OS2 World Community Forum

Public Discussions => General Discussion => Topic started by: Martin Iturbide on September 06, 2024, 02:18:16 pm

Title: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on September 06, 2024, 02:18:16 pm
Hello

Any idea how can I recognize if this OS/2 Warp 3 Media Packages boxes represent the Red or the Blue spine?

- IBM OS/2 Warp 3 - German - 24H1371 (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_German_-_24H1371)
- IBM OS/2 Warp 3 - Italian - 24H1146 (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Italian_-_24H1146)
- IBM OS/2 Warp 3 - Italian - 24H1300 (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Italian_-_24H1300)
- IBM OS/2 Warp 3 - UK English - 24H1143 (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_UK_English_-_24H1143)


Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on September 10, 2024, 02:07:24 am
Good. I got a little help and also with the catalog and the part numbers I was able to find it out if those where Red or Blue.
Thanks.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on September 12, 2024, 09:43:50 pm
Martin - you very helpfully have many pages on the OS/2 Wiki with box shots and part numbers. Thank you for your continued efforts on that. And I know that recently you’ve asked people to help supply box shots for some of the rarer releases. Is there an easy way to see:That way we could perhaps more easily help you fill in the blanks if any of us happen to come across the rarer items from time to time.

Best,
Richard.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on September 13, 2024, 07:48:53 pm
Hello Richard.

First of all I'm sorry for the way the OS2World wiki is organized. The good and bad thing of a wiki is that it allows you to create articles freely, and sometimes you forget about the structure. The way I know to create organization structure on the Wiki is 1)Linking the pages 2) With pages categories.

1) Linking the Pages
I tried to like the boxes to the main page of the OS/2 version.
-- Like: https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3
There you can see links to part numbers and you will get to the media box page.

2) The Articles Category
For each box I had set a category based in the OS/2 version
-- Like: https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:IBM_OS/2_Warp_3
And it is also good. Because what if I have some picture of a Warp 3 box and I don't have the part number to link it right, so, I just put there on the [[Category:IBM OS/2 Warp 3]]. (Ex. the Finnish version of Warp 3 (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Red_-_Finnish))

What I'm missing are the overseas version of OS/2 in different languages.

Just imagine that years ago we could not get all those picture because of the low resolution of the cameras and big image file sizes. Now we can have all the details of the box online.

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on September 14, 2024, 07:58:47 am
Hi Martin,

No apologies necessary, you do an amazing job maintaining the Wiki! I'll take a look through the photo gallery of each one and if you don't have pictures for any of the ones that I have then I'll send them to you for inclusion in the Wiki.

It sounds like you'll very likely have them all though since mine will all be either English (UK) or English (US) versions.

Best,
Richard.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on September 14, 2024, 03:25:24 pm
Hi
It sounds like you'll very likely have them all though since mine will all be either English (UK) or English (US) versions.
What it will be helpful, if you have  it in your collection and can easily identified which version are English (UK) or English (US), please double check if the I had mark them correctly on the Wiki.

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on September 14, 2024, 03:39:38 pm
Hi Martin,

I'll do my best! I *think* that one way to identify the English (UK) version is by starting the installation process (which I'm obviously happy to do!) because I believe that when I've installed some of them it's defaulted to a keyboard layout of "English (UK)" without me having to change it from the usual default of "English (US)". I'll let you know how I get on!

Richard.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: nathana on September 24, 2024, 02:44:50 am
Hi
It sounds like you'll very likely have them all though since mine will all be either English (UK) or English (US) versions.
What it will be helpful, if you have  it in your collection and can easily identified which version are English (UK) or English (US), please double check if the I had mark them correctly on the Wiki.
I *think* that one way to identify the English (UK) version is by starting the installation process (which I'm obviously happy to do!) because I believe that when I've installed some of them it's defaulted to a keyboard layout of "English (UK)" without me having to change it from the usual default of "English (US)".

I am not 100% sure about OS/2 2.x, and I don't actually own any U.K. releases to compare in person, but at least for Warp 3.0, I have noticed the following obvious factors in online pictures over the years:


I think all OS/2 2.0 boxes were single-piece, top-flap-opened boxes, and that IBM moved back to standardizing on that box style internationally with Warp 4 as well.  OS/2 2.1 in the U.S. is I believe where the box styles started to diverge between U.S. and rest of the world, until Warp 4.  The text and layout for OS/2 2.0 between U.S. and U.K. / Europe I believe is notably different, however, but by Warp 4, it seems that IBM finally managed to unify most of the packaging across the board (with possible exception of Asian markets).
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on September 24, 2024, 02:42:48 pm
Thanks Nathana, excellent observations, those helps me a lot.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on September 24, 2024, 03:45:04 pm
Thanks for such a detailed write-up and explanation NathanA.

Do you, or does anyone else, know in what file the "US Government Users" statement resides? I guess I could do a text search across *all* files but I'm not actually sure if it's real text or whether it's part of the boot screen graphic.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: nathana on September 25, 2024, 10:01:40 am
Do you, or does anyone else, know in what file the "US Government Users" statement resides? I guess I could do a text search across *all* files but I'm not actually sure if it's real text or whether it's part of the boot screen graphic.

I can confirm, by opening it up in PMView, that C:\OS2LOGO does not contain the text.

Limiting a file content search just to those on the boot diskette reveals that it is contained within OS2LDR.MSG.

Code: [Select]
# mount -r -t vfat -o loop ./disk00.img os2disk/
# cd os2disk
# grep -H "US Government" *
Binary file OS2LDR.MSG matches
#
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on September 25, 2024, 01:19:31 pm
Good idea, I didn't think to limit the search to just the boot diskettes!

I'm not sure if Archive.org has a non-US copy of those, I'll take a look. Unfortunately most of my copies of OS/2 (any version) are US even though I live in the UK because I've purchased them over the years on eBay. I know I have a Warp 4 (UK) pack, but that doesn't have the same boot logo of course.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: nathana on September 27, 2024, 02:58:26 am
I'm not sure if Archive.org has a non-US copy of those, I'll take a look. Unfortunately most of my copies of OS/2 (any version) are US even though I live in the UK because I've purchased them over the years on eBay.

Every once in a while, I will take a peek at ebay.co.uk just to see what's out there, and still find copies of UK releases on there from time to time.  I don't doubt, though, that US releases are far more common in the wild.

OS2LDR.MSG appears to be human-readable versions of various system messages and error codes, and does seem to be localized to the language of the region.  Interestingly, it only makes an appearance on the Installation (boot) Diskette and not on Diskette 1, so the whole thing is getting slurped up into RAM at boot (by bootloader, or by kernel?).  Haven't dug in deep enough to determine if this file just contains human-readable boot messages, or more than that.

The OS2World.com Wiki appears to have a screenshot of a non-US English (possibly UK) version of Warp 3 on the main page for the article on Warp 3 (right side) (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/IBM_OS/2_Warp_3).  The fidelity of that particular screenshot isn't great, but you can at least make out that it's in English but omits the US Government GSA ADP Contract language below the copyright statement.

I downloaded Installation Diskette and Diskette 1 images from this Internet Archive upload (https://archive.org/details/ibm_os2_warp) of a German Warp 3 copy, and booted them.  Here is a screenshot (https://imgur.com/a/eWgYdyh) of what the boot screen for this German release looks like.  The English copyright statement at the beginning is retained, but an additional German copyright statement is located where the US Government GSA statement is located on the US release.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 03, 2024, 09:08:38 pm
Hi Martin. I was just looking through the OS/2 boxes I have on my shelf and was wondering if pictures from a couple of them would be of any use to you. One is French v 1.30 PN: 70F7416, and the other is German V3 - PN appears to be 28H6733.
I do have quite a few other boxes but they appear to be the standard US/UK releases.
Take care,
Conrad.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 03, 2024, 09:24:33 pm
Just found another one Version 3 again, Dutch this time, labelled CDPak, containing red CD, both Dutch and English installation CDs, and a BonusPak CD. PN: 28H8196.
Conrad.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 04, 2024, 03:14:19 am
Hello Conrad

If you can share the pictures of your boxes it will be great. Those editions I don't have it on the wiki, so they are welcome.
Please, if you can list the items on each box with the part numbers, or have it clearly on the picture it will be great too.

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 04, 2024, 03:25:33 pm
German Warp 3
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 04, 2024, 03:29:34 pm
French 1.3
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 04, 2024, 03:31:04 pm
Dutch CDPak ver 3
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 04, 2024, 04:15:37 pm
Thanks for sharing your collection.

Here are the pages I created:
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Red_-_German_-_28H6733
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Standard_Edition_1.3_-_French_-_70F7416
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Red_-_Dutch_-_28H8196

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 04, 2024, 04:19:02 pm
Hello Nathana.

The OS2World.com Wiki appears to have a screenshot of a non-US English (possibly UK) version of Warp 3 on the main page for the article on Warp 3 (right side) (https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/IBM_OS/2_Warp_3).  The fidelity of that particular screenshot isn't great, but you can at least make out that it's in English but omits the US Government GSA ADP Contract language below the copyright statement.

Thanks for the observation there. I just have that image there for quick reference, it will be great to put some in a better resolution.
About the German boot image you linked, by any chance, do you know to which German Warp 3 PN it belongs?

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Conradc1234 on October 04, 2024, 06:58:07 pm
Thanks for sharing your collection.

Here are the pages I created:
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Red_-_German_-_28H6733
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Standard_Edition_1.3_-_French_-_70F7416
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_Warp_3_-_Red_-_Dutch_-_28H8196

Regards

Thanks for posting them on the wiki, Martin. If I find any others in my collection, I 'll let you know. Take care, Conrad.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: nathana on October 13, 2024, 12:35:10 pm
German Warp 3
Dutch CDPak ver 3

Both of these are interesting.

I am not very familiar with non-U.S. releases of OS/2 (other than what I've seen pictures of online), but other than the part#, the box for this 28H6733 copy looks indistinguishable (to my eyes) from the boxes I've seen for documented part# 19H5077, which is also German red-spine (pre-logo refresh).  So I wonder what the difference is between 19H5077 and 28H6733.

It is also interesting that the "special retail" Dutch copy shipped both with Dutch and English installation CDs.  But what is especially interesting about the English CD is that it is part# 83G8450.  This is very strange, because this is the exact same part# used for the very first CDs that shipped in the U.S., and so this is a U.S. English copy, not a U.K. English one (if the part# is accurate and not a printing error!).  1-2 months later, the U.S. English CD was refreshed with updated installer application files, and was assigned a new part# of 25H7300.  So you will often see CDs from U.S. releases with both 83G8450 and 25H7300, though I think the second is by far the more common one.

The actual CDs for red-spine that shipped in the U.S. as part# 83G8450 call themselves "Program Disc", not "Installation CD".  In addition, the actual U.S. CDs also had the same "US Gov't / GSA ADP" language printed on them that was discussed earlier.  So I would be very curious to know if this is really identical to the U.S. English version, or if that part# is a misprint.

About the German boot image you linked, by any chance, do you know to which German Warp 3 PN it belongs?

I unfortunately have no idea.  As I mentioned, I grabbed them straight from Internet Archive.  Whatever it says about them on that page (https://archive.org/details/ibm_os2_warp) is all I know...so I know only as much as you do.  Unfortunately, it also looks like Internet Archive is still down following the attack on their servers this past week.  :(
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on October 13, 2024, 01:04:17 pm
Hi Martin,

I can't work out how to add multiple photos to the same forum post so I've emailed you with some photos of my boxed copy of OS/2 2.1 with Stacker, UK Edition. Let me know if you'd like photos of the contents as well before I list it on eBay.

I've attached a single photo of the front of the box to this forum post.

Richard.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: nathana on October 13, 2024, 01:08:52 pm
my boxed copy of OS/2 2.1 with Stacker, UK Edition.
That's pretty neat.  I had Stacker for OS/2 back in the day.  I had no idea that IBM did a retail "bundle" deal with them in some parts of the world.  I'm pretty sure there was no such bundle ever offered in the U.S.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 13, 2024, 04:16:03 pm
Hello Richard

I can't work out how to add multiple photos to the same forum post ...
As far as I know I don't have a limitation on the forum about the number of pictures you can upload. Check the attached picture, since you have to click (more attachments) to include more than one.

I got your email and I loved the pictures. Please send me or post the contents, and hopefully with the Part Numbers too.

I created this Wiki page:
- https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_2.1_-_UK_English_-_72G2337

Can we say this one is UK English?

Regards
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: RTAN on October 13, 2024, 06:14:34 pm
Hi Martin,

Very silly of me not to spot the "more attachments" link!

Yes, this is definitely the "UK English" version.

I've attached some more photos to this post. If the forum software converts them to low-res for any reason then let me know and I can email the original images to you.

Best,
Richard.
Title: Re: OS/2 Box Collection Wiki - Questions
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 13, 2024, 07:38:49 pm
Thanks for the pictures.

Those are now on the wiki: https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBM_OS/2_2.1_-_UK_English_-_72G2337

Regards