Information
 - About VOICE
 - VOICE Bylaws
 - Code of Ethics
 - VOICE Goals
 - Meeting Info
 - Mirror Sites
 - Sponsor Info
Departments
 - Announcements
 - Events
 - Events Calendar
 - EZ Reference
 - Help Desk
 - Mailing Lists
 - Newsletters
 - Transcripts
Membership
 - Join VOICE!
 - Members Only
Projects
 - Warpdoctor
 - Freedom of
   Choice Project

 - Hear Our Voice
 - Warpstock '98
 - Warpstock '99
OS/2 Info
 - FAQs
 - Links

OS/2 Usenet Frequently Asked Questions, 5.5

Updated: 11 Apr 1998

This is the OS/2 Usenet FAQ. Basically it is a guide to most of the frequently asked questions that I have seen over the OS/2 Usenet newsgroups that just seem to be asked again, and again, and again... I intend for this FAQ to be re-posted once a week in the following OS/2 Usenet newsgroups:

                comp.os.os2.apps        comp.os.os2.misc
                comp.os.os2.setup.misc  comp.os.os2.setup.storage
                comp.os.os2.utilities

If you wish to add any or have any questions or comments then please email me: jdc0014@infonet.st-johns.nf.ca


UPDATED:
#42. Killing Netscape/2 when it hangs?
        (adden)
#45. Fixpack 35 & Cyrix CPU's
        (Someone emailed me saying that FP 26's OS2LDR is ok to use)
#49. Hardware with only Windows 3.1x support
        (Mustek GS-800 adden)
#52. Poor Device Drivers
        (AOpen FX-3D)


#1. CONFIG.SYS #2. Trying to install on a hard drive greater than 4.3 GB #3. NEWDASD plus FP 32 (Warp 3) and FP 5 (Warp 4) and IDEDASD #4. How do I get OS/2 Warp? Where to buy OS/2 Warp applications? #5. What is the URL for ??? #6. Where to get OS/2 Warp fixpacks? #7. ZipPlus under PP connection #8. Internal ATAPI Zip drive and LS-120 #9. PCI soundcards #10. Java for OS/2 installation #11. 56k Modems and OS/2 #12. Cyrix 6x86, 6x86L, and 6x86MX CPU's (maybe the 5x86, too) #13. Running Window 95/NT programs under OS/2 (Win32-to-OS/2) #14. Tips on getting DOS-based BBS's running under OS/2 #15. Lotus Smartsuite 97 for OS/2 (beta) #16. Java for OS/2 on CDROM #17. Fixpacks on CDROM #18. OS/2 and other filesystems (ie. ext2, FAT32, etc) #19. My machine is slow at bootup #20. Running OS/2 Warp v4 with just 16 MB of RAM (or less!) #21. Improving Win-OS/2 performance #22. In need of a process killer #23. Kill the re-appearing Elephant #24. Win32s 1.25 & Win32s 1.30 #25. Getting OS/2 News and information via Email #26. Adding sound schemes under OS/2 Warp 4 #27. Installing fixpacks from hard drive #28. Road Runner cable modems #29. Warp 4 Win-OS/2 support is unstable with no fixpacks #30. RealPlayer v5.0 not working under Win-OS/2 #31. My ISP keeps kicking me off during those big downloads #32. Corel WordPerfect 7 for Win3.1x and Netscape Navigator/2 #33. Windows 3.1x Internet Plugin's under OS/2 #34. Getting Java Applet's working under Warp 3/Connect #35. Opti 82c924 soundcard has MPU-401 error message in Win-OS/2 #36. Programming resources for OS/2 #37. Win3.1x Internet programs under OS/2 TCP/IP Dialer #38. Fixpack 6 new executable #39. Asynchronous communcations mode #40. Installing Xfree86-OS/2 #41. Installing BIDI.EXE (Bi-Directional Parrallel Port Driver) #42. Killing Netscape/2 when it hangs?? #43. OS/2 Warp shareware #44. Fixpacks: Should I or shouldn't I? #45. Fixpack 35 & Cyrix CPU's #46. Installing OS/2 with LS-120 as A: Drive #47. Windows 3.1x & DOS (Big time) Applications #48. Windows 95/NT programs #49. Hardware with only Windows 3.1x support #50. Windows 3.1x & DOS (Small) Applications #51. Windows 3.1x & DOS (shareware/freeware) Applications #52. Poor Device Drivers
#1. No matter what, always make sure that the IFS=HPFS.IFS line is always the first one in the config.sys file. This will become extrememly important when trying to install things like fixpacks and Java. #2. IBM has released updated drivers to handle installation of OS/2 Warp 3 & 4 on large hard drives greater than 4.3 GB. Goto IBM's FTP site (ftp.software.ibm.com), goto the [ps/products/os2/os2ddpak] directory and download the IDEDASD.EXE file. Instructions will be there and please follow them to the bone. #3. When installing a fixpack over NEWDASD, make sure that three things are not overwritten. OS2DASD.DMD, FDISK.EXE, and FDISKPM.EXE. It is reported that the future fixpack 6 (Warp 4) and fixpack 35 (Warp 3) will have removeable media support built-in, thus eliminating the need of NEWDASD altogether. This also applies for the IDEDASD. Simply copy over the IBM1S506 & IBMIDECD files from IDEDASD over the NEWDASD. Some people may have problems. Most of these problems are related to the busmastering setting: /BM = enables busmastering /!BM = disables busmastering It's a good bet that devices such as CDROM's and Removeable Media drives (ie. ZIP) will not support busmastering. An example would be this (I have my HD on the 1st on-board IDE controller and my internal IDE ZIP as master and my CDROM drive as slave on the 2nd on-board IDE controller): DEVICE=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /!R /BM /U:0 /LBA /A:1 /!R /!BM I experianced *many* problems when I had my CDROM hooked up to my soundcard. The IDEDASD would always hang at the IBM1S506. My fix was simply changing my CDROM to a slave to my ZIP drive. I did *not* let the BIOS (Award on my mainboard) actually see the ZIP or CDROM drive. IBM has re-updated the IDEDASD file. The file sizes of the files are: IBM1S506.ADD 65,924 bytes IBMIDECD.FLT 24,112 bytes I've copied them over the old IDEDASD and they work beautifully. #4. If you are interested in a second-hand copy of OS/2 Warp, then checkout Usenet group: comp.os.os2.marketplace I've seen OS/2 Warp 3 advertised there from anywhere between $15-30 US. If you are interested in OS/2 Warp 4 brand new than you should first checkout your local computer stores to see if they can get it in for you. Otherwise, checkout the following websites: (North America) http://www.indelible-blue.com http://www.os2store.com http://www.express.net/mistik/occ/OS2.shtml (Europe) http://www.mensys.nl Another website to take note of is BMT Micro in selling OS/2 applications [http://www.bmtmicro.com]. If one wants OS/2 Warp because of the Win32-to-OS/2 project, then you will probably have to get Warp 4. Lowest second-hand price I've seen of Warp 4 on comp.os.os2.marketplace is about $50 US. I've mainly seen it in the $60-120 US range. That is of course, depending on the package. The academic price of Warp 4 (new) is $85 US (I can order it here from my university purchasing store for about $146 CDN). The fullpack (the one that non-students have to get) is about $185 US. The upgrade version is now listed at $161 US. I may get some flack from this but... Stay away from OS/2 2.x. It is simply smarter to go after OS/2 Warp 3 or Warp Connect mainly because device driver support is much better. Plus, IBM is still supporting Warp 3/Warp Connect. At least one more fixpack is underway for it. Not to mention, official Year 2000 compliancy. Pretty lengthy support considering Warp 3 was released back in 1994. Microsoft Windows 3.1x was released back in 1992 and the last file fix/patch I saw for it was dated like, 1993. #5. If you have forgotten what the URL was for a certain OS/2 website that you were on, just goto [http://www.nfwa.com/os2/] and use the search feature on the site name if you can recall it. --Randy Best #6. One can download OS/2 Warp fixpacks from IBM's FTP site [ftp.software.ibm.com] or [http://www.cincyteamos2.org]. One can also get fixes for the TCP/IP for OS/2 as well as other things. Very easy finding what you want at the Cincy site. Here is the directory structure at IBM's FTP site: ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp (Warp 4) /v3.0warp (Warp 3/Connect) ps/products/tcpip/ (TCP/IP Fixes, Warp 3 is TCP/IP 2.0) Warp Connect is TCP/IP 3.0) Warp 4 is TCP/IP 4.0) ps/products/mptn/ (Multi-Protocol Transport Services fixes) (Warp 3 = N/A) (Warp Connect = WR08210) (Warp 4 = WR08415) #7. ZipPlus under PP will not work under OS/2. Iomega must update the PP driver. Email them and demand it. SCSI connection under ZipPlus works fine. #8. In order to use this drive (ATAPI ZIP/LS-120) one must have both the NEWDASD.EXE and REMOVDSK.EXE (both can be obtained in the same FTP site and directory mentioned in #2). In regards to the LS-120, this only works with the internal LS-120. It does not support the external LS-120, that requires its own driver from the manufactorer so ask them. With the release of Fixpack 6 (Warp 4) and Fixpack 35 (Warp 3 & Connect) there is no need for NEWDASD or REMOVDSK. Removable media support is now intergrated into the system. In fact, you should uninstall them before installation. Simply type at an OS/2 command prompt "REGDLL REMOVE" and then delete NEWDISK.DLL from your \OS2\DLL directory. #9. Right now, there is no OS/2 support for any PCI soundcards. But wait, there apparently is one. According to Mustafa Soysal, Newcomm has a PCI card with OS/2 Warp support. Check it out at [http://www.newcominc.com]. #10. I've seen in some cases people trying to install Java with just the RUNTIME.EXE, SAMPLES.EXE, and TOOLKIT.EXE files. These are *NOT* the actual installation files, but are instead the fixes. Goto the above mentioned FTP site (#2) and goto the [software/asd] directory in order to download Java. There should be directories pointing to all levels of Java (1.0.2 and 1.1.4). Java 1.1.1 is no longer available from IBM's sites. #11. Getting a 56k Modem working under OS/2 is not that difficult as long as you know what kind of modem it is. Again, WinModems will not work. As long as *ANY* modem has jumpers that will allow you to set exactly which com port there should be no trouble at all in getting it to work. If it is PnP specific you may have some difficulty under Warp 3. Warp 4 should not be as difficult since Warp 4 has PnP support. Good idea is to try the SIO drivers if all else fails. SIO drivers can be obtained from [http://www.gwinn.com]. If using OS/2's default com port drivers, your config.sys should look like this: DEVICE=COM.SYS (4,2E8,3) - if com port 4 " " (3,3E8,4) - if com port 3 If SIO's driver, then it should be this: DEVICE=SIO.SYS (COM4,2E8,3,,F) (4:115200) - if com port 4 " " (COM3,3E8,4,,F) (3:115200) - if com port 3 With Plug & Play modems, remember one thing. The last ISA slot is always COM port 3 and the second-last is COM port 4 (which is where most people place their internal modems to). On older mainboards the IRQ's may be different, ie. COM3 3E8,5 and COM4 2E8,10. In regards with the init string, I do not know if this applies for the USR x2 standard, but with the K56Flex standard (Rockwell) than you will need to add "AT+MS=56,1,32000,56000" in order to get it to work at 56k. You can just add it to your existing init string like so, eg. "AT&F&C1&D2+MS=56,1,32000,56000". I've seen variations as such with the MS portion such as "MS=56,1,300,48000,1,0 &W&W1". With the Rockwell based modems, I think this could be one of the better init strings "ATX4S0=0S7=90S11=65&C1&D2". Of course if its a 56k Rockwell, then add the MS portion after the &D2. #12. There is a *terrific* utility called SET6X86 designed for these Cyrix CPU's. What it does is lower the amount of power it consumes when idling. Originally designed for the 6x86, it has proven to work under the 6x86L and 6x86MX. The original 6x86 cpu commonly idled at 20+ watts. This program drastically reduces that to 0.03 watts. One requires the latest EMX runtime to be installed in order for this to work. Goto http://hobbes.nmsu.edu (at the search prompt one can located SET6X86 and EMXRT). For those wondering the exact wattage of what the Cyrix CPU's use... (assuming you are NOT overclocking) Cyrix CPU Multiplier/ Wattage Core MHz Bus Speed 6x86-PR120+ 2x50 19.4w 100mhz 6x86-PR133+ 2x55 20.9w 110mhz 6x86-PR150+ 2x60 22.0w 120mhz 6x86-PR166+ 2x66 23.8w 133mhz 6x86-PR200+ 2x75 25.2w 150mhz 6x86L-PR120+ 2x50 14.2w 100mhz 6x86L-PR133+ 2x55 15.1w 110mhz 6x86L-PR150+ 2x60 16.0w 120mhz 6x86L-PR166+ 2x66 16.6w 133mhz 6x86L-PR200+ 2x75 18.2w 150mhz 6x86MX-PR166 2x75 16.7w 150mhz 6x86MX-PR200 2.5x66 18.1w 166mhz 6x86MX-PR233 2.5x75 20.6w 188mhz 6x86MX-PR233 3x66 22.0w 200mhz 6x86MX-PR266 3x75 24.0w 225mhz 6x86MX-PR266 3.5x66 24.7w 233mhz Source of this information comes from the ComputerNerd at [http://www.computernerd.com/coolspec.htm]. The site also has this kind of information regarding the AMD K5-K6 and Intel Pentium-Pentium Pro-Pentium II CPU's as well. Intel Pentium II-300mhz sucks up 43watts!!! No offense, but this does give a decent reason to simply stick with the socket 7 CPU's (Intel Pentium II-266mhz = 37.0 watts vs. Cyrix 6x86MX-PR266 = 24.0-24.7 watts) Cheaper to go with the Cyrix/AMD counter part, not to mention less power consumption. *Info on IDT WinChip C6. This is a relative late comer to the socket 7 market. Now according to IDT, the WinChip C6-200mhz idles at...11 watts, compared that with the AMD K6-200 which idles at a little bit above 20 watts. Not bad since the IDT WinChip C6's performance is almost identical to Cyrix 6x86MX. This is noteworthy since Cyrix has apparently dumped the socket 7 market. Cyrix 6x86MX-PR266 looks like it is the last. The WinChip comes in two flavors if I'm not mistaken (180mhz & 200mhz), plus work going on for the IDT WinChip C6+. More info on WinChip is available at [http://www.winchip.com] and as well another source is [http://www.tomshardware.com]. #13. Some may have heard by now, but for those that have not, checkout (http://www.os2ss.com/win32-os2/). It's an ongoing project that will convert Window 95/NT programs into native OS/2 programs. It has not been released yet, but a beta is expected. And no, this is not a hoax. Quake II is reported to already be working under OS/2 by this method. I am not certain about this, but I do believe that this will probably only work under Warp 4. Again, I am not sure. Reason being is that IBM seems prudent in only updating the Open32 library under Warp 4 moreso than Warp 3. Afterall, Smartsuite 97 for OS/2 will only operate under Warp 4. The Open32 library, BTW, is quite important for the Win32-to-OS/2 program to function. OS/2 Warp 3 & Connect users will need at the least FP 26. This is where IBM began adding Open32 support under it. It has been noted that some people have gotten some Win32s software to work, but take note, Win32s is not supported by the team behind this project. The main concern is, of course, Win32 applications. *Concerning OS/2 Warp 3 & Connect users, there maybe a problem when converting a program that uses RTMIDI (Real-Time MIDI). Quake II for example requires RTMIDI, yet it will not work under Warp 3/Connect. Even disabling all sound will get you nowhere. As well, there seems to be some calls made to MPTS which will be a problem for plain Warp 3 users (not for Warp Connect). This is going to be addressed by the next version of Win32-OS/2 (I think, read that on Usenet somewhere). #14. Checkout (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu) and do a search for FULLPACK. This should provide *all* that you need in order to get any DOS-based BBS functioning at optimum level under OS/2. Also, there are OS/2 native BBS programs. PCBoard, Maximus, AdeptXbbs, and Synchronet to name a few. Both Maximus and AdeptXbbs can be obtained from the Hobbes site. Synchronet however can be obtained from [http://www.weedpuller.com/synchronet/]. Another native OS/2 BBS one can see is Concord [http://www.xs4all.nl/~ruudd/concord.htm]. One can also get a beta of Iniquity/2 [http://www.crosswinds.net/vancouver/~iniquity]. Telegard, Ezycom, WWIV, and ProBoard are coming out with OS/2 native versions, currently in closed beta. #15. One can download the beta Lotus Smartsuite 97 for OS/2 Warp 4 from Hobbes or goto BMT Micro [http://www.bmtmicro.com] and order it on CDROM for $15 US. *The beta stage is now complete, Lotus Smartsuite 97 for OS/2 Warp 4 (beta II) from many of all the sites that had it available for download and retail have now been removed. One can still obtain Lotus Word Pro 96 for OS/2, pre-beta from Hobbes though. Not the samething I know. According to many of the retail websites online like [http://www.os2store.com] are saying that Lotus is making it real easy for OS/2 Warp 4 users in order to buy Smartsuite 97 for OS/2 Warp 4. Essentially if you have IBM Works 3.0 (which only comes with OS/2 Warp 4) you can buy the upgrade version instead of the full retail. Check for further details. #16. Java for OS/2 (1.1.4) is a 30meg download. You can save yourself the trouble by going to the OS/2 SuperSite [http://www.os2ss.com], and buy it on CDROM for $15. #17. From OS/2's SuperSite you can buy a CDROM with all the fixpacks on it, saving yourself the trouble of downloading it. As well, the latest fixpacks (FP 6 for Warp 4 and FP 35 for Warp 3/Connect) are ready to be installed right from the CDROM itself. Also note, all fixpacks previous to the latest are also available on the CDROM. #18. By going to the Hobbes repository [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu] one can find drivers that will enable OS/2 to see other file systems. Those being ext2 for Linux, FAT32 & VFAT for Windows 95, NTFS for Windows NT, HFS for Macintosh floppy disks (does not work with ZIP disks). #19. Easiest way of solving the slow bootup problem is doing two things: REM out unnecessary drivers and getting Sortboot. Sortboot is a neat little REXX file that you can get at Hobbes. SRTBT20.ZIP should be the latest. What it does is create a new config.sys (config.new) in a re-organized manner. Once that is done, take note of #1 (make sure IFS=HPFS is the first line in the config.sys). Expect Warp to load up a bit quicker next time. NOTE: Always make a backup of the original config.sys before using any kind of config.sys altering program. #20. Under Warp 4, unless you are running a LAN workstation and only connection to the internet is via modem dialup, one can safely REM out the following in the config.sys: DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGDD.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM /S DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTMAN.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM DEVICE=C:\MPTN\PROTOCOL\AFOS2.SYS DEVICE=C:\MPTN\PROTOCOL\IFNDIS.SYS DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\MACS\NULLNDIS.OS2 RUN=C:\OS2\SMSTART.EXE RUN=E:\IBMCOM\LANMSGEX.EXE CALL=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIND.EXE CALL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE /Q /C /C:\MPTN\BIN\MPTSTART.CMD >NUL If you have no intention of using any Win3.1x or DOS based internet applications then you can also REM out: DEVICE=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.VDD DEVICE=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.SYS RUN=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSCTL.EXE Regarding the IFS=HPFS.IFS line; with 16 MB it should look like this IMO, but your results will vary: IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:512 /CRECL:64 One could consider using a 1meg cache but with just 16 MB of RAM, I don't know. *Umm, what about us Warp Connect users? From what I can tell, this is what you can safely REM out of your CONFIG.SYS file without doing much harm. Provided of course your internet connection is as above, only by modem line. DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\LANPDD.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\LANVDD.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGDD.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTMAN.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM CALL=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIND.EXE RUN=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGEX.EXE DEVICE=C:\MPTN\PROTOCOL\AFOS2.SYS DEVICE=C:\MPTN\PROTOCOL\IFNDIS.SYS CALL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE /Q /C C:\MPTN\BIN\MPTSTART.CMD DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBEUI.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIOS.OS2 DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\MACS\PRNANDIS.OS2 Like above as well, if you have no plans on using any DOS or Win3.1x based internet application, then you can also REM out: DEVICE=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.VDD DEVICE=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.SYS RUN=C:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSCTL.EXE Hope this helps! #21. Here are some things one can do to improve Win-OS/2 performance. First, in the config.sys change the DOS=LOW,NOUMB to DOS=HIGH,UMB. Second, make sure that the Win3.1x program has its FILES property setting set to the max (255), make EMS_MEMORY to zero and increase the XMS_MEMORY to whatever you feel is good. Now, there are two other settings that can play a major factor depending if you are dealing with an application or some sort of communications terminal (or WWW browser, etc.). IDLE_SECONDS and IDLE_SENSITIVITY. If it is a non-communication program (ie. WordPerfect for Windows) then make the IDLE_SECONDS to 4 and the IDLE_SENSITIVITY to 38. If it is a communications program (ie. Telix for Windows) then you will pretty much have to leave it to the max on both (IDLE_SECONDS to 60 and IDLE_SENSITIVITY to 100). You could try IDLE_SENSITIVITY at 95 and see how it goes, though. *Another memory setting to fool around with is the DPMI. A good example of this is Microsoft Word 6, this does not use XMS memory but it instead uses DPMI memory. I'm guessing WordPerfect for Windows is like this, too. WP's installation needs at least 16 from what I've read in their support documents under installation under OS/2's Win-OS/2. #22. Let me say this before I go any further, I agree with what Brad Wardell thinks about the SIQ in OS/2 Warp. It is certainly a problem that IBM needs to solve. Anyhow, when something like Netscape hangs your desktop I'm pretty sure that nothing will kill it and it's all because of the SIQ (Single Input Queue) problem. When this problem does occur, you'll notice that no matter what you do the system is not responding to you either by keyboard or mouse, yet you can tell that the system is still running and that whatever processes you had running in the background are still going. You just can't get to any of them. Anyhow, there are several process killers. Process Commander by Stardock and C-A-D Commander by Perez Software are the two main front runners that are still supported. WatchCat is another but is no longer being updated. Demo's of Process Commander and C-A-D Commander can be downloaded from the internet. Process Commander - http://www.stardock.com C-A-D Commander - http://www.pcs-soft.com WatchCat - http://hobbes.nmsu.edu (search for Watchcat) There are other smaller one's such as the FM2UTILS.ZIP, it contains a little kill process, and as well something called Task Buster. It's too hard to say which is the best, simply because it is IBM's job to fix the SIQ, no one elses. I guess it's probably a dead heat tie between Process Commander and C-A-D Commander. The answer to getting passed the SIQ could be in the form of PMTREE. Check out #42. #23. I'm sure some Warp 4 users have seen it. Sometimes a screen comes up with an elephant asking you to register. The "RIGHT" way to do this is to open the drives folder. Open the boot drive. Open the \OS2\INSTALL folder. Open the Icon View of "Installed Features". Open "Install Object - Inventory". Checkmark the ART entry and choose the Uninstall button. It is much cleaner this way. --Scott Lambert #24. As it stands right now, OS/2 Warp has official support for Win32s 1.25. It can not go higher because OS/2 is limited to addressing 512 MB of memory whereas Win32s 1.30 exceeds that by quite a margin. However it has been well documented that some Win3.1x programs that say they require Win32s 1.30 is just a smokescreen. The greatest example is of course Adobe PhotoShop 3.0. It states it requires Win32s 1.30 but can run fine under Win-OS/2. It simply requires a little trickery. Basically what you do is install Win32s 1.30, and then install Win32s 1.25 on top of it. This may work with some Win32s 1.30 programs, but success simply can not be guarenteed. After installing Win32s 1.30, goto the WIN32.INI file and edit it (make sure it reads "setup=0"), then install Win32s 1.25 over it. Adobe Photoshop 3.0 should now work. Apparently some programs like Photoshop 3.0 only checks for Win32s 1.30 presence, but does not actually go above the 512 MB limit. NOTE: Adobe Photoshop 4.0 will *NOT* work. Another thing to consider is that Warp 3/Warp Connect must have at least Fixpack 26 in order to have Win32s 1.25 working properly. A patch called VW32S.ZIP from IBM's FTP site may also be needed. (dir: ps/products/os2/v3.0warp/vw32s) If one has fixpack 32 or higher (soon to be 35), then this patch will probably not be necessary. I picked this up from a VOICE newsletter (Feb, 1998): Apparently, you can take the Win32s 1.25-1.30 hybrid an extra step further. After installing Win32s 1.30, back up the entire Win32s directory in a big compressed file. Then go about the earlier instructions on re-installation of Win32s 1.25. You can then unpack some of the original Win32s 1.30 contents. Notably the: SHELL32.DLL COMCTL32.DLL OLEAUT32.DLL OLE2THK.DLL OLE32.DLL Before doing this, of course, backup the original Win32s 1.25 version of these five files. Does this work? Dunno. Only you can find out (for those that need a Win32s 1.30 application). *It must be noted that OS/2 Warp 4 already has its Win-OS/2 support ready for Win32s 1.25. Installation of Win32s 1.25 may be a little tricky for Warp 3/Connect users. Under Warp 4, its pretty much a breeze (as long as you install it *before* installing any fixpacks). I still have not gotten Win32s 1.25 to be working if I installed it *after* installing any of the fixpacks. Weird. Anyhow, for Warp 3/Connect users there are two files necessary (I think) for installation of Win32s at Hobbes. At [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu] there is a link for Windows files, there are two files there necessary. #25. If you want to catch info on OS/2 by email instead of digging around various WWW sites, then goto [http://www.warpcast.com] and sign up. You'll get OS/2 and related news in your email box. Another good resource for OS/2 News is [http://www.os2ss.com/News/]. Good idea to check out also the OS/2 e-Zine! at [http://www.os2ezine.com] and Cincinnati's Team OS/2 page at [http://www.cincyteamos2.org]. #26. Goto to Hobbes [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu] and do a search on a file called SOUND16.ZIP With this file you can effectively edit the current sound schemse or add some of your own. As well it has a nice importing/exporting feature so that one can effectively trade sound schemes to and fro. Only for OS/2 Warp 4, BTW. #27. Installing fixpacks from the hard drive can be done by obtaining EASYFIX.ZIP from Hobbes [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu]. You will need to download the fixpacks in zipped compressed format instead of the traditional .DSK format. Don't worry, if you already have made the 3.5" diskettes, then simply copy them onto the hard drive. One can get fixpacks from IBM is a zipped compressed format at their FTP site (look #2), but in this directory instead (dir: /ps/products/os2/rsu/) The directory number of the fixpack you would be looking for is the same as in the normal .DSK format. So, fixpack 32 for OS/2 Warp 3 (english-US) is XR_W032. #28. If you have the Road Runner cable modem, then check out this URL: [http://Larkin.NuclearWinter.com/rros2] This site has a link to a beta login program for it. #29. If you are fixpack phoebic, then the only way to solve the Win-OS/2 stability problem under Warp 4 is to install Netscape Navigator and the Netscape Plugin pak. The latest release of Netscape/2 is much better than the one dated back June 27, 1997. Anyhow, the Netscape Plugin pak had stealth fixes to Win-OS/2 when installing all three sections of it: *Native OS/2 Multimedia Plugins *Support for Windows 3.1x Plugins *OS/2 Multimedia MPEG support This should help in a big way in solving your Win-OS/2 problems under Warp 4. #30. If you have ever tried to use the Win16 version of the RealPlayer v5.0 under Win-OS/2 and gotten this message: "RAPlayer caused is not allowed to run in a Win-OS/2 Window on module 0000:0000@RAPlayer will close." Mike Forester has found the fix. Just do the following: 1. In WIN.INI, look for [drawdib]. Add or edit a line to say: DVA=0 2. In SYSTEM.INI, go to [386Enhanced]. Comment or delete the line that says device=dva.386 #31. I used to experience this a lot during my 14.400 baud days when I tried to download a big 6-8meg file. My ISP (Internet Service Provider) would always kick me off during the later stages of the download because it thought I was simply idling. There are two remedy's for this and I'd advise getting both since either one is not exactly what one would call a resource hog. One is FORLOG, which can be downloaded from Hobbes [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu] (do a search for FORLOG) and the other is NOIDLE, you can get it from [http://ozbbs.ml.org] (scroll down the page and click onto Dink's Utilities). #32. Some of you running WordPerfect 7 for Win3.1x must be getting a little miffed at why when you try to launch Netscape from it it keeps giving an error. Despite the fact that you have Netscape/2 already installed. Easy thing to fix. Simply edit the "WIN.INI" file. Goto the section that has [NETSCAPE]. Edit it to "ini=X:\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.INI" or whatever drive Netscape/2 is installed on. Problem fixed. #33. There is one real *easy* way in getting your Windows 3.1x Internet plugin's working correctly under Netscape Navigator/2. Install those plugin's under the Win3.1x version of Netscape first! I have done this and just about all of them are working correctly. Simply install them under a Win3.1x version of Netscape. After you are done, then install Netscape/2 and its Plugin Pak. A list of the plugins that I've been testing, all of which works, but some more easily than others: (+ indicates it works, - indicates a problem, and ++ means its so scary at how well it can work ) +RealPlayer 5.0 -QuickTime 2.1.2 -Vivo Player 2.0.1 ++Cosmo 1.0.5 -VDO Player -PointCast 1.6 ++Shockwave (Director) ++Shockwave Graphics ++Shockwave Authorware ++Shockwave Flash Player One thing I noticed, after I installed Vivo and when I try exiting out of Win-OS/2, I got this error message that effectively hangs that session. Which BTW continues whenever you try exiting out of Win-OS/2 (Fullscreen or seamless). Only thing to do is Ctrl-Alt-Del, but Watchcat can kill it so it is nothing to worry about. Once I installed Fixpack 5, the problem is gone. Dunno what was wrong with it. So for people who are fixpack phoebic, stay away from Vivo! Not even the stealth fix from Netscape's Pluginpak could do anything about it. Right now it is the *only* plugin out of those listed that I simply can not get to work. Everytime I try it comes up with an error that effectively hangs Netscape/2 saying something about a DLL file not being loaded. Vivo is the only one that I'd say stay away from. Another thing to lookout for is in Shockwave (Director). There is a small bug in the install program, basically the install program wants to put the program in "DIR6SWAVE" directory, it should be installed in the Win3.1x Netscape plugin directory [eg. E:\APPS\NETSCAPE\PLUGIN]. With VDO I guess it works, but when I try to use it nothing comes up. It just says connecting, then after a while it stops. With PointCast it seems to work, but once it is activated, if you try to re-use Netscape/2, it's Ctrl-Alt-Del time. Be sure to go into the Control Panel of Win-OS/2 and make the screen saver back to instead of the PCN Smartscreen. Only way PointCast will work is in its own fullscreen session. Seamlessly it will simply not work. Before I forget, let me mention that with RealPlayer you must go into Netscape's General Preferences in the Options heading. Click on the Helpers. You scroll down until you find one that says "audio/x-pn-realaudio", here you set it up so that it will launch the application (RealPlayer in whatever directory you have it installed). Now, go into the App Settings and make sure of this (in conjuction with the other Win-OS/2 settings I had mentioned in #21): HW_TIMER (ON) IDLE_SENSITIVITY (95) INT_DURING_IO (ON) VIDEO_8514A_XGA_IOTRAP (OFF) VIDEO_RETRACE_EMULATION (OFF) VIDEO_SWITCH_NOTIFICATION (ON) With QuickTime you'll notice that it is listed as not being enabled in Netscape/2 (about plugins). One solution would be to do exactly as I have told you above. But the other is simply getting QuickMotion. QuickMotion, unlike QuickTime is a *native* OS/2 plugin. So the performance will undoubtedly be better, as well, it now has the ability to play those VR movie files. I can't really express at to my delight as to how well the Macromedia Shockwave and Cosmo plugins work under Netscape/2. The integration is so smooth you could hardly tell the difference. Scary, indeed. ;-) Of course, depending on the video card and sound card the results will vary (as with processor and RAM). I'd suggest at the least having 65k colors, 256 is really butchered under Netscape. Getting Win3.1x plugins to work is not as important as it once was in light of native OS/2 plugins such as QuickMotion for playing QuickTime movies and Voyager/2 for surfing VRML. But I hope this helps somewhat for those that want to use those other plugins that are not available to OS/2 yet. A website with information about Netscape/2 is of course, the Unofficial Netscape Navigator Homepage for OS/2 [http://people.netscape.com/law] which provide helpful links to other places that can assist you in your Win3.1x plugin troubles. #34. Getting these working under Warp 3/Connect is pretty easy. Basically all one must do is take a program template and make sure its property settings are these: Path & Filename: APPLET.EXE Optional Parameters: file:///x:\java11\demo\....\example1.html (X being whichever drive it is installed on and the .... denotes whichever demo applet you want to get working.) #35. Anyone with a soundcard that utilizes the Opti 82c924 or for that matter the 82c925 chipset may notice that every time you start a Win-OS/2 session there is some dumb error message about the MPU-401. Easy remedy; move the MPU401.DRV and MPU401P.DRV files out of the Win-OS/2 system's directory. x:\os2\mdos\winos2\system or x:\windows\system The MPU-401 error message is now gone. Another tip is doing this. Goto the Control Panel, into the Drivers and goto the setup of the [MCI] Sound. Up the buffer to the maximum of 9. Sound should be much better when flipping back and forth between Win-OS/2 and the OS/2 desktop. For those that did not realize, the Opti 82c924 chipset uses the same drivers as the 82c925, 82c928, and 82c929. #36. Lot's of good programming resources available for OS/2. The EMX GCC C/C++ is one of the best to start with. It is a free C/C++ compilier. One can check it out at Hobbes [http://hobbes.nmsu.edu] in the (dir: /pub/os2/dev/emx). In fact, at the same site you can look around all the /dev/ directories that are there at Hobbes. Pascal users should not feel left out, goto [http://www.irietools.com] for Irie Pascal. Another is of course Java (goto #10 & #16). As well, you can check out IBM's Java website at [http://ncc.hursley.ibm.com/javainfo]. As well you can also check out IBM's Developer Connection at [http://www.developer.ibm.com/DevCon/] and EDM/2 the Electronic Developer Magazine for OS/2 at [http://www.edm2.com]. For Device Driver's check out [http://service.boulder.ibm.com/ddk] and [http://www.wdi.co.uk/os2dd/os2dd.html]. You can also check out [http://femto.ssp.ameslab.gov]. #37. Not much point in talking about which Win3.1x plugin works under Netscape/2 if you can't even get a Win3.1x internet program working under OS/2's TCP/IP. Where to start... Well, depending on what TCP/IP version you have (Warp 3 has TCP/IP 2.0, Warp Connect with TCP/IP 3.0, and Warp 4 has TCP/IP 4.0). Make sure that there is only *one* WINSOCK.DLL file and that should be the one located in your X:\TCPIP\DOS\BIN directory. *In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file make sure that in the PATH there is one that leads to your TCPIP\DOS\BIN directory. *Using PMSEEK check for the presence of a file called RESOLV or RESOLV2, this should be located in a ETC directory (for Warp 3 users X:\TCPIP\ETC and for Warp Connect/Warp 4 users in your X:\MTPN\ETC directory). What this textfile has inside is your domain name and default nameserver. This is an example: domain your.isp.com nameserver 192.0.2.1 Now some people will still have problems getting Win3.1x internet programs working. I myself found that a fresh install of both Warp 3 and Warp 4 had *zero* problems in getting a Win3.1x internet program to work. But under Warp Connect I could not (go figure). So the need for applying fixes will of course be in order and after I did that for Warp Connect, I finally was able to get Win3.1x stuff working. Here is what each TCP/IP needs for fixes: TCP/IP 2.0 -UN64092 dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v2.0os2\un64092 -DOSBOX (DOSBOX.EXE) dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\dosbox\latest -Year 2000 Fix (V20Y2K.EXE) dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v2.0os2\year2000 -Stack update dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v2.0os2\latest\stack (PQ10733) TCP/IP 3.0 -MPTS (WR08210) dir: ps\products\mpts\fixes\...\wr08210_conv (The ... is the choice of language) -UN00067 dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v3.0os2\un00067 -DOSBOX (same as above) -Year 2000 Fix (V30Y2K.EXE) dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v3.0os2\year2000 TCP/IP 4.0 -DOSBOX (same as above) -Year 2000 Fix (V40Y2K.EXE) dir: ps\products\tcpip\fixes\v4.0os2\year2000 NOTES: With TCP/IP 3.0, the instructions for the MPTS fixpack was *very* particular. With TCP/IP 4.0 I did not bother with any of those TCP/IP fixes, just the Year 2000 and the DOSBOX update. As well, the order of the files listed are the order IMO that you should apply the fixes. EXTRA NOTES: UN64092 needs four 3.5" diskettes. UN00067 needs two 3.5" diskettes. MPTS (WR08210) needs six. EXTRA EXTRA STUFF: In the TCP/IP 4.0 fixes area there is a directory pointing to an updated modem listing. Stick it in either the TCPIP\ETC or MPTN\ETC directory depending how the SET ETC statement in your CONFIG.SYS dictates. #38. Someone on Usenet reported that under fixpack 6 in the OS2.3 of the fixpack directory there being some new files, one of which is TLOGOFF.EX_, unpack (using UNPACK.EXE) this file as it provides a neat way to restart the WPS. It is not available under fixpack 35 unfortunately. Word of the wise, make sure that your desktop icons are locked in place, otherwise when the WPS is restarted those icons are missing. After a reboot, those missing icons are back, but are not in the same order as you had them previously. As well, be careful if you have WarpCenter in use as the desktop is resized (shifting everything down by a few cm's). #39. Is it beneficial or detrimental to your CPS rate? Who knows...I guess it really depends on you and to find out for yourselves. Make this textfile called (well, anything you like but I like to call it) MODEM.CMD at my root directory. In it I have this: MODE.COM COM4 57600,N,8,1,TO=ON,IDSR=ON,ODSR=ON,RTS=TOG,BUFFER=ON Some may wish to leave or remove the BUFFER part of it. More information is available from your Help folder under the OS/2 Warp Reference Command help file. BTW: For those that plan on sticking this into their STARTUP folder, add a DETACH in front of the MODE beginning and in the next line have EXIT. (ie. DETACH MODE.COM blah blah). #40. This may sound mean, but... It seems as if some people have a mental block against reading README files or are suffering a blindness that meets their own interests. Anyway, here's the short-short installation instructions for Xfree86-OS/2. If you do not know what Xfree86-OS/2 is then check out [http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html]. You'll need the following files: *EMXRT.ZIP *X332BIN.ZIP *X332BASE.ZIP *X332FNTS.ZIP *X332DOC.ZIP *S_______.ZIP (Depends on what video card, read the README & README.OS2 file that contains information on which file has the supported video card.) Add the following lines to your CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=X:\XFREE86\LIB\XF86SUP.SYS SET TERM=ansi SET TERMCAP=X:/XFREE86/LIB/X11/ETC/EMX.TERMCAP.X11 SET ETC=X:\TCPIP\ETC (this should already be set) SET TMP=X:\TCPIP\TMP (this should already be set) SET HOSTNAME=anything you want (eg. CANNOTREADREADMEFILE) SET USER=illiterate (both USER & LOGNAME must be the same) SET LOGNAME=illiterate SET HOME=X:\USER\illiterate SET X11ROOT=X: (if under a different directory, X:/OS2/X11) SET DISPLAY=:0.0 SET USE_HOSTS_FIRST=1 *Add X:\XFREE86\BIN to your SET PATH & add X:\XFREE86\LIB to your LIBPATH in the CONFIG.SYS *Create a textfile in the TCPIP\ETC or MPTN\ETC directory called "hosts" with this in it: 127.0.0.1 localhost *In your TCPIP\BIN directory make/edit a file called TCPSTART.CMD, and add: ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 up Then make a program on your desktop leading to this TCPSTART file and put it in your STARTUP FOLDER. *After shutdown and reboot, run a program called "SUPERPROBE" located in your X:\XFREE86\BIN directory. This will (or should) detect what kind of video card you have and tell you which file to download in regards to that *S______.ZIP bit. Download it and then add this to your CONFIG.SYS: SET XSERVER=X:/XFREE86/BIN/XF86_SVGA.EXE (or whatever video card you have as indicated from the superprobe) *BTW, it's a good idea to use something like Info-ZIP's UNZIP utility and simply put it in your root directory and unzip it from there. Directories will automatically be created for it. *Run the CHECKINSTALL.CMD from the X:\XFREE86\BIN directory. If everything checks out then continue in running the XF86CONFIG program. *In order to start Xfree86-OS/2, goto a fullscreen OS/2 session and in the X:\XFREE86\BIN directory type in "STARTX". *If you experience any problems along the way, bug Holger Veit. If you can't understand a word he says, or anyone else under the comp.os.os2.apps newsgroup who tries to help you, then delete the entire Xfree86 directory. Take it like a man, and simply give up. #41. Installing the new Bi-Directional Parrallel Port driver for OS/2 is quite easy...IF YOU READ THE DOCUMENTATION! Anyhow, the driver will work under Warp 4, with Warp 3/Connect you will need at least fixpack 24 (26). First step is the disable the spooler in your Systems Folder. Then you can install the driver through the Device Driver Install. Edit the config.sys and REM out PRINT01.SYS, as well, you must install a recent IBMPCL5 printer driver. Doesn't matter which printer it is, it must be installed. Once that is installed simply go back to your original printer as default. Now you can shutdown and reboot. Upon reboot, you can now re-enable the spooler. BTW: This driver is still beta level. You can get the driver from IBM's FTP site [ftp.software.ibm.com] at dir: ps/products/os2/os2ddpak filename: BIDI.EXE *Having problems printing? No problem, add the /IRQ to your PAR1284.SYS statement just like you would've to your old PRINT01.SYS statement, ie. BASEDEV=PAR1284.SYS /IRQ This should fix your printing problems. Please note, make sure that your motherboard has a bi-directional capable (IEEE-1284 compliant) parallel port. #42. Here is the Usenet article that I found. I can not vouch if this works, but you can certainly try it. I did censor out the author's address since I did not ask for his permission to stick it in here. Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.bugs From: kleis@*****.dk Subject: Frozen NetScape can be killed. Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 11:59:13 +0100 In the tips section of OS2VOICE http://www.os2voice.org/ I found the following: Jan 6, 1998 - From Seth McFarland (ptackbar of #os/2 undernet fame and VOICE Web Master) - There is a simple way to make NS/2 kill itself when it "hangs" exiting. All you need to do is run PMTree (freeware, available from hobbes), select window->object, then window->top child, then hit (and hold down) CNTRL-S until NS/2 crashes itself. (PMTree may hang itself during this once or twice, but all you need to do is just kill PMtree, start it again, and go through the same steps until NS/2 goes away). I've done this successfully w/ every NS/2 crash that I've had (not many I must say). I'm not sure exactly how or why this gets rid of it, but it does. I just downloaded ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/wps/pmtree30.zip unpacked it and made NetScape freeze at http://www.swf3.de/java.htm and i successfully got rid of NetScape by the above procedure. Regards Steen Kleis Sorensen kleis@*****.dk *I can personally say that this does indeed work. I was quite hesitent that it would, but after I've tried it myself I'm now a believer. PMTREE should be a standard on just about all OS/2 machines! The actual [http://www.swf3.de/java.htm] page no longer exists, but just goto [http://www.swf3.de] instead and select the Java version. NS/2 hangs instantly. Problem is, of course, getting to PMTREE. Make sure that it is accessible to you, whether in the WarpCenter or Launchpad, or simply somewhere on the Desktop that NS/2 does not cover up. This is definately a must-have folks! From what I can tell, what happens is that NS/2 will exit with a SYS3170 error message (in the PMMERGE.DLL file no less) that pops up after pressing CTRL-S once or twice (guess it ranges for some people). NS/2 simply disappears like magic. If PMTREE hangs, just make sure you have something like WatchCat, CAD Commander, Process Commander, etc. that can kill PMTREE. I do not know how well this thing does against frozen DOS or Win3.1x programs, but all I know is, NS/2 can now be taken care of when it hangs the desktop. For those that wondered exactly what PMTREE is, it is simply an interface to examine the interaction with graphical windows under OS/2. What exactly that means is anyone's guess, but the author (Donald Hobern) of this program should be congratulated. Who'd figure that an small (seemingly useless) utility dated back to 1992 (yes, 1992!) can kill the mighty NS/2 hang! The minimum requirement for PMTREE is OS/2 2.0, BTW. Is this the answer to the SIQ problem? Certainly not, but it is good enough for most people in order to kill NS/2...if you can get to it in time. *How do you even *get* to PMTREE?? Heh, I forgot to mention that I have been using SysBar/2's Taskswitcher, I have this enabled on the lower part of my desktop *always* display enabled (this is quite important, otherwise it simply won't show up). This way I have a sure fire way of getting to my Toolbar or Launchpad which of course has the PMTREE icon on it. To get SysBar/2 go to [http://www.lab321.ru/~dip/sysbar2/index.html] *Regarding Program Commander/2: I've been fooling around with this under PC/2, unfortunately the results were not really pretty. The only time I was able to kill NS/2, it messed up the virtual desktops. I then tried this with SysBar/2's Taskswitcher from above, but it actually didn't work at all to my surprise. To get Program Commander/2, goto [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/7885/]. *Does this work with other hangs? From what I can tell, no. Example, some of you may have seen Image (from the Multimedia folder) hanging with certain jpeg files that gives you an error. Thing is, when you try to view another jpeg you will get a hang of the desktop. I did this on purpose to see if PMTREE would have any effect. Apparently it did not, I tried doing the PMTREE process over and over. The program did not close with an error message. So don't expect PMTREE to do anymore miracles as it looks like NS/2 somehow only responds to this little proggie. Chalk up another one into the X-Files, Scully...it looks like a weird one. #43. You can obtain OS/2 shareware programs and other software from these following sites: (North America) FTP: ftp.cdrom.com dir: pub/ FTP: ftp.pc.ibm.com dir: pub/pccbbs/os2_ews WWW: www.acs.oakland.edu/oak WWW: www.bmtmicro.com WWW: www.indelible-blue.com WWW: www.os2store.com WWW: www.musthave.com (Europe) FTP: ftp.leo.org dir: pub/ WWW: www.leo.org WWW: www.mensys.nl #44. I know that there are some OS/2 users that are hesitant about installing fixpacks, especially when one hears about some of the horror stories regarding them. But for some people, you will have to install them in order to run some programs (ie. Lotus WordPro 96, Lotus Smartsuite 97, Win32-to-OS/2, etc.) *Lotus Word Pro 96 for OS/2 needs at the minimum Fixpack 26 for Warp 3/Connect. *Lotus Smartsuite 97 for Warp 4 will need at least Fixpack 5. *The Win32-to-OS/2 convertor will need a minimum of Fixpack 26 (Warp 3/Connect) and Fixpack 5 (do not use 3 according to the documentation). *Most importantly, official Year 2000 compliancy. The latest OS/2 fixpacks deliver it (Fixpack 32-35 for Warp 3/Connect and Fixpack 5-6 for Warp 4). What happens if a problem occurs after installing a fixpack upon bootup? Easy, upon bootup, when the small OS/2 box on the top-left hand corner appears press ALT-F2 in order to find out what drivers are being loaded. Have a quick eye to see on which driver OS/2 hangs or crashes. Please have OS/2 boot disks ready before installing a fixpack. A good idea to get Boot OS/2, a nice piece of freeware available from IBM's EWS or Employee Written Software. Latest version is also available at Hobbes (I think, I know its been updated quite recently, you should probably check out the archives at WarpCast or Loren's OS/2 News page at the Supersite). When you bootup with the boot disks, simply try remming out the driver in your CONFIG.SYS and try again and see what happens. Sometimes however a problem could be hardware related in the way you configured your system. Take my system for example. I had *numerous* problems with the IBM1S506.ADD driver and from what I can tell it was because I had my CDROM hooked up to my soundcard. I had two IDE devices at the time (HD and a internal IDE ZIP drive). Anyhow, I decided to do this, on the first IDE interface have just my HD, but on the second I had the ZIP drive as master with my 2x CDROM drive as a slave. I did not let the BIOS detect either the CDROM or ZIP drive. Until I had done this OS/2 consistently hung on that IBM1S506 file (revision 4.01, worked only with 3.02). #45. If you have not been reading up with comp.os.os2.bugs, you will be unhappy to know that there is indeed something wrong with Fixpack 35 (for Warp 3/Connect) and Cyrix 6x86-class CPU's (6x86, 6x86L, & 6x86MX). I've also read one account of the same problem afflicting a Cyrix 486DX2/80mhz owner. I do not know if the same problem occurs with the 5x86 (or for that matter any other Cyrix CPU) but I will assume that it does. The problem is this, after installation of fixpack 35, and after the locked files have been processed, you'll discover that upon reboot, right when it hits that little small OS/2 box on the top left-hand side of your screen, the machine stops and has locked up. From what some people have found out there appears to be a problem with the OS2LDR file. The only way to fix this problem is to boot your system up with OS/2 boot disks (can also use the Installation disks if you do not have them) and backup the faulty OS2LDR file (attrib os2ldr -h -r -s) and use the previous one from fixpack 26-32. It must be one of those, I had tried to do this with the original OS2LDR file (dated back to 1995) and the system crashed. Help is on the way though, apparently there is a fix called WARP3CYR.ZIP...somewhere. In regards to fixpack 6; the same bootup problem certainly does *not* appear for Warp 4 users. But... Again with the Cyrix CPU's... I myself have been experiencing a strange phenomena in that I occasionally get random trap errors. I'm talking about an interval of like once per two days. What is peculiarly about this is that it happans during the most harmless things. (ie. closing MR/2 ICE, starting TE/2, etc., normal stuff). I'm thinking the re-designing of the kernel for removeable media support has something to do with this, especially to those with the Cyrix CPU's. However, I'm no expert and that is simply my opinion. Interestingly enough, I'd never experienced this happening to me before under the previous Warp 4 fixpacks (1, 4, & 5). I hope they can get this resolved quickly, because the difference in speed between the intergrated removeable media support opposed to NEWDASD is very noticeable. Under FP 6 I've noticed better performance in transfers and checking the disk contents under the Drives folder. #46. Ok, installation of OS/2 has not gone as expected because your brand new machine only had an LS-120 as your A: drive. OS/2 installation will konk out somewhere the early stages. This is not a solution. (Getting a 3.5" 1.44 internal drive is a real solution). This is simply a theory that I've cooked up that I think may or may not work. You will need the NEWDASD & REMOVDSK files from IBM's FTP site (ftp.software.ibm.com) (dir: /ps/products/os2/os2ddpak/). This is how it goes... These are the main files that you want, the rest can be ignored. NEWDASD - IBM1S506.ADD, IBMIDECD.FLT, FDISK.EXE, OS2DASD.DMD REMOVDSK - IBMATAPI.FLT Edit the CONFIG.SYS on Disk 1. Rem out the unnecessary stuff. Then add BASEDEV=IBMATAPI.FLT and SET COPYFROMFLOPPY=1 and also edit the BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD to have a /RF parameter (ie. BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD /RF). Now copy over the IBM1S506, IBMIDECD, IBMATAPI, and OS2DASD files onto Disk 1. On Disk 2, copy FDISK onto it. There you have it. I do not know if this will work with LS-120 as A: drive, but its worth a shot I guess. Take note, these files can not be deleted from Disk 1: CLOCK01.SYS KBDBASE.SYS *.SNP CLOCK02.SYS OS2LOGO IBM1S506.ADD OS2DASD.DMD IBM1FLPY.ADD PNP.SYS* IBM2FLPY.ADD RESERVE.SYS IBM2ADSK.ADD RESOURCE.SYS IBM2SCSI.ADD SCREEN01.SYS IBMINT13.I13 SCREEN02.SYS IBMKBD.SYS XDFLOPPY.FLT * = denotes only Warp 4. I myself have the internel IDE (non-ATAPI) ZIP drive. I installed OS/2 Warp 4 like this and it worked. There is one hitch with it though. For some reason, as the installation process was happening, OS/2 somehow lost the CDROM drive. Originally it was F: drive, but for some reason it became H: drive. A prompt asks you for where the CDROM is. I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that FDISK on Disk 2 was *not* copied over. Again, that's just a guess. Other than that, once the installation was complete, I check Drives folder and sure enough, my CDROM drive is back to its old F: drive self. Weird. Again, I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that FDISK on Disk 2 was not copied over. I've even gone so far as to try this (SET COPYFROMFLOPPY=1,2) and it still didn't work. Anyhow, you will have install the NEWDASD with the Device Driver Install since you never had the opportunity to type in REGDLL.EXE in order to register the NEWDISK.DLL file. Also, you will notice in your CONFIG.SYS the SET COPYFROMFLOPPY statement is present; delete that. One will have to check to see if IBMATAPI.FLT was brought over and inserted into the CONFIG.SYS as well. As well check to see if the OS2DASD has the /RF parameter on it (if not, add it). #47. This will *hopefully* be a listing of most of the bigtime Windows 3.1x and DOS programs that can run well under OS/2. Excluding games, I'm afraid... As well, I will not include antivirus and backup programs. I mean, why would you want to? ;-) YES: *Adobe Illustrator 4.0 for Win3.1x *Aldus PageMaker 4.0 for Win3.1x *AutoCAD R12 for DOS *AutoCAD R12 for Win3.1x *AutoCAD R13 for Win3.1x (requires Win32s) *Borland C++ 4.0 for Win3.1x *Borland C++ for DOS *Corel WordPerfect Suite 7 for Win3.1x -WordPerfect 7 -Quattro Pro 7 -Presentations 7 -Time Line -CorelFLOW 2 -Sidekick 2 -Envoy 1.0a *Corel WordPerfect Suite for DOS -WordPerfect 6.2 -Quattro Pro 5.6 -Presentations 2.1 *CorelDRAW 5 for Win3.1x *DBase IV for DOS *Fractal Dabbler *Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Win3.1x *Harvard Graphics 3.0 for DOS *Lotus 1-2-3 v4 for DOS *Lotus AmiPro 3.0 for Win3.1x *Lotus Smartsuite 4.5 for Win3.1x -Word Pro 97 -123 v5.0 -Approach v3.0 -Freelance Graphics v2.1 -Organizer v2.1 -ScreenCam v2.0 *MathCAD 5.0 for Win3.1x (requires Win32s) *Mathmatica 2.2 for Win3.1x *Micrografx Picture Publisher for Win3.1x *Microsoft FoxPro for DOS *Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 for Win3.1x *Microsoft Office 4.3 -Access 2.0 -Excel 5.0 -PowerPoint 4.0 -Word 6.0 *Microsoft Word Viewer 97 for Win3.1x *Microsoft Visual BASIC 3.0 for Win3.1x *Microstation 95 (requires Win32s) *Netscape Navigator/Communicator 4.04 for Win3.1x *Powerbuilder v3 for Win3.1x *PrintMaster Gold for Win3.1x *Printshop Deluxe for DOS *Professional Write 2.21 for DOS *QuarkXPress v3.1 for Win3.1x *Quicken v6 & v7 for DOS *SPSS/PC+ v4 for DOS *Symantec ACT! 2.0 for Win3.1x *Symantec Norton Desktop 3.0 for Win3.1x *Symantec Norton pcANYWHERE 5.0 for DOS *TurboTax for DOS *Turbo Pascal v6 & v7 for DOS *Ventura Publisher v3 for DOS *WordStar v6 for DOS PROBLEM: *PowerQuest Drive Copy (I don't actually own DriveCopy, but I do have DriveImage and I am assuming that it probably won't run under Win-OS/2. DriveImage for those that do not know also has DriveCopy's abilities) *PowerQuest Drive Image (Can not be used under Win-OS/2, but it can backup an HPFS partition) *Symantec's Norton Utilities 8.0 for DOS & Win3.1x (Majority of the utilities will not operate, only some can) NO: *Adobe Photoshop 4.0 for Win3.1x *Corel Web Graphics Suite 1.0 for Win95/Win3.1x (requires Win32s 1.30...according to Corel Tech Support) #48. The size of this list will all depend on how well the Win32-to-OS/2 project works out. I will try and keep track of all the Window 95/NT programs that work under OS/2 Warp 4 in regards to the Win32-to-OS/2 convertor. I won't bother listing WinNT's Solitare or NotePad since we already know those work. As well, it will also keep track of those that do *NOT* work. YES: *Quake II for Win95 *WinZIP 6.2 for Win95 NO: *Microsoft Office 97 *RealPlayer 5.0 for Win95 There is a better forum than this small list dealing with the conversion of Win32 applications to OS/2 via a website. This section will no longer be updated, but instead I encourage you all to check out this website instead: http://www.yoursite.co.uk/os/2/ *This small blurb is in some relation to #12, only this affects the people with Intel and AMD cpu's. Some of you maybe aware of a program called CPUIDLE, this is a Win95/98 utility that is freeware for personal use that does pretty much the samething that Set6x86 does for the Cyrix processors. I was able to convert it but apparently I need to have a OLEAUT32.DLL file converted too (I do not have Win95 so I can not do this). http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~goetz One thing I noted that unlike the Set6x86, there actually is a minor little blurb about this program slowing down your hard drive (if cached). Guess you can't have everything like us Cyrix/IBM 6x86-cpu class users. But anyhow, if Win32-OS/2 can get this thing working, it'd be good news for those AMD K6 users that enjoy overclocking that's for sure! *DOSIdle 2.0 has been released and as far as I can tell, this run's under OS/2's DOS VDM, which in turn also run's under Win-OS/2. I do not know if this actually does anything, though. At least it does not cause a trap error. #49. I'm sure some of you must have hardware of some kind that will only work with Windows 3.1x (as well as in Win95/NT but I will leave those out for obvious reasons, but should the day come where Win32-to-OS/2 convertor could come into play then I will probably add some in a different catagory). When I speak of hardware, I'm mainly talking about peripherals such as scanners and the like. Windows 3.1x only supported hardware like WinPrinters and WinModems will not have much of a chance in working. But I would like to know if any OS/2 user has been able to get one of those working under OS/2's Windows support though. YES: *Microtek E3 Plus scanner (read someone on Usenet saying that the parallel port version worked under Win-OS/2!) *Mustek GS-800 handheld greyscale scanner (I myself have this and was pleasently surprised in finding that it will operate under Win-OS/2). Adden: Interesting note... The same driver that is used for the Mustek GS-800 is also the same one for the Mustek CG-6000, GS-400, HT-800 Turbo, HT-105, Matador 4096, Matador 256, and Matador 105. So I am "assuming" that there should be no problem in getting those to work under Win-OS/2. Installation note: for some reason I can not get this scanner to scan anything unless I had it setup for IRQ:5. Was not too much of a problem for me since my soundcard was able to be changed over from IRQ:5 to IRQ:11, but I'd imagine this could be a problem for some people. Neither IRQ:3 or IRQ:10 could work. *Mustek CG-8000 handheld scanner (Ok, now this also falls into the "assumed" catagory. On the GS-800 driver install disk, there is a driver for it for the CG-8000. Which can only mean that the ISA interface card is also pretty much the same or somewhat similar to the GS-800 one. Bearing this in mind I am going to go on the record in saying that the Mustek CG-8000 *should* work under Win-OS/2.) *P.C. Logic 14.400 internal modem (This is a firmware modem that only had drivers for Win3.1x & DOS, in order to get it working under OS/2 you must use the SIO drivers with the 16550A forced, follow #11 for the SIO Drivers). *RPI modems do work, but simply at a slower CPS rate because the error correction was in the RPI software which does not support OS/2. But I'd imagine you would need the SIO drivers with 16550A forced in order to get the best possible performance out of it. A good 14.400 baud modem should get you about 1,600 CPS whereas an RPI modem under OS/2 would probably get you an average of 1,200 CPS. *UMAX Astra 610P (read somewhere on Usenet that someone has gotten this Parallel Port scanner working under Win-OS/2!). ROBLEM: *Plug-n-Play (err...pray) specific modems with no jumpers available on the modem card could be problematic for some people. Especially Warp 3/Connect users seeing as PnP support was not added (only in Warp 4 did we see PnP support). NO: *Mustek 600 III EP flatbed scanner *Most WinPrinters and WinModems, I'd imagine *As far as I can tell, a good majority of Parallel Port scanners will not operate under OS/2 or Win-OS/2. #50. Very similiar to the bigtime Win3.1x & DOS Applications listing, only this time this deals with those smaller one's that you simply do not know about. You know the one's; that stuff you see at Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, etc. on those shelves. YES: *Cooking Companion for Win3.1x *Expert Astronomer for Win3.1x *Expert Personal Publisher for Win3.1x *Expert Typing for Win3.1x *Keep It Simple Publishing -Pressworks -Announcements -Conversion Artist -Hutchinson Multimedia Encyclopedia -Headline Fonts -Produktum Clipart -Watermarks I *Microsoft Encarta 94 *Microsoft Home Cooking with Master Chefs *Microsoft Wine Guide *Nutridata's One Million Recipes 3.0 *Softkey's Correct Grammer *Softkey's Key Gourmet for Windows *Swift Platinum's Desktop Publisher *Swift Platinum's Word Publisher *Webster's Concise Interactive Encyclopedia for Win3.1x PROBLEM: *Campbell's All-American Recipes (Problem with seeing pictures) *Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia 1995 (Fonts seem messed up) *Softkey's The World of Wine (Seems to work, but trying to run some of the video causes an error). NO: *Softkey's Classic Pleasures for Win3.1x #51. Like those other two up above, this deals with shareware/freeware programs that work under Win-OS/2 and OS/2's DOS support. YES: *Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.x for Win3.1x *Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 for Win3.1x *Arachne Browser (WWW) for DOS *ARJ 2.60 (Compression) for DOS *Cosmo 1.0 Beta 5 (VRML) for Win3.1x *Eudora (Email) for Win3.1x *Ezycom 1.20 BBS for DOS *Free Agent 1.0 (Usenet Client) for Win3.1x *Info-ZIP (Compression) for DOS *JAR 1.02 (Compression) for DOS *LView (Graphic Viewer) for Win3.1x *Macromedia Shockwave (Director) for Win3.1x *Macromedia Shockwave Authorware for Win3.1x *Macromedia Shockwave Flash Player for Win3.1x *Macromedia Shockwave Graphics for Win3.1x *Opera 3.20 (WWW) for Win3.1x *PaintShop Pro 3.x for Win3.1x *PKZIP 2.04g (Compression) for DOS *ProBoard 2.16 BBS for DOS *QuickTime 2.1.2 for Win3.1x *RAR 2.00 (Compression) for DOS *RealPlayer 5.0 for Win3.1x *Remote Access BBS 2.52 for DOS *Renegade BBS for DOS *Shotgun 1.38 BBS for DOS *Telegard 3.02 BBS for DOS *Telemate for Windows 1.0 (Comm Package) *Telix for DOS 3.51 (Comm Package) *Trumpet for Win3.1x *VDOLive for Win3.1x *WS Archie for Win3.1x *WS FTP for Win3.1x (FTP Client) PROBLEM: *PointCast 1.6 for Win3.1x (Should not be run seamlessly) *Vivo Player 2.0.1 (Will not operate with Netscape/2; can work under 16-bit Win3.1x version of Netscape) [EXTRA INFO on VIVO: Something interesting happened after I minimized the Win-OS/2 session after I had played a Vivo movie. I want back into the OS/2 desktop and into IBM Works in order to type what I had typed up above but when I went back into the Win-OS/2 session, it locked up hard...black screen and everything with something about a internal processing error. Don't know if Vivo had anything to do with it, but a word of caution nonetheless.] NO: #52. I intend for this section to be dedicated to those pieces of hardware whose driver support are simply of poor quality, or are only partially supported, or have no support whatsoever. Will only deal with actual specific name brands & models. A good source on obtaining device drivers for OS/2 is of course, IBM's Device Driver Pak at [http://service.boulder.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/index.htm] AUDIO: *AOpen FX-3D - Interesting. AOpen's website does not point towards a driver for OS/2 with this sound card, yet it does work as it uses the Analog Devices 1816 chipset. The driver can be obtained from (ftp.analog.com) at dir: /pub/cpdsound/1815_16_16a you will find drivers for the various OS's. *Crystal Semiconductor - Not really the particular product, but the driver. The 2.02 version allows you to set which IRQ's and DMA's you want to (thus over-riding the PnP settings). Older versions were not able to do this. You can always get the latest CS drivers from [http://www.crystal.com]. Note: the 2.02 version is only for the CS4235, CS4236B, CS4237B, CS4238B, and CS4239 chipsets. It should *not* be used for the CS4231, CS4232, or CS4236 chipsets, those should use the 1.xx drivers (ie. 1.71 which is still available at the Crystal website and 1.65 which is available from IBM's OS/2 Device Driver Pak). *Opti 82c925 - This chipset does not have an actual driver available from Opti, but you can use the 82c924 driver. CDROM: *Take note that CD-W and CD-RW support under OS/2 is not that impressive. *No DVDROM drive supported under OS/2 just yet. MISCELLANEOUS: *I do not know of *any* scanner that actually comes with its own OS/2 support, I'm afraid; you'll have to look at the CFM Twain [http://www.cfm.de], the STI Twain drivers [http://www.gate.net/~stidev/index.html] and the SANE drivers [http://www.mostang.com/sane/]. *Tip regarding modems, make sure they are not PnP specific (simply phone and asked the retailer about this or check out the manufactorers website provided you know the exact model & make) and make sure they are not WinModem, HSP, WinRPI or firmware based. It'll save you trouble and heartache in the end (plus will go further on the used market than otherwise). Warp 4 would probably treat the PnP-specific modem better, but still, you'd prefer to have one with the jumpers on-board). PRINTER: *Lexmark 1000 - No driver for this model period, only chance for it to work is with Win-OS/2 (install the Win3.1x driver). And if that does not work, make sure you have the /IRQ parameter set on your PRINT01.SYS driver (PRINT01.SYS /IRQ). And if that does not work, try the BIDI drivers (check #41) if your motherboard or I/O card has a Bi-Directional parallel port (compliant with IEEE-1284). And if *that* does not work, sell the printer or resort to simply booting up Windows in order to use it. Many of the recent Lexmark brand are host-based printers (Win-Printers in otherwords). *Lexmark 1020 - There are actually two different models of this printer. Lexmark tech support will tell you the difference in model numbers. One is Win-specific while the other actually has the PCL3 on board. Lexmark 1020 driver can be obtained at the OS/2 Device Drive Pak (IBMPCL3.EXE). I should know...I own one. *Panasonic KX-P1080i - No actual driver for this, but you can use the Epson generic 9-pin driver. *This is not going to be a pretty thing to say, but... In regards to Inkjet printers under OS/2, you'll find out that nine chances out of ten, the quality of the printing will *always* be just that much better, clearer, and faster if you use it under Win-OS/2. God knows that is the case with the Lexmark 1020, and I know that the same applies for many of the more recent Inkjets, too. Majority of the cases, OS/2 does handle simple B/W printing very well with Inkjets, but when it comes to color you should probably print from Win-OS/2 instead. STORAGE: *Avatar Shark 250, Parallel Port - Avatar does not actually have their own OS/2 driver, but instead is compatible with the NEWDASD one. As well, fixpack 6 (Warp 4) and fixpack 35 (Warp 3/Connect). *Avatar Shark 250, via PC Card - No driver available for PC Card hookup). *Imation's LS-120 Super Disk, Parallel Port version - no driver available for the external PP version. *Iomega ZIP Drive, IDE/ATAPI - Iomega did not make a driver for the IDE/ATAPI, but IBM's NEWDASD has support for it. If using the internal IDE use NEWDASD, if using the ATAPI, use both NEWDASD & REMOVEDSK. Another is simply to install fixpack 35 (Warp 3/Connect) or fixpack 6 (Warp 4). *Iomega ZIP Drive, Parallel Port version - *slow* transfers; takes a lot of CPU time. *Iomega ZIP & JAZ Drive, SCSI version - Stop using Iomega's driver and use the one from IBM; NEWDASD or apply fixpack 35 (Warp 3/Connect) or fixpack 6 (Warp 4). *Iomega ZipPlus, Parallel Port - Current drivers for original Zip PP do not work with the ZipPlus, SCSI works fine though. *LS-120, internal ATAPI - IBM has a driver for this. One must get both NEWDASD and REMOVEDSK. Or one can also install fixpack 35 (Warp 3/Connect) or fixpack 6 (Warp 4). *Syquest EZflyer 135/230, internal IDE - use the IBM drivers instead as detailed in Iomega ZIP Drive, IDE/ATAPI version; only just use the NEWDASD or the fixpack method. *Syquest EZflyer 135/230, SCSI - Look at internal IDE of same drive above. *Syquest SparQ, IDE version - May run into trouble with HPFS format. NOTE: Syquest did not provide their own OS/2 drivers like they had done with their other products. *Syquest SparQ, Parallel Port version - No driver available for external PP version. VIDEO: *ATI Mach32 & Mach64 - Some people may experience minor problems with installation of these drivers. The OS/2 Warp manual however does have instructions on how to solve them. As well, so does ATI's tech support [http://www.atitech.com]. *S3 Virge, Virge/DX, Virge/GX, Virge/GX2, Virge/MX, and Virge/VX - Current drivers are slow and generally not very good. *Trident Providia 9865 - Trouble with installation for some people resulting in trap error. *Tseng ET6000 - May run into some installation trouble.



Contact VOICE... All pages © 2001 VOICE