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Messages - Doug Clark

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16
Setup & Installation / Re: VirtualBox and ArcaOS 5.0.7
« on: January 01, 2022, 09:36:27 pm »
On my machine the guest OS in vbox, running on an AOS host machine with dual-head / SNAP can set the screen size equal to the resolution of the AOS host, i.e. 3820 / 1080.  However that screen size is not available on the guest unless the session is started with vboxsdl.  If I start the guest session from  virtualbox.exe the full resolution of the host screen is not available in the guest.

At least that is the case with a Windows NT guest.  Haven't tried with other guest OSs

The other advantage of using vboxsdl is the session usually starts immediately.  If I use virtualBox.exe I usually have to wait 15 seconds after virtualBox.exe comes up before I can start a guest.

The downside is you can't just close the guest session window in order to save the session; you  need to run vboxmanage.exe  to do that.  But that is a minor issue to me.

The command file I use to start my WinNT guest machine is
vboxsdl --startvm dc86c149-cf14-42fb-8833-d81172b92f89

The command file I use  to suspend my WinNT guest session is
vboxmanage controlvm dc86c149-cf14-42fb-8833-d81172b92f89 savestate

The weird number  is the ID of the guest machine.  You can alternately use the title of the guest machine



17
Hardware / Re: Using a LaserJet 2100m on a Print Server
« on: January 01, 2022, 09:08:45 pm »
Mark,

Glad the jetDirect worked for you.  Since you are using  CUPS you don't need the JetAdmin software - but if you do and can't find it let me know and I will upload it.

I have friend that worked for the bureau of land management who says: "there is no such thing as bad weather - just inappropriate clothing"  Growing up in Phoenix we had the opposite problem - 118 F/47.7C  Once you have taken all your clothes off the "inappropriate clothing" motto loses it meaning.

18
Hardware / Re: Using a LaserJet 2100m on a Print Server
« on: November 30, 2021, 02:48:29 am »
Mark,

Your D-Link not recognizing the printer might be the usb to parallel adapter.

I don't know if your network is all wireless, or partly wired.  If it is wired, or you have an ethernet port close to where you want to put the printer, you could try an HP Jet Direct 300x print server.  I use that to connect an HP 4000 and HP 1320  laserjet to my network.  They are currently selling for $12 on ebay without an adapter and $45 with a power adapter.  (It accepts a 9 - 35 volt DC adapter)

The nice thing about the Jet Direct 300x is that it interfaces with HP Jet Admin - which installs a network port for talking to the print server.  Jet Admin can even show what is being displayed on the printer panel.  OS/2 comes with a printer driver for the HP 2100 driver, or you can use any PCL or PS driver (if the printer recognizes postscript) and then use the Jet Admin/Jet Direct port to talk to the printer.  Jet Admin can talk to HP printers through Jet Direct that it does not recognize - as shown in one of the attachments.

The HP Jet Admin appears to not work so well with the newer HP printers - like my HP452dn.  It can show what the printer panel is showing, but gets messed up in other ways.  I am using SLR to talk to that printer.   But Jet Admin works like a dream with the older printers that have parallel ports.

You don't have to use CUPS unless there is something special about the D-LINK printer server that requires CUPS, or you need to print from an app that will only print to CUPS - like some of the QT based apps.

On the other hand CUPS will print to a printer connected to a Jet Direct print server.  I have my HP 4000 setup to print either from legacy Jet Admin or from CUPS.


19
Applications / Re: xWorplace - xCenter issue(s)
« on: October 07, 2021, 12:00:28 am »
@Martin - It is a two step process to add a widget.. First you must select "Create a Widget" on the popup menu - and select the widget you want to "create" from the list.  Then you have to add the widget using the "Add Widget to Tray" option on the popup menu.  For versions 1.0.13 and 1.0.12 the "Add Widget to Tray" option is missing from the popup menu.  The first attachment (popupmen.jpg) shows the popup menu for v 1.0.13 (and for v 1.0.12)

@Andreas - The "Add Widget to Tray" option is clearly missing from the popup menu.  You can see two lines in the menu where the option is supposed to be - but no option.  If you compare the first attachment with the second you can see where the option is supposed to appear in the menu.

It does appear that "Create a Widget" has been added to more menus (or more contexts where it shows up on the menu) which is very nice.  That appears to have happened, as you point out, after version 11.  Previously it was a pain to try and point to the right area on the xCenter to get a menu with that option.

@Me (And Doug B.)  Yes there is  a difference between xWorkplace and the xWorkplace in AOS.  Thanks Doug B. (and others) for pointing out where that package is located.  I installed  \CID\SERVER\ARCAPKG\ANXWP_EN.WPI  from the AOS v 5.0.6 distribution and got the Removable Media widget (already installed) on xCenter.

But the AOS version of xWorkPlace is not the same as the "full" version of xWorkPlace - and possibly not the same as xWorkPlace lite (although I didn't install xwps lite to compare).  The AOS version is missing turbo folders with the different way of associating files to program objects - for one example.  I am not saying the AOS version is bad - it isn't.  It is just missing some features that I want.

The AOS version of xWorkPlace reports being version 1.0.13.1  - so it is a later version than what is available as "full" xWorkPlace.

The way I fixed my problem was:
1) deinstall xwps 13
2) install aos xwps from the distro (I had to uninstall xwps v 1.0.13) to get this to work
3) copy the  RemMedia.* and RemM_*.* stuff from c:\sys\apps\xwpd\plugins\xcenter  to a temporary location
4) deinstall aos xwps
5) install xwps version 1.0.11.  The Add Widget option is missing from the popup menu of v 1.0.12 also)
6) copy the removable media files from the temporary directory back to the xcenter directory.
7) install the removable media widget:  Create Widget and then Add Widget - making sure to close xCenter before each step
8) install xwps v 1.0.13
Whew

The conclusion is at this point in time there is no easy way for AOS customers who want to run the lastest version of full xWorkPlace to get the removable media widget installed.

Thanks everyone for your help.


20
Applications / xWorplace - xCenter issue(s)
« on: October 06, 2021, 07:00:44 pm »
New installation of AOS 5.0.6

Installed xWorkPlace 1.0.13 which I got from Netlabs. The Add Widget option on the xCenter popup menu is missing.  Which I was using to add the Removable Media Widget.

So a couple of questions:

1) Where are the removable widget files on the AOS installation media located and/or how do you install? 

 I asked this question on a different topic previously and the suggestion (thank you Andreas Schnellbacher) was to take RemMedia.dll, etc. from another AOS machine.  Which I did at that time, but I don't remember how they originally got on the source machine.  (For this installation I copied them from the other machine to c:\sys\apps\xwps\plugins\xcenter and used the xCenter Create Widget option - then tried to use the Add Widget menu option)

2)  The Netlabs page for xWorplace says "Rich [Walsh] compiles special versions for ArcaOS and the current official version"   Are those "special versions" just  eWorkplace, or is there an AOS specific version of xWorkplace?

Thanks


21
Programming / Re: Table of similar API calls for OS/2 and Windows ?
« on: August 13, 2021, 02:57:00 pm »
Martin,

I have tried running winhlp32.exe from various sources (WinNT, WinXP, etc.) in Odin and I always get the message

"The winhelp32.exe binary in the Windows directory is corrupt, please reinstall."

update..
I installed BC v 5 and it does not have winhlp32.exe.  However I found two winhlp32.exe files on my WinNT machine: one in C:\WINNT and the other in C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.   The one that runs correctly is in C:\WINNT - which is attached.  The one in C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 produces the error message above.


I placed the correct WinHlp32.exe in e:\var\lib\odin where e: is my unixroot  (Odin installed via RPM - if you install Odin from WarpIn your directory will be different).  If you click on the HELP button of a Win32 app running in Odin it will start WinHlp32.exe - however WinHlp32.exe cannot find the help file.  It prompts you to locate the *.HLP file needed.  If I place WinHlp32.exe in the directory of the application and that directory also has the *.HLP file everything runs correctly.




22
Applications / Re: Creating some apps RPM packages
« on: June 22, 2021, 04:16:59 pm »
@Doug B and Dave:  Ah - extended selection in WarpIn when uninstalling.  It is so obvious and yet somehow never occurred to me.  Thanks for the tip.

@Doug B:  One of Walter Metcalf's big concerns (and just about everyone else's) was the continued existence of Hobbes.   To me a potential benefit of what Martin is doing (if I understand it correctly) would address a couple of those concerns: having another copy of (at least some of) those files, and at a location that is accessible.   I think it is beneficial, even if it is not possible or realistic to add a "select your own destination" feature. 

As for enhancing WarpIn with a new database: I don't think (famous last words)  it would be that difficult to switch the database from INI files to something else that will handle more levels.   Anyone know what database RPM uses?

23
Applications / Re: Creating some apps RPM packages
« on: June 22, 2021, 06:17:34 am »
@Doug B  sort of quoting "What's wrong with 2 levels in the WarpIn database?"

The problem with using a database that only has 2 levels to track installed products (like WarpIn) is if the product has lots of components the "application" is listed multiple times with different "keys" in order to list the different components or subsystems.  If you want to deinstall the product you have to deinstall each of the application-key pairs. To use an example: Doodle's Screen Saver is listed as an application 29 times (on my machine) in WarpIn's database. So to deinstall one has to right-click 29 times on the application and select deinstall.

To repeat: I like WarpIn.  I think it is a great product.  Installing applications can be surprisingly difficult and complex - especially when designing to allow for updating.  And WarpIn, on the whole, does an excellent job.

@Doug B. and @Dave   Yes I can move firefox after it is installed, and could probably move some other Unixy applications installed by RPM after they are installed.  It would not be the end of the world - although moving some of them would be very difficult (e.g. Odin.).  And yes I could make a boot partition larger than 2 gb and use 2gbfix to work around the issue for those old Dos/Windows apps.  But the issue is why should I have to?  When the better way is to simply give the user the choice on where to install a product when using APM/YUM/RPM. 

It just seems to me (my opinion, FWIW) that any/all decent installers should allow the user to select the destination of a application being installed, when that is possible.  Obviously some system components have to go in specific locations - but for those that don't, why not provide the choice?

@Doug B.  I think Martin IS intending to distribute old style OS/2 apps that way.  And I think it is an excellent idea if we can get some flexibility in the install process.

I spent quite a bit of time years ago on the WarpDoctor project in an attempt to build something like APM for OS/2 VOICE.  I even spent time modifying WarpIn so that it would retrieve packages across the internet and install them on a local machine in that effort - and gave up.  It was, and is, a very big project.  I am fully in and supportive of APM and what Martin and Ben are attempting to do, and I recognize how difficult and complex it is.  Thank you Martin, and Ben, and everyone else working on this, for your time and effort.

I am just trying to, politely, suggest that adding the ability to select a destination for a application when installing with APM/YUM/RPM would be a fantastic feature.

24
Applications / Re: Creating some apps RPM packages
« on: June 22, 2021, 01:31:28 am »
Dave:  Thanks for the info on updating AOS.  I will give the latest version a shot.  (Now if it were only that easy to update from eCS to AOS - oh well..)

Ivan:  I too love WarpIn - great product, although it needs a better database for storing installed app information;  the 2 levels that INI files provides is not enough.  But I can understand and agree with RPM for the unixy stuff.  That stuff is SO intertwined and complicated.  And I am actually OK with UNIXROOT being a drive letter instead of a path for the messy, snakey, interdependent unixy stuff.  That stuff is so complicated that I am kinda scared to even look down in the depths of UNIXROOT.

What Martin was talking about was RPM-izing legacy type OS/2 apps.   That has lots of benefits, and some downsides.  It is legacy apps (and SOME unix type apps like Firefox) that I want the ability to chose where stuff goes.  Here's  why:  I run a number of Win-OS/2 apps. That means I really need to keep my boot drive partitioned at 2 GB or less and I need to be careful about what I install on the boot drive so I don't run out of space.  I also am running SSD and rotating disks and I try and put the stuff that changes a lot (Swapper, firefox cache, etc.) on the rotating disk and keep the test on the SSD partitions.

So I think we absolutely need the ability, at least with legacy apps, to chose where they go.  And it would be nice to have the ability to choose even with some unix apps.

The downside of RPM verses WarpIn is it looks like RPM is much more complicated to setup.  I mean complicated for the app maker to setup an install to work with RPM.  But it is nice to be able to select a list of apps (like with APM) and install them all at once.. And for them to be available from one (virtual) locate.


25
Applications / Re: Creating some apps RPM packages
« on: June 21, 2021, 06:36:51 pm »
I think the idea of automating, as much as possible, installations is great. 

My biggest demotivation for upgrading AOS versions is the very long time it takes to get all the applications and tools reinstalled and configured after doing a fresh install of AOS  (or ECS or OS/2).

My I make the following observation and suggestion - without knowing how difficult they are to implement?

Prompt the user for where a package/app should be installed.  If using YUM perhaps either a command line parameter to YUM for the install location or a standard environmental variable (e.g. YUM_INSTALL_LOC= ) that YUM would check for the drive/directory to hold the app.  For APM a dialog prompting for location to install at the start of a new install.

Regarding LIBPATH length issues:   For GUI applications, on machines running DragText (which I assume is everyone,)  you can use the Environment page of the Properties notebook of the Program object for the GUI app to set BEGINLIBPATH, avoiding the need to modify LIBPATH.  Each GUI application really should have a Program object anyway.   We would have to persuade Rich Walsh to add a setup string to his DTProgram object for the Environment page/setting in order to use this scheme with automated installs.

26
Applications / Re: hard hangs
« on: June 21, 2021, 07:35:26 am »
Dave,

I have experienced problems in the past with PMView hanging up my system.   I think it is in conjunction with other stuff happening but it doesn't happen often enough for me to be able to pin down.

However I have another suggestion.  If these problems revolve around  a USB drive  it might possibly be your USB port.  I had been having issues with what appeared to be my keyboard: a single press of the key would generate 10 - 20 keys, one key would just spontaneously repeat  (appear to be stuck) until a reboot, etc.  The problems would come and go until a couple days ago the keyboard became unusable.  The problem turned out to be fixed by plugging the keyboard into a different USB port on the same machine.

As for the USB thumb drive:  my daughter had a USB thumb drive that stopped working on her Macbook.  She brought it over to my house and plugged it in to my wife's Macbook and it would not work.  But when I plugged it into my PC I could read the drive.

27
Networking / Re: Universal Naming Convention (UNC) on Samba?
« on: June 21, 2021, 02:53:42 am »
Looks like Dave's answer is, unfortunately correct.

For Darius:

UNC =  \\machineName\shareName

machineName originally was a netbios name.  ShareName was a shared resource on machineName, i..e a drive or a directory.

Microsoft "enhanced"  UNC later for networked windows machines to allow IP addressing for the machineName, and now other
addressing

I don't know where IBM file/print client resolves netbios names but
it looks like Samba on OS/2 (more specifically ArcaMap) uses the LMHosts file in
C:\MPTN\ETC\samba

for resolving netbios machine names to IP addresses

Mine looks like
-------------------------------------------------------------
dir \\req1\# Created by ARCAMAP Version 2.6.20180125 on 20 Jun 2021 at 17:18:03
# Syntax:
# IP-address             NetBIOS-name     [Role]
192.168.32.125           REQSRV1         
192.168.32.243           SERVERS1         
------------------------------------------------------------

It appears that when the redirector mechanism for remote file system requests was created for Samba on OS/2 it did not include UNC resolution, only drive letter resolution.

I am not complaining.  I was just wondering if there was some service I needed to start or some configuration I needed to do in Samba to make UNC work in Samba - and the answer apparently is no.



28
Networking / Universal Naming Convention (UNC) on Samba?
« on: June 19, 2021, 05:51:01 am »
Does universal naming convention (UNC) work on Samba for OS/2?  Or is it limited to Netbios (file/print services) on OS/2?

29
Hardware / Re: IBM Thinkpad with floppy drive
« on: May 30, 2021, 03:19:14 pm »
I know the question was for an internal floppy, but a possible alternative is a USB floppy.   IBM used to make them - mine came with a nice carrying bag.

30
Setup & Installation / Re: Win-OS/2 installed on non-boot drive
« on: May 29, 2021, 10:14:16 pm »
Thanks Fahrvenugen and Dave.   The line

SET WIN3DIR=X:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2

in AUTOEXEC.BAT is what I was thinking of but could not remember.

I am not looking to move Win-OS2 myself. But I had a friend who told me he had installed Win-OS/2 on a different drive than where OS/2 was installed., so I know it is possible. Plus, as Fahrvenugen points out, with red spine and/or the ability to boot to a specific version of DOS (and probably windows) WIn-OS/2 might be located anywhere - at least in theory.

 I am updating WinZombe and there is one particular circumstance where it assumes Win-OS/2 is installed on the C: drive.   I wanted to update it for the one person left in the world who has installed or moved Win-OS/2 to somewhere other than boot:\os2\mdos\winos2.  I will just scan the autoexec.bat the session points to for the SETWIN3DIR= line in those circumstances.

Thanks again guys.


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