Mainly Neat Stuff --> Vintage Macintosh --> Vintage Radius Documents
This is a reconstruction of original Radius support documentation. All links on this page are now defunct. For more information, refer to the document Vintage Radius Documents.
Q: What is the Superview ™ and which PowerBooks are supported?A: The SuperView (model # PB0161) is a discontinued SCSI-based display expander that gives your Macintosh PowerBook 140, 145 or 170 the capability to run an external color computer display or an NTSC or PAL TV monitor.
Q: What displays and resolutions does the SuperView support?A: The SuperView supports Macintosh compatible monitors in standard Apple resolutions up to 1024 x 768. It also supports standard VGA or SVGA monitors, and NTSC and PAL encoded composite video.
Q: Besides my PowerBook 140, 145 or 170, what else is needed to use the SuperView?A: You need to have a standard HDI-30 SCSI connector for your Powerbook. The SuperView comes with one RCA-to-RCA cable, one AC power cord and the SuperView System Software disk.
Q: What are the SCSI specifications for the SuperView?
A: The SuperView uses a single 50-pin SCSI connector with built-in termination. It is intended to be the last device on your SCSI chain if you have more than one external SCSI device connected. It has a user-selectable SCSI ID. The switch is preset to SCSI ID 2.
Q: Can I connect other SCSI devices to the SCSI chain while using the SuperView?
A: It is possible to connect other SCSI devices to the SCSI chain while using the SuperView, however the SCSI device ID numbers and termination of these devices must meet certain requirements. Please refer to your Macintosh User's Guide for further information. Also, the SuperView must physically be the last device on the chain, regardless of SCSI ID number.
Q: What are the requirements for using the SuperView with other SCSI devices?A: The first and last external SCSI devices must be terminated (as opposed to the SCSI devices without SuperView attached, where only the device connected directly to the PowerBook should be terminated.)
Q: What are the System software requirements for the SuperView, and how can I get the software?A: The minimum system software requirement to use the SuperView is Macintosh system software System 7.0.1 with Tune-up 1.1.1, or System 7.1. System 7.5 and later are untested and unsupported, and not recommended for use with SuperView.
SuperView comes with its own software. On the included floppy disk is a software installer with complete instructions in a README file.
The part number for the SuperView software is #0007962-0001. It is available for download via America Online, Compuserve, eWorld, the Radius Online BBS, at 408-541-6190, and via the Internet at ftp.radius.com.
Q: Why won't my QuickTime movies play on the external screen?
A: QuickTime is not supported on the external display. Configure your system to have the menu bar on the PowerBook screen and play movies only on the PowerBook's internal screen.
Q: What if the PowerBook will not start up and there is a blinking question mark on the screen?A: Check to make sure that the SuperView unit (or any other external SCSI devices) are turned on and that the SCSI cable is firmly attached to your SuperView and your PowerBook. If this does not work, then switch off all devices, power on the external display, then the SuperView (and all other external SCSI devices), and then you can start up the PowerBook.
Q: What if the display appears with a scrambled image?A: This means that the SuperView is configured for the wrong display type. Open the Monitors control panel and click <options> to select the correct type. If your SuperView does not appear to be configured properly for the type of attached display, restart your PowerBook and hold down the Option key during startup. Your SuperView Initialization software will notice that your are holding down the Option Key, and will display the entire list of SuperView supported displays. Clicking on "CANCEL" will override SuperView and return images to your PowerBook's display.
Q: What connector ports does the SuperView have?A: The SuperView is equipped with three video ports: RCA, HD-15, and DB-15.
Q: What if the SuperView icon does not appear on startup and no image appears on the external display screen?A: The SuperView extension may not be installed properly or may have been moved out of its proper location. Place it in the extensions folder within the System Folder of the startup disk. You may want to run the installer program again.
Q: What if the SuperView icon appears at startup with an "X" through it and no image appears on the display?A: First make sure that the SuperView is plugged in and switched on. Also make sure that the SCSI cable is securely connected. Finally, make sure that the SuperView and any other SCSI devices that you have on the chain do not have conflicting SCSI ID numbers and that they are properly terminated.
Q: What if there are no hard disks appearing on the desktop and there is no image on the external monitor after connecting the SuperView?A: The SCSI chain may be improperly terminated or there may be a SCSI ID conflict. Make sure that all the devices on the SCSI chain have their own unique SCSI ID numbers.
Q: What if I connect the SuperView and there are multiple copies of the hard disk on the desktop?A: There is probably a SCSI ID conflict in the SCSI chain. Make sure that all the devices on the SCSI chain have their own unique SCSI ID numbers.
Q: How do I configure the SuperViewusing the customize option?A: The SuperView installer program offers "Customize" as an installation option. When installing SuperView for the first time, click on the standard "Install." The standard installation contains Apple system color resources that enable your PowerBook to display colors on the external display attached to your SuperView. Using "Customize" may prevent your SuperView from operating properly if these Apple system color resources are not installed. If you need to re-install the SuperView INIT for some reason and have already done a complete standard SuperView installation, you may wish to use "Customize." Click on "Customize" in the installer screen. Choose SuperView and select "Install". There should be no other time that "Customize" should be used.
Q: What are the power requirements for the SuperView?A: SuperView draws 20W of power.
Q: What are the size and the weight for the SuperView?A: The size of the SuperView is 4.6in (115.0 mm) high x 8.5 in (215 mm) wide x 2.25 in (56.0 mm) deep excluding feet and connectors. It weighs 2 lb (1.0 kg).
Q: What are the regulatory approvals for the SuperView?A: SuperView is CSA, FCC Class B, IEC 950, VDE Class B and UL Listed.
Q: How do you configure the SuperView without going into the Control Panel folder?A: Restart the PowerBook with the Option key held down. This will enable the SuperView configuration to appear, and you can configure at this point as you regularly would.
Q: Are there any special needs to adhere to when using specific applications?A: Yes. Below are listed applications that require special set-up configurations.
----
Aldus SuperPaint When using Aldus SuperPaint, set the SuperPaint Preferences to use QuickDraw calls only. This will cause SuperPaint to draw in conformity with standard Macintosh conventions and work properly with your SuperView unit.
----
Frame's FrameMaker When using Frame's FrameMaker, set the FrameMaker Preferences to NOT use FastText (Text Cache). This will cause FrameMaker to draw in conformity with standard Macintosh conventions and work properly with your SuperView unit.
----
Canvas Using Canvas may produce very minor update anomalies (specks) when actually drawing Bezier curves with the pen tool. There is no preferences setting to prevent this, but forcing a refresh of the screen will clear up the anomalies.
----
MacroMind Director Users of MacroMind Director will not be able to use the transformations known as "dissolve bits", "dissolve bits fast", "dissolve pixels", and "dissolve pixels fast" because these transformations do not use QuickDraw. To include dissolves on Director documents, use or substitute "dissolve patterns" for all existing dissolves.
----
DiskLight There are known problems when using DiskLight version 1.1. Users of DiskLight should upgrade to version 2.0.
----
QuickTime QuickTime is not supported on the external screen when using SuperView. Configure your system to have the menubar on the PowerBook screen and play movies only on the PowerBook internal screen.
----
MacWrite II MacWrite II 1.1v1 or later is supported on the SuperView. Earlier versions are not guaranteed to operate properly with the SuperView.
----
SuperView supports applications that use QuickDraw to render to the screen. Some games and applications do not use QuickDraw and are not guaranteed to operate properly with SuperView.
----
Users of AfterDark may experience trouble selecting different modules. If this occurs, rename AfterDark so that it will load after SuperView. An example would be "~AfterDark".
----
SuperView and DiskLock INIT are incompatible. If you are using DiskLock INIT, you will need to remove it from the system to properly operate the SuperView.
Q: Are there any special needs to adhere to when using specific hardware?
A: Yes. Following are hardware devices that require special set-up configurations.
Users of the SuperView with the SuperMac 17 Multimode display must attach the H and V Sync cables to the display in order for the display to operate properly. Refer to your SuperMatch 17 manual for details on attaching the cables.
----
SuperView is a SCSI display device. Many programs assume a SCSI device is a disk drive. Do not attempt to use these programs to format or change the SCSI ID of SuperView. Do not attempt to use these programs when the SuperView screen has the menu bar. Relocate the menu bar to the PowerBook screen and restart before using these applications. (Examples include: SilverLining, Manager7, SCSI Probe....)
Q: How do you configure the SuperView software?
A: When you start up your SuperView system for the very first time, the SuperView configuration window may appear automatically. Otherwise, you can access the SuperView ™ configuration window using the Monitors control panel. To do this:
1. Choose "Control Panels" from the Apple Menu.
2. Open the "Monitors" Control Panel.
3. When the Monitors Control Panel appears, click the rectangle labeled "2" to highlight it. The rectangle represents your external display screen.
4. Click the "Options..." button. The SuperView configuration window appears.
5. Select your display type from the scrolling list. If you do not see the exact make and model for your display on the list, choose a setting that matches your display's frequency and resolution. If your display supports multiple resolutions, you can choose any setting that is compatible with your display.
6. Click "OK" and close the Monitors control panel. Otherwise, to disable your SuperView, click the "Cancel" button instead of the "OK" button.
Q: How do you disable the external screen without disconnecting it?A: Restart the PowerBook with the Option key held down. This will enable the SuperView configuration to appear, and you can push the Cancel button to disable the external monitor.