Author Topic: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start  (Read 19036 times)

David Graser

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2019, 03:10:47 pm »

Unfortunately, Windows 10 is a lot more stable than OS/2 these da ys.
Of course, that does not help ...

SIQ - This has always been a problem since the early days.   Top and other programs help and the JFS is far more dependable in not losing data when there is a hang.  JFS is a big plus for ArcaOS.  I really like it.

Is lack of kernel source one of the reasons this has never been fixed (Multiple asynchronous input queues)?

Would implementing a fix break existing programs?

Did ReacOS solve this problem?  Could one see how it was fixed in it?
« Last Edit: March 27, 2019, 03:23:12 pm by David Graser »

Eric Erickson

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2019, 10:16:23 pm »
I had a similar bizarre error with PmPatrol several months ago. It turned out that I had made a typo in the LibPath statement when adding my personal tools directory.

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #17 on: March 29, 2019, 07:00:27 am »
Hi All

Problem resolved, nguest2 now runs on ArcaOS again.

The "villain" of the piece: helpmgr.dll supplied with NewView version 2.19.5 - latest release.

Checking output from pmdll there are a couple of size and date differences between eCS supplied DLL files involved and ArcaOS supplied DLL files involved also the helpmgr.dll file used with eCS is older . As I had previously had nguest2 working on ArcaOS and it still worked when booted to eCS and I had updated Newview on ArcaOS but not on eCS I changed out the NewView 2.19.5 supplied helpmgr.dll installed in ArcaOS for the older, larger version used by eCS.

After a reboot nguest2 works fine.

Guess I'd better tell Alex...


Thanks for all suggestions to fix problem.

Pete





Roderick Klein

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #18 on: March 29, 2019, 08:14:35 am »
Hi All

Problem resolved, nguest2 now runs on ArcaOS again.

The "villain" of the piece: helpmgr.dll supplied with NewView version 2.19.5 - latest release.

Checking output from pmdll there are a couple of size and date differences between eCS supplied DLL files involved and ArcaOS supplied DLL files involved also the helpmgr.dll file used with eCS is older . As I had previously had nguest2 working on ArcaOS and it still worked when booted to eCS and I had updated Newview on ArcaOS but not on eCS I changed out the NewView 2.19.5 supplied helpmgr.dll installed in ArcaOS for the older, larger version used by eCS.

After a reboot nguest2 works fine.

Guess I'd better tell Alex...


Thanks for all suggestions to fix problem.

Pete

Maybe open a ticket at Arca NOae in https://mantis.arcanoae.com

Roderick

Alex Taylor

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #19 on: March 29, 2019, 12:41:04 pm »
FWIW, I made absolutely no changes to helpmgr.dll in 2.19.5, other than change a single reference to NULL to NULLHANDLE just to keep the compiler happy (which would have no effect on the compiled output).
http://trac.netlabs.org/newview/changeset?old=HEAD&old_path=trunk%2Fhlpmgr%2Fviewer.c&new=382&new_path=trunk%2Fhlpmgr%2Fviewer.c

The last change to this code was about 9 years ago.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2019, 12:47:37 pm by Alex Taylor »

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #20 on: March 29, 2019, 05:04:54 pm »
Hi Alex

If there are no changes to helpmgr.dll what happened to cause the size of the files to be so different?

   2.19.4 has 17-08-05 11:44a 50,132 0 a--- HelpMgr.dll

   2.19.5 has 3-03-19 2:13p 47,937 0 a--- helpmgr.dll


Regards

Pete

Olafur Gunnlaugsson

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #21 on: March 29, 2019, 05:34:13 pm »
Hi Alex

If there are no changes to helpmgr.dll what happened to cause the size of the files to be so different?

   2.19.4 has 17-08-05 11:44a 50,132 0 a--- HelpMgr.dll

   2.19.5 has 3-03-19 2:13p 47,937 0 a--- helpmgr.dll


Regards

Pete

Different versions of compilers create different outputs, even though the source stays the same.

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #22 on: March 30, 2019, 04:25:07 am »
Hi Olafur

Thank you for the possible explanation - although I am a bit surprised that it could make 2,000+ bytes difference.


Regards

Pete

Dave Yeo

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #23 on: March 30, 2019, 04:57:14 am »
Optimizations can make quite a difference, even changing the target can affect the size. i386 doesn't really care about alignment whereas i686 does, so the binary will be bigger.
Optimizations, especially extreme, can show flaws in compilers as well.
If it is just a recompiled DLL causing this problem on your system, ideally would be to experiment and find out exactly which optimization is causing the problem.
Looking at the makefile, there can be a debug build or release build. The debug build will be larger due to the debug info and usually the debug build has less optimizations as optimizations can be hard to follow in a debugger.
From the makefile,
Code: [Select]
# /b2=os2: compile for os/2
80 # /s:  remove stack checks (crashes)
81 # /wx: all warnings
82 # /zq: quiet
83 # /od: Disable optimisation
84 # /d2: full debug info
85 # /zld: don't include autodependency info
86
87 !ifdef DEBUG
88 MODE_CFLAGS=/od /d2 /dDEBUG /hd
89 !endif
90
91 CFLAGS=/bt=os2 /s /wx /zq $(MODE_CFLAGS)

So just the default optimizations for release. I don't know OW enough to know what they are and looking quickly, can't find anything. Usually you have to invoke optimizations and the docs show lots.

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #24 on: March 30, 2019, 05:34:13 pm »
hi

Not being a "c" programmer I am not really aware of the differences in "c" compilers for OS/2.

All I know is that the helpmgr.dll supplied with the latest release of NewView - 2.19.5 - is not compatible with the netop apps that I use and causes all of them to deliver a SYS3175 when I try to run them.

Swapping that version of helpmgr.dll for the version supplied with the earlier NewView 2.19.4 does not cause the netop apps problems, all work fine.

I am told they are the same DLL file.

Results show otherwise.

Going from what I have read in this discussion and an email response from Alex in which he states "there are absolutely no compilable changes to HelpMgr.dll in 2.19.5, although I did recompile it using OpenWatcom 1.9." I can only guess that swapping compilers - and possibly some subtle change of meaning of option switches caused by the swap - is the cause of these 2 "same dll files" being a different size and causes different results when trying to use my netop apps.

When I update Newview on my eCS installations I'll check and see if my netop apps still work. If not at least I know the answer will be: backlevel helpmgr.dll


Regards

Pete



Dave Yeo

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #25 on: March 30, 2019, 07:19:13 pm »
What, if any, error do you get if helpmgr.dll is not available?

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #26 on: March 30, 2019, 08:24:08 pm »
Hi Dave

If I unlock and delete helpmgr.dll then during the necessary following reboot I see this message:-

The system cannot find the file HELPMGR specified
in the PROTSHELL statement on line 105 of the CONFIG.SYS file.
Line 105 is ignored.
The system is stopped.  Correct the preceding error and
restart the system.


Line 105 is
   PROTSHELL=M:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE

Ummm...  not sure how to get around that apart from putting helpmgr.dll back in place.


I have installed the latest NewView, 2.19.5, to eCS2.2b2 and, following a reboot, I can report that the helpmgr.dll file included with the latest NewView causes exactly the same problem - no netop applications will start, all deliver SYS3175.

Replacing helpmgr.dll with the earlier release resolves that problem.


Regards

Pete

Dave Yeo

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #27 on: March 30, 2019, 08:44:29 pm »
OK, nguest2 may indirectly use helpmgr.dll. Thanks.
Is nguest2 a GUI app or textmode?

Pete

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #28 on: March 31, 2019, 06:55:40 am »
Hi Dave

The netop apps are gui apps and use helpmgr.dll in some way as it is shown in PMDll.

I am not sure but think helpmgr.dll is the "system hook" for newview.exe when newview is used as a replacement for iBMs view.exe hence it gets loaded by pmshell.exe during startup.


Regards

Pete

Dave Yeo

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Re: nguest2.exe (netop) fails to start
« Reply #29 on: March 31, 2019, 07:34:57 am »
I am not sure but think helpmgr.dll is the "system hook" for newview.exe when newview is used as a replacement for iBMs view.exe hence it gets loaded by pmshell.exe during startup.

Yes, that's what I think. Any PM app that uses Help would use it.
Something must have changed in OW, interesting that it only seems to affect netop.