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OS/2, eCS & ArcaOS - Technical => Hardware => Topic started by: BigGoofyGuy on October 10, 2013, 06:33:46 pm

Title: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on October 10, 2013, 06:33:46 pm
I have an Acer Aspire One with Windows 7 Starter on it. It has an Intel Atom N455 (1.66 GHZ, 512 KB cache), 1 GB DDR3 memory, and 250 GB HDD. Can I install eCS 2.0 on it or should I wait for eCS 2.2? I have an external USB cd-rom drive to install it from.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: melf on October 12, 2013, 11:43:28 am
Hi Tom,
I have an older Acer One with Atom N270 I think. There was a problem with eCS Silver and also 2.0, but when I found the workaround way it was quite easy. I quote my posting on bugreporter (http://bugs.ecomstation.nl/view.php?id=2294):

Quote
In fact this problem now is "solved". I boot up choose the right settings in preboot menu, continue boot and awaits SYS messages. To proceed install I have to 1) pull out the cord to my USB-CD 2) press Ctrl+Alt+Del 3) put the cord back again.

Install proceeds without a glitch, but 1) eCS is not able to make this Acer reboot - you have to turn it off when screen is black and 2)you have to pull the usb cord out till eCS begin booting, otherwise you get SYS-messages and it halts.

In eCS 2.1 and 2.2 I had no problem, except that the touch pad is locked when it boots up. You have to hold Fn and hit the unlock touchpad twice (I think) , Fn+F7. If there is no problem with the CPU it should work. (Backup your data and try it!). In preboot menu, don't forget to change settings for external CD boot. Good luck!

Also, the latest Panorama-version (if you have software subscription services) conciderably increased videoperformance.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on October 17, 2013, 10:07:35 pm
I renewed my software subscription recently.  8)

Thanks for the information. I will give it a try, after backing up the information I want to save. I have eCS 2.0 but I will check for eCS 2.1.  8)

I will check out the link provided.  8)

My Acer Aspire One is a couple of years old.  8)

This is a newer one but I thought I would show how it generally looks like.  ;D
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XgnjeA73L._AA160_.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=acer%20aspire%20one&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aacer%20aspire%20one (http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=acer%20aspire%20one&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aacer%20aspire%20one)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on November 15, 2013, 08:26:06 pm
'Error Query Geometry for drive 00. Code=08
 Error Query Geometry for drive 01. Code=08
 Disk 81 / Z : installed
 OS/2 !!. SYS02025
 OS/2 !!. SYS02027
'
I tried installing eCS 2.0 on my netbook and it stopped at the above.  :-\

I will check out the link given in the above post reply.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on November 15, 2013, 08:43:09 pm
I changed the boot settings to install from USB cd drive. It gets past the errors posted above. It keeps asking for the installation cd.  :'(

I was able to get the eCS 2.2 beta demo cd to run on this netbook (see other post about it).  8)

Like my other notebook computer, it might be best to wait till 2.2 comes out.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: melf on November 16, 2013, 11:43:07 am
The errors you specified are the same that I got. Did you use the described method to work around this stop with ecs2.0? I did not have any problems with repeated messages of "please insert ecomstation CD", so maybe you have some additional problem.

I guess you don't have access to ecs 2.2 beta then? Or ecs 2.1?
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on November 17, 2013, 03:18:09 am
I don't have eCS 2.1 yet but I did purchase it recently. I should be downloading and creating the installation disc's soon.  8)

I have created the eCS 2.2 beta demo. I used the option of 'USB boot' in the setup. I was able to run eCS 2.2 on the Acer Aspire One. It was fast. When it comes out, I will purchase that too.  8)
Title: Re: eCS 2.1 on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on November 25, 2013, 03:25:22 pm
I bought and downloaded eCS 2.1 and will be creating the installation CD's for it. I will attempt to install it on my little computer. I will report with the results.  8)

I have tried the demo CD for eCS 2.2 and it ran really fast on the AAOne.  8) Looking forward to it coming out.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: melf on November 26, 2013, 12:45:41 am
Tom, Hope everything goes well. eCS is really quite smooth on the Acer One.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on November 26, 2013, 05:46:10 pm
I bought eCS 2.1 and have created the installation disc's for it. I will be giving it a try. I am hoping everything goes well too.  8)

Perhaps I might need a newer USB CD drive? If it does not install, I will check that as an option.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on December 12, 2013, 09:37:52 pm
I have tried installing eCS 2.1. It gets to the boot screen to boot from the cd. I enter the settings where I indicated to boot from an USB cd. It shows the logo. It indicates to put the installation disc into the drive and that if it is already there, to go to chapter 6.3 of the manual. It does not go any farther.  What manual?
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: Dave Yeo on December 12, 2013, 10:51:23 pm
Probably qckguide.pdf with the link being one line up from the link to download eCS 2.1 CD#1 on the Mensys Download page.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on December 14, 2013, 02:49:59 pm
I did not find it at Mensys.com but I did find it at eComStation.com. It was in the download section of the eCS site.  8)
http://www.mensys.com (http://www.mensys.com)  http://www.ecomstation.com (http://www.ecomstation.com)
I downloaded it and will be finding the 6.3 chapter.  8) I will find out what the problem was.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on December 14, 2013, 03:42:45 pm
'You are booting from a external USB CD drive.  You need to enable this in the “USB” page of the Pre-boot Menu (see Chapter 2, section 2.2.4 for details). ' I thought I did do this but I will check it again and see if it makes a difference.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on January 17, 2014, 08:02:38 pm
I did set it to run from the usb cd and I was able to run / try eCS 2.2. I tried it with the installation disc for eCS 2.1 but it still asks for the installation disc one. I will check the setings again.  :'(
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on February 14, 2014, 02:19:05 am
I guess I will have to wait till version 2.2 comes out to try it. If the 2.2 demo cd works, 2.2 should - in theory - be able to install.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: Pete on February 14, 2014, 05:26:52 pm
Hi Tom

Does purchasing 2.1 also give you access to the eCS Subscription Software?

If "Yes" have you tried the eCS2.2 beta 2? - not the demo cd.

If that has problems try adding the /VW switch to the ACPI settings in the Pre-Boot Menu - Modern Hardware, ACPI mode. This is necessary with my Acer Travelmate 5230 laptop otherwise the system does not recognise when a USB device is attached.


Regards
Pete
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on February 15, 2014, 02:24:11 am
I renewed my software subscription. I will check out the file you mention.

I will also give the setting that you mentioned.

Thank you for the information.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on February 18, 2014, 02:59:38 am
I tried the beta files section after logging into the eComStation site but I did not find the eCS 2.2 beta. I will keep looking.

Is there another site that has the eCS 2.2 beta?
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: guzzi on February 18, 2014, 03:48:51 am
The eCS beta is on the Mensys page. The site seems to have problems at the moment, can't even find the login button and most links are dead. They might be in the process of moving the eCS stuff to xeu.com, or maybe they are just having some server problems.

The normal procedure is to go to mensys.nl, log in, choose software subscription, my downloads (or the other way around, don't remember exactly.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on February 19, 2014, 02:32:34 am
I will check it out. Thanks for the information.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on February 20, 2014, 12:26:03 am
 I found it and downloaded it. I will be making the installation DVD with it soon.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 16, 2014, 02:22:51 am
I had created the DVD installation to install the 2.2 beta. I tried to install it. At first it seemed  to work but said it needed to correct the LVM (IIRC) which it did. It indicated it needed to be rebooted. This is when the problem started. I went to change the setting so it would install from the USB optical drive. I changed it but it froze after I did. It would go no farther.  :( I guess this is why it is beta?  ;)

I was still able to boot to the original operating system. I am using it to post this.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: dbanet on March 16, 2014, 05:37:43 pm
... I went to change the setting so it would install from the USB optical drive. ...
What exactly have you changed? Try again without any changes from default, because it seemed to work the first time, just needed to be rebooted.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 17, 2014, 01:31:51 am
I had changed the setting so it would boot from / install from the USB optical. It worked before with this setting but not after the repairing.  8) I will try again, once with the default settings and once with the 'install from USB' setting.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 21, 2014, 08:10:11 pm
'disc 1 reports a corrupt partition table' - I keep getting this message when I try to make a section bootable.  :'( The computer dates back to 2011.

I have gotten where it takes the code for installing eCS 2.2 beta; I used the code for eCS 2.1 and it took it. It gets to setting up the hard drive to install it. It has three listings.
size (MB) / file system /  type / notes
13,312 / (type 27) / primary
100 /  / primary / startable
225,059 / / none / free space
 8)


I tried to make the free space bootable but there is a message of 'LVM error (8)' plus 'operation not allowed'.  :'(
I had changed it so it would install from the DVD. I have gotten farther than before.  ;D
 
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 24, 2014, 09:13:04 pm
Is there is a 2.2 beta registration code? I tried the one for 2.1 and it seemed to work but I try it now but it does not work.  :'(  I will try again to see if it will work.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: Andreas Schnellbacher on March 25, 2014, 12:23:47 am
It works.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 25, 2014, 01:22:39 am
I keep getting a drive partition problem. I try to partition the drive but the problems keeps it from happening.  :'( I will give a little more detail when I try it again.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on March 28, 2014, 09:10:39 pm
I get to the point where one enters the registration code. Even when I corrected errors, it still won't take it. It took it when I first tried installing eCS beta 2.2 onto it but not since. I am not sure what I am doing incorrect.  :-[ I will keep trying.  8) The eCS 2.2 demo ran very fast on my little computer.  ;D

I tried putting the registeration key on a a cd and a flash drive. It does not see it on either. The flash has the format of win32. Does this make a difference?

I sent an e-mail about it to eComStation. I am waiting for a reply.

The computers is about three years old. Could this be the reason? Could the drive be malfunctioning?
Title: 'eCS 2.1 code work'
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 01, 2014, 03:43:10 am
'the eCS 2.1 code should work just fine! We nevver issued beta 2.2 specific codes.' - Here is the reply from eComStation tech person. I must be doing something wrong. I will try again.  8)
Title: Re: 'eCS 2.1 code work'
Post by: dbanet on April 01, 2014, 06:11:00 am
'the eCS 2.1 code should work just fine! We nevver issued beta 2.2 specific codes.' - Here is the reply from eComStation tech person. I must be doing something wrong. I will try again.  8)

No I believe it's not you ;)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: Doug Bissett on April 01, 2014, 07:29:21 am
Quote
I tried putting the registeration key on a a cd and a flash drive. It does not see it on either. The flash has the format of win32. Does this make a difference?

What do you mean by "format of Win32"?  I always use a flash drive, on a new system. I keep the eCS key on the hard disk for an old system. A Flash drive needs to be formatted as either FAT or FAT32, and if it is larger than 2 GB, it also requires a LVM volume to hold the FAT32 drive (FAT cannot be larger than 2 GB). The easy way to do that is to use DFSEE. There is a menu item to properly set up a flash drive. It is destructive, so save any data that may be on it, somewhere else, before you do it.

I have used a CD too, but I think it needs to be CDFS format, not UDF (especially not UDF that is not the OS/2 version).

Quote
Even when I corrected errors, it still won't take it.

Trying to type a registration code is like trying to pick up 5 pounds of loose sand in your hands. You can do it 20 times, and you will make 20 (or more) errors.

Quote
'disc 1 reports a corrupt partition table' - I keep getting this message when I try to make a section bootable.

This is pretty typical, when it already has another OS, on a modern computer. Other OSs use a Megabyte based partition table, while eCS only understands cylinder based partition tables. If you get REALLY lucky, they will match, but you are more likely to win a lottery. DFSEE seems to be able to figure it out, for disks smaller than about 512 GB. DFSEE is required for larger disks too, but they need to keep ALL of the eCS volumes below the 512 GB mark. The GOOD part is, that it is only LVM, when doing something that needs to change the partition table, that has the problem.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 07, 2014, 05:58:22 pm
I believe the flash drive I tried to use was either 4 gb or 8 gb. I will check again.

I will try again with the eCS 2.1 registration code.

I will check out the DFSee program to see if it makes a difference.
http://www.dfsee.com/ (http://www.dfsee.com/)
(http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/dfseef32usb_175.png)

Thanks for the information. It is appreciated.  8)
Title: LVM ERROR (8)
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 10, 2014, 09:53:25 pm
I was able to enter the eCS 2.1 code succesfully since I used a 'hunt and peck' instead of touch typing (not easy to do on a smaller keyboard).

When I try to create a volume (standard [bootable] volume) on the drive, it indicates 'operation no allowed', 'LVM ERROR (eight)'. (spellled 8 since it changes the number with ) into a smiley face).
 :(

One partition / drive shows the file system as (type 27)?

I have not tried the DFSee yet.  ::) I will see if I can create a bootable cd or flash drive to use it.
Title: program error
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 10, 2014, 10:09:03 pm
'PROGRAM ERROR ; DISK 1 REPORTS A CORRUPT PARTITION TABLE'.
This seems to be blocking me from creating an volume on the drive.  :'(
Perhaps a faulty drive?
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: Dave Yeo on April 11, 2014, 01:22:22 am
I'd guess just faulty partition info from the factory. Did you try dfsee?
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 11, 2014, 02:15:06 am
I'd guess just faulty partition info from the factory. Did you try dfsee?

I am looking for a way to see if there is a bootable DFSee that I can use to check it. I will check the DFSee site.  8)
http://www.dfsee.com (http://www.dfsee.com)

I searched online sites for drives for the Acer Aspire One. I found a few.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: dbanet on April 11, 2014, 05:16:01 pm
You can either download a freedos+dfsee image on the official DFSee site, burn it to a CD or a USB drive, and boot from it, OR you can just put DFSee for OS/2 on a USB drive, boot your PC from eCS installation CD #1, choose Management console (it even does not ask for a serial code), insert the USB drive with dfsee, open a windowed OS/2 session, change to the USB drive, and start DFSee (dfsos2.exe).

Then you can wipe the beginning of your HDD drive, and create your own partitioning, or exit DFSee and let the eCS installer do it.

Cheers.

P. S. If you want a fully-functional OS/2 boot CD/USB, you can join #os2russian on efnet.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 11, 2014, 10:11:06 pm
I get the 'incompatible' message when it is checking the drive and before I can check the 'management' button.  :(  I believe it is after one check 'I accept' and goes to the next screen and checks the drive. I was hoping to get to the 'management' button but it exits me out before I can.  :'(

Since I might replace the drive, I tried installing FreeDOS onto it. I used the FDISK program to get around the section with the type 32 indication. I was succesfully able to install FreeDOS on it. I will try eCS 2.2 beta again to see if that made a difference.  ::)
http://www.freedos.org (http://www.freedos.org)
I will check for the bootable FreeDOS with the DFSee on it.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 14, 2014, 10:18:07 pm
I was able to install FreeDOS onto it. I used FD to alter the hard drive. It works.

I tried to install eCS 2.2 beta. It saw the drive. It did not mention an error on the disc. I got as far as to format the drive. It indicated it could not format the drive. 'SYS0528; the specified disk did not finish formatting; SYS1311...'. I could not see the rest of the message. The drive was in red letters. I am not sure if this is indicating a problem. The drive shows as FAT32. It is 225153 MB. It has 13319 MB as free space. I think the partition error might be in this part but it could keep it from formatting? It only shows JFS as the format option. I am trying other things.  8)

Quote
I get the 'incompatible' message when it is checking the drive and before I can check the 'management' button.    I believe it is after one check 'I accept' and goes to the next screen and checks the drive. I was hoping to get to the 'management' button but it exits me out before I can.
I think this has to do with my Asus X55U instead of my Acer Aspire One (wrong thread).
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 16, 2014, 10:18:13 pm
I installed FreeDOS and used it to repartition the hard drive. I tried eCS again. I eliminated the partition and was able to make it bootable. eCS formated the drive as JFS. I was able to install eCS 2.2 beta on it. It works really well.  8) I have not used eCS for awhile and am looking forward to using it again.

Now I have to install the network driver. I have to figure out which one it is since it did not detect it and I think I chose the wrong one.  :o  It is minor since I have eCS 2.2 beta installed on it.  ;D

Now to get eCS 2.2 beta on the Asuss X55U.  ::)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: dbanet on April 17, 2014, 12:30:15 am
Now I have to install the network driver.
To figure out what device is installed on your laptop PC, you may try running Veit's PCI utility (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/misc/pci104vka.zip) with updated VID:PID list (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/system/pcidevs_20140301.zip) on it.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on April 19, 2014, 10:47:18 pm
I have downloaded them. Thanks.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on June 12, 2014, 10:29:21 pm
Now I have to install the network driver.
To figure out what device is installed on your laptop PC, you may try running Veit's PCI utility (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/misc/pci104vka.zip) with updated VID:PID list (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/system/pcidevs_20140301.zip) on it.

I downloaded it to a flash drive. It did not see the files on the flash drive. I re-read the part about the flash drive needing LVM. I will check it out.  8)

All the help given is appreciated.  8)
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on June 20, 2014, 09:16:43 pm
I copied the files on the flash drives onto my work computer. I connected my flash drive to my eCS computer. It saw it as USB drive but showed nothing on the flash drive. I tried to reformat it but it indicates it is an invalid drive letter (?).  :'(

I have an USB DVD drive. I copied the some of the files from the flash drive to it. The eCS computer saw the drive but showed it as empty.   :'(

I copied some files onto a CD. I am glad to say the eCS computer not only saw the contents of the drive but I was able to copy files to the eCS computer.  ;D
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: dbanet on June 21, 2014, 06:26:30 am
To make a flash drive operable under OS/2 and other operating systems, you need to properly partition it, format in FAT32 and add LVM information on the partition.

This is easily doable using DFSee.

The bright part is that you'll have to do this only once, then you'll be able to use this flash drive across all your OS/2 and non-OS/2 computers.
Title: Re: eCS on an Acer Aspire One?
Post by: BigGoofyGuy on June 23, 2014, 06:35:12 pm
I was able to upload DFSee onto my Acer Aspire One. I copied it to a CD and was copied it from there. I will give it a try. Thanks.  8)