Author Topic: USBDRV ?  (Read 7139 times)

mfny

  • Guest
USBDRV ?
« on: April 29, 2020, 09:24:09 pm »
I am a bit confused as to what USBDRV is that is mentioned here. is this a replacement for the stock ArcaOS USB drivers with better device support ?

I see it mentioned in particular for USB Audio.. and have ordered this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as this has been mentioned as working fine with USBDRV.

Someone able to clarify this for me ?





Dave Yeo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4788
  • Karma: +99/-1
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2020, 12:18:36 am »
I am a bit confused as to what USBDRV is that is mentioned here. is this a replacement for the stock ArcaOS USB drivers with better device support ?

I see it mentioned in particular for USB Audio.. and have ordered this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as this has been mentioned as working fine with USBDRV.

Someone able to clarify this for me ?

It is a different development tree. Better support for large sticks out of the box as OS/2 usually needs a partitioned stick and usually sticks look like a big floppy, which only usually works up to 2GB on OS/2. There's also better USB Audio support and IIRC better support for some asynchronous devices.
OTOH, only the ArcaOS drivers are supported by Arca Noae and only those are going to support USB3. Lars is pretty good about supporting his ones but doesn't have access to the ArcaOS source so they've diverged over the years since both branches started based on the sample code supplied by IBM.

mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2020, 02:22:06 am »
Happen to know if the USB Audio device i linked will work with the standard ArcaOS drivers as well as the USBDRV ones ?

I am a bit confused as to what USBDRV is that is mentioned here. is this a replacement for the stock ArcaOS USB drivers with better device support ?

I see it mentioned in particular for USB Audio.. and have ordered this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as this has been mentioned as working fine with USBDRV.

Someone able to clarify this for me ?

It is a different development tree. Better support for large sticks out of the box as OS/2 usually needs a partitioned stick and usually sticks look like a big floppy, which only usually works up to 2GB on OS/2. There's also better USB Audio support and IIRC better support for some asynchronous devices.
OTOH, only the ArcaOS drivers are supported by Arca Noae and only those are going to support USB3. Lars is pretty good about supporting his ones but doesn't have access to the ArcaOS source so they've diverged over the years since both branches started based on the sample code supplied by IBM.

Dave Yeo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4788
  • Karma: +99/-1
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2020, 03:36:34 am »
It's class 1 USB audio so should work fine with the ArcaOS drivers.

Neil Waldhauer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1025
  • Karma: +24/-0
    • View Profile
    • Blonde Guy
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2020, 03:41:13 pm »
USB audio and WebCam work with Lars drivers and Arca Noae drivers 11.17. Arca Noae drivers 12.x do not yet have support for the USB functions required for audio or webcam.

USB audio works very well. If you are a long-time user, you may have to recall what good support looks like.
Expert consulting for ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation
http://www.blondeguy.com

mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2020, 02:04:46 pm »
I received that USB sound device today, plugged it in and nothing shows up in unimix -card list ?

This is on ArcaOS 5.04, stock drivers, zero modifications done to anything driver wise as yet.

Seems I need to install the USB Audio drivers from the ArcaOS install media or use Lars drivers..

First thing is the ArcaOS install media in my case is a USB stick with the ISO on it, so how to run the installer from that exactly ?

Second is Lars drivers do not include install instructions in the readme at all ? just change log and a small FAQ section ?


USB audio and WebCam work with Lars drivers and Arca Noae drivers 11.17. Arca Noae drivers 12.x do not yet have support for the USB functions required for audio or webcam.

USB audio works very well. If you are a long-time user, you may have to recall what good support looks like.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2020, 02:26:06 pm by Matthew Feeney »

mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2020, 03:32:58 pm »
Managed to figure out I think how to install most of the Lars drivers, put the files in the respective folders on the destination file system ?

With the USBAUDIO drivers however it seems I have to do more then just copy files, but what is not clear at all ? i think it has something to do with a program called "minstall" but running this fails with the following error "C:\\control.scr Could not load file"

So anyone able to provide explicit instructions on how to verify the correct installation of the Lars USB drivers(I thought I could do this via its better USB storage support but a FAT32 formatted USB drive still does not work ?) and also how to install the USBAUDIO drivers ?
« Last Edit: May 01, 2020, 03:42:44 pm by Matthew Feeney »

Dave Yeo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4788
  • Karma: +99/-1
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2020, 04:32:45 pm »
A couple of points.
You can mount an ISO by double clicking it. Unmount with the widget that looks like a house.
When installing something like the USB drivers, there's often a DLL that needs replaced that is in use. The command unlock x:\os2\dll\usbcalls.dll will load the DLL into memory so that it can be overwritten, a reboot will be required to use the new DLL
Run minstall /F:USBAUDIO.SCR (or use the full path) IIRC to install the audio drivers.
A FAT32 formatted drive should just work with Lars's drivers but generally sticks need partitioning and LVM info added to work on OS/2. Our FAT32 driver is still a bit flaky but being fixed, hopefully for AOS 5.0.5

mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2020, 04:54:34 pm »
I did somehow manage to guess right what i needed to do re installing the USB Audio (and the Lars drivers overall) but there *really* should be instructions in the readme for this.

As of now when I plug in a 16GB USB drive with a single FAT32 partition it simply will not work, the device is detected and given a drive letter but trying to access that drive letter does .. nothing ? and this is after I have installed the Lars drivers, presumably correctly ? although due to the lack of instructions I can not be sure..

A couple of points.
You can mount an ISO by double clicking it. Unmount with the widget that looks like a house.
When installing something like the USB drivers, there's often a DLL that needs replaced that is in use. The command unlock x:\os2\dll\usbcalls.dll will load the DLL into memory so that it can be overwritten, a reboot will be required to use the new DLL
Run minstall /F:USBAUDIO.SCR (or use the full path) IIRC to install the audio drivers.
A FAT32 formatted drive should just work with Lars's drivers but generally sticks need partitioning and LVM info added to work on OS/2. Our FAT32 driver is still a bit flaky but being fixed, hopefully for AOS 5.0.5

Dave Yeo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4788
  • Karma: +99/-1
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2020, 05:24:25 pm »
Have you reviewed https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/usb/preparing-usb-msd-disks/. Other then that, Lars will likely be by to help.

Lars

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1271
  • Karma: +65/-0
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2020, 05:53:02 pm »
1) there ARE installation instructions for the USB drivers, in particular also for the USB audio drivers. I suggest you read "readusb.txt". Actually, apart from the USB audio drivers, it's very simple: just unzip the whole ZIP to the root directory and allow files to be overwritten. As David has pointed out, before you do that do a :
unlock \os2\dll\*
unlock \mmos2\dll\*
to unlock DLLs that are in use. "unlock" is part of eCS or ArcaOS.
Then, you need to make sure that you actually load the USB drivers by adding to config.sys if not already done. This is all described in "readusb.txt", partly in the Q and A section.

For the audio drivers (usbaudio.zip) and the helper stuff (usbwav.zip) , as mentioned in "readusb.txt", unzip to a temporary directory, CHANGE TO THAT DIRECTORY, and run "minstall /*". Then, if asked, make selections.


2) how you do you expect a FAT32 formatted drive to be accessible if you don't have the FAT32.IFS file system driver installed ? Or do you have it installed ?

Without seeing your config.sys, it will be guesswork to help you.

Note: unimix does NOTHING to support your USB audio device. It's part of the UNIAUD drivers and not at all needed for the USB audio drivers.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2020, 05:55:37 pm by Lars »

David Graser

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 870
  • Karma: +84/-0
    • View Profile
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2020, 06:31:24 pm »
To do anything, you really need a good file manager.  Two of the best are

File Manager 2
https://ecsoft2.org/system/files/repository/fm2-3-24-0.wpi

and Larsen Commander
ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/dataseeker/lcmd1.07.04.zip

I have used FM/2 from the early days when it was first developed by Mark Kimes.  It so powerful and easy to  use.  Others prefer Larsen Commander.

I always extract zip files with with Paths to a temporary directory.  The zip file is created with its subdirectories. From the subdirectories, it is easy to see where the files should be copied to on the hard drive unless the readme states otherwise.  FM/2 will ask you if you want to unlock the files you are trying to copy over the old ones, if they are locked.



mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2020, 06:47:34 pm »
Hi Lars

Those install instructions are indeed there but they are buried at the bottom of the read me in the FAQ section and for the USB Audio steps they are displayed as a note at the top of the read me, not as an explicit install step. As a result I did not "see" the install instructions so I took an educated guess as to the installation method for the USB Driver and the USB Audio, which luclly seem to have been sucessfull.

Might I suggest the explicit install steps are the first thing in the Readme, including the steps for the USB audio component ?

I do have FAT32.IFS present. However FAT32 formatted USB sticks prepared on a Win10 machine via MiniTool Partition Wizard do not seem to work ?

1) there ARE installation instructions for the USB drivers, in particular also for the USB audio drivers. I suggest you read "readusb.txt". Actually, apart from the USB audio drivers, it's very simple: just unzip the whole ZIP to the root directory and allow files to be overwritten. As David has pointed out, before you do that do a :
unlock \os2\dll\*
unlock \mmos2\dll\*
to unlock DLLs that are in use. "unlock" is part of eCS or ArcaOS.
Then, you need to make sure that you actually load the USB drivers by adding to config.sys if not already done. This is all described in "readusb.txt", partly in the Q and A section.

For the audio drivers (usbaudio.zip) and the helper stuff (usbwav.zip) , as mentioned in "readusb.txt", unzip to a temporary directory, CHANGE TO THAT DIRECTORY, and run "minstall /*". Then, if asked, make selections.


2) how you do you expect a FAT32 formatted drive to be accessible if you don't have the FAT32.IFS file system driver installed ? Or do you have it installed ?

Without seeing your config.sys, it will be guesswork to help you.

Note: unimix does NOTHING to support your USB audio device. It's part of the UNIAUD drivers and not at all needed for the USB audio drivers.

Martin Iturbide

  • OS2World NewsMaster
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4714
  • Karma: +41/-1
  • Your Friend Wil Declares...
    • View Profile
    • Martin's Personal Blog
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2020, 06:54:07 pm »
Hi

About FAT32 USB Flash not working on ArcaOS, I got this little article: "Prepare the FAT32 USB Flash Drive".

Any other comments, updates, suggestions or techniques to prepare the FAT32 USB Flash drive for OS/2 are welcome.

Regard
Martin Iturbide
OS2World NewsMaster
... just share the dream.

mfny

  • Guest
Re: USBDRV ?
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2020, 07:07:02 pm »
Oh, that clears things up.. thanks.

Hi

About FAT32 USB Flash not working on ArcaOS, I got this little article: "Prepare the FAT32 USB Flash Drive".

Any other comments, updates, suggestions or techniques to prepare the FAT32 USB Flash drive for OS/2 are welcome.

Regard