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Desktop/WPS trashed! How to recover?

Started by klipp, 2010.01.24, 20:14:31

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klipp

I trashed my desktop installing and trying to run QT4 apps. Is there any suggestions as to how I might recover the desktop? The machine boots correctly but when it comes time to bring up the desktop it hangs on the grey screen with an active mouse pointer. The only thing that works is Ctrl-Esc which brings up a blank window list window. I'm thinking probably one way of possibly recovering is to re-install eCs Silver with the migration option. Anyone got any ideas on other ways of salvaging the desktop or thoughts on whether re-installing & migrating might work. Really stupid of me, I did this on a production box!

thanks, klipp
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Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
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David McKenna

Klipp,

  Have you made any backups? When you boot the machine, when the eCS boot blob appears in the upper left corner of the screen hit '<alt>-F1'. You should get a list of options. At the bottom of the screen will be any backups that may have been made (there should be at least one made when the system was installed). You could try those.

  The migration idea may work too.

  I had some problems with one QT app damaging my registry (although I could boot to the desktop). Unfortunately standard desktop backups don't include the registry....

Dave McKenna

klipp

Thanks for the response Dave - No, I wasn't smart enough to make the Alt-F1 backups, been making them for years but decided it wasn't necessary anymore ---- ungggh! I'll probably end up trying the re-install W/O format and migrate.

klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************

StefanZ

Klipp, you should have a desktop backup automatically created from the first system installation.

On Alt+F1 you should see at least one backup.

Don't know how this works when doing a migration during installation, but could be worth trying :)

klipp

Yeah StefanZ, I do -- But I'm thinking I might be able to get the whole desktop re-created, not just the install desktop by migrating. But I don't know for sure if that will work -- guess I'm going to find out unless sombody has a better solution.

thanks   klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************

melf

Some thoughts:
1. You could boot to maintance desktop, (Alt-F1 and then F?). Your desktop is not necessarily trashed. Could be some new entry in config.sys you just should remove.
2. You could also press both shift-keys just when the clock comes up. There you'll get some tools that eventually is relevant to your problem.
3. As other have suggested Alt-F1 and opition 0 - first boot desktop (must be a better opition than migrating or..?)

When you have you're favorite desktop working again - run arcinst from a command prompt and you always have that in option 0.
/Mikael

klipp

Hi melf! I'm using a backed up config.sys that doesn't help and I tried you're "both shift keys" remedy and it was inoperative. The reason I'm leaning toward a re-install with migration is because I don't recall all the items that were on the desktop and if I'm lucky the "Previous Desktop" created by the migration process should contain all the desktop items that were on the desktop before I screwed it up. And if that doesn't work I should at least end up with the same desktop I would have created if I had used the Alt-F1 option 0 method, and seeing as there was no format of the partition all programs installed should still also be there.
   Thank you for helping and especially the "arcinst" tip -- I will eventually use that.

klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************

ivan

There is the old standby of putting set desktop=c:\desktop into the config.sys (I assume you can get to a command prompt and run tedit with eCS as you can with OS/2.

There is no guarantee that this will work - it depends on how bad your ini files are messed up and I can't remember if there is a command line ini editor.  I use a bootable CD that produces a skeleton desktop that has various tools, DFSEE, INIEdit, various WP Tools, File Freedom etc.

Pete

Hi Klipp

Does the bootup hang about the time that you expect to hear the Startup sound?

If "Yes" you may have a munged mmpm.ini file. This happened to me awhile back and I posted my "cure" to the os2uk group at the time. You may want a read:-

"I've been struggling to recover from a Desktop failing to startup;  the system was hanging just as the Desktop should start (expecting the Startup sound to play) with hundreds of SYS3175's being written to the popuplog.os2 file at every attempt to boot.

I think the problem stemmed from: I had been playing with system sound settings when this Desktop had reset itself but failed to reappear forcing me to finally press the Reset button as Ctrl-Alt-Del was not working. I suspect this munged the mmpm.ini file - although I could not see a problem with the file when using INIEditor while booted from another installation. I had tried swapping out the OS2*.INI files for earlier versions without any success before realising that the mmpm.ini file could be responsible.

How I recovered this Desktop: I edited config.sys and changed SET RUNWORKPLACE to L:\OS2\CMD.EXE and booted successfully to a cmd window on a blue background. I then ran pmshell and was surprised that it actually got to a working Desktop - without system sounds and File and Print failed to start.

I ran System Setup -> Sound and Enabled sound. That worked.

I then had a look through IBMLAN.INI - looked fine - and PROTOCOL.INI which also looked fine apart from the end-of-file marker in the text. I deleted that, saved the file and then retried "Start File and Print Client" which now worked.

I then edited config.sys to change SET RUNWORKPLACE back to L:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE and rebooted to a working Desktop with sound and peer working.


I thought I'd post the above in case it is of possible future help to anyone with a Desktop hanging at startup and the usual cure of replacing current OS2*.INI files with backups has failed."


Regards

Pete

klipp

Hey Pete, I think thats exactly whats happening! When it hangs the next thing that should happen is the startup sound. It'l be tommorow before I can check out what you've described, but I'll give it a go! Thanks a lot.

klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************

klipp

No Cigar! Trying what Pete suggested got me to a desktop with no folders but surprisingly the startup sound played. Next I tried the Alt-F1 with the original install archive, it also didn't work, hung the same way. Then I tried the new install using no format and migrating which blew off when trying to migrate --- so only option left was to format and do a new install. Luckily I had an old beta4 installed on another partition on the same drive which I copied the most important directories to, I/E programs,tools,etc, before formatting and I was able to re-create everything as it was before. So the box is back up & running, thanks to all of you for you're efforts to help me.

----- and yes, I've backed up the desktop! Live & Learn!
klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************

Pete

Hi klipp

Just what are the PROGRAMS and TOOLS  directories doing on the boot drive?

You should use (a) different drive(s) for PROGRAMS, TOOLS  and HOME directories - that way you can always re-install/upgrade operating system on the BOOT drive without having to reinstall everything else and reinstate any required data stored in HOME.

Another trick worth considering when upgrading is to make a rexx backup of the Desktop using wps2rexx - you'll find that here http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/wps/wps2rexx.zip  - which can be used "selectively" to recreate Desktop folders and objects for installed apps. It does mean a little work is required in that you need to edit some of the rexx files as you do not want to replace any Desktop objects created by the new/upgrade install. Still much quicker than reinstalling apps though - also a more reliable a way to "migrate" than the eCS "migrate" option:-)

Regards

Pete



klipp

Just what are the PROGRAMS and TOOLS  directories doing on the boot drive? ---- Yeah Pete! I know(Now!) Point well taken!
If it weren't for Dummies like me, guys like you would have nothing to do!
Thanks for the help.

klipp
********************************************************************
Windoz Free! eCS 2.0 serving Linux, Windoz & OS2
rklipp@megared.net.mx
********************************************************************