"Resetting" WinOS/2 environment

[Tuure Linden]

I've instaled lots of 16-bit Windows software and something has messed up my WinOS/2 environment. When starting the WinOS/2 session MSACM.DRV crashes. If I ignore that, I can run the session but almost every program crashes when exiting etc. Is it possible to reinstall the whole WinOS/2 environment from ArcaOS installation media. And if so, how is it done?

I already have one idea that should work: I delete whole WINOS2 directory and replece it with a copy from another ArcaOS installation. Can this be done or are there better alternatives?

[Dave Yeo]

I already have one idea that should work: I delete whole WINOS2 directory and replece it with a copy from another ArcaOS installation. Can this be done or are there better alternatives?

That might be the simplest.

[xynixme]

1. Restore a backup.

2. If the hardware (and/or installed software) of another system is different, then perhaps first try a less radical approach before replacing all WinOS/2-files. MSACM/msacm occurs in a few INI files, which can be verified first.

[Joop]

Probably nothing seriously happened. Probably somewhere a drive letter is set to C: if you have an other disk for OS/2. If some package really did update some DLL or other program then you can see it with the date and time stamp. They have to be the same as the initial installation date/time. If you find one with an other date, find it on the installation  disk and copy the old over the new one. You can also see your backup if you had made a backup after first installation.

[Tuure Linden]

I've fixed the issue, I think. The cause was following Gregg Young's tip to use "DOS=HIGH, UMB" in CONFIG.SYS instead of the default "DOS=LOW, NOUMB". Loading DOS high caused some issues within the WinOS/2 environment. I also experienced sound problems and crashes when playing games with sounds. The cause was os2audio.drv from "WinOS2_Audio_19980501.zip" that I came across at Hobbes . I switched to  "OS2WAVE.drv" from "genaud-v3.1r02" and seems to work when 'EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT' is set to ZERO in the WinOS/2 settings.

Lewis Rosenthal has said that a working WinOS2 audio driver called DTA will be shipped with ArcaOS 5.1. I'm not sure why it isn't shipped yet because Arca Noae has bought a license for the driver used in eComstation and it should work. But maybe there still are some bugs to be fixed. And the DTA doesn't seem to be available to download anywhere at the moment. Hopefully OS2WAVE.drv will work well enough for now.

[xynixme]

instead of the default "DOS=LOW, NOUMB". Loading DOS high caused some issues within the WinOS/2 environment. ... "genaud-v3.1r02" and seems to work when 'EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT' is set to ZERO in the WinOS/2 settings.

FWIW: as you'll probably know, it's possible to set HIGH & UMB settings per (DOS and) Win-OS/2 app. Of course that may require that you use the adjusted WPS object to start the app, instead of using some Windows file manager to execute an app which requires "DOS=HIGH".