OS2 World Community Forum
OS/2, eCS & ArcaOS - Technical => Applications => Topic started by: Glenn on August 02, 2024, 06:33:43 pm
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Hello all,
The internet archive has a copy of Lotus SmartSuite 4 (last to run on Windows 3.1). On WinOS/2, I can start the installer, but as soon as it should start copying the files, the process goes to 100% CPU and nothing happens, not a single file gets copied.
I tried on a JFS drive, and on my C: (HPFS) after running spacehog (to remove space above 2GB temporarily). Nothing helped.
Did anyone try that successfully ?
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Why not run the OS/2 version from Archive.org?
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Hello Glenn
I tried one ISO image of "Lotus SmartSuite Release 4" for Windows 3.1 and I think I have your same behavior.
When it says I will start copying the files, it hangs and CPU rises. I used TOP to kill the process.
Here I'm using ArcaOS 5.1.0 on a VM (VirtualBox), with a JFS formatted virtual hard drive.
Regards
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Why not run the OS/2 version from Archive.org?
1. I got SS173 through eCS years ago, so I would not need to get the one on Archive except if losing my CD (which has happened through an act of God..) and losing my backup ISO.
2. Curiosity: I'd like to see if there were large differences in usability and functionalities. I have SS173 installed on ArcaOS and wonder how different that earlier Windows version is..
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I tried one of the 4.0's at Winworld, it claimed to be a later release. Followed the instructions in the readme for WinOS2, same results as others report.
There are other releases, https://winworldpc.com/product/lotus-smartsuite/40 (https://winworldpc.com/product/lotus-smartsuite/40)
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I do not remember having got it working under win os/2 !
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MS Office 4.2 also hangs up with a 100% CPU load when checking the available disk memory. Reason: the installer doesn't like large partitions... maybe the Lotus too?
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
What size partition did you install to?
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Hello Dave
In my case, I experience the same issue, on VirtualBox I have 42GB VHDD.
- DOS VDM sees 2147450880 bytes free.
I will try to create a small VHDD or smaller partition to try it out.
Regards
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Hello
Just to try to see if it was some disk/partition issue I created a 200MB VHDD (HPFS) and tried to install SmartSuite there.
The copy procedure went forward this time, but I got some errors at the end.
Maybe it is a mistake to try to put the "Lotus Shared Tools" (picture 001) on the a different drive, but if I select C:\ it won't copy any file (same error as before).
Update: If I format the 200MB VHDD with JFS, I get the same original error where no files are copied.
Is it the size? or is the file format? or both?
Regards
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
I tried full screen, same problem. Plus the additional problem of full screen sessions with VBox, where my mouse cursor stays in the upper half of the virtual screen and moves half the distance it should vertically, making any control through mouse almost impossible..
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
I downloaded and installed under full screen windows. It had problems installing the icons, but I kept hitting the OK button and they finally installed. I did not install under a virtual environment, but under a normal ArcaOS 5.1 partition.
One thing I have installed is this dos driver. Since Windows 3.1 is primarily a shell over dos, I figured this driver could only help.
The V2GB.SYS virtual device driver
==================================
Overview
--------
The purpose of this driver is to provide a solution to the problem
caused by the inability of many DOS programs to handle a partition in
excess of 2GB in size. This causes spurious reports of insufficient
disk space.
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
I downloaded and installed under full screen windows. It had problems installing the icons, but I kept hitting the OK button and they finally installed. I did not install under a virtual environment, but under a normal ArcaOS 5.1 partition.
One thing I have installed is this dos driver. Since Windows 3.1 is primarily a shell over dos, I figured this driver could only help.
The V2GB.SYS virtual device driver
==================================
Overview
--------
The purpose of this driver is to provide a solution to the problem
caused by the inability of many DOS programs to handle a partition in
excess of 2GB in size. This causes spurious reports of insufficient
disk space.
Isn't that what the line "LOADHIGH C:\sys\MDOS\BIN\2GBFIX.COM >NUL" in the autoexec.bat is supposed to do? What is the difference between these two drivers?
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
What size partition did you install to?
Small HPFS boot partition, but over the 2GB barrier
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One thing I have installed is this dos driver. Since Windows 3.1 is primarily a shell over dos, I figured this driver could only help.
It should not hurt, but this is rarely an issue with late Win3x programs as there were 4gb drives already available by then, so installers took them into account.
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No problems encountered except PM groups were not created, did you guys remember to install from a full screen session?
Tried both the nordic and Lotus SmartSuite 4.0 (1996-08-02) (ISO) version from Winworld
I tried full screen, same problem. Plus the additional problem of full screen sessions with VBox, where my mouse cursor stays in the upper half of the virtual screen and moves half the distance it should vertically, making any control through mouse almost impossible..
Its just the install, most larger software packages will not install correctly under a win31 session, for reasons I cannot recall, so you always install from a full screen session even if you have to use the keyboard during install rather than the mouse. But the installed software works fine in a windowed session.
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Isn't that what the line "LOADHIGH C:\sys\MDOS\BIN\2GBFIX.COM >NUL" in the autoexec.bat is supposed to do? What is the difference between these two drivers?
That's correct, the 2GBFIX one is simpler, the sys driver more flexible if memory serves
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Isn't that what the line "LOADHIGH C:\sys\MDOS\BIN\2GBFIX.COM >NUL" in the autoexec.bat is supposed to do? What is the difference between these two drivers?
That's correct, the 2GBFIX one is simpler, the sys driver more flexible if memory serves
I switched 2GBfix for V2GB. In my case somehow, it now sees my C drive with negative space, which does not help at all.. Is Bob Eager still coding for OS/2?
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Bob's active on alt.folklore.computers, never mentions OS/2.
Are you using the latest, ver 1.3? Look at the readme.txt, at the end is the history. Or use bldlevel v2gb.sys.
Source is available and a BSD style license.
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Hi Glenn
....Plus the additional problem of full screen sessions with VBox, where my mouse cursor stays in the upper half of the virtual screen and moves half the distance it should vertically, making any control through mouse almost impossible..
Hey, I have the same issue as a VirtualBox Guest. Maybe someday I will try it as an UEFI VM and see if the problem got fixed. I' not sure today how hard/easy can be running ArcaOS 5.1 on a UEFI VM.
.. Is Bob Eager still coding for OS/2?
The last thing I know about him is that in 2016, when we shared some emails, and he did the awesome thing to public the source code of all his OS/2 software:
- http://www.tavi.co.uk/os2pages/v2gb.html
- https://github.com/OS2World/DRV-v2gb
Regards
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Bob's active on alt.folklore.computers, never mentions OS/2.
Are you using the latest, ver 1.3? Look at the readme.txt, at the end is the history. Or use bldlevel v2gb.sys.
Source is available and a BSD style license.
Build Level Display Facility Version 6.12.675 Sep 25 2001
(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993-2001
Signature: @#Bob Eager:1.3#@V2GB.SYS driver
Vendor: Bob Eager
Revision: 1.03
File Version: 1.3
Description: V2GB.SYS driver
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Hello
Thanks for the testing. I always wanted to discuss more about Win-OS/2.
I still don't know if it is only an issue of a big HDD, or the format HPFS vs JFS. Or is it a mix of both?
Do you think a ticket should be open to Arca Noae? Do we have enough information to report some bug/limitation?
Can the 2GBFix issue be related to this ticket too?
https://mantis.arcanoae.com/view.php?id=3636
Regards
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Hi Martin,
I may be getting old and have used OS/2 since v 1.20 (1989) but I have never heard of JPFS or do you mean JFS?
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Yes, I mean JFS. I just corrected it.
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Hello
Thanks for the testing. I always wanted to discuss more about Win-OS/2.
I still don't know if it is only an issue of a big HDD, or the format HPFS vs JFS. Or is it a mix of both?
Do you think a ticket should be open to Arca Noae? Do we have enough information to report some bug/limitation?
Can the 2GBFix issue be related to this ticket too?
https://mantis.arcanoae.com/view.php?id=3636
Regards
Maybe, but given that V2GB lets DOS programs see a negative amount of space on the drive, I'd say something changed in ArcaOS that prevents both 2GBFix and V2GB from "working properly". In a perfect world, ArcaOS would already include a driver to make programs in DOS / WinOS2 see just their 2GB or free space without users having to fiddle with these older programs.
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Hello
Thanks for the testing. I always wanted to discuss more about Win-OS/2.
I still don't know if it is only an issue of a big HDD, or the format HPFS vs JFS. Or is it a mix of both?
Do you think a ticket should be open to Arca Noae? Do we have enough information to report some bug/limitation?
Can the 2GBFix issue be related to this ticket too?
https://mantis.arcanoae.com/view.php?id=3636
Regards
Maybe, but given that V2GB lets DOS programs see a negative amount of space on the drive, I'd say something changed in ArcaOS that prevents both 2GBFix and V2GB from "working properly". In a perfect world, ArcaOS would already include a driver to make programs in DOS / WinOS2 see just their 2GB or free space without users having to fiddle with these older programs.
V2GB seems to be broken on AOS, or perhaps AOS 5.1+. The negative sizes are expected without limiting the size. If you go to a DOS prompt and do a dir, the DOS session ends. Go to the properties and disable it, DSK_LIMIT_ENABLE, then DIR works.
In popuplog.os2 I see,
08-08-2024 19:15:08 SYS3170 PID 005c TID 0001 Slot 0082
M:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
26990003
26990003
P1=3c990003 P2=d2e157fc P3=e0990004 P4=ae990004
EAX=0000ffa8 EBX=002adff5 ECX=00000200 EDX=00006035
ESI=00007004 EDI=00006fac
DS=90b6 DSACC=1077 DSLIM=00025ec4
ES=90b6 ESACC=1077 ESLIM=00025ec4
FS=0000 FSACC=**** FSLIM=********
GS=0000 GSACC=**** GSLIM=********
CS:EIP=90b6:0000fbdc CSACC=1077 CSLIM=00025ec4
SS:ESP=90b6:00006e18 SSACC=1077 SSLIM=00025ec4
and after trying again to install Lotus,
08-08-2024 19:15:29 SYS3170 PID 005d TID 0001 Slot 0082
M:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
01e04584
f1740002
EAX=000011f6 EBX=002a88fb ECX=00000200 EDX=00006035
ESI=00007004 EDI=00006fac
DS=90b6 DSACC=1077 DSLIM=00025ec4
ES=90b6 ESACC=1077 ESLIM=00025ec4
FS=0000 FSACC=**** FSLIM=********
GS=0000 GSACC=**** GSLIM=********
CS:EIP=90b6:0000fbdc CSACC=1077 CSLIM=00025ec4
SS:ESP=90b6:00006e18 SSACC=1077 SSLIM=00025ec4
EBP=00000081 FLG=000a6246
JFS.IFS
Which might explain Martin's result with JFS.
Going to have to do some more experimenting and talk to Arca Noae, JFS shouldn't crash the PMSHELL. At least it didn't trap.
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Yes, I mean JFS. I just corrected it.
Did you look in popuplog.os2?
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Which might explain Martin's result with JFS.
Going to have to do some more experimenting and talk to Arca Noae, JFS shouldn't crash the PMSHELL. At least it didn't trap.
I will retest on HPFS after disabling that DSK_LIMIT_ENABLE...
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Which might explain Martin's result with JFS.
Going to have to do some more experimenting and talk to Arca Noae, JFS shouldn't crash the PMSHELL. At least it didn't trap.
I will retest on HPFS after disabling that DSK_LIMIT_ENABLE...
Nope, still negative space and LSS not wanting to install. At least it does not crash the WinOS/2 session...
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Vcompat seems to work with other apps the others do not work with, though I have not tried Win 3.1 Smartsuite.
https://en.ecomstation.ru/personal/kiewitzsoft/vdd-vcompat.php
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Hello Andy
VCOMPAT helped here. (I guess). I installed it on the config.sys without any special thing.
I run WinOS2 Full screen and Lotus installer (install.exe) worked fine. It copied the files and created icons. The installer gave me some errors at the end, but it worked.
I installed it on a JFS partition by the way.
Regards
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Same here. vCompat did the trick.
The one small note: https://en.ecomstation.ru/personal/kiewitzsoft/vdd-vcompat.php (https://en.ecomstation.ru/personal/kiewitzsoft/vdd-vcompat.php) has v0.32b of vCompat; https://ecsoft2.org/vcompat (https://ecsoft2.org/vcompat) has v0.35b.
BTW (sheer curiosity), when did Martin Kiewitz stop coding for OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS ? Let's thank him for vCompat that proves useful many years after its "final" version.
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Hello
BTW (sheer curiosity), when did Martin Kiewitz stop coding for OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS ? Let's thank him for vCompat that proves useful many years after its "final" version.
As far as I know the source code of VCOMPAT is available here:
https://github.com/OS2World/DRV-VDDs-GoSierra/tree/master/VDDs/vCOMPAT (https://github.com/OS2World/DRV-VDDs-GoSierra/tree/master/VDDs/vCOMPAT)
I'm not sure if the open source license is correctly defined. It was released on the same repo than Air-Boot, so it can possible be GNU GPL V3. But I'm not 100% sure about it. I tried to contact Martin so it can be clarified, but I didn't have a reply yet.
Regards