's RAM fully upgraded to a mind blowing 10MB (2x4MB), but have also tried this without any additional RAM installed, just in case these RAM sticks somehow caused the issue.

I unfortunately don't have any other compatible Mac to try this card in, even though I wish I did. I'm a bit at a loss as to what to do next.

Do you have any suggestions or know what the problem is? I'd love to hear from you!

 

[Unknown_K]

Are you using the drivers for the Presto or Presto Plus (they are different).

 

[jibsaramnim]

Hi! I tried the two specific versions Bolle told me work with this card, which are the Presto (non-plus) variants. They had shared the v1.3.1 drivers directly with me in a DM and linked to the v2.0.1 drivers as being known to work too. Both yielded the exact same results for me after placing both files in the required spots.

 

[jibsaramnim]

Odd, the v2.0.1 drivers I was linked to by Bolle have an image of a disk that just says "Presto 040," and the same exact image is shown here on the Garden as being "Presto Plus" drivers. The latter is probably wrong though, as the included PDF and ReadMe of the v2.0.1 linked to don't make any mention of "Plus."

The file that Bolle had directly shared with me contains the v1.3.1 version of the drivers (as-well as v3.0.2, but Bolle told me the v3 drivers are known to not work with the clone card), and the included ReadMe file is titled "ReadMe for the Sonnet Presto Accelerator."

These drivers come with two files that the documentation says should be put in place; the "Presto" extension in the Extensions directory, and the "Virtual Enabler" in your system directory. I have tried with just the extension file (so not placing the "Virtual Enabler" in the system directory), and then the system hangs on the "Welcome to Macintosh" screen instead of the happy mac screen before it. I think the "Virtual Enabler" is necessary anyway for 7.1 and 7.5, but I wanted to try all options so included this test.

 

[JC8080]

Here is a link to a thread describing a similar problem with the clones, I don't think a solution was found in the thread, but you might want to post on that thread and see if anyone has updates with their situations.

Here's a post I did about my original presto board and which drivers I used, though it might not be too relevant if the clones are known to have incompatibilities with some driver versions.

As a side note, in my testing I found the machine will work with the presto and additional VRAM installed, however there are display issues. For me the additional VRAM did not stop the machine from booting though.

 

[jibsaramnim]

Thanks so much for the information!

Here is a link to a thread describing a similar problem with the clones, I don't think a solution was found in the thread, but you might want to post on that thread and see if anyone has updates with their situations.

Oof, this is rather unfortunate, especially as a person there shared they have the exact same experience with an LCII. This does not seem to bode well for getting this card to work . I'll post over there in the hopes that they did indeed find a solution, thank you!

 

[jibsaramnim]

Adding that I have also tried the v3.0.1 and v3.1 versions of the drivers, yielding the same exact results. This is not entirely unexpected though, as Bolle had already told me the 3.x drivers wouldn't work with this card. Still, adding it here to have everything in one place.

The only difference with the v3.x drivers is that if I boot up the Mac with extensions disabled to prevent it from locking up, it shows a rather large Presto logo underneath the "Welcome to Macintosh" window with a red line through it. I suppose older versions of the "Virtual Enabler" did not have this graphic, as I do not get that with the v1.3.1 and v2.0.1 drivers.

 

[olePigeon]

@jibsaramnim Do you have VRAM installed? If so, try removing it. For some reason on the Color Classic, having VRAM installed can conflict with some LC PDS cards. For example, you can't use the IIe card with VRAM installed.

 

[jibsaramnim]

@jibsaramnim Do you have VRAM installed? If so, try removing it. For some reason on the Color Classic, having VRAM installed can conflict with some LC PDS cards. For example, you can't use the IIe card with VRAM installed.

Hi! I have the extra VRAM removed for all the tests I did, as I knew even the official documentation mentions incompatibilities with it installed in the CC, so sadly that can't be the reason. Thanks for thinking along though, I appreciate it!

 

[Bolle]

Here is a link to a thread describing a similar problem with the clones, I don't think a solution was found in the thread, but you might want to post on that thread and see if anyone has updates with their situations.

The folks over there are having problems with building their own clones and getting them to work at all... their problems are not related to getting it to work in a specific machine but it's an issue with sourcing working/compatible/not fake parts to build the card in the first place. The card that @jibsaramnim got is one that I built and it's confirmed to work in both LC and LC II.

Notes on the driver situation are scarce so I can only tell from my experience with testing those accelerators on LC/LCII and that only drivers below version 3 seem to work on there so I assumed the same is true for the CC but I can't tell for certain.
I don't see how the clone vs. original would change driver compatibilty unless there exist different versions of the original card as well.

I've got my CC chassis back into working order (at least with a 575 board in place) but my CC logicboard still refuses to work at all, so no testing from my side yet. I know all those software activated accelerators are picky and it can be tricky to get them to work - the Carrera040 is based on the same design as the Presto and similar problems crop up from time to time with it too.

 

[DrGonzo]

Well, I dug out my LCII (7.5.5) and the two cards I made, and same results as before and what you've been seeing. Every Presto extension I put in the Extensions folder hangs the system on boot. I tried 2.0.1 and the various 3.x packages I had. I don't think I have 1.3.1 anywhere so would be happy to try if anyone can send me the file or a link. If there are any other tests you'd like me to try let me know and I'll give them a shot as well.