Warp Installation Notes Release 1.12

By Frank McKenney

=Warp Installation Notes=

Release 1.12 December 19, 1994 Compiled by Frank McKenney

Copyright (c) 1994 by Frank McKenney All rights reserved.

This document may be freely re-distributed for non-commercial purposes.

Caveat: the material included has been compiled from verbal comments, e-mail messages posted in public locations (e.g. the Internet NewsGroups), the occasional manual, and my own interpretations of all of the above. I do not have access to all (or even most) of the equipment and software described (I had to sell my favorite 486DX 33&1/3 with 6.7 Mb RAM, two 4300 Baud serial ports, an ESDI adapter using IRQ1, and a 108 Mb RLL+ drive), so I am unable to personally verify all of its content. While I have tried to avoid excessive jargon wherever possible, describing an OS/2 installation is a technical topic and requires a certain number of technical terms. I also make the occasional typographic error.

And the occasional TELEPHONE NUMBER ERROR. Hints v1.12 is being sent out specifically because the telephone number I supplied for the Aztech BBS in Area code (501) is NOT repeat NOT the Aztech BBS, but a (now harassed) Southwestern Bell customer in Arkansas who has been receiving odd calls that abruptly hang up. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS NUMBER. If I obtain a correct number I will include it in v1.2.

In all cases, you should use your own best judgement as to which of the following material applies to your situation. Corrections, more detailed explanations, and additional material will be welcomed. If, for example, you see a BBS telephone number mentioned but know of an FTP site for the same information, please let me know. We're all in this together.

Note re changes: I started marking the 1.1 changes with a vertical bar at the left margin. This would have added a nice touch, but it turned out to be impractical. When I finally realized that I'd need to mark more than 75% of the document, I went back and removed them. Maybe the changes for v1.2 won't be as extensive (-).

Note re v1.11 release: Short form:  oops! Long form: I posted Hints v1.1 without realizing that I had not completed revision on a section about pausing CONFIG.SYS processing so that device driver messages could be seen. As it turns out, the technique I had used under 2.1 and 2.11 for doing this turned out (a) to be narrower in scope that I had realized, and (b) to work differently under Warp. I have removed the text, but the need for such a facility is still there. Suggestions for a workable technique would be welcomed.

One of the changes I hope to make for v1.2 is to break out a separate section for new drivers. As many of you have noted, there are a large number of problems related to drivers, and it might be easier to simply include a section devoted to driver-related problems.

Let me mention that my purpose in putting this document together was to get users operational under Warp as soon, and as easily, as possible. Consequently, I'm not concerned with making sure I have the description and location of the absolutely latest and greatest driver for the IBM XVXGA adapter. I'm perfectly willing to leave that task to others.

What I do want is to be able to provide driver information for driver-related problems that might prevent an installation or cause serious performance problems under Warp. I'll settle for any driver that will let the user successfully install and run without significant errors and with reasonable performance.

Changes, additions, and comments should be directed to rrs0059@ibm.net or mailed to: Frank McKenney McKenney Associates 3464 Northview Place Richmond, Virginia 23225 (804) 320-4887

General Hints, Suggestions, and Warnings
I have several pieces of "non-standard" (e.g. not officially supported) hardware in my system. As a result, I had always needed to do some tweaking after an OS/2 installation before everything was running smoothly (and the Warp betas were just as bad). I did not look forward to installing Warp GA; in fact, I set aside a whole day to do it.

I was (but not quite!) disappointed when OS/2 Warp GA installed from its CD with no problems. Instead, I spent the rest of the time playing with the IBM Internet Connection software, IBM Works, and the other BonusPak applications. Result? The installation wind up taking all day (-).

However, certain configurations do run into problems installing Warp GA. I have listed a number of known problems and workarounds in the following pages to help those of you already stuck, and to forewarn those of you who might need new drivers prior to starting up. I'm hoping that this will result in more people wasting(-) their time OS/2 Warp and fewer people wasting their time pounding on walls or flaming on the Usenet newsgroups because of snags in installing Warp (-).

Read the Documentation
Before starting your installation, read the documentation. I know, you've all heard it before. It's a pain, it takes time, and the computer and OS/2 Warp are just there when they could be multitasking their little hearts out. I'm still going to recommend it, especially for those of you who are installing OS/2 for the first time. Specifically, you should make sure you cover:

The new "User's Guide to OS/2 Warp", and in particular, Chapter 1 - Before You Begin Chapter 2 - Using Easy Installation Chapter 14 - Solving Installation Problems Chapter 15 - Solving System Problems Chapter 16 - Video Procedures Chapter 17 - Using Advanced Installation Chapter 18 - Setting Up a Hard Disk Chapter 19 - Special Hardware Considerations

The README file     (root drive of the OS/2 Warp V3 CD) (Diskette ?? for the Diskette version) The README.INS file (Warp Installation Diskette) The README.CID file (Warp Installation Diskette)

Manufacturers' README files for any device drivers included with the OS/2 Warp GA package.

(other suggestions will be welcomed).

Hardware-Specific Information
If you have owned a computer for any length of time, you're probably aware that it has internal quirks that tend to show up an the most inconvenient times. You install your new SuperFast! display adapter, it doesn't work, and you suddenly discover the world of "IRQs" and "I/O Addresses" that had remained hidden under your computer's covers for ... (and you wish it would go back again (-)).

A complete description of each part of your computer is a useful thing to have around. It helps in insurance claims, and it can help you see possible sources of conflict if your machine sudddenly freezes up during Warp installation. Such a list would include descriptions of the System Board (processor, chipset, RAM, BIOS type and date), disk drives (manufacturer, model, size, interface), monitor (manufacturer, model, suported frequencies and resolutions), and adapters (manufacturer, model, IRQs used, I/O addresses used).

An organized person has this list in a word-procesing document, keeps it up to date, and periodically prints out a copy and files it. This is not the only approach; for example, many of us compile this list by waiting until we have a problem, then opening up the computer, pulling each adapter, and then searching desperately for the manual to tell us whether the IRQ is set by jumper J12-A or J16-A.

Just keep in mind that if you do run into a problem, this information will be requested by IBM OS/2 Support, and will be appreciated by anyone else you ask for assistance.

Warnings
1) Before performing ANY OS/2 maintenance, including the installation   of OS/2 Warp GA, be sure to have a CURRENT backup of ALL of your    programs and data.

2) Before performing ANY OS/2 maintenance, including the installation   of OS/2 Warp GA, be sure to have a CURRENT backup of ALL of your    programs and data.  This is not a typo; it is a redundant copy of    my text for backup purposes (-).

3) Have a set of OS/2 bootable diskettes ready with the   usual system utilities (FDISK, FORMAT, TEDIT, etc.). Be aware that    a set of (e.g.) 2.11 bootable diskettes created with BOOTOS2 will    not be able to run some of the system utilities an     installed copy of Warp due to version level differences.

Beta Testers
Remember that warning when you received your Beta code that you would have to re-format your Beta partition before installing Warp GA? Yes, it's a pain to do. Yes, it would be nice if IBM would dedicate the resources to testing all possible combinations of Beta1, Beta2, Gamma, and Gamma+ systems with GA installed over them, but lazy as I am, I'd rather see the time spent on improving the base operating system.

It's not that GA-over-Beta is guaranteed to fail. It's that mixing various levels of similar-but-not-identical code creates an incredibly large set of possible combinations of software, and the problems that result are likely to (a) be subtle, (b) remain hidden for some time after Warp GA is installed, (c) be difficult to pin down, and (d) be highly individualized (one of a kind).

Imagine the long-term results of (say) an OS/2 INI file mangled by the Warp Beta code being passed on to Warp GA. Result:  much time could be spent, both by IBM and you, in tracking down a problem that could have been avoided by a clean install. There are already enough possibilities for conflicts, don't add new ones.

Have Someone To Talk To
Finally, if you're only moderately technical but know someone who is familiar with OS/2, it doesn't hurt to let them know that you're about to start an installation and be calling on them for help if you encounter problems.

And even if you intimate with all the idiosyncracies of OS/2 Warp, it still doesn't hurt to have someone else to share your problems with - or to whom you can announce that you did the whole thing in 45 minutes flat (-).

General Problem-Solving Hints
Okay, in spite of your careful reading and pre-planning, you discover that your OS/2 Warp installation is not proceeding as you expected. What should you do?

First, step back from the machine and take a deep breath. Better yet, go get a cup of coffee, or even take a walk around the block. If you skipped supper to get an early start, go eat.

After you finish your break, skim back over the documentation one more time. No, it hasn't changed, but have. You now have more experience to relate to those dry words on paper; now they make a little more sense, and sections you skipped before suddenly take on new relevance.

Re-read your IRQ & IOA list. If you didn't already create one, now is the time; it could save you several hours on the telephone talking to IBM OS/2 Support and several days' delay before Warp is installed and ready to run. If the installation process is mysteriously hanging, and none of the problem descriptions in this document seem to fit, an IRQ conflict is always a possibility.

Re-read Chapter 14 of the "User's Guide to OS/2 Warp". This was specifically written to address installation problems and how to address them.

Tools and Techniques
The new boot Alt-F1 (boot to a command line) and Alt-F2 (display drivers being installed) are not available during the initial phase of installation. However, if you boot from the installation floppies you are given an opportunity to exit to an OS/2 command prompt via the F3 key. This will let you run: RMVIEW (Installation Diskette) TEDIT (Installation Diskette, Diskette 1) CHKDSK and FORMAT (Diskette 2, or in \OS2IMAGE\DISK_2 on the CD) FDISK (Diskette 1, or in \OS2IMAGE\DISK_1 on the CD)

I'll assume that you are already familiar with CHKDSK, FORMAT, and FDISK. If your experience with these utilities is solely under DOS, be aware that the OS/2 versions have additional features.

TEDIT is a text-mode line-oriented ASCII file editor. It is small (TEDIT.EXE and TEDIT.HLP together weigh in at about 25K), but has all of the features you need for performing emergency edits to CONFIG.SYS from an OS/2 Full Screen session. Press F1 to open the Help file.

RMVIEW is new in OS/2 Warp, and its use as a problem determination tool (together with the RESERVE.SYS pseudodriver) deserves an entire section to itself, but that will have to wait for version 1.2 at least.

Disk Partition Listing
If your problem involves disk partitioning, or is related in any way to hard disk access, having a current and complete description of your partition layout is essential. The simplest way to do this is by using FDISK to dump a complete report to a file, as in FDISK /QUERY >layout.rpt

You can then print a hard copy of layout.rpt to examine at your leisure, or include it in in e-mail messages to IBM or others. Be sure to add a description of how plan to use the partition as well.

For example, here's part of the FDISK /QUERY report from my current setup, with comments: Drive Name Partition Vtype FStype Status   Start     Size

** Boot Manager ** 1             :    1    0a      2          0        1

** OS/2 2.11 and MS-DOS 5.0 (Dual Boot) ** 1 os2-211    C:    1    06      1          1       80

** Warp! (no longer Gamma!) ** 1 os2-warp   D:    2    07      1         81       80

** swap partition ** 1            E:    2    06      0        162       50

Translation for undocumented flags:

Vtype: 1=Primary, 2=Logical Drive FSType: 06=FAT, 07=HPFS, 0a=Boot Manager Status: 0=Non-bootable, 1=Bootable, 2=Startable

Display Driver problems
This is one of those nasty Catch-22 situations, since it's hard to do much under OS/2 if your display is not operational.

With very few exceptions (I'll ignore my experiences with the ISA Stealth 24 under OS/2 2.1), adapters will run properly in VGA mode. This isn't the best and most colorful mode, but it will let you get work done. Warp has specific boot-time support for switching your adapter back to VGA mode; all you have to do as you are booting up is press Alt-F1 when you see the white rectangle (the "boot-blob").

If, after loading adapter-specific drivers, your display acts oddly, goes completely black, or suddenly becomes covered with randomly- colored snow and fails to respond in any recognizable way to Ctl-Esc or mouse clicks, then shut down and re-boot. As OS/2 comes up, wait for the boot-blob, press Alt-F1, and follow the instructions for switching back to VGA mode.

Can you do a clean shutdown with a mangled display? The answer, as usual, is "it depends". If the machine is completely locked up, or in a tight loop in the display driver with interrupts disabled, probably not. If OS/2 is still running underneath that odd screen, and it frequently is, try RMB-clicking on where the Desktop should be to bring up the System Menu, then pressing the D key to select the Shutown entry and pressing the space bar to answer [OK] to the WPS prompt for confirmation.

If you have DOS or OS/2 command prompts or DOS or MSWin programs running, you'll need to press the "Y" key for each to let it complete the shutdown process.

Driver-related Problems
Many of the drivers in CONFIG.SYS were supplied with a /Q ("quiet") parameter, apparently because IBM prefers a message-less boot. If you are experiencing problems that may be related to one or more of your OS/2 drivers, this is not very useful.

Try adding a /V to any driver that you think might provide additional information. If it has a /Q parameter, replace it with a /V. Details for many driver parameters are listed in the Warp online Command Reference in the Information object on the WPS Desktop, but this can be difficult to reach if you are in the middle of an installation.

Problems with WinOS/2
If MSWin applications fail to start, and/or the Win-OS/2 Full Screen object cross-hatches briefly, but nothing further happens, there may be a simple problem with one or more of the object's drivers or one of the MSWin DLLs.

To narrow down your search, you need more information. The text messages displayed by a WPS-started Win-OS/2 session are thrown away, but these may contain information critical to problem determination. To see the messages, do the following: WINOS2 /B This will create a text file containing the startup messages you may have missed. After WINOS2 exits, examine the contents of this file for additional information.
 * Start a DOS Full Screen session.
 * Switch to the MSWin directory (generally \WINDOWS, but mine happens to be \MS-WIN31).
 * Type: WINOS2 and watch the messages that appear.
 * If you fail to see any usefule messages, but WINOS2 exits without giving you a full screen Win-OS/2 session, start it up again, adding a /B parameter:

One common problem is having critical DLL directories left out of the active DOS PATH setting. This can be a user error or the result of an improperly modified PATH statement in the OS/2 AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

For example, I re-installed MSWin 3.1 after formatting my Warp Gamma partition. I had previously modified the OS/2-created AUTOEXEC.BAT file by adding several lines, including my own PATH setting. When I ran Warp's Selective Install to add WIN-OS/2 suport, it modified the OS/2 AUTOEXEC.BAT file to add my C:\MS-WIN31 directory to the PATH. All very reasonable...

Except that SI modified the PATH statement it saw, which was the original supplied at Warp installation. My PATH statement, ten lines further down the file, was left untouched. Result? I couldn't start any WIN-OS/2 sessions of kind until I went back and added C:\MS-WIN31 to my own PATH statement.

Removing Adapters
If you experience problems that appear to be hardware related, IBM OS/2 Support may ask you to remove all non-essential adapters and devices from your machine. I have heard remarks from several people to the effect that doing this was pointless, since without those adapters or devices (e.g. a tape backup unit) up and running their system was useless, and they might as well just throw in the towel... er, CD.

The rationale behind pulling all that hardware is not to force you to work that way forever. It is intended as a temporary measure to help get a handle on what is causing your problem. There are simply too many things that be causing a given problem to allow each and every one to be explored.

A smart problem solver will try to use a divide-and-conquer aproach. If the problem is still present with all the extra hardware removed, then it is probably not contributing to the problem. If it go away, then the adapters can be replaced, one by one, until the problem resurfaces. As a result, less time is spent (by both IBM and you) chasing down dead-end paths, and in most cases your problem can be resolved much more quickly.

It's all a question of getting specific information that is solid enough for you as a user to make decisions with. It's the difference between "Warp won't install" and "Warp won't install on your system as long as that 8-bit antique 9600-baud modem is installed". You may not even care about the two can't co-exist if you were planning to replace it anyway. If the adapter  critical, you and IBM can concentrate your efforts on figuring out how to re-jumper it (manual long since lost) to make it work properly instead of trying to replace every OS/2 driver in sight.

Reporting Problems to IBM
If you are a TalkLink OS2BBS, CompuServe, or Internet user, you don't have to wait on hold for a "trained technician" - you can report the problem electronically. The following is copied from the IBM-distributed SUPTCTR.INF file, a part of the 800INF.ZIP file sent out to CompuServe and TalkLink OS2BBS a few weeks back. I have edited for reasons of space, so be sure to read the original in full:

... If ... you feel that it is the result of a defect with one of the IBM OS/2 products listed above, follow this procedure to use CompuServe to report the suspected defect:

o Download PROBLM.TXT from the IBM Files Library (Library 17) in    the OS2SUPPORT CompuServe forum.

o Fill out the PROBLM.TXT as completely as possible using any editor.

o Using CompuServe mail, send the completed PROBLM.TXT form to the corresponding IBM OS/2 defect reporting ID. OS/2 Base Operating System defect reports should be mailed to 76711,610. Extended Services or LAN Server defect reports should be mailed to    76711,611. (If you are submitting a defect via Internet, the    problem report should be mailed to 76711.610@compuserve.com for     the operating system and 76711.611@compuserve.com for Extended     Services or LAN.)

IBM will reply as soon as possible, within 48 hours of the time we  receive your PROBLM.TXT defect report.

IBM will reply via CompuServe mail to each new PROBLM.TXT defect report we receive. Our reply to you will include a Problem Management Record (PMR) number.

If your problem description matches a previously reported defect that has been addressed (closed) by IBM, we will provide the explanation, work-around, or directions to obtain a fix.

If your problem description matches a previously reported defect that has not yet been addressed by IBM, we will inform you that you have added to the Interested Parties list for the IBM APAR.

If your problem description does not match a previously reported defect, the IBM reply will indicate that your PMR has been forwarded to the analysts that specialize in problems of the type you reported. ... ...

That describes Internet and CompuServe access. Users with access to the TalkLink OS2BBS can submit reports directly to IBM from OS2BBS Main Menu item 2 - IBM Support.

Please keep in mind that, although your messages may travel at the speed of light while in transit through the Internet, they can be delayed by mail servers, and they will be handled by busy human beings at the far end. Further, they will probably be handed on to other busy human beings in the process of resolving your problem. All of these will add delays to the message loop.

Try provide as much information as possible on the original message. Remember that each time IBM Support has to get back to you, it will take time for them to compose the message, for it to get to you, for you to compose a reply, and then for it to return to IBM. The more complete and specific your information is on the first message the fewer times OS/2 Support will have to get back in touch with you with requests for additional information.

What's that? Should you add a disk partition layout along with your adapter, IRQ and IOA information to the report? Hey, now 's a thought! (-)

Reported Problems and Fixes / Workarounds
Symptoms:

Warp installation program is unable to find CD-ROM drive, system hangs during installation.

Hardware:

Buslogic BT946C SSCI Adapter

Problem:

Warp-shipped BTSCSI.ADD (10/05/94, 20953 bytes) may not work properly on some(all?) systems.

Fix:

Use an earlier release of the BTSCSI.ADD driver, either from a  previous OS/2 release or from the Micron BBS (208-465-8982). Look for a file date of 04-07-94 (possibly 06-07-94) and a size of 20162 bytes.

Notes:

The BT946C BIOS Setup can be invoked by pressing Ctl-B at boot time.

Symptoms:

Unable to install, unable to access hard drive, intermittent and odd effects after installation (HPFS, possibly FAT as well). One user reported the loss of pop-up menus (mouse RMB and Shift-F10) persisting even over a power-down and a MAKEINI rebuild of both OS/2 INI files.

Hardware:

Promise Technology, Inc. DC4030VL-2 4-drive IDE adapter and PTI1S506.ADD driver.

Problem:

It appears that there are problems with the PTI driver, at least with v1.2.3, v1.3, and v1.40. PTI Tech Support has said that there are problems related to the PTI driver writing to the OS/2 boot partition at shutdown, which is assumed to be FAT.

Fixes:

Install to a FAT partition. Or, Use the IBM1S506.ADD driver shipped with Warp by removing the PTI1S506.ADD line from CONFIG.SYS and adding the following line in its place (assuming 2 drives):

BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /U:0 /!SMS /U:1 /!SMS

Notes:

Writing to an OS/2 HPFS partition as if it were a FAT partition is  not generally recommended.

Symptoms:

Installation from CD-ROM drive locks up on Diskette 1 following the "Loading, please wait..." message.

Following the message from the Installation Diskette, the OS/2 logo appears, there is further diskette and CD-ROM drive activity, the screen goes black and the "Loading..." message appears. After further CD-ROM activity the acreen goes black and the cursor sits in the upper left-hand corner (indefinitely).

Hardware:

CD-ROM drive

Problem:

There is a known problem with the Warp GA IBMKBD.SYS driver which can produce this symptom (APAR PJ16077). To verify that your symptoms match this APAR, do the following:

Add the line SET PROTSHELL = CMD.EXE to your CONFIG.SYS file and re-boot. You should see an OS/2 full-screen command prompt which will scroll rapidly, as if the Enter key were being pressed repeatedly.

Fix:

Replace the Warp GA IBMKBD.SYS driver (5548 bytes, dated 10-03-94) with a copy from Warp Beta2 (4677 bytes, dated 7-30-94,). It may also be possible to use the KBD01.SYS driver from OS/2 2.1+XR06200 (29525 bytes, dated 01-29-94) or the one from 2.1 or 2.11 GA.

Notes:

An "updated" version of the IBMKBD.SYS driver was made available during the course of Warp Beta testing to fix another problem. That driver should be used, as it has the same bug.

If this works, please call IBM OS/2 Support and request to be  added to the IP (Interested Parties) List for APAR PJ16077.

Symptoms:

No sound from PAS-16 Plus sound adapter following Selective Install and alterations to CONFIG.SYS per Warp User's Guide Chapter 19.

Hardware:

Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 Plus adapter " "  "  "  Pro Audio 16 Basic adapter (possibly other PAS-16 family adapters)

Problem:

Bad MVPRODD.SYS driver in Warp GA.

Fix:

Obtain a new driver from the Media Vision BBS (510-770-0527). The driver is in OS2.EXE, which is a self-extracting archive (194972  bytes).

For comparison purposes, here are the drivers:

MVPRODD.SYS (BBS)   9-21-93   3:09p     59480 MVPRODD.SYS (Warp) 10-08-94   4:02a     51246

Notes:

The MVNOTES.DOC file from OS2.EXE also recommends making a change to the MMPM2.INI PARMSTRING value.

If you are experiencing white noise (hiss) prior to OS/2 Warp system sounds, try adding a /T:1 parameter to your MVPRODD.SYS entry in CONFIG.SYS.

Also, be aware that installing the OS/2 PAS-16 drives via Selective Install does not appear to update the Win-OS/2 drivers. To get PAS-16 sounds with Win-OS/2, You'll need to start up a Win-OS/2 session, open the Control Panel (in Main), and do a Drivers / Add for the "Unlisted" drivers in \OS2\DRIVERS\MVPRODD.

Media Vision is now shipping PAS-16 adapters with a new, improved chipset (MV-508-B) which replaces the older MV-508-A chipset. The drivers shipped with Warp do not support the new chipset. It is  not yet clear whether the OS/2 driver from the Media Vision BBS supports this chipset properly.

Symptoms:

Unable to successfully create an OS/2 bootable partition. Unable to allocate a FAT partition.

Hardware:

"Large" drive with more than 1024 cylinders (e.g. most   drives larger than 500 Mb).

Problem:

DOS and the "IBM PC Compatible" BIOS routines are unable to address a cylinder address greater than 1023 without some assistance. The resulting "FAT Barrier" forces some restrictions on DOS, OS/2, and any operating system which uses the BIOS suport for any part of its boot process. For the purposes of OS/2 Warp installation, these are:

Boot Manager's partition must reside within the "FAT Barrier", that is, below cylinder 1024.

DOS and OS/2 bootable partitions, whether FAT or HPFS, must also reside completely within the FAT barrier.

DOS-compatible FAT partitions must reside completely within the FAT barrier (no surprise).

OS/2 non-bootable HPFS partitions can go anywhere and be any size up to the OS/2 limit of 512 Gb.

Fix:

Some general rules of thumb may help your planning if you just picked up one of the new 540 Mb (or even 1 Gb) drives.

Allocate Boot Manager as the first partition (lowest address) on   the drive.

Next, if desired, allocate a DOS boot partition (possibly with   space for MSWin as well).

If desired, and if the DOS boot partition is relatively small, add a second FAT partition for use by DOS and MSWin when RealDOS (PC-DOS or MS-DOS) is booted.

Allocate your OS/2 Warp boot partition, either as FAT or HPFS.

All of the above must fit within the "FAT Barrier".

Finally, allocate the rest of the drive, however large, as one HPFS partition.

Notes:

Certain drives and adapters help move the FAT Barrier up above 500 Mb by making it appear to the BIOS (or the adapter) that a  "cylinder" contains more data than the physical drive geometry actually uses. Thus, 1024 cylinders "contains" more disk space.

If the drive performs the translation, it should be transparent to  the BIOS, DOS, and OS/2. If the adapter chipset performs the translation, the same will hold true. However, if the translation is performed by the adapter , problems can result unless the manufacturer also provides an OS/2 driver for the adapter or OS/2 uses the (slow) IBMINT13.I13 driver to force all disk I/O through the adapter BIOS.

There is an error in the Warp User's Guide on page 310. It states that "Typically, the first 1024 cylinders is equal to 1 GB  (gigabyte), or 1024 Mb." More frequently, 1024 cylinders is 512 Mb  or so, but it all depends on the drive manufacturer. I believe that the statement in question was the result of a mis-condensation of a comment made in the OS/2 v2.0 Control Program manual referring to  drives; in any case it is incorrect.

Symptoms:

OS/2 installation is unable to access drive, is unable to set one or more partitions installable, or reports unusual drive partition sizes.

Hardware:

Large IDE drive with more than 1024 cylinders (presumably SCSI and  ESDI as well) using OnTrack Disk Manager software (a.k.a.  "Drive   Rocket").

Problem:

OnTrack Disk Manager is incompatible with operating systems other than DOS, including OS/2. It uses non-standard partition descriptions which can make the drive appear to be unreadable or  uninitialized.

Fix:

Back up all partitions on drives which are using OnTrak and remove OnTrack from the drives prior to installing OS/2. Partitions can be created under OS/2 beyond the "FAT Barrier" by using the OS/2 FDISK or FDISKPM programs, and formatting the new partitions to use the OS/2 High Performance File System (HPFS).

Notes:

This wil hopefully become less of a problem in the near future. IBM, Western Digital, and OnTrack are currently working on a  solution to the Disk Manager-OS/2 incompatibility.

For now, any system with a large IDE drive larger than 1024 cylinders (generally over 500 Mb) set up as one large partition probably has Disk Manager installed, and should check carefully before installing OS/2 Wapr Version 3 (or any version of OS/2).

Specific tips on removing Disk Manager and re-partitioning would be  appreciated.

Symptoms:

Visible mouse pointer is offset (possibly by several inches) from the "effective" internal location for MSWin applications run in  "seamless" mode (windowed on the OS/2 desktop).

Hardware:

Dell Computer systems with MSWin pre-installed.

Problem:

This appears to be the result of a Dell-specific version of the MSWin MOUSE.DRV driver.

Fix:

Obtain a copy of MOUSE.DRV from a standard version of MSWin, or  download an updated driver from Dell.

FTP: dell1.us.dell.com, file /dellbbs/os2/mouse.zip (possibly ftp.dell.com) BBS: 512-728-8528, OS/2 directory, file MOUSE.ZIP

Rename the current driver (e.g. to DELMOUSE.DRV) and copy the new driver into the MSWin SYSTEM directory (usually named  \WINDOWS\SYSTEM)

Notes:

This has also been reported as a fix for a similar problem for Zeos computers.

Symptoms:

Following installation, OS/2 displays the new logo screen and hangs.

Hardware:

Any.

Problem:

IRQ conflict.

Fix:

Ensure that no two adapters share an IRQ setting. To help determine which driver is being loaded at the time of the hang (and  thus which adapter may be a part of the problem ), re-boot and press Alt-F2 when the "boot-blob" (small white rectangle in the  upper left corner of the screen) appears. This will list each driver as it loads.

Notes:

If the hang occurs later in the boot process, try adding /V parameters to various drivers; this may yield additional information about which drivers are or are not operating as  expected.

Symptoms:

During installation the following message appears:

"The country information file A:\COUNTRY.SYS is incorrect. The   system is stopped.  Correct the preceding error and restart."

Hardware:

3.5" and 5.25" floppy drives

Problem:

CMOS not set up properly; it thought the 3.5" A: drive was a 5.25" drive and that the 5.25" B: drive was a 3.5" drive.

Fix:

Correct the CMOS settings.

Notes:

This could happen as the result of a bad CMOS battery, or from swapping the diskette drive cables and forgetting to re-set the CMOS information to match the change.

Symptoms:

Various problems recognizing CD-ROM drives at installation time (e.g. SBCD2 not recognizing drives with unit codes other than   zero), possibly other CD-ROM-related problems as well.

Hardware:

Any of the following CD-ROM drives:

Philips LMS CM205, CM225 (single session) Philips LMS CM205, CM225 (multisession) Philips CM206, CM226 Sony CDU-531, 535, 6150, 6201, 6205, 6251, 7201, and 7205 CD-ROM drives attached to a Sony CDB-240 series (or      compatible) host adapter. Mitsumi CRMC-FX001 (single speed), CRMC-FX001D (double-speed) Mitsumi CRMC-LU005, CRMC-LU002 Tandy CDR-1000 (Mitsumi) BSR-6800 (Mitsumi) Creative Labs OmniCD IBM ISA CD-ROM Drive Panasonic CR-521,522,523,562,563

Problem:

Problems with Warp GA drivers.

Fix:

Obtain an updated driver for your CD-ROM drive. These are currently available from the Talklink OS2BBS and CompuServe, and from ftp.cdrom.com in the /pub/os2/incoming directory. README files for each driver are included showing how to install them and what parameters each accepts.

File names:

CDDRVR.ZIP  All fixes contained in one file  1.0  11/22/94   93440 WLM205.ZIP  Philips LMS205 CD Driver         1.0  11/22/94   22320 WLM206.ZIP  Philips LMS206 CD Driver         1.0  11/22/94   23680 WMITFX.ZIP  Mitsumi CD Drivers               1.0  11/22/94   16640 WSBCD2.ZIP  SoundBlaster CD Driver           1.0  11/22/94   15600 WSONY5.ZIP  Sony 535 CD Driver               1.0  11/22/94   14720

Notes:

None

Symptoms:

The following messages at boot time (wording may differ slightly):

HDD Controller Failure Pres F1 to continue.

Hardware:

Most types of hard drives.

Problem:

There has been an ongoing discussion of this message and its various causes. Among the things that can cause this are:

- Incorrect data in CMOS setup (wrong or missing drive geometry,    drive not "enabled", etc.). This can be the result of a failing CMOS battery or acidental user intervention. - IRQ conflicts with other devices. - Master Boot Record and/or Partition Table for the boot drive is    mangled. - Improperly mastered/slaved IDE drives. - Incompatible IDE drives (example: many Conner drives will not     work when installed as as Slave and another brand of drive is set     as Master). - Active Primary partition is non-bootable (bad boot record, etc.). - Adapter not firmly seated in slot. - Last floppy drive in bootup sequence is bad or improperly attached. - Hard drive cable loose or twisted, or has a broken wire. - Drive or adapter failure. Not frequent, but it does happen. Also may be caused by a failing floppy drive.

Fix:

FDISK can be used to display the current partition status, and to  set the correct partition as "startable" (active Primary   partition). For systems with Boot Manager installed, this will normally be the Boot Manager partition; for Dual Boot systems where Boot Manager is not installed this will normally be the partition containing DOS and OS/2.

If the CMOS Setup information does not match the actual drive geometry (cylinders, heads, sectors), it should be corrected. Some BIOS Setup programs are able to obtain this information directly from the drive. Failing that, many new IDE drives have the drive geometry conveniently printed on a label on top of the drive. Otherwise, you'll need to consult your drive manufacturer or its Technical Support BBS. Or ask a friend or colleague who has the same drive.

A bad Master Boot Record/Partition Table can be fixed by doing an  FDISK /NEWMBR (recent versions of the DOS FDISK are reported as   supporting a similar feature with the syntax FDISK /MBR).

IRQ and I/O address (IOA) conflicts can located by a careful examination of the manuals of all adapters in the system. More often they are located by removing all non-critical adapters, then replacing adapters one by one until the problem recurs. Note that the last adapter replaced is only one of two (or more) contributing to the problem; you may want to remove all but that adapter and see if the problem disappears, then replace the remaining adapters until the second "IRQ sharer" is located.

Once located, IRQ and IOA problems can generally be fixed by   reassigning IOAs or IRQ levels used by one or more adapters.

Cables and adapters can be swapped with known working units to  narrow down the problem cause.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms: Warp installation fails on a SYS3175 (access violation exception), typically (but not always) around Diskette 1.

Hardware:

System board with external cache (e.g. most of today's 386, 486,   and Pentium system boards).

Problem:

Some system boards' external cache logic have intermittent cache coherency problems due to poor design. These tend to show up  sooner and more frequently under OS/2 because of its heavy use of   32-bit-wide RAM access.

Workaround:

Turn off the external cache using the system board's CMOS Setup program and restart the installation.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

Warp installation hangs on or about disk six

Hardware:

Ethernet adapter (e.g. NE2000) with an IOA (I/O address) of 0x0300.

Problem: Warp installation auto-detect is incorrectly identifying the adapter.

Workarounds:

- Remove the adapter until Warp is completely installed, or

- Move the adapter's I/O address, or

- Add the following as the first line of the installation CONFIG.SYS file to tell the Warp Resource Manager to ignore attempts at autodetecting hardware at the Ethernet adapter's    IOA:

BASEDEV=RESERVE.SYS /P:300

Notes:

IOA 0x300 is set as the manufacturer's default for a number of  CD-ROM drives. You need to be aware that if two adapters in the same system are actually set to use the same IOA (as opposed to a  mis-detection by OS/2's installation procedure) then the above workarounds will allow Warp installation to complete, but the conflict will re-surface as soon as the removed adapter is put back into the system.

Compaq DeskPro XE-486 note:

This model apparently includes a setup utility (EZSETUP) which allows the user to re-address an installed SMCPLUS adapter without removing it. Now, if we could just get all other adapter manufacturers to follow suit... (-)

Symptoms:

Video problems running seamless Windows sessions, possibly other display-related problems.

Hardware:

#9GXEPRO display adapter

Problem:

Problems with display drivers.

Fix:

Download an updated driver set from the #9 technical support BBS 617-862-7502 (8-N-1), 24 hour access. I believe that the file name is 9GXE64OS.EXE, but its description should specifically mention that it is intended for use with OS/2 Warp.

Notes:

There is a file named OBJINST.CMD in the driver package. I have been told that this must be renamed to INSTOBJ.CMD to make the driver installation work properly.

Symptoms:

Unable to find printer drivers.

Hardware:

Cannon Bubblejet-series ink-jet printers.

Problem:

Warp did not ship with drivers specific to this printer.

Fix:

I understand that OS/2 printer drivers are available on the Canon BBS (714-438-3325). For most users, however, it may be easier to  use the IBM ProPrinter driver and the printer's built-in emulation support.

One user running OS/2 2.1 with a Cannon BJ-200 is using the IBM 4070 IJ driver shipped with 2.1 and says that the IBM driver is an  improvement over the driver from the Canon BBS.

Notes:

If you decide to use the drivers from the Canon BBS, please drop me  e-mail and let me know how well they work.

Symptoms:

Error messages at boot time of the form "line xx is  unrecognizable." following uninstall of Warp OS/2 MultiMedia.

Hardware: Any.

Problem:

APAR PJ15966

Several users have reported having their CONFIG.SYS left in an  unusable state after using the new-with-Warp Selective Uninstall object in the System Setup folder. Damage included extra lines at   the end of the file and edit errors on individual lines.

Workaround:

Do not use the OS/2 Warp Selective Uninstall feature to remove MMPM/2. Instead, use the following procedure:

- Edit CONFIG.SYS and remove any references to the \MMOS2 directory.

- Delete the contents of the Multimedia folder on the WPS Desktop, then delete the folder itself. - Shut down OS/2 and re-boot to free up any MMOS2 DLLs in use. - Remove the \MMOS2 directory.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

TRAP 0003 error (APAR PJ16058) Drive does not work with OS/2 Warp

Hardware:

Mitsumi 3x, 4x (e.g. FX001DE), Sony 55D, 55E IDE CD-ROM drives.

Problem:

The Warp IBM1S506.ADD driver provides ATAPI support for IDE CD-ROM drives, but the above listed CD-ROM drives are not fully ATAPI compliant. The Mitsumi drives return an improper length value under some circumstances, the Sony drives fail to initialize properly.

Fix:

A new driver is available from CompuServe as ATAPI.ZIP. Hopefully this fix will make it to TalkLink OS2BBS and ftp.cdrom.com shortly.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

Unable to install OS/2 Warp Version 3 from CD. Warp installation indicates no matching driver found.

Hardware:

AZTECH CDA 268-01A Double Speed CD-ROM drive. NEC 3xi DCD-ROM drive attached to PAS-16 with built-in SCSI.

Problem:

Warp does not ship a driver for the AZTECH. It does ship the TMV1SCSI.ADD driver for the PAS-16/NEC, but the driver may not be  autodetected properly.

Fix:

For the NEC, try manually selecting the driver. If this fails, you will have to insert the driver inot CONFIG.SYS manually.

Drivers for the AZTECH have been reported as being available from the Aztech BBS (incorrect number removed, correct number unknown).

Notes:

Please let your manufacturer know that his product is being used with OS/2, and that having an OS/2 driver available for it is  important.

Symptoms:

MSWin communication programs get the message "COMx in use", even when no communications programs are using the port.

MSWin communication programs hang or drop the line unexpectedly.

Hardware:

External modem (may not matter)

Problem:

APAR PJ16160

There is a problem with the version of COMM.DRV provided in MSWin 3.11 and MSWin-for-Workgroups v3.11.

Fix:

Try using a copy of COMM.DRV from MSWin 3.1 in place of the MSWin-for-Workgroups v3.11 driver. Success for this problem was reported using a COMM.DRV with a date of 03-10-92 and a size of  9280 bytes.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

Spooler reports a printer as off-line or out of paper, or printer accepts data but never prints. Printer works fine under DOS or   previous version of OS/2.

Hardware:

Various printers, including an Oki OL400 (emulating HP LaserJetII), a real HP LaserJet II, HP PaintJet and PaintJet-XL, a HP Deskjet Plus, Panasonic models KX-P1124i and KX-P1123, an NEC SilentWriter 2/M90 (PS laser printer), and a Fujitsu 7100PS. Not to mention Lantastic printer support.

Problem:

Under OS/2 2.x, the low-level printer support was interrupt driven, using IRQ7 for LPT1 and IRQ5 for LPT2. This was good (low  overhead, good throughput) and bad (IRQ conflicts with   SoundBlasters and other adapters, no choice on IRQ used, printer   adapters and cables which worked under DOS might not under OS/2).

Beginning with OS/2 Warp Version 3, the OS/2 Development staff introduced a "stealth" enhancement: the default low-level printer support is now handled by periodically "polling" the printer port to see when it can accept the next character. This is good (allows  a lot of printers, cables, and LPTx adapters to work under OS/2   that might not otherwise) and bad (increased overhead).

User feedback seems to be mixed. Some printers seem to work acceptably with OS/2 polled printing, some do not.

Fix:

You can re-introduce interrupt-driven printer support by editing your OS/2 CONFIG.SYS file to add a /IRQ to the PRINT01.SYS or  PRINT02.SYS statement. For more information, type HELP BASEDEV at  a command prompt and then do a Search for PRINT01.

Notes:

Human nature being what it is, there are more postings describing printer problems than reports of printers working roperly with the new polled support. At first I thought it might be related to the new OMNI driver (another Warp "stealth" feature), but I don't  believe that the HP Laserjets or PostScript printers use the OMNI driver. If anyone can come up with specific criteria that can determine whether a given printer or LPT1 adapter will work properly using Warp's default "polled" printer support, please let me know.

Although it is nowhere explicitly stated, it appears that there is  still no choice on printer IRQs if you use them. With the /IRQ parameter in place IRQ7 will be used for LPT1 and IRQ5 for LPT2.

Symptoms:

Floppy drive does not recognize when a diskette is replaced.

Hardware:

Problem:

Some diskette drives provide a signal to indicate that the media has changed ("change line"). Normally the IBM1FLPY.ADD driver determines this status at startup time, but in some cases it  appears to be in error.

Fix:

First, look at the available options for the IBM1FLPY.ADD driver in  the Warp Command Reference by typing HELP BASEDEV at a command prompt and then selecting the entry for IBM1FLPY. Don't overlook the Examples page.

Second, see what the IBM1FLPY driver the drive is  providing by adding a /V (verbose) switch to the driver line in   CONFIG.SYS and rebooting. If there is text of the form ...Options: CL+..., then the driver thinks that the drive is providing such a  signal.

Finally, to override an incorrect assumption for (say) both diskette drives, modify the IBMFLPY line in CONFIG.SYS to look like the following:

BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD /A:0 /U:0 /CL:NONE /U:1 /CL:NONE

If you're unclear on these options, go back and check them in the Command Reference.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

Warp bootup seems to take much longer than expected, with much more disk activity.

Hardware:

Any.

Problem:

WPS Desktop Settings notebook accidentally left enabled. This results in the entire WPS desktop being archived each time Warp is  booted before the user gets control. This can easily add several minutes to the boot process.

Fix:

Open the Desktop Settings notebook to the index tab marked Archive and un-check the box marked "Create archive at each system  restart".

Notes:

In general, you shold only make archival copies of the Desktop after making large changes to it or at reasonable intervals (say  every few days).

Symptoms:

Adapter not recognized.

Hardware:

NCR SCSI adapter

Problem:

Driver not shipped with OS/2 Warp.

Fix:

Obtain updated drivers. These are available via FTP from ftp.ncr.com (192.127.252.6) in /pub/ncrchips/scsi/drivers/os2 as   file os2_drv.zip. This file contains the OS2CAM.ADD, OS2CAM.DDP, and information files necessary for using the driver.

Notes:

None.

Symptoms:

Unable to use higher screen resolutions. Blank black screen while OS/2 is fully functional. Bad refres hrates. 1024x768x256 resolution corrupts character set and causes loss of right side of  PM windows.

Hardware:

Miro Crystal 20SD PCI version, other S3 864 based video adapters.

Problem:

Warp SVGA.EXE does not create a correct SVGADATA.PMI file.

Fix:

Use a copy of the OS/2 2.11 SVGA.EXE under DOS (SVGA ON DOS) to  create a SVGADATA.DOS file. Copy this file to your OS/2 partition as SVGADATA.PMI.

Notes:

Due to the use of a backlevel SVGA.EXE the System Setup -> System object Screen pages may not be set up properly.

Paul Kolenbrander (paul@serena.iaehv.nl) will be providing a  documentation file and a copy of the 2.11 SVGA.EXE at   

Symptoms:

Any of the following OS/2 error messages:

SYS0005, SYS1200, SYS1201, SYS1475, SYS1719, SYS2025, SYS2026, SYS2027, SYS2028, SYS2029, SYS2030, SYS3147, SYS3147.

Hardware:

Any.

Problem:

Message-dependent.

Fix:

See the appropriate section of Chapter 14 of the "User's Guide to  OS/2 Warp". Also, these error message codes are listed in the index, under (e.g.) "SYS1475".

Notes:

The material may not instantly solve your problem, but it will generally give you a clearer idea of what OS/2 thinks is not working.

Selected OS/2 Warp APARs
Since a discussion of the exact definition of what an APAR is and what it represents has been known to trigger month-long flame-fests and to start religious wars, I won't.... I'll simply say that the following represent summaries of problems reported to IBM and not immediately tossed in the RTFM bucket (-).

Please note the use of the word "summaries". In the interests of saving space I have removed large chunks of each APAR listing. If you feel that what you are experiencing fits with one of the APARs, be sure to report it to IBM. Their copy of each APAR will be anywhere from two weeks to a month newer than my information, and you generally want the latest fix or workaround.

Why report it? Two reasons. First, to make sure you are added to the Interested Parties (IP) List for the problem so you will be informed when a fix or workaround becomes available. That's the short-term reason.

Second, to ensure that IBM is aware of how users are experiencing the problem. This is the long-term reason.

True story: the OS/2 2.1 ServicePak (XR06200), as shipped, contained a nasty bug in the swap file handling logic that could keep your swap file from shrinking. Result? A swap file that grew, and grew, and... well, you get the picture. Descriptions of this and other problems were passed on by word of mouth and e-mail, and many users avoided installing XR06200 altogether (and thus avoided the problems).

IBM was slow in delivering a fix for that bug, and one of the reasons given was that it didn't appear to affect very many users... based on the number of problems.

Moral: if you need oil, squeak! Even if you're a Wheel (-).

APAR PJ15972 FDISK INDICATES A CORRUPTED HARDISK IF THERE ARE AIX PARTITIONS ON THE SECOND HARDRIVE(WARP)

FDISK issues a warning that the hardrive may be corrupt when it detects AIX partitions on the second hardrive. FDISK also will not allow partitions to be created on             the second drive until a new partition record has been written.

APAR PJ15995 SELECTIVE INSTALL IN WARP RESULT IN SYS3175 IN OS2MM.DLL 0001:0002930C

Executing install.exe results in SYS3175 in OS2MM.DLL from the up and running warp.

APAR PJ16019 EXCEPTION IN SINGLEQ$ OS2 V3.0(WARP) LOADING SVGA DRIVER. EIP VALUE SHOULD BE 00000971.

HARDWARE: Gateway 2000 (486-33 w. 24 MB RAM), Diamond Speedstar+, US Robotics Sportster 144, Sony CD33A controller, ProAudioSpectrum-16 Basic

APAR PJ16077 SYSTEM HANGS ON WARP DISK1 WITH A BLANK SCREEN, CURSOR BLINKING IN TOP LEFT. IBMKBD.SYS BROKEN/REGRESSED.

APAR PJ16085 UNZIP PROBLEM INSTALLING "INTERNET CONNECTION FOR OS/2" PORTION OF THE WARP BONUSPACK FROM CDROM ON MITSUMI DRIVES.

[Ed. This is the "did not unzip correctly (rc=-51)" error.]

APAR PJ16086 WARP INSTALLATION HANGS ON DISK#1 WITH POWERGRAPH VL-24 STB VIDEO CARD

WARP installation hangs on disk#1 if PowerGraph VL-24 STB video card is present in the system. It reads the installation disk fine, but on disk#1 it hangs just after displaying the WARP logo.

Suggested workaround: turn ON the wait state option via a hardware jumper.

APAR PJ16089 MACH32 DRIVER HANGS SYSTEM WHEN SWITCHING FROM DESKTOP TO WINOS/2 FULLSCREEN

Workaround: use the 8514 or the 28800/Mach8 driver

APAR PJ16092 WARP LEVEL IBMS1506 DRIVER WILL NOT WORK WITH CONNER CP3204F DRIVE AS SLAVE

When installing Warp using the IBMS1506 driver (at Warp             level), the partition is created but system will not format the slave drive ("Format unsuccessful").

Workaround: use the the IBMS1506.ADD driver shipped with OS/2 2.11.

APAR PJ16105 TRAP 003 IN MACHINES WITH IDE CDROM WITH HEAVY SWAPPING UNDER WARP OS/2 VERSION 3.0

ATAPI CDROM Drives (IDE CD-ROM) in certain low memory situations may trigger a Trap 003 if there is heavy swapping, especially during Install.

APAR PJ16121 WARP AHA152X.ADD NOT WORKING WITH SOME CDROM'S.

If a /V is added to the BASEDEV=AHA152X.ADD line in             CONFIG.SYS, the verbose message indicates that the driver does find the CD-ROM drive.

Workaround: use the OS2 2.11 version of AHA152X.ADD.

APAR PJ16131 CHANGING ARCHIVE LOCATION DOES NOT WORK UNDER OS/2 WARP: SYSTEM WILL ONLY BOOT TO PM WITH NO DESKTOP

Under OS/2 Warp (v3 XR03000) if the archive location is             modified under the Desktop's Settings to any location other than the default directory of x:\OS2\ARCHIVES the archive choices cannot be accessed at the Alt+F1 menu.

APAR PJ16226 WARP IBM1FLPY.ADD HAS SLOW ACCESS ON (E)ISA FLOPPY CONTROLLERS

Warp floppy drive access is extremely slow on some ISA systems. Other symptoms may be SYS0039 errors prior to             being able to access the drive. This happens during and after installation. Seen with Ultrastor 24F and Adaptec 2370C adapters, but others may be affected as well. In             cases where access is extremely slow with the drive light on, it may appear to be a system hang.

Workarounds: swap adapter, or install a back-level copy of IBM1FLPY.ADD.

APAR PJ16229 COM.SYS WILL NOT LOAD IF SHARING IRQS. USED TO WORK UNDER THE OS/2 2.X PRODUCT.

"SYS1201: device driver COM.SYS was not installed." message seen if IRQs are shared between the various COM (serial) ports.

APAR PJ16231 WARP FAILS TO INSTALL ON HARD DRIVES ON ADAPTEC 2940 SCSI CARD.

Installing Warp will hang on Diskette 1 when installing on a hard drive that is attached to an Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI adapter.

APAR PJ16241 WARP DPT20XX.ADD DRIVER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE CDROM.

The Warp OS2 3.0 DPT20XX.ADD driver does not recognize cdroms. This problem has been seen with the DPT 2021 SmartCache III and the 2011 SmartCache Plus, but may exist with all DPT cards. Typically the customer will report that the cdrom was working under 2.X, but after installing Warp, cdrom support was lost.

Workaround: use DPT20XX.ADD from OS2 2.X.

APAR PJ16247 WARP IS NOT UPDATING MOUSE.INI WHEN LAUNCHING ANY WINOS2 SESSION

WIN-OS/2 fails to launch if there is no mouse type specified in MOUSE.INI

APAR PJ16278 INTERNET DIALER WHEN DOWNLOADING FROM ADVANTIS WILL NOT WORK. CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE TIME OUTS, SLOW RESPONSE AND OTHER FAILURES

Slow response, time outs and other communication type failures when downloading the updated Internet Dialer program or other large files. Testing has shown that the problem is specific to the NS16450 (non-buffered) UART. Customers with NS16550 (buffered) UARTS do not experience this problem.

[Ed. BrandEx dual-"16550" IDE-SIO-PIO adapters were selling for $26-32 at the last computer show here in             RIchmond vs. $12-16 for 16450-based adapters. Of             course, I don't know how much longer it will be before even a 16-byte buffer is too small to prevent overruns... (-)]

APAR PJ16282 DATA CORRUPTION DURING I/O ON HARD DRIVE CONNECTED TO               PCI IDE PORT.

In OS/2 Warp, data corruption occurs during I/O on an             IDE hard drive that is connected to a PCI port on a              system with an AMI BIOS. Originally seen in OS2 2.11 but has also been reported in Warp. Symptoms are errors when doing a compare after an XCOPY or COPY, or random errors when doing a CHKDSK or running a compiler.

Workaround: disconnect the IDE drive from the PCI port and connect it to the ISA port.

This is a second draft. Please send comments, updates, and suggestions to Frank McKenney, rrs0059@ibm.net. Be warned that flames will be automatically routed to an attack-trained copy of Warp's UltiMail/2 Lite; on detecting a flame it will promptly trigger a SYS3175 self-destruct sequence, taking the offending missive with it.