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OS/2 - Technical => Setup & Installation => Topic started by: ivan on 2012.07.28, 01:05:21

Title: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.28, 01:05:21
I have a question that I can't find the answer to.

Background:
A friend was on holiday and called in to see me a couple of weeks ago and we got talking about computers.

I let him loose on my 4 core AMD box with its multi TB hard disks.  He was checking the size of the hard disks with FREEPM when he remarked that my version was smaller than his and so was my IP SPEED.
I found this rather strange because he had installed the utilities from the CD I had sent him.

A few days ago he sent me a screen grab taken with GOTCH176 - they are definitely larger.  I have taken the same grab from one of my computers and combined them with his in the attached picture.

The only difference between his system - a 2 core AMD on an Abit KN9 Ultra and mine is that he is running eCS and I am running OS/2.

Now the question:
What is causing his install of FREEPM to take up half of the width of his 19" monitor while mine doesn't?

The same goes for the discrepancy in IP SPEED.

I have looked through the INI files he sent and the same files on my machine and I can't find anything that can be causing this problem.  He says it also appears in some dialogue boxes as well.

While it doesn't stop him using it, he, like me, is now rather niggled by it and would like it fixed if possible.

Since I don't have eCS I'm putting this here in the hope that someone will recognise the problem and have an answer to it.

ivan
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Joop on 2012.07.28, 14:46:24
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 01:05:21
I have a question that I can't find the answer to.

Background:
A friend was on holiday and called in to see me a couple of weeks ago and we got talking about computers.

I let him loose on my 4 core AMD box with its multi TB hard disks.  He was checking the size of the hard disks with FREEPM when he remarked that my version was smaller than his and so was my IP SPEED.
I found this rather strange because he had installed the utilities from the CD I had sent him.

A few days ago he sent me a screen grab taken with GOTCH176 - they are definitely larger.  I have taken the same grab from one of my computers and combined them with his in the attached picture.

The only difference between his system - a 2 core AMD on an Abit KN9 Ultra and mine is that he is running eCS and I am running OS/2.

Now the question:
What is causing his install of FREEPM to take up half of the width of his 19" monitor while mine doesn't?

The same goes for the discrepancy in IP SPEED.

I have looked through the INI files he sent and the same files on my machine and I can't find anything that can be causing this problem.  He says it also appears in some dialogue boxes as well.

While it doesn't stop him using it, he, like me, is now rather niggled by it and would like it fixed if possible.

Since I don't have eCS I'm putting this here in the hope that someone will recognise the problem and have an answer to it.

ivan
1)Physical size says nothing about the amount of available pixels. And physical size can differ from installed size. I use a SyncMaster 940BF and I use it with 1024x768 installed size, but it can be much higher resolution.
2)See answer 1.The test connections do differ.
3)You can't see in the INI (or do you mean Config.sys, because the ini is not readable without a special program) what versions are used?
4) Fix what?
5)You do better to go to eCS because development of OS2 is going behind. A lot of patches are done with the installation of eCS, this is not the case with OS/2, so fixed problems in eCS are for stay in OS/2 because nothing can be done on that release, that's up to IBM.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
Thanks for replying Joop.

1 & 2)  Pictures were taken from 19" monitors running at 2048x1024 so the relative sizes are correct.

3)         I use INI Editor 1.2.0 which allows reading and writing to the binary OS/2 INI files without problems.

4)         While the eCS version may look nicer generally it takes up too much of the screen to be left running and obscures minimised icons.  The fix is to reduce it to the same size as the OS/2 version.

5)        I know I will have to get eCS when I run out of licensed copies of OS/2 but if what I see is an 'enhancement' then I am NOT impressed at all.

Having thought more about it, what I am seeing appears to be something like Dialogue Enhancer that I bought many years ago.  It was supposed to improve dialogue boxes by using some font other than the OS/2 standard.  One of the reasons I gave up using it was because it changed the physical size of the dialogue boxes.  I went on to use SETDFONT which does a system wide change of the default font.

If what my friend is seeing is set by something like that the question now becomes, how do you turn it off?

ivan
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: David McKenna on 2012.07.28, 20:07:52
Ivan,

 Looks like the eCS machine is using the eStyler enhancements? Maybe try disabling that or add those apps to the 'Do not enhance' list and see what happens?

Dave McKenna
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.28, 22:32:43
Thanks Dave, I phoned him - aren't free phone calls great - and he did that and e-mailed me another screen grab (size4.jpg). 

For comparison I've added the same grab from my system (size5.jpg).

All I can say is that if that is the way eCS is going I don't want to know unless there is a reliable way of removing such 'enhancements'.

ivan

 
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Joop on 2012.07.29, 01:56:32
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
Thanks for replying Joop.

1 & 2)  Pictures were taken from 19" monitors running at 2048x1024 so the relative sizes are correct.
Don't understand this. There is a maximum size on which monitors can operate. But you can choose in the software to run with smaller dimensions. Then there is also a difference between hdmi and vga. VGA will switch in multisync mode, hdmi does not. If both monitors are set to same size then the screens should be the same, as far as I know there are no differences between native OS/2 Warp 4 latest and eCS. My screen does look the same as with OS/2 on icon size.

Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
4)         While the eCS version may look nicer generally it takes up too much of the screen to be left running and obscures minimised icons.  The fix is to reduce it to the same size as the OS/2 version.
Can you explain it more clearly? Don't understand what you wrote.

Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
5)        I know I will have to get eCS when I run out of licensed copies of OS/2 but if what I see is an 'enhancement' then I am NOT impressed at all.
There are some bugs and popped up problems in OS/2 Warp which aren't fixed by IBM, but these issues are fixed during installation of eCS. So, has nothing to do with "enhancement". You can change everything you want, also to the old OS/2 standard.

Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
If what my friend is seeing is set by something like that the question now becomes, how do you turn it off?
Try, I think you have to go to "screen" or "system".

Joop
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ALT on 2012.07.29, 04:48:25
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 19:41:28
Having thought more about it, what I am seeing appears to be something like Dialogue Enhancer that I bought many years ago.  It was supposed to improve dialogue boxes by using some font other than the OS/2 standard.  One of the reasons I gave up using it was because it changed the physical size of the dialogue boxes.  I went on to use SETDFONT which does a system wide change of the default font.

There's your answer.

Changing the system wide default font also changes the default dialog unit size, which has the effect of rescaling all dialogs throughout the system. 

What your friend is seeing is actually the "normal" window size.  What you have is a reduced dialog caused by your changing of the system dialog font.  (You probably have yours set to 9.WarpSans.)

If your friend wants to match your appearance, he should set the default font to whatever yours is.  Note that there is no GUI for doing this, so he'll need to either use an CMD file like you, or edit OS2.INI directly.  Either way will require a reboot.

If your friend does this, he should also turn off the "set a default font for dialog windows" setting in eStyler preferences.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ALT on 2012.07.29, 04:49:57
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.28, 22:32:43
All I can say is that if that is the way eCS is going I don't want to know unless there is a reliable way of removing such 'enhancements'.

Actually, this has nothing to do with eCS.  That's the default program appearance.  You're the one running the "enhancement" in this case.   :)
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.29, 11:40:05
Thanks for the information Alex but - isn't there always a but - why are things like World Clock, CPU etc., the same size on both systems?

Another thing, I have just fired up a system that has unadorned Warp4 with FP6 that I use for testing and I get just about the same size for FREEPM, PMSEEK and IP Speed as I have on every other OS/2 machine here, very strange, the only difference is that some fonts are in bold.

Yet another thing, I have checked the OS2INI and OS2SYS INI files Gerald sent and he has changed the default fonts to 9.WarpSans and he still has the large sizes.

Could someone please get a copy of FREEPM =http://dvalot.free.fr/tools.htm (http://=http://dvalot.free.fr/tools.htm) and try it on your system to find out if we have a single anomaly or not.

ivan
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Joop on 2012.07.29, 11:57:50
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.29, 11:40:05
Thanks for the information Alex but - isn't there always a but - why are things like World Clock, CPU etc., the same size on both systems?
They are not joined with the system because they also have graphics inside.

Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.29, 11:40:05
Could someone please get a copy of FREEPM http://dvalot.ree.fr/tools.htm (http://dvalot.ree.fr/tools.htm) and try it on your system to find out if we have a single anomaly or not.
Link gives an error.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Joop on 2012.07.29, 12:15:55
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.29, 11:40:05
Could someone please get a copy of FREEPM http://dvalot.ree.fr/tools.htm (http://dvalot.ree.fr/tools.htm) and try it on your system to find out if we have a single anomaly or not.
The url is http://dvalot.free.fr/tools.htm and I tried the package. Its official up to warp 4.xx At screen I tried several fonts, but the size remains the same and is about 800 pixels wide (didn't measured it exactly). So changing the size you have to change resolution of your setup. It will still be the same size, only because you have more pixels on screen it looks smaller.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.29, 14:18:38
Thanks Joop and sorry about the wrong url - finger trouble.

On Gerald's machine (screen 1280x1024) it is 1100x390, on mine (screen 1280x1024) it is 663x292.

From that I still do not understand why the difference considering we start with the same screen size and resolution.  I do understand that there could be a difference on my 28" 1920x1200 monitor but even there it is still 663x292 pixels in size.

ivan
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Joop on 2012.07.29, 15:43:46
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.29, 14:18:38
On Gerald's machine (screen 1280x1024) it is 1100x390, on mine (screen 1280x1024) it is 663x292.
I think you have to go to the config.sys and see what the basis is of the installed video. I have VGA, but there are options. If I look at the picture then it looks like that both systems operate on a different installed video base. There is a difference between VGA, XVGA etc. On top we use drivers which do things on their own. The Snap driver sends correct info to videocard and that one to a monitor which displays it. The videocard has no knowledge about your monitor. It just sends the signal. Your monitor translates this. OS/2 is sending its stuff to Snap, but it can send VGA info which is translated to XVGA by Snap, ie you blow up your displayed programs.

To know if this is the case you need all the lines from your config.sys which are related to your video/monitor installation. You won't find the answer in the ini.

Joop
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: aschn on 2012.07.29, 21:03:35
Quote from: ALT on 2012.07.29, 04:48:25
Changing the system wide default font also changes the default dialog unit size, which has the effect of rescaling all dialogs throughout the system.  

Holger Veith created a patch which fixes that bug: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/patches/PMFIX.zip (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/patches/PMFIX.zip)

BTW: The other patch which is contained in the .zip files works for me as well.

Andreas
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: David McKenna on 2012.07.30, 05:06:15
Andreas,

  Bingo! That took care of the issue here.... it should probably be added to the next eCS version. Do you know if Mr. Veith would allow that?

Dave
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ALT on 2012.07.30, 08:40:10
Quote from: aschn on 2012.07.29, 21:03:35
Quote from: ALT on 2012.07.29, 04:48:25
Changing the system wide default font also changes the default dialog unit size, which has the effect of rescaling all dialogs throughout the system.  

Holger Veith created a patch which fixes that bug: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/patches/PMFIX.zip (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/patches/PMFIX.zip)


It's not a bug, though.  It's supposed to do that.  Especially on DBCS systems it's quite important that it works the way it does.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ALT on 2012.07.30, 08:42:47
Quote from: ivan on 2012.07.29, 11:40:05
Thanks for the information Alex but - isn't there always a but - why are things like World Clock, CPU etc., the same size on both systems?

It depends on how the program is written.  Programs which don't draw their windows in standard dialog units won't be affected.  For instance, Dr.Dialog, VX-REXX and I think Sibyl applications use their own window-drawing implementations.
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: ivan on 2012.07.30, 20:32:15
Thank everyone for the help so far, we might be getting somewhere.

I spent lunchtime reading through the files list my friend sent me of the eCS CD made with cdlist from UPDCD.  It appears that eCS has licensed Dialog Enhancer because I found DIALOG.zip in cid\server\ecspkg that contained a number of res files for changing the resources in the listed files.  How much bearing this has on the problem we have vet to work out - I am assuming it will require replacing all the listed files with clean ones taken from the CD.

Another thing I found using DLLTree on the exes of the applications in question and that is they all rely on a common set of DLLs.  Another thing to follow up.

It appears this will not be an easy problem to sole but we are not giving up at the moment - it will be slower during the week because of work but we intend to get there in the end.

ivan     
Title: Re: A question about OS/2 and eCS
Post by: Fahrvenugen on 2012.07.31, 21:46:16
Hi,

I havn't done a fresh install of eCS in a while, but I think during the eCS 1.2 install there is an option to have it not install the dialog enhancer / eCS menu / eCS visual / desktop enhancements and stuff.  I seem to recall doing this on one machine and ended up with the standard Warp 4 desktop in the end (with of course all the updated drivers found on eCS)