OS2World OLD-STATIC-BACKUP Forum

OS/2 - Technical => Setup & Installation => Topic started by: eilygre on 2009.07.06, 13:01:25

Title: Workplace shell will not start
Post by: eilygre on 2009.07.06, 13:01:25
After using the last version of eCs for half a year I get this message when starting the OS:
Workplace Shell
The program pointed to by the SET RUNWORKPLACE= Line in CONFIG.SYS, This program could not be started. WinStartApp returnrd %1.

In a Technical Document (# 11402345) from IBM last updated 02/17/98 I find this resolution:

Restart the system; press ALT+F1 when the small white OS/2 rectangle appears. Press F2 to go to the command prompt.
Type CD\OS2\INSTALL, the press Enter
Type MAKEINI INSTALL.INI INSTALL.RC, then press Enter.


This might be to old information, but I did as it says and got the message: Success!
Well, it was not. Anyway I can still not start eCs.
RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
Any suggestions?

Einar Lygre
Title: Re: Workplace shell will not start
Post by: jep on 2009.07.06, 15:00:44
Hi Einar,

I've encountered that too and it mean that the os2.ini or os2user.ini has been corrupted or full of junk due to to much data. To much use of "SysMoveObject" and similar functions in a short time may have caused me the problems.

You may use makeini to create those ini-files from scratch, but then you'll loose whatever you may have on the desktop, associations, icons etc. and I'm not entierly sure it'll help.

In eCS (XWorkplace/eWorkplace) it's possible to add more desktop archives (has to be done in advance) than by default, but it's not always possible to revert back so far that it'll help. (Recovering old key files 7 "generations" back may though really helpful sometimes). You should see the available recovery possibilities and creation dates when you press Alt+F1 during start, as you see ██eCS.


What I did was to reinstall the system after I had moved the folders:
C:\HOME (contains configuration files for various tools and applications)
C:\PROGRAMS (installed applications)
C:\Temp (My own folder with various files)
to another partition/drive as it give a clean and fresh system. Please ensure that you move all folders and files that contain things you may want to keep (and not only the folders mentioned above).
Just copy them back after installation and install applications again.

//Jan-Erik
Title: Re: Workplace shell will not start
Post by: abwillis on 2009.07.06, 23:50:55
I'm inclined to think in this case it is not the ini files.  The makeini should have essentially created new ini files (downside is that if it did come up it probably would have a default initial desktop).  It hasn't been all that long ago I saw that message.  I don't recall the cause of it in my case, I had been playing with something though so may have had a different resolution anyhow. 
Are you using bootable JFS?  I've seen where a chkdsk is needed despite the log showing everything OK. 
At the Alt-F1 F2 command prompt you can:
tedit config.sys
hit esc. to be able to arrow down to your filesystem (either hpfs.ifs or jfs.ifs line) and add a + before either the * or your boot drive as one of the below:
IFS=D:\OS2\JFS.IFS /AUTOCHECK:+* /CACHE:102400 /L:5,20,4
IFS=D:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:64 /AUTOCHECK:+*
While I would be more inclined to expect this to be an issue with JFS (due to not running a full chkdsk but only checking the logs) I would still do it for the hpfs.
By the way, I would probably have suggested doing the Alt F1 and selecting a Desktop backup prior to the point of running the makeini (though you may not have had a recent enough one to make a difference if you haven't done a Desktop archive in a while -- I'm guilty of that right now).
The other option, and probaby better (now that I think of it) than the autocheck (as it is probably slower) is to boot from the eCS install CD and run the chkdsk from there.
Andy
Title: Re: Workplace shell will not start
Post by: RobertM on 2009.07.07, 01:07:31
Try this method of makeini? (back up ini files first).


1. Type CD \OS2 and press Enter.

2. Type MAKEINI OS2.INI INI.RC and press Enter (creates a
   new version of the user INI file).

3. Type MAKEINI OS2SYS.INI INISYS.RC and press Enter (creates
   a new version of the system INI file).

That will recreate the ini files and desktop