Author Topic: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk  (Read 16488 times)

karotlopj

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Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« on: April 26, 2016, 11:34:00 am »
How should I go about partitioning and installing OS/2 on a 320GB disk?

I don't think I can create a bootable partition using the whole disk. Is that correct? I read something about a 1024 cylinder limit which I didn't understand.

Matt Walsh

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2016, 06:13:26 pm »
Just partition it as JFS bootable if you have eCS 2 or above.  If you only have OS/2 Warp 4 you'll have to use HPFS and 64 gig is the limit there.  HTH
Matt W.

Pete

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2016, 09:09:51 pm »
Hi John

You may want to consider splitting the drive into several volumes eg:-

boot - smallish volume for OS installation, 2Gb is more than enough space
data - probably the biggest volume; 320-2(boot)-100(apps)=218Gb?
apps - large enough for current apps plus space to spare for future apps - 100Gb?

Obviously size of volumes is something you will have to decide.

The above allows you to update/totally trash the boot volume without any worrying about your data and installed apps. Of course, you should still make regular backups of *all* volumes just in case of disk failure.


Regards

Pete


 

Greggory Shaw

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2016, 06:25:46 am »
This layout takes care of most things needed.

http://os2notes.net/os2installing.html

karotlopj

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2016, 02:12:39 pm »
Just partition it as JFS bootable if you have eCS 2 or above.  If you only have OS/2 Warp 4 you'll have to use HPFS and 64 gig is the limit there.  HTH
Matt W.

I have been unable to create a 320GB partition on the disk using LVM.

I do have the JFS add-on from ARCA NOAE so that I can create a bootable JFS drive but creating the partition is the problem.

Pete

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2016, 04:29:42 pm »
Hi John

Maybe if you go through the steps you are taking in trying to create a partition/volume someone will spot the problem.

I would not use JFS-1.09.06 to create a bootable volume myself - I would not use that JFS driver at all because I have found several problems with it the worst of which is that it can simply "lose" a volume at boot. I have been told this problem is more likely to be Shutdown related but as it only happens with  JFS-1.09.06 I have gone for the practical route of not using that driver.


Regards

Pete







Andreas Schnellbacher

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2016, 05:22:12 pm »
The current JFS version 1.09.06 works well for me - and apparently for many others.

Just always try the newest drivers from AN first. As I wrote before, eCS 2.2 beta 2 plus the newest AN drivers simplify probably all your problems.

karotlopj

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2016, 05:49:19 pm »
The current JFS version 1.09.06 works well for me - and apparently for many others.

How do you identify the JFS version?

Pete

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2016, 09:58:29 pm »
Hi John

Open a command line window in [boot]:\os2 and enter

bldlevel jfs.ifs


Regards

Pete

Andreas Schnellbacher

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2016, 09:58:51 pm »
Code: [Select]
epm: I:\Download\ArcaNoae\JFS-1.09.06 > bldlevel jfs.ifs
Build Level Display Facility Version 6.12.675 Sep 25 2001
(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993-2001
Signature:       @#D Azarewicz:1.09.06#@##1## 2014/11/12 15:16:39      DAZAR1    ::::06::@@ JFS/eCS (c) D Azarewicz 2013
Vendor:          D Azarewicz
Revision:        1.09.06
Date/Time:       2014/11/12 15:16:39   
Build Machine:   DAZAR1   
File Version:    1.9.6
Description:     JFS/eCS (c) D Azarewicz 2013

Pete

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2016, 10:15:11 pm »
Hi Andreas

Wish I knew what the cause of the occasional "lost" volume problem was exactly - all I know is that it is something that happens with the current AN JFS release and not with earlier versions of JFS.

The other thing wrong, as far as I am concerned, with the current AN JFS release is that it is no longer possible to force a chkdsk at boot. This means that if my "headless" server crashes running that build of JFS I would need to attach a spare monitor, keyboard and mouse and then boot from alternative media, eg an eCS install cd, in order to chkdsk the drive.

What a performance! - No, I'll stick with an earlier JFS that works without losing a volume during boot every now and again for no obvious reason and also has support for the /AUTOCHECK+* switch.


Regards

Pete



Andreas Schnellbacher

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2016, 10:36:08 pm »
Hi Pete,

I 've read all your bug reports about that. After all, I suppose you have problems with your hardware, as David wrote, AFAIR. I hope you'll find that soon before you lose any data. I hate to say that, but I myself had too many hardware issues in the past, where I thought first that the software is the culprit. The most recent example is FireFox.

Pete

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2016, 03:27:46 am »
Hi Andreas

The same problem on 2 different desktops and 2 different laptops?

No, it is not the hardware.

If the JFS driver itself is not at fault then I suspect that the driver is exposing a problem with other related system software.

I am inclined towards the JFS driver being at fault but suspect that may be because the os2ahci driver from AN is also a non-worker here.


Regards

Pete



Dave Yeo

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2016, 04:08:32 am »

I have been unable to create a 320GB partition on the disk using LVM.

You probably need an OS/2 friendly MBR with CHS values that fit in 16 bit variables. The usual way is to use DFSee to wipe the MBR and write a new one.

karotlopj

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Re: Installing OS/2 on 320GB disk
« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2016, 08:47:59 am »
Hi John

Maybe if you go through the steps you are taking in trying to create a partition/volume someone will spot the problem.


I am currently using two disks.

Disk 1 is a 60GB disk which has Boot Manager and two partitions, both of which have OS/2 installed, one of them being just a  minimal partition for recovery purposes.

Disk 2 is a 320GB disk where I want to install BM, but am unable to do so, although I have created a 7MB Primary partition at the start of the disk where I hope to put it.

Disk 2 is only bootable via BM on Disk 1, so the question is how to get BM on Disk 2.