Author Topic: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available  (Read 46736 times)

Neil Waldhauer

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ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« on: June 07, 2020, 02:52:57 pm »
ArcaOS 5.0.5 is included with your valid ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription at no additional charge. To download your fresh ISO, simply visit your Arca Noae customer portal page, select the Orders & Subscriptions link on the navigation panel to the left, then click on the order for your ArcaOS license. Once there, click the download link to request a fresh ISO, and wait for your notification email.

If your ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription has already expired, and you missed your window of opportunity to renew at regular rates, you may still renew at less than the cost of a new ArcaOS license.

Arca Noae sells only digital versions of ArcaOS. If you want a DVD or USB stick version, you can make your own. Instructions are provided with ArcaOS.

If you would rather buy the DVD or USB stick, Blonde Guy has plenty of them on hand. See the following link to shop for ArcaOS on DVD or USB stick. International shipping is now available.

http://www.blondeguy.com/computer/BlueLion.html
Expert consulting for ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation
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Pete

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2020, 04:00:04 pm »
Hi Neil

Reading https://www.arcanoae.com/arcaos-5-0-5-now-available/ I see that USB3 support should be included.

Having download 5.0.5 and had a look at the iso I cannot find usbxhcd.sys, it is not included in the usb package \CID\SERVER\ARCAPKG\USB.WPI

Did USB3 support get withdrawn or is it hiding in another package due to "preview" status?


Regards

Pete

Rene Hvidsoe

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2020, 05:42:28 pm »
Hi Pete,

The USB 3 driver is included have just installed on a new desktop bought in Jan 2020. That has USB 3 ports  and USB 2  ports connected to the USB 3 chip. So before I needed a USB 2 PCI E addon card to install.

 Now not needed  :)

Kind Regards

Rene


ivan

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2020, 06:48:54 pm »
Hi Pete, 

You should be able to find them in \bootimgs\boot2.pf  You need e_pf.exe to unpack the pf file.

ivan

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2020, 06:55:01 pm »
Hi Rene,

Out of curiosity what motherboard and processor does your computer have?  I am waiting on the delivery of a new hard disk for my AMD Ryzen 3 2200G unit so I can test before I accidentally mess up what I have.

Doug Bissett

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2020, 07:16:44 pm »
Please read section 7.7, and 7.7.1, in README.TXT. It doesn't get installed by an update, because it is still experimental software, and update does not add features (with very few exceptions). It does get installed with a new install. I really don't know why they did it that way.

I expect that  USB 3 will be formally released via the subscription channel, when it is actually completed. At the moment, it is included as a convenience for those who don't have any choice but to use USB 3 for install. It may not work, depending on what adapter you actually have, I have a Fresco Logic adapter, that will work, if the conditions are perfect. The main problem with it is that there is no additional power available, and many devices draw too much power, causing it to turn off. Even plugging in my powered hub can cause it to power off. There just isn't enough power from a PCI-e connector. This is not unique to OS/2, it also happens in windows. If I leave the powered hub connected, and powered, while I boot, it will work (when the connector makes proper contact. The connector doesn't work well).

I will mention that USB, in general (not just USB 3, and not just OS/2), is a terrible technology. Nobody seems to follow the rules, and the connectors (especially A type connectors) are really flaky. If there is anything, at all, wrong with them, they are going to cause problems. USB 3 is more likely to have problems, because there are more contacts that have to connect properly, or various inconsistencies will happen. The usual ones are:

The USB 3 device will connect at USB 2 speeds, and not at USB 3 speeds. Many causes.

The device will connect okay, then some time later it will disconnect itself, for no apparent reason (usually somebody stood up, or moved a chair, which jiggled the connector enough to break the connection). Heavy devices, or cables, may drag the contacts apart, causing disconnection.

USB extension cables usually have worse connection problems than plugging a device directly into a fixed connector on the machine (two connectors to fail, plus they may move, which can break the connection).

USB HUBS can also have the connection problems. Since USB 3 HUBS actually have two devices (one for USB 3, and one for USB2), they may work with one, or the other, but not both. To work with both (they should), both sets of contacts need to be perfect.

The physical connectors on computer, cables, and device, need to be near perfect. Unfortunately, there is no easy way way to actually tell if a USB 3 device connects at USB 2 speed, and/or USB 3 speed. Speed depends on many things, and most of my USB 3 devices are not noticeably faster while connected to USB 3. If you pay for premium devices, they should perform better, as long as the contacts work. If you pay for cheap USB 3 devices, they may work better when attached to a USB 2 controller. On the other hand, some USB 2 devices will actually perform better, when attached to a USB 3 controller (actually two controllers, one for USB 3, and one for USB 2). You may need to try different combinations.

Have fun...

Martin Iturbide

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2020, 03:39:08 am »
Hi

Is the USB 3 storage drivers working when you boot from the USB Flash to install ArcaOS?
I had tested it again on a mainboard that only have USB 3 ports, UEFI in compatibility mode I still have the this message that the CD media can not be found.

I had tested the USB flash drive to update from ArcaOS 5.0.2 to 5.0.5 on a different machine. So, I'm guessing that my USB flash is fine. The only thing that I can think about is that I have not updated the USB flash since 5.0.1, just the ISO image. Should I recreate the USB flash drive?

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Martin Iturbide
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Dave Yeo

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2020, 03:59:38 am »
Yes, every version needs its USB stick updated for it. In the case of 5.0.5, you need the USB3 support on the stick. Kind of surprised the update seems to have worked for you.

Neil Waldhauer

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #8 on: June 08, 2020, 04:17:47 am »
I have successful installations from DVD, USB stick and from the hard drive.

My test systems are here. Other Arca Noae testers have other systems.

http://www.blondeguy.com/ComputersForSale.html

Some pages have not been updated yet, and still talk about 5.0.4, but all system have been tested with the GA or with one of the last betas.
Expert consulting for ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation
http://www.blondeguy.com

Doug Bissett

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2020, 05:27:40 am »
Hi

Is the USB 3 storage drivers working when you boot from the USB Flash to install ArcaOS?
I had tested it again on a mainboard that only have USB 3 ports, UEFI in compatibility mode I still have the this message that the CD media can not be found.

I had tested the USB flash drive to update from ArcaOS 5.0.2 to 5.0.5 on a different machine. So, I'm guessing that my USB flash is fine. The only thing that I can think about is that I have not updated the USB flash since 5.0.1, just the ISO image. Should I recreate the USB flash drive?

Regards

UPDATE does NOT install USB 3 drivers, and will fail, as you describe, if you try to use a USB 3 controller to do the UPDATE. The ArcaOS installer does have USB 3 drivers, but they do NOT get transferred to the drive during an UPDATE. At the moment, you either need to figure out how to transfer the USBXHCD.SYS file to the installed system and add the CONFIG.SYS entry(s), at the end of phase 1, or you need to do a new install. If you can't figure that out, you are probably not ready to try USB 3.

You don't need to create the volume on the stick, but you MUST use the current ArcaOS installer to update the stick (which does recreate the installer), or it will refuse to start the installer. You cannot just copy the new ISO file to an old stick, and expect it to work. The DFS (DFSEE) thing will create the proper stuff on the stick. The main difference is that the DFS things should run under most current operating systems. They will wipe the whole stick, and make it new, while the AOSBOOT thing must run under OS/2, and simply formats the first partition on the stick, copies the new installer, including the ISO file, then makes the stick bootable.

Rene Hvidsoe

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2020, 07:28:12 am »
To Ivan,

I have a Gigabyte A320M-SH2 V2  with a AMD Ryzen 3 1200.

Regards

Rene

Andreas Schnellbacher

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2020, 10:55:02 am »
I have a Gigabyte A320M-SH2 V2  with a AMD Ryzen 3 1200.
Interesting. How much RAM is available to OS/2? (Type mem in a command window.)

Is network and sound working?

Eugene Tucker

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2020, 01:57:30 pm »
I have a problem with the USB stick creating too small a partitcian than I need to copy the ISO to it. One time it created a FAT and the other time a FAT32. Both were under 2 GB's.

Pete

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #13 on: June 08, 2020, 02:50:25 pm »
Hi All

@ivan
Thanks for the e_pf.exe tip.


@Eugene
I had a similar problem with 5.0.4 and used DFSee - http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/index.php - to create the flash drive partition.


Having discovered I had e_pf.exe installed as part of my "bootAble setup" - https://hrbaan.home.xs4all.nl/bootAble/index.html - I had a go at unpacking boot2.pf which worked fine once I figured out that I actually had to use e_pf.exe as the first couple of tries resulted in "SYS1059: The system cannot execute the specified program." due to the presence of e_pf.com in the same directory.

Having added usbxhcd.sys to config.sys and updated usb from 12.05 to 12.06 my 5.0.4 installation now has working USB3 on my Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 rev 4.0 mainboard withAMD990FX/SB950 chipset. Obviously limited testing to date but no problems so far.

Martin may want to update the Wiki entry for this mainboard to USB3 Supported by ArcaOS 5.0.5/USB 12.06


Regards

Pete


David McKenna

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Re: ArcaOS DVD and bootable USB stick available
« Reply #14 on: June 08, 2020, 06:24:00 pm »
      You can also boot the disk/stick to the 'System Management' page, open a command prompt, and type 'copy Z:\USBXHCD.SYS C:\os2\BOOT <enter>' (if the normal boot drive is C:). Then add the line BASEDEV=USBXHCD.SYS to CONFIG.SYS before the other USB**CD.SYS lines (if any) but after usbd.sys. Seems to work OK so far...
« Last Edit: June 09, 2020, 12:30:20 am by David McKenna »