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Messages - Doug Bissett

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1
Applications / Re: Rsync and eaclean
« on: April 01, 2023, 04:02:45 pm »
Would there be a downside to cleaning off those libc-based EA from my entire drive? If libc puts them in, there must be an advantage to having them.

I wouldn't do the whole drive. Icons are kept in EAs. As I said, PMMail does not use EAs (Libc may create them), so it is perfectly safe to remove them from the PMMail mail store.

2
Applications / Re: Rsync and eaclean
« on: March 31, 2023, 03:54:51 am »
Just for the record, PMMail does not use EAs. Using RSync to copy the mail store does add EAs to every file.

I don't know why that would cause RSync to use more time to transfer the files.

3
What Dave said...

quote]Well - I fought with installing ArcaOS for quite a while on that Dell Precision M60.  ArcaOS would boot, then it would say I have to "fix" the partition on the drive -- but then that would fail, saying it couldn't fix it.     Don't have a photo, so I forget the exact wording.    The only way I could get it to go was to blast away all existing partitions using a GPARTED boot CD (it previously had Windows7 installed on the drive -- probably partitioned to use the entire drive since it's only an 80GB).  The stock ArcaOS installer wasn't giving me options to delete any existing partitions.[/quote]

The "fix" thing indicates that you have not properly partitioned the drive. READ the appropriate information at the Arca Noae wiki (link posted earlier). You do need to create properly aligned partitions (done by using MiniLVM). There are tools (based on DFSEE) to handle various disk problems.

4
Quote
I tried a Gateway Solo Pentium III with 288MB RAM (system from about 1998)
  I can use CD-ROM to boot GPARTED,  [ confirm CD-ROM is working ]
  but I can't use DVD-R disc to boot ArcaOS    [ drive on the side is labeled "DVD" etched in the plastic, so not a CD-ROM drive-only issue ]
  Can't get USB boot working (BIOS only offers ATAPI Removeable media, perhaps it means the PCMCIA card slot?)
  The system has 2x USB slots on the side - I also tried an external USB-DVD drive to boot ArcaOS, but that didn't work either

That machine should work (I seem to recall that Gateway did not make very good machines, so it may not), but will be pretty much useless (not enough memory). If the drive really is a DVD drive, it should boot, IF the machine is smart enough to do it. My similar vintage IBM ThinkPad A22e (with 256 MB memory, and DVD RW drive) installs ArcaOS, with no trouble. A few years ago, I tried to run the current Firefox (probably around version 20, at that time). It took 20 minutes to get to a blank home page. Forget PCMCIA, it is far more trouble than it is worth. ATAPI removeable probably means CD, or DVD. USB should also work, but it seems that the machine is not smart enough to boot from USB. You need to determine if the drive really is a DVD drive, and that it works properly.

Quote
I tried a Dell Precision M60 (circa 2001/2002)
  Boot GPARTED CD, deleted ALL partitions  (80GB old PATA drive)
  System has F12 Boot Menu, selected USB Device
  Booted ArcaOS from USB 2GB thumbdrive
  Made 20GB Startable partition (JFS)
  ArcaOS install went to 100%   [ system beeped at 3% and 47%, not sure why ]
  Reboot worked, ArcaOS loaded from HDD (and audio worked!)
  Haven't tested networking yet - but excited to be able to try some OS/2 again!

This sounds like a candidate. First thing: put the GPARTED CD out of reach. It is okay to prove that you can boot from a CD, but DO NOT EVER use anything other than the tools in ArcaOS to partition disk drives that will be used with ArcaOS.

The beeps are part of the original OS/2 installer. Ignore them.

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I tried a Shuttle XPS with Pentium E2180 CPU with 4GB RAM, 1TB SATA SSD  (circa 2007 system)
  [ the Shuttle XPS is some integrated IPS heatsink thing for the CPU, small motherboard - think a bit
    smaller or more narrow than ATX; motherboard also has floppy disk (1x), PATA/IDE, and 2x SATA ]

I don't know anything about that machine. I suspect it is one of those things that need some special handling (or it just doesn't work).

For now, Learn on the DELL. You probably should do some serious reading at: https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/, and ask more questions.

Quote
Is it possible to make a CD-ROM install of ArcaOS ?  (sorry brand new here - didn't search yet )

It should be possible, but you had better know what you are doing if you want to try it. I suggest forgetting that approach.

5
Hardware / Re: USB wifi adapters
« on: February 16, 2023, 06:29:43 am »
To expand, a bit, on what Neil said:

I expect that the Mango works well, but it is limited by a 100 Mbs network connection. That limits you to 100 Mbs.

I got a GL-AR750s (https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar750s/), which has 3, Gbit interfaces (read the docs), and that allows you to operate at the full speed that the wiFi is capable of. It is a router, that can connect to the internet through a modem, or another router, using either wired, or WiFi connections. It is dual band (2.4, and 5) which can be useful.

At the time that I got the GL-AR750s, it was the only one that had Gbit interfaces. I expect that more of those things have that now, but watch for it.

6
Hardware / Re: Some successful installs with ArcaOS 5.0
« on: January 28, 2023, 06:13:36 pm »
Quote
Have to follow standard guidance... disable AHCI in BIOS, delete all partitions on the drive before installing, etc.

I really don't know where you got this "guidance" (it certainly is not "standard"). AHCI works fine (and is noticably faster than IDE), as long as the computer (hardware) supports it. If you aren't sure, add driver support for both AHCI, and IDE, and ArcaOS will use whatever it finds first (looking for AHCI first, by default).

Deleting all partitions on the drive, is not required, as long as you use the ArcaOS tools (and nothing else) to rearrange what exists.

It is true, that ArcaOS 5.0 probably doesn't contain enough help, but https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/ has some information, that may not be in the included docs. It is MUST reading for anybody using ArcaOS, especially when you are new to it.

7
Hardware / Re: Some successful installs with ArcaOS 5.0
« on: January 28, 2023, 03:41:29 am »
Well, ArcaoS 5.0 is ancient history. The current version is ArcaOS 5.0.7. which contains a LOT of fixes.

Quote
Have to follow standard guidance... disable AHCI in BIOS, delete all partitions on the drive before installing, etc.

This is probably not required, and should not be required.

Quote
Hope this might help someone out there.....

If you want to help, at least use the current version.

8
Personally, I have OS/2 working well, and it does almost everything that I need to do. The biggest problem is "modern", so called (I don't believe it) "secure" web sites. Our ancient Firefox is becoming less useful every day. Dooble has some improvement, but it is far from being usable, and some web sites won't accept it because it isn't based on Google Chrome (one of the main "spyware" programs). That sort of thing is the main "problem" with OS/2 today. Most of that is outside of our control, and it does take time, and a lot of effort, to catch up.
I hate to break it to you, but Dooble uses qtwebengine, which uses chromium as it's engine - same as Chrome....

Yes, I know that, and it is one of the reasons why I am not too excited about Dooble. I find a LOT of network access to Amazon, and Google, web sites is blocked by my firewall. Fortunately, blocking that stuff (along with the various offensive governments) doesn't affect the web content much, but the blocking (mostly on the way out) is pretty consistent.

9
I don't want to argue. I also don't want to say that you don't know what you are talking about. So far, all I've seen is a sales pitch, no suggestions about what would improve things. A couple of years ago, somebody promised us that he was going to "fix" OS/2. He has gone away, never to be heard from again. Why? I don't know, but I suspect he was all talk, and no knowledge. Your suggestion that virtual machines are the answer has been hashed around, for years. It is NOT the answer. It is  a fall back, when nothing else works.

So, here is the challenge.  Offer to help with solutions, and we will see if you really do know what you are talking about.

Personally, I have OS/2 working well, and it does almost everything that I need to do. The biggest problem is "modern", so called (I don't believe it) "secure" web sites. Our ancient Firefox is becoming less useful every day. Dooble has some improvement, but it is far from being usable, and some web sites won't accept it because it isn't based on Google Chrome (one of the main "spyware" programs). That sort of thing is the main "problem" with OS/2 today. Most of that is outside of our control, and it does take time, and a lot of effort, to catch up.

OS/2 still has a couple of ancient programs that are better than anything any other OS has available today. Another part of the "problem" is that users seem to think that ported programs are preferable, and that is partly driven by older OS/2 software being "abandoned" by their creators (usually by death), but not being released to the world, or passed on to somebody else.

I find it interesting that programs got a lot bigger, when programmers started being paid by the number of lines of code produced, rather than the quality of the final result. That is complicating the porting process. One other problem, is that many companies produce something new, and they won't tell us how it works, so we can't produce support (especially drivers). We can get some, but not all, of that from the *NIX world, with some serious work.

The bottom line is that we don't have many (enough) good programmers, who know what they are doing, and that makes it difficult to do anything useful.

So, what is the solution?

10
I have been reading most of this stuff. I keep thinking "Here we go again. a newbie trying to tell us old timers how to use OS/2". Or is it that you are trying to tell us that we shouldn't be using OS/2? In either case, you have a lot to learn. Pay attention.

X64 is, so far, a non starter. Period. Even those who have been hacking the OS/2 kernel, for years, haven't attempted to mess with that. Running in a VM, under a 64 bit system, doesn't change the fact that. OS/2 is, and probably always will be, a 32 bit system. If somebody wins the BIG jackpot, and donates gobs of money, that may change, but you would need to find somebody who has the interest in doing it. Not to mention that the OS/2 kernel has a whole lot of parts, that nobody seems to know what they do. BTW, only Arca Noae has permission from IBM, to distribute modified versions of any of their OS/2 parts, and then the modified versions can only be, legally, used with ArcaOS. Many argue otherwise, but that is what the contract between Arca Noae, and IBM says. Arca Noae will never, knowingly, cross the boundaries set by that contract.

I find virtualization to be pretty much a dead end (I have been playing with it, for many years). Even windows 7, running in VBox under windows 10. Is not even close to running it on bare metal. I have never bothered trying to run windows 10 in VBox. I do have windows 7 (32 bit) running in VBox under OS/2 (ArcaOS). I find that to be more useful than running OS/2 under VBox in windows 10, but it does take some very careful setup, or it will use too many system resources. I have played with Linux, but I just can't see why I would want to use it.

Overall, I find virtual machines to be a huge step backwards, and they are another thing to manage.

11
Quote
Any idea about this hung / TRAP000E ?

Just a WAG, but try turning off Lazy Write (cachejfs /LW:OFF at a command prompt.).

12
Hardware / Re: panorama not remembering monotor resolution
« on: December 04, 2022, 04:35:01 am »
I have a very annoying problem.  If I boot the computer without the monitor being on panorama reverts to something like 640 x 480 which is stupid on my 1920 x 1200 28 inch monitor. 
Is there a way to make panorama remember the monitor resolution?  I have no problems like this with Linux on the same monitor via a kvm switch.

I think we need a bit more information:
What are the video adapters?
What is the KVM switch?
What is the monitor?
When you say "without the monitor being on", is it unplugged? Just sleeping? Switch off, but still plugged in? All but unplugged often returns things like EDID information, but not always.

I tried turning the monitor switch off, on my old DELL system, then turned the computer on. I pressed <enter> (for Air Boot) with the screen off. The machine booted, so I tuned the monitor power on. It was in the selected 1280x1024 mode. The monitor did take a second, or so, to figure it out, but then it worked normally.

My video adapter seems to be something that DELL invented.
The KVM switch is a Compucessory 2-Port PS2 KVM switch Model 10353. I got it a number of years ago for $5 CAD. It was in the surplus bin.
I am using a HPf1905b monitor.

Some thoughts:
Do you have the problem if you plug the monitor directly to the computer (no switch)?
What setting did you select in System Setup-> Screen-> Screen, left side under resolutions? Mine is set for the desired 1280x1024 resolution.

13
Storage / Re: HPFS and JFS
« on: November 21, 2022, 01:20:08 am »
I lost a JFS partition, when JFS was new. IBM released an updated driver, and I have never seen a problem since then. Of course, I do keep reasonably current backups, which tends to discourage major failures.

I quit using HPFS a number of years ago. HPFS eats way too much lower shared memory space, and I have lost HPFS partitions, that were not recoverable (without a backup), more than once.

Otherwise, I agree with all that Dave said.

14
Storage / Re: USB3.0 copy speed
« on: October 28, 2022, 11:40:43 pm »
Quote
This is a Micro SD Ultra, 32GB Sandisk. Formatted with DFSEE long ago. The origin is a SSD hard drive, with JFS. All very normal.
IFS=C:\OS2\JFS.IFS /LW:64,256,8 /AUTOCHECK:*

Not very "normal", at all. I think that war the default for ancient IBM servers. Having done some experimenting with those parameters, I have concluded that they *may* work with old hardware, but they are not even close to being suitable for modern hardware. IBM chose:
Code: [Select]
IFS=Y:\OS2\JFS.IFS /LW:5,20,4 /AUTOCHECK:*before they abandoned OS/2. That seems to be far better, but it is still for old hardware. Having spent some time experimenting, I decided that it works as well as anything else (mostly because modern hardware is fast enough, that humans can't tell the difference). I did try your parameters, and things really slowed down.

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"Swappath = C: \ 0 4096"

Why would you use a minimum size of zero bytes? That is surely going to cause problems if swap ever fills up. How much real memory do you have? If it is more than 2 GB, swap will probably never be used anyway.

Quote
What interests me most is your opinion of whether it is a good performance or not, by your experience.

Since I don't use FC, I can't compare to your numbers. My guess would be that your numbers tend to be on the slow side of "normal" ("normal" being the average of all of the "abnormals"). I usually use RSync to copy files to USB sticks or USB connected HDDs. HDDs are far more consistent, and work in the 17 MB/s range (as measured by RSync). I have a couple of sticks that work in that range, but most work in the 12 MB/s range, and some in the 5 MB/s range (one works at 0.1 MB/s - obviously defective). RSync complicates the numbers because it does reads, and writes, while copying files, and it all depends on whether the USB connectors are working properly (they often don't connect at the optimal speed).

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Chkdsk /F, but does nothing.

What do you mean by "nothing"? Is it hung? Is it telling you that nothing is wrong?

Quote
The only thing that caught my attention, was the Glocal (country palette) en-US, showed me when I made the flap with a strange source, similar to the photo that commands you, but in the flaps, not in the text like this photo.

I don't understand what you are trying to say. If you use a different language, and code page, to read it, than was used to write it, almost anything can happen.

15
Applications / Re: Java applications
« on: October 28, 2022, 09:19:05 pm »
Quote
Sorry, lot to translate? Only totally new stuff, all other translations are already there. And doing the translation is also something with some lets say "smell" around it if I had understood the comments in the Dutch user group, many years ago, correct.

EVERYTHING needs to be translated (by volunteers). Any reference to "OS/2" needs to be translated to "ArcaOS" (for example, and there are many more),  It takes a LOT of work to find those things, and decide how to change the English version, then the translators need to translate it, then other translators need to make sure that the translation got done properly, and on, and on.

That doesn't include the work required to be able to build the installers for each language (which includes translating the installers). Then all of it needs to be tested, fixed, and tested again.

It is a HUGE project, and it all takes a lot of time, and effort.

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