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Messages - DougB

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331
I have a T43 (1871-W8M) it works pretty good, but does have a few problems. Some comments:

The machine does not work perfectly with ACPI. Suspend/resume is only a dream, but speed control, using SETGETSTATE.EXE works. That means that it can be temperature controlled. I built a REXX script to monitor for activity over 90%, and when that happens, it turns it to full speed, then watches for the activity to drop again so it can slow it down again. The difference between running at full speed , and the slowest speed (where it usually runs), according to the Reactor temperature widget, is 70C at full speed, and 45C at slow speed. This also extends the battery life, which is pretty good, even at high speed. I suspect that this approach should work with most ThinkPads that will cooperate with ACPI to a certain extent.

The screen is a 15 inch, with 1024x768 resolution. It is more than acceptable, IMO.

Noise is not noticeable, at any time (unless you turn the sound up, and play sounds).

NETWORKING: The Broadcom wired (1 Gigabit), and Intel 2915abg wireless (54 megabit) both work well with GENMAC and XWLAN. Some LEARNING is required to figure out how to make it work properly, but it does work nicely.

USB: There 4x USBUHCI controllers, and 1x USBEHCI controller. However, there are only two connectors on the case. You need a docking station to use the others.

SERIAL/MODEM: It has a built in WinModem, that does NOT work with eCS. It also has a serial port, but the only way to use it is with a docking station.

Memory: This machine has 1.5 GiB, and it works well. If I discount the memory used for disk cache, eCS almost never uses more than about 512 meg anyway. The only time I exceed that is when i run one of the virtual machines.

Hard disk: This is one weakness. This machine has a 60 GiB disk, where about 5 GB is taken by the recovery partition. That is used to restore the XP Pro, if you want to use windows. With a little work (and DFSEE) you can remove that, and restore it later, if you like. It has a DVD writer, so offloading stuff that doesn't really need to be on the hard disk, is quite easy.

MOUSE: It has both the Trackpoint, and a touchpad. I HATE the touchpad, so i turn that off in the BIOS. The Trackpoint is usable, after you get used to it. I bought a small, wireless, USB mouse, which works well with AMouse.

PCMCIA/PCCard: It has one socket for these devices. It seems to work with the driver that I have, but I am not sure which driver it really is, since nothing seems to display that information. The installer is called CARDBUS.EXE, and it is dated 08/20/2009, which I am sure is not correct (it is probably when I downloaded it). There is also a socked for EXPRESS Cards (whatever those are). I have no way to test if that actually works, or not.

332
Communication / Re: Dial up modems for os2 on recent laptop
« on: 2010.01.13, 23:00:12 »
Okay, I have done a little more research, and some limited testing, on this matter. I am testing with my IBM ThinkPad T43 (1871-W8M) running eCS 2.0 Silver. I am not sure which version the PCCard/PCMCIA driver I have. PCMCIA.SYS is dated 11/11/2004. The following are my observations:

1) The order of loading for USB, and PCCard/PCMCIA doesn't matter, UNLESS you are using CBENABLE, which seems to want to be loaded before USB. I have no way to test this, so I guess it should be USB after PCCard/PCMCIA (which includes CBENABLE).

2) I can attach, and operate an ancient PCMCIA Ositech 5 of diamonds (33.6K modem). Testing does not include going to the phone line, since I no longer have a phone cable, but the AT commands return correct information. That works whether I load USB first, or second. I also have ACPI 3.18 installed, since there is some question about that.

3) I recommend not bothering with a USB modem. There are only a couple of models that will work, and they are very old now (of course, all modems are now old). See: http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=modemshome for what is known about various modems (if anybody knows any different, please fill in the submission form).

4) An external modem, from the above list, should work fine, if you have a serial port to work with. Many newer systems don't have a serial port. I do have a Belkin USB to serial adapter model F5U109, but I have never tried it with a modem (I use it for my UPS).

5) Last, but not least, I will recommend that you seriously consider not bothering with a modem, when you have WiFi access. WiFi is far faster, much easier to use, more reliable, and much more available than phone line access anyway. The only reason to even think about using a modem, would be for sending, and receiving FAX to a real FAX machine.

333
Communication / Re: Dial up modems for os2 on recent laptop
« on: 2010.01.11, 18:24:00 »
Quote
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD  PC-Card Device Manager
 <<=Attention=>> Must be in before $ICPMOS2.SYS.  If no $ICPMOS2.SYS
 installed it has to be the last line in the config.sys

DEVICE=C:\OS2\$ICPMOS2.SYS /G
 Power Management Driver for PCMCIA
 <<=Attention=>> Must be after all other listed drivers in the config.sys

These statements are somewhat misleading. $ICPMOS2.SYS does not need to be the last line in CONFIG.SYS, or even after all other device driver lines. It needs to be the last PCCard/PCMCIA line in CONFIG.SYS.

Other misleading statements about positioning in CONFIG.SYS include HELPERW.EXE (GENMAC), which demands to be placed first in CONFIG.SYS (along with about  dozen other things). It does not need to be first, it must simply be before NETBIND.EXE. There is also some debate about whether USBEHCD.SYS must be before USBxHCD.SYS (x= O or U), or after them. The ACPI docs say after, and it seems to work that way, but I have never seen a case where it matters. I think that is a situation where you switch positions, if you are having trouble, to see if it makes a difference.

334
Off Topic discussions / Re: Snow Bound
« on: 2009.12.31, 22:24:35 »
Hi.
I live in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada (just outside of the city of Edmonton). Today (the last day of 2009), at noon Mountain Standard Time it was -23C (-9F). A few weeks ago, the overnight low, at the Edmonton International Airport (about 50 KM - 30 Mi - from here), was a new record at -46C (-50F), which was more than 10C (18F) COLDER than ever recorded on that date before.  Tonight, at midnight the forecast is for -28C (-18F), with a wind chill of -40C (-40F), so it will be somewhat cool to be standing around outside waiting for the New Year to arrive.  We have the usual amount of snow on the ground (about 30 cm or 1 foot) for this time of year.

That should make the rest of you feel somewhat warmer. Have a GREAT/2 2010.

335
Comments, Suggestions & Questions / Re: New kernel
« on: 2009.11.19, 21:00:23 »
I tried os2krnlSVN1660_unoff.zip on my Asus M3A78-EM, with quad core AMD Phenom processor. Nothing has changed, it still freezes at loading DBCS.FNT (doesn't exist) - long before the eCS, or OS/4, logo shows up.

Quote
It would be very nice if they documented the changes included in each release.

I agree. far too many test releases are made, of far too many programs, without giving the user/tester any clue what to expect, or test. That wastes a LOT of time on the part of the user/tester. It also results in many missed, or unnecessary,  problem reports which wastes a lot of developer time.

336
Networking / Re: Reset the default os/2 password
« on: 2009.10.14, 18:51:25 »
If you mean the desktop password, from the Desktop guide:

Quote
If for some reason or another you forget your password, the following steps can help you recover.

To recover from a forgotten password:

1.Turn on your computer. If it is already on, press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2.Watch the upper-left corner of the screen. When you see a small white box, press Alt+F1.
3.When you see the Recover Choices screen, press F2.
4.Type CD\OS2; then press Enter.
5.Type MAKEINI OS2.INI LOCK.RC; then press Enter.
6.When you see the Successful completion message, restart your computer by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del at the same time. Your lockup password is removed. Now you can set another password.

Note:     Because it is easy to remove a lockup password, it should not be your only means of protecting the information on your computer. Use the Lockup feature in combination with other security features provided with your computer, such as a power-on password or a keylock.

If you mean the File and Print Client, in eCS you can use the Local System-> Install Remove-> Post Installation tasks to create a new administrator ID and password. I haven't actually tried that, but you may need to fist remove the Access control file. Go to a command line, and do NET HELP BACKACC, NET HELP FIXACC, and NET HELP RESTACC. I think something there should give you an idea. Chances are that doing that will initialize your network to all defaults, so you will need to set it up again.

337
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.12, 19:37:09 »
Quote
The package was refreshed today, if you (re)download it will now respect the PROGRAMS environment variable.
It also fixes the problem of the incorrect target directory, referencing the browser executable.

Well, it does follow the PROGRAMS environment variable, but it still doesn't follow the Mozilla scheme to find Plugins. If I remember correctly, it looks for:
SET MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH=
SET MOZILLA_HOME=
and finally:
the firefox install directory. IN THAT ORDER. The LAST place that you want to put something like Pugins, is in the firefox install directory. They tend to get lost, when the user removes the install directory, to do an update. If there are Plugins in there, it is necessary to move them elsewhere, remove the install directory, install the new firefox, then put the Plugins back. The FLASH10 installer needs to look in the MOZILLA_HOME directory, and use that, before it goes putting Plugins into the install directory.

I expect that SeaMonkey looks in the same places, and has the same problems with having Plugins put into the install directory.

338
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.11, 19:51:17 »
ALLRIGHT! Yes, FLASH10 works pretty good, with all but one CPU turned off. It did just quit  while playing some YouTube  movies, but it didn't kill the system. So, the major problems seem to be SMP related.

Anybody know what needs to be done to set FLASH10 to run in only one CPU, using EXECMODE.EXE? I just used MPCPUMON.EXE to turn off all but one CPU, but that isn't ideal.


339
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.11, 19:26:22 »
I tried FLASH10 on my Thinkpad T43 (1871-W8M). It works great, with no problems so far (except the known installer problems). This machine is running eCS 2.0 Silver, with ACPI 3.16 (/SMP /APIC - no, it is not a multiple processor, but it works best with these parameters), FF 3.5.2, and UniAud 1.9.16.

I need to go back, and try FLASH10 in my quad core machine, using only one processor.

340
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.10, 18:09:37 »
Quote
If I am not mistaken, the !L is required to do the RUN!.exe magic to allow two different mozilla products to have DLLs in memory at once.

Not quite right. The "L" is required on all but one of the Mozilla derivatives. Apparently, a flaw in the logic allows that to work. Since there are a few potential reasons to not use LIBPATHSTRICT with Firefox, it is best to leave that one without the "L", and add it any others that you may wish to run concurrently. The details are in the docs for RUN!

341
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.10, 07:00:10 »
Quote
Could your rather strange directory name, V:\FIREFOX\FIREFOX!L.EXE, be the result of use of LIBPATHSTRICT somewhere in the way you start the browser?

No, because I don't use the "L" in the file name. I didn't notice that earlier, it is obviously another screw up (or assumption) in the installer, or, the eCS installer put that into the INI file, incorrectly. I never use the "L" with Firefox, only with any other Mozilla derivatives (which I rarely use). I just checked my INI file, and the "L" is not in that either. I have no idea where that may have come from.

Quote
I guess maybe the Warpin Installer script involved may not check your MOZILLA_HOME to see if Plugins is located within that directory tree and that could have caused the problem.

Apparently, that is correct. That does need to be fixed. At least the installer allows the proper locations to be entered, but someone who doesn't know how that all works, is going to have a problem.

Quote
On a sidenote: The eCS Installer honours the path you supply for PROGRAMS - you get that directory listed in the config.sys file. The trouble is that all the apps installed at that time do not - they all have "hard coded" install paths!

The installer does NOT honour the path given for PROGRAMS. Neither does anything else (that I have seen), unless you change the default path in the WarpIn installer (which only applies after install, and only to programs installed by WarpIn). The path is placed in CONFIG.SYS, but I have yet to see anything honour it. That is a problem that really does need to be fixed. Of course, it also means that a user will need to be able to do a complete disk setup, so that the desired target will actually exist, before it attempts to use it.

Quote
I did however get Alex Taylor to see my point but my understanding at the moment is that some of the Installer will need rewriting to get that working.

I think that Alex has too many things to do, and no control, at all, over what the overall installer actually does. I can understand needing a rewrite, to make that work, but I do wish they would quit rewriting the parts that were working. RC7 is a major step backward, in more than one way. Unfortunately, it seems that there are either not enough people working on that stuff, or, there are too many. It also seems that a certain amount of quality control would help, but that is probably covered by those who try it out.

342
Multimedia / Re: Flash10 Preview not working here
« on: 2009.10.09, 22:56:00 »
I just tried it - thanks for pointing it out.

My experience is slightly different.

I agree that the WarpIn installer is sort of messed up (I never realized, that V:\FIREFOX\FIREFOX!L.EXE was a directory, that would need to be created to install plugins), but, if you override the defaults, and tell it to put stuff where it should be, it seems to install okay. It definitely should NOT simply assume that the boot drive contains a PROGRAMS directory. In fact, the eCS installer needs to be fixed, so it doesn't put it there either. I spend a LOT of time moving that stuff elsewhere (where I told it to put it in the first place). I also only use SET MOZILLA_HOME= which implies that it contains the plugins directory.

Anyway, back to the operation of FLASH 10. The first thing, that I tried it with, was a very simple FLASH picture. It worked.  Okay, on to bigger, and better (well, maybe not "better"), things. My initial attempt to access YouTube resulted in an immediate system hang. The mouse wouldn't even move. Reset button activated.

The next attempt, was back to the simple picture. It wouldn't display, but I also didn't get the message that I needed to download the FLASH player. Obviously, the crash caused something to not be saved. I re-installed, using the WarpIn installer. Now, the simple picture worked again. Okay, leave that page, and go back to it. The system froze, solid, as soon as it attempted to access the web site, never mind going to the page where the picture is.

Without doing any more, it is obvious that FLASH10, almost works properly, the first time you attempt to access any page that has FLASH content (I use FlashBlock, which seems to overcome the problem, until you try to play something). The second attempt will freeze the system. That may also include accessing a page that has more than one FLASH movie on it, that is not blocked by something like FlashBlock.

My system is an Asus M3A78-EM motherboard, with a quad core AMD Phenom processor, using eCS 2.0 RC7, SNAP 3.1.8, and UniAud 1.9.16. The picture, that worked, does not have sound, it is just a picture.

A worthy attempt, but I don't think it is appropriate to post something like that with instructions to NOT feedback problems (although I can understand why they wouldn't want feedback, since it doesn't really work anywhere near as good as what is implied in the README). Oh well, they will get feedback anyway, if they dare to read these comments.

343
Chances are, that you have one system set to do a Full hardware detection on boot, and the other not to do that (could be either one). The setting is in the properties of the Hardware Manager icon, once you can get to it.

What you need to do, is use Alt-F1 at boot time (immediately after you select the boot target). You are supposed to see the "boot blob" at that time, but many modern monitors don't get themselves switched on in time to show it. Just assume that it is there, immediately after pressing enter in Boot Manager. Be quick, because it isn't there very long.

Once you get to the menu, select to do a full detection, or no detection, to see if that helps...

One other thing to look for, is to be sure that any remaining device on the interface where you removed the drive, is jumpered properly for Master/Slave or Cable Select. Sometimes, that works, and sometimes it doesn't, when it is jumpered wrong.

Good luck...

344
Setup & Installation / Re: ACPI -what is in it for me
« on: 2009.09.17, 05:57:04 »
Quote
Well, the AMD's Power Now IS supported, as well as Intel's SpeedStep.

I know that some functions are supported, with some Intel processors. I have been completely unable to get much of anything (Power) to work with AMD, other than simple power off (Asus M3A78-EM motherboard, with quad core Phenom processor). I would love to be able to throttle down my desktop. It has two available states, according to one of the utilities, but nothing changes anything. From what I understand, there is a program that might work, but I have been unable to locate such a thing.

I have been able to use setgetState.exe to change the clock on my Thinkpad T43 (1871-W8M - Intel, with 4 states available), which makes a tremendous difference in temperature (according to the Reactor temperature widget), and in how long the battery will last (according to the Beer Battery widget). Performance is quite acceptable, even at the slowest speed. Throttling, on the other hand, is pretty flaky. It claims that it can be throttled to 13% in steps of 13%, but very little actually works, if I throttle it below 50%. Doing that doesn't make a lot of difference anyway, and it seems to work well at 50%. None of that works with ACPI 3.14, as comes with eCS 2.0 RC6a. ACPI 3.16 works , but seems to have a few other problems. ACPI 3.17 is very broken on all of the systems that i have tried it on. ACPI 3.18 works about the same as 3.16, on my desktop (which isn't good), but I haven't found the time to try it on the laptop, yet.

I have also been unable to get my T43 to resume. It appears to suspend properly, but I can't get it to wake up again. The screen comes on, but that is all. There is no display, just the background light. The only thing that I can do, is hold the power button, until it goes off. I haven't spent the time to try every possible combination with it, so I might have some settings that need to change.

I can see that ACPI is going to be necessary, someday, but it is barely usable, even on Intel machines (AMD is supposedly not supported, which is not acceptable). The main problem seems to be that the ACPI specs are not properly documented, and every manufacturer takes a different approach, with every machine they make, trying to get it right. Obviously, Microsoft totally ignores that stuff, and does it themselves. The ACPI team is trying to do it according to the specs, and that just doesn't work, because nobody seems to know how what the specs actually mean.

The original question was:
Quote
I understand it can help reducing power consumption, but how?
The answer seems to be that SetGetState.EXE, and SetGetThrottle.EXE, are the available tools. IF ACPI actually supports them, on your specific machine, they should help. If not, you are left with the option of reporting the problems to the ACPI developer, and hope that they will figure it out, someday.

FWIW, I get the impression that Mensys realizes that ACPI is a major problem. Whether they can do anything about it, or not, depends on a lot of things. One of those things is finding people who are willing to do a little work to report successes, and failures, to the ACPI developer. Unfortunately, that also means the users must have a valid Software Subscription (so you can get the software to test), and they need to do some serious reading, of poorly written, and sometimes misleading, and confusing, documentation. It also takes a LOT of time to try all of the possible combinations, to see what does, or doesn't, work. If you are not sure what you can do to help the project along, start by reading the docs (more than once), and start trying things, to see what works, and doesn't work. Then report your findings (after seeing if somebody else has reported the problems, so you don't duplicate things).

Have fun...

345
Actually, eCS comes with the PMVNC server (works well). The client can be a web browser, that is JAVA enabled (I don't use that). A better option for an OS/2 client is in:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/apps/internet/misc/pmvnc104_ow.zip

The server, and client, both work fine with windows, when windows uses the free VNC server available from:
http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/winvnc.html
which also includes a client.

This does work best, when you use it with a gigabit LAN connection, but is more than acceptable with a 100 Mbit connection. It operates over TCP/IP, so it can also operate over the internet, IF you can access your machine through the internet (very often, that will be blocked by your ISP). It *may* be possible to get it to work through a serial port, by using the serial port internet support, but I wouldn't want to try it. Of course, the internet (especially modem connected internet), will be very slow, but there are some fine tuning options that may help. I haven't tried it, but you can also add a secure link, by using STunnel from:
http://download.smedley.info/



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