Radius Rocket

• Got a Rocket? Join Rocketeer, our email list for Radius Rocket users.

Overview

The Radius Rocket was more than just another Macintosh accelerator* - it was essentially a separate 68040-based Mac on a NuBus card. With RocketShare, it was possible to put multiple Rockets in a Macintosh, each running its own copy of the Mac OS and handling its own set of tasks - or sharing a distributed workload.

* In fact, the Stage II Rocket won't even work as an accelerator. It requires RocketShare.

Interesting tidbit: you can run a Radius Rocket in a Power Mac 7100 or 8100 (requires Rocketshare 1.3 or later).

From MacUser, December 1991, p. 118, the same issue that introduced the Quadra 700 and 900:

The Rocket was designed in such a way that the processor on the Mac's motherboard remained partially active, handling basic I/O functions. Radius has now announced Saturn V, a System 7 software extension for the Quadras that lets the processor on the motherboard remain completely active when a Rocket is installed.

Once a Saturn V-equipped Quadra has been launched, a Saturn V icon appears on the desktop. Double-clicking on the icon open a resizable windows with a complete desktop, including a menu bar and Trash. The mounted volumes on the host Quadra appear as AppleShare volumes in the Saturn V window.

Because the two 68040 processors - the one in the Rocket and the one in the Quadra - are both available for use, you can work in a foreground/background mode. So, for example, you can launch a complex 3-D rendering in the background on the Rocket while you continue to work with a spreadsheet or word-processing program on the Quadra. And because System 7's IAC capabilities permit applications to support distributed processing, a Saturn V-equipped Quadra will be able to take advantage of applications that support distributed processing. It will be able to share a single task between the two processors, in effect cutting the processing time in half by applying twice the computing power to the job.

Radius expects to ship the Saturn V software in the first quarter of 1992.

Software for the Radius Rocket is no longer available at radiusvintage.com.

Variants

• Radius Rocket 25i, 25 MHz 68LC040, part number unknown
• Radius Rocket 25, 25 MHz 68040, part number 0244
• Radius Rocket 33, 33 MHz 68040, part number 0330
• Radius Stage II Rocket, 40 MHz 68040, part number 0467

Details

• requires Mac with full sized NuBus slot and System 7.0.1 to 7.1 (System 7.5 compatible only with Rocketshare)
• CPU: 25 MHz 68LC040; 25, 33, or 40 MHz 68040
• bus: 10 MHz (standard NuBus speed)
• RAM: 8-128 MB using 100ns or faster (80ns preferred) 30 pin SIMMs in two banks of four; supports 1 MB, 4 MB, and 16 MB SIMMs; 16 MB SIMMs must support fast page mode; Radius recommends against using composite SIMMs; Stage II supports 60, 70, 80, and 100ns memory
• if you have a video card which is not Quadra compatible, you may need to upgrade video drivers, ROMs on the video card, or replace the card
• last version of Rocketware is 1.5; last version of Rocketshare is 1.3.1
• Sound Manager 2.0 strongly recommended by users

Online Resources

• Radius Rocket: Far more than a Mac accelerator, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.12.13. The unique Radius Rocket has amazing capabilities but challenges the user to take full advantage of them. Here are three modern options.
• Radius Rocket review, reproduced from MacUser, October 1991.
• Rocket Technical Overview, Joaquin Menchaca, DarkNerd
• The unofficial authoritative Radius Rocket FAQ, the pickle and b.b.
• Rocketeer, an email list for Radius Rocket users.
• Rocket Science 101, b.b., My Turn, 2000.10.30. Hands on tests with one or two Rockets in various Macs and Power Macs.
• Rocket Review by David Emmons
• Radius Rocket in Mac II, HyperArchive, 1992.02.11. Some very helpful info on the Rocket (does not cover Stage II)

Accessories

• SCSI 2 daughter card, part number 0368
• SCSI 2 daughter card for Stage II Rocket, part number 0434
• PhotoBooster, Photoshop DSP daughter card, part number 0396
• Rocketshare software

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