eCS 2.2 purchase

[badre]

Hi,
I have an IBM thinkpad T42 1.70ghz 1.5gb ram, I tested the demo cd 2.2 beta 2, it does not work, I have a black screen, I tested the demo cd beta 5 and it works very well,
is it possible to buy the eComStation 2.2 version, I believe that the final version does not exist, the last one is beta 5, it seems to me,
 or do I have to buy the eCs 2.1 version and then upgrade days in 2.2 beta 5?
I haven't tested eCs 2.1 demo cd version because I couldn't find it.
Thans in advance.

[Dave Yeo]

eComstation seems to be dead and no longer for sale. What you can do is buy ArcaOS from Arca Noae, https://www.arcanoae.com, which is the successor to eComstation with many of the same developers. Highly recommended. No demo unluckily due to their license from IBM. They also offer very good support, in case of problems and it works well on my T42. Note that for the T42, APM support should be used instead of ACPI. With APM everything works on my T42 except hibernation (might also work if installed on C:)
BTW, welcome to the forum.

[Martin Iturbide]

Hi badre, welcome to the forum.

I also suggest you not to buy eComStation, because it is not longer updated. ArcaOS is being actively developed and supported. It will save you a lot of time on putting OS/2 Warp 4.52 (or eComstation) up to date with the latest DLLs libraries and software that is available for the platform.

It can be also a nice exercise to install OS/2 Warp 4.52 on your T42 first, but I think you will be happier with ArcaOS.

Regards

[Ibrahim Hakeem]

Seconding Martin's quote here:

It can be also a nice exercise to install OS/2 Warp 4.52 on your T42 first, but I think you will be happier with ArcaOS.

It's not a bad idea to tool around with OS/2 Warp 4.52, but definitely avoid Ecomstation and go straight to ArcaOS, especially since you are already committed to spending the money on a new license. I'd personally recommend upgrading to something like a T61 or T400 if you intend on using the OS/2 platform for a longer period of time however.

[Dave Yeo]

One advantage of the T42, at least mine, is working WiFi. Firefox (or SeaMonkey) take forever to start but then mostly work fine here. Not quite good enough for YouTube but close.

[Andi B.]

...on my T42 except hibernation (might also work if installed on C:)

Hibernation works on my T42p (some eCS DE Version installed on M:). What you need is a C: Partition which is configured to hold the hibernation file(s). But it's not worth to install all this old stuff. I think I've posted somewhere the time it takes to hibernate. IIRC something about 1:40 while a reboot takes nearly the same time. It's so slow although I've put into a SSD in my T42p.

[badre]

thank you for your information, i will go to arcaos,
i also installed os / 2 4.52, which works well, i just have problems for the usb, concerning the usb floppy drive.

For ArcaOs 5, all drivers is included ? i need separed packages ?

[Martin Iturbide]

For ArcaOs 5, all drivers is included ? i need separed packages ?

Hi, that is the idea of ArcaOS, to have all possible included. It has the USB drivers, ACPI driver, and a lot more software included on the installer directly. Version 5.0.6 is the latest version available.  You can check some of the changelogs.

Regards

[Neil Waldhauer]

I sell eComStation. I can sell you the final beta build eCS b2 2.2 (Dec 31) for the price of eCS 2.1. eCS Demo beta 5 is based on eCS 2.2 beta 2 from May, 2013.

Others have said ArcaOS is a much better idea. For your case, I agree with them. If you buy eCS b2 2.2 (Dec 31, 2013), it is pretty much unsupported. You are on your own.

ArcaOS 5.0 was less feature rich than eCS 2.2 b2 (Dec 31), but with the current ArcaOS 5.0.6, it is much better than any eCS.

https://www.blondeguy.com/computer/eComStationForSale.html

The only case where eCS is better is where you have a product based on eCS and you want to buy a license for one more copy of your product. In that case, ArcaOS is not acceptable. I have tried, but Arca Noae will not accept the order. As such, my largest accounts are eCS-only.

[badre]

@Neil Waldhauer eCs2.2 beta 2 not work on my ibm thinkpad T42 but eCS2.2 beta 5 work.
i think its better that i buy arcaos 5.0.6 which should work on my thinkpad T42.

For the purchase I suppose it is an email with the link that we received (digital download), because in DVD, shipping is expensive to France.

I can burn the iso file with imgBurn to DVD.
The last version for ArcaOs is 5.0.6 ?
ArcaOS work with pcmcia card ? is not limited with ibm pcmcia card, for example with DWA-610 d-link ?

If i want to boot from floppy drive usb it work ? is exist disquette for booting to c:\ prompt with ArcaOs ? because with os/2 warp 4.52 it not work
causing usb drivers, when i insert the third diskette , it not recongnize floppy drive.

[Ibrahim Hakeem]

@Neil Waldhauer eCs2.2 beta 2 not work on my ibm thinkpad T42 but eCS2.2 beta 5 work.
i think its better that i buy arcaos 5.0.6 which should work on my thinkpad T42.

For the purchase I suppose it is an email with the link that we received (digital download), because in DVD, shipping is expensive to France.

I can burn the iso file with imgBurn to DVD.
The last version for ArcaOs is 5.0.6 ?

If I'm not mistaken, once you've made the purchase you will then be able to click a link to have an ISO generated for you through your orders page on your Arca Noae account. When the ISO is ready, you'll get an email notifying you and it's smooth sailing from there. I can verify that imgBurn will work just fine as I've used it to burn ArcaOS ISOs. I'm pretty sure there's even the tools to make a bootable USB in the package from Arca Noae, but I'd personally recommend going with burning it to a DVD since that option is much more straightforward.
From personal experience, when I had a T42 - I noticed that using a DVD burnt beyond 8x speed seemed to not work reliably. I'm not sure if this is a universal thing or just due to the condition of my drive, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Regarding PCMCIA cards, I don't have any knowledge on this when it comes to ArcaOS, but I'd have to assume so long as you've got the relevant drivers for whatever card you're trying to work with, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you are installing a DWA-610 for the sake of having WiFi, your internal card on the T42 should already be compatible. I think the XWP addon for wireless connectivity already deals with the hard stuff. Just to be clear, this addon is included.

As for USB floppy drives, I believe the feedback is mixed on them due to how many options there are with their own varied controllers. Your mileage may vary. You won't need to boot from a floppy drive to install ArcaOS though, it's bootable from the DVD drive.

[badre]

thank you for all informations.

[Dave Yeo]

Yes, as Ibrahim says, after purchase, they will build a personalized ISO image for you to download.
You can burn it to DVD or build a bootable USB stick or even put it on a special HD (small FAT) partition to install. You shouldn't need a USB diskette drive but booting should work.
For maintenance, which I assume you tried to boot the diskettes for, you can use the burned DVD or USB stick, there's an option to leave the installer to a maintenance desktop.
As for PCMCIA cards, they should be supported given the drivers.
The latest current version is 5.0.6 with 5.1 in the pipeline, assuming it is released in the next 6 months, you also will be able to download that. As well as any driver updates that have been done since the release of 5.0.6.
As for the actual install, here I found I had to deselect the AHCI driver for the install to finish, it is not needed, you may find the SNAP video driver better on your system.

[Neil Waldhauer]

The latest current version is 5.0.6 with 5.1 in the pipeline, assuming it is released in the next 6 months, you also will be able to download that.

You will be able to download 5.1 if you pay for it. If there is a 5.0.7, that is included in the support and maintenance agreement.

[Greg Pringle]

So, Neil, you say Arca Noaea does not have re-sellers?