Author Topic: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?  (Read 9817 times)

83.0b.et

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Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« on: November 02, 2014, 10:41:24 pm »
Hi. I wanted to know if OS/2 Warp 4.51 is really 100% compatible with DOS apps. Most of the time, I use my old Win98 laptop to play Blood (Monolith Productions, 1997). If I could get it to work under OS/2 maybe I'd do the switch. Thanks.

P.S.: In case OS/2 isn't so compatible, what about eComStation 1.2?

Greggory Shaw

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Re: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2014, 10:50:55 pm »
Some where on both there's an old migrate app and a database that list Apps compatible with Os2 (large amount of games).  If it's in the database it will create WPS object with predefined settings from the database.

I was thinking about writing a Drag & Drop install Rexx script to use that database for the more popular apps on Hobbes since most of those apps won't change.

Oh,

1) try DosBox or
2) computer /w an old ISA slot with a sound blaster card - not sure but I think the sound in DOS/WIN sessions /w PCI sound cards doesn't work, someone here should be able to explain that issue better.

Greggory
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 11:34:04 pm by Greggory Shaw »

Dave Yeo

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Re: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2014, 01:30:14 am »
It is real DOS, you can even run MS DOS 7.1 (Win98) under OS/2 and often games would run under OS/2 that would not run under Win9x such as Quake (or was that Quake 2). Some device drivers don't work such as long name support as OS/2 captures the disk access. This was why it was faster then running DOS natively, better file system including cache though limited to 8.3 names.
Sometimes it does take tuning to get something to run, memory and such.
Note that there are no sound drivers for newer hardware so without a DOS sound driver, no sound.

83.0b.et

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Re: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2014, 05:54:27 am »
Thanks for the replies.

I would have never imagined you could run Win98 under OS/2 :P
I have only one computer where I can install OS/2: is a laptop, an old Compaq Armada 1750 (Notebook PC 6366/T/6400/D/M/1). It has an ATI Rage LT Pro video card and a ESS 1869 audio card. Looks like there are drivers for both devices, according to the tutorial I'm following: http://gagravarr.org/computing/comp/1750.html

But I can't find the WSEB mouse driver... And I need it, because OS/2 Warp 4.51 doesn't detect my touchpad (the tutorial says that driver supports the Synaptics Touchpad).


Dave Yeo

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Re: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2014, 06:02:14 am »
Not Win98 but the DOS that it runs under, like when you boot Win98 and hit F8 to go to DOS (actually I've only done this with Win95 but have heard others doing so)
The mouse driver should be \os2\boot\mouse.sys and the DOS driver \os2\boot\vmouse.sys, add them both to your config.sys with vmouse after mouse.sys.
Better is amouse, not sure where it is now available.

83.0b.et

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Re: Is OS/2 Warp 100% compatible with DOS apps?
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2014, 06:27:28 am »
I'll try the ones you said, but I don't think amouse will work with the Synaptics Touchpad, because I used amouse on eCS 2.1 and didn't work.

I'll explain myself: the touchpad is detected and can be used immediately after install (both on eCS 2.1 and OS/2 Warp), but it doesn't correctly work. It's behavior is strange. For example, it would click itself while moving the arrow, or move where I'm not indicating it to move. This happened also on Windows, and I fixed the problem installing the official Synaptics Touchpad driver, but there is no official drivers for OS/2.

Since the tutorial mentions the WSEB mouse driver, maybe that one would work for me if the ones you say don't...

Edit: Since firt boot I'm getting this error:


Then I edited config.sys as you said:


An on reboot I got a new error:


Also I'm now unable to boot into Win98SE partition. It just boots into OS/2 when I turn on the laptop.

 
« Last Edit: November 03, 2014, 08:25:44 am by 83.0b.et »