RedRocket problem / 4x instead of 8x / not recognized after Firmware update again

[firstcamera]

Hello together,

i'm experiencing a RR nightmare since many weeks.

What happend before:
- My RR was not recognized anymore by my MacPro some months ago.
- It was send to RED and the diagnosis was it's running on 4 lanes instead of 8.
- No repair possible, i got the offer to buy a refurbished.
- I decided not to purchase the refurbished and got my RR sent back.
- Never touched the RR for two weeks

Most of the above was discussed here earlier, i know!

Today i got a Sonnet Echo Pro Chassis, installed the RR and the new driver to my MBP 17".
Installed the firmware -> RR was recognized by MBP (4x not 8x) and worked with the latest RedCinePro (RCP showed the massage concerning 4x NOT 8x),
to be honest, it rendered like before with 8x, faster as realtime, or at least it felt like the same speed as before.
Playback of 4K footage was not a Problem at all. All more or less fine!

Unfortunately i was stupid enough not to be satisfied!
I tried to reinstall the RR Firmware (1.1.16.5) without the DipSwitch8 thing - since i did this, the RR board is again not recognized anymore by the computer.
No luck with dip-switch 8 afterwards. The Terminal installer can not open the card - sure, because the card is not recognized by the system.
Same with using my MacBookAir.
The card is dead again - like it was before i sent it to RED.
The fan on the card is working and LED's on the card are on.

I used a antistatic mat and a antistatic wrist-band.
I disconnected mains 10 min. before inserting the card.

So, i assume this is a software/firmware/driver issue, but what to do now?
I heard from a colleague, someone posted here in the forum a "HowTo" properly deinstall/uninstall the RR driver from a mac,
after doing so, some RR boards were successfully reanimated.
I searched for hours now in the forum with no luck, i couldn't find the post.

Of course i would be really happy to get the card back to work - no matter if 4x or 8x speed.

System:
- MacBookPro early 2011 Thunderbold
- 10.7.4
- EchoExpressPro
- latest RedCinePro, ...
- the red REDrocket not the green one

Thanks for any possible help,

Emanuel
DP/DIT
Munich/Germany

[Kwan Khan]

Check out Jeff Kilgroe's Reply:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthr...=1#post1034465

[firstcamera]

Update:
I restored my whole system with a TimeMachine BackUp to where i was yesterday before using the RR and EchoExpressPro the first time.
No RR drivers were installed on the system yesterday.
Unfortunately it did not solved the Problem, the RR board is not recognized by the MBP after installing the driver.
So i'm not able to install the firmware with the DipSwitch 8 switched to on.

For me is clear now, my problem is the cards firmware, but i have no idea how to go on.

Emanuel M. Schwermer
DP/DIT
Munich/Germany

[Adrian Correia]

same boat as you Emanuel.....I don't think anyone knows how to fix these....

[thierry pinoni]

hi guys i cross many problem like this ,since i use a redrocket on mac pro .
i know one stuff ,when you finnish to install the firmware you need shut down totaly the computer and the outbox ,after you plug by logical order laptop outbox and normaly the firmware is ok and you check on your systeme .

[Salem Kapic]

Dear Emanuel,

I found your post about RR Issue, and I was very surprised when I realized that I have the same problkem with RR as you are.

First is my workstation ceased to detect RR on the system. When I tried to put RR in another PC also did not recognize him except when I put the RR in 4 lane PCI. Then I understood that the card only works in 4 lane PCI slot.

Now the card works in in my orginalnoj workstation, but of course every time REDCINEx reported that the RR to work in a limited 4 lane mode. Strange but I dont noticed any difference in speed?!

To me the bigger problem is that RED suport asked to send the card in for repair, and that with all the costs beyond use value RR!

Thanks


Salem Kapic

FABRIKA Sarajevo

[firstcamera]

My RedRocket Solution after a HorrorTrip:

What i did on Saturday-October-13-2012 to reanimate my RR after weeks of frustration:

Hardware:
Thunderbold MBP 17" 2011
(OSX Mountain Lion with all updates installed until today)
Sonnet Echo Express Pro Chassis
RedRocket #RR01040 (which was simply DEAD the last weeks)


First i manually cleaned all the metal contacts of the RedRocketCard with LensCleaner.
(Of course, i used a anti-static wrist band and mat/pad during removal and handling of the board - and after having disconnected mains 10 min. earlier!)

Before, the RR board was in the right slot, right when looking at the back, where the cards connections are accessable;
I changed it to the left slot (of course, i used a anti-static wrist band - after having disconnected mains 10 min. before!).

I set DipSwitch Nr.8 to ON (SafeMode), now i reassembled the Echo/RR


!!! DO NOT HAVE ANY SATAexpressCards34 connected into your MBP !!!

With the RR/Echo not connected, i trashed the redrocket.kext file.
(HD->System->Library->Extensions->redrocket.kext)

I let "maintain-cocktail" run over my system to clean all caches … (But i'm not sure if this is really important or not.)

I shut down the machine completely.

Switched the computer to on and kept holding the 4 buttons alt + cmd + p + r down until i heard the third time the mac's start-up-sound
(This is a "Parameter-Ram-Reset")

After the computer was fully booted i (re-) installed the latest RedRocket Driver (v1.4.27)

Shut down the computer totally

DO NOT PLUG ANYTHING IN THE COMPUTER YET! Your AC-PowerAdapter is the only cord running from your mac!

Boot and Reset ParameterRam again during this bootUp

Shut down completely again

wait 2 Minutes

Now you plug in the ThunderBold cable with your RR/Echo on the other end (mains connected)

!!! DO NOT HAVE ANY other SATAexpressCards34 connected into your MBP !!!

Now boot your computer just regular.

Once you're booted completely, check if your RR is recognized by your MBP:
(Apple->About This Mac->More Info..->SystemReport->PCI Cards-> RED Rocket)

If there is no RedRocket - my solution possibly did not helped you - sorry!
In my case the RR appeared again under PCI Cards.
(If you use a Sonnet Tempo SATA III 6Gb ExpressCard 34 at the same time - this is your Problem!)

Now you can "reflash" your RedRocketBoard with the latest Firmware (1.1.16.5)
(Don't do anything during the process - be patient - it will take a while (10min. in my case)

Once it's done -> SUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER COMPLETELY (NO RESTART!)

Disconnect the RedRocket/Echo completely from mains and wait 10 minutes.

Use your AntistaticWristBand

Set the DipSwitch #8 back to Off

Reassemble everything now

reconnect everything

Start your computer regular with the Echo/RedRocket plugged in

Once you're booted completely check if your RR is recognized by your MBP:
(Apple->About This Mac->More Info..->SystemReport->PCI Cards-> RED Rocket)

If not - shut down again, reset parameter ram, shut down, reboot.

In my case all was fine and RedCine-Xpro is transcoding since a hour or so.


Now, i use also a Sonnet Tempo Sata Pro Express Card 34 at the same time with my RR.

BUT:
THE RR IS WORKING ON 4 LANES ONLY! (And on StartUp of RCX-P you get an error-massage -> simply skip it.)
I do not know if this is a Problem with my RR, because - as long as i know - with the SonnetEchoExpressPro it is working on 4 Lanes only anyways.

How Ever, i'm absolutely happy to get it managed to reanimate my RR and it is working fair enough for me on 4 lanes.
I have 4K RealTime Playback on my MBP and Transcoding is at least in RealTime.

I'm happy (very happy) for today!!!

GoodLuck for you out there suffering RedRocket issues!


Emanuel

DP/AC/DIT
Munich - Germany
www.firstcamera.de

[firstcamera]

Unfortunately my happiness didn't last very long!
For some hours RCX-P was rendering without any problems and with RR support.
After two restarts the RR is not recognized by the computer again.
Couldn't fix it up to now.
Absolutely not understandable, i haven't changed anything on the system - neither software nor hardware.
I just was restarting one time (this was Ok) and after shutting down yesterday night and switching on today in the morning, the RedRocket was not in the system anymore (not detected).


I think i have to give up now!

Any ideas?

Emanuel