OS/2 Tips and Techniques

OS/2 Tips and Techniques Version 1.1 4/20/92

David E. Reich IBM Corp OS/2 Technical Support

Introduction

This is an informal document, produced by the OS/2 Technical Support Team. It includes tips and techniques describing how to use and navigate around OS/2 2.0 along with information on known techniques or workarounds for various applications and machine types.

It is recommended to read the OS/2 2.0 product README file as well as this document.

This document will continue to be updated. As we discover new techniques and tips, they will be reflected in this paper.

The purpose of this document is to provide readers with an awareness of quick and easy ways to accomplish various tasks with OS/2. There are also techniques and information that will help you run your OS/2 system on various machine configurations.

This document is organized in three sections. Section 1 describes tips and techniques on topics such as backing up a complete set of your INI files and desktop configuration, quickly customizing the WorkPlace Shell and the like. Section 2 will cover application configuration and compatibility topics and section 3 will discuss hardware topics.

If you have any questions or comments on this document, or find anything you feel may be of use to others and would like to see in a future revision of the OS/2 TNT document, please contact the author, or one of the IBM service representatives on Compuserve, BIX, Prodigy, IIN or other applicable service.

Notes: Compuserve membership services can be reached at 1-800-848-8199 x239.

IBM IIN BBS registration can be reached at 1-800-547-1283.

General IBM OS/2 product information and availability can be       obtained by calling 1-800-3IBMOS2.

The OS/2 Support Line is available at 1-800-237-5511. This is a       free service for the first 60 days.

Section 1 - General Tips, hints and techniques -

- Reading the README before install -

The README file for OS/2 2.0 is packed on diskette number 6. If you have a system with a formatted hard disk, you can manually unpack the file and read it before installation. To do this, boot the install disk. Then when prompted, insert disk 1. Then when asked to press ESC to cancel, press the ESC key. You will get a command prompt. Copy the file UNPACK.EXE from disk 2 onto your hard disk. Then insert disk 6. Make your hard disk the current drive and type:

UNPACK A:\REQUIRED. /N:README

You will them have the readme on your hard disk, suitable for reading and/or printing.

- If your installation procedure aborts -

There may be occasion when your install aborts. For example, if you get a power hit. If you have passed the first reboot, and are in the graphical installation, you can restart your installation procedure without going through all of the preliminary steps.

1) Identify which disk was being unpacked when the procedure failed.  2) Subtract that from 16 and add one. For example, if you were on disk 9, then your result would be 8. 3) Boot from the install disk, and insert disk 1 when prompted.  4) When you are asked to press ESC to cancel, press the ESC key. You will get a command prompt. 5) Use a text editor to edit the CONFIG.SYS file on the hard disk.  6) In the line starting with FIRSTDISK, edit that to be      FIRSTDISK= example: FIRSTDISK=9 7) In the line starting with NUMDISKS, edit that to be     NUMDISKS=       example: NUMDISKS=7   8) Now remove the diskettes and reboot from the hard disk. You will see the graphical install panel. Select OK, Install and all defaults. You will now be prompted for the disk from step 1, which is the disk where the procedure aborted before. All of your previous Selective Install choices are preserved.

- Immediately after install -

After installation, and before you run any DOS or Windows programs, we recommend you shut down your system. This only needs to be done once, immediately after you are finished installing OS/2 2.0

- Changing icon text color

If you want to change the color of the text under the icons in a folder, use the color palette to drag a color to the icon text. To do this, open the color palette. Choose the color. Then press the Ctrl key and while holding that down, use mouse button 2 to click and drag the desired color from the palette to the icon text. Then drop the color there and release the Ctrl key. Note that all icon text within a folder is changed. You cannot do this on a per-icon basis within a folder.

- Creating icons from/for graphical applications --

NOTE: This will only work for graphical applications. Text applications must have custom icons done by hand.

1. Bring up the program in a windowed session, and use the system icon (upper left corner) pulldown to change it to a windowed, scaled image. 2. Run the program until a nice graphic about the size of an icon appears on the screen. (E.g., Mario standing on the lowest level, poised for     action.) 3. Select mark from the system icon, and mark the graphic area about the size of a desktop icon. Then select "copy" to move it to the clipboard. 4. Open the settings for the program, and select the General tab, to     get to the "DOS" icon. 5. Select the create another button, which brings up the icon editor. 6. Select File/New, and Icon, to create a new icon. 7. Select Edit/Paste to paste in your graphic. Clean it up a little with the icon editor, if you want. 8. Select File/Save as, and store it as program.ico (eg, Mario.ico) in the same drive and directory as the program (.com, .exe) itself is stored. Exit the icon editor. 9. (You're back at the settings notebook.) Click the Find button, and find the .ico you just stored. Using the Drives tab is the easiest way. Select the icon, and save. 10.Exit the settings folder, and voila! The "DOS" icon has been replaced with a snazzy graphic icon, right out of the application.

- If you lose some important folders --

An interesting thing happened where a user dragged the OS/2 System object into a drive folder. The user subsequently closed the drive folder and all drives objects. The user could not get to the OS/2 System object, because the drives objects were in it, and it was in the drives object!

All folders are represented in the OS/2 file system. If you run into a  situation like the one described above, you can use the OS/2 command line to do the following:

Use the MOVE command to move the folder (a subdirectory within the file  system) to the proper place.

For example, the OS/2 System folder is called "OS!2 System". You will notice that each folder has a representative subdirectory under the "OS!2 2.0 DESKTOP" subdirectory.

To move a folder that is inaccessible due to a scenario described above, use the MOVE command to place it in an accessible place. To move the "OS!2 SYSTEM" folder to the desktop, for example, go into the subdirectory where "OS!2 SYSTEM" is. Then type:

MOVE "OS!2 SYSTEM" \"OS!2 2.0 DESKTOP"

This will move the folder back to the desktop.

NOTE: ONLY do this if your folders are inaccessible from the shell!

- Quick and easy way to get an OS/2 Window

Add a new menu item to the desktop pop-up menu pointing to CMD.EXE

1) Click with the right mouse button to get the menu.  2) Open settings 3) Go to the MENU page  4) On the primary pop-up entry, select "Create Another" 5) For the program name, put in OS/2 Window (or whatever you'd like)  6) For the program name enter C:\OS2\CMD.EXE (or use whatever your boot                                                 drive is) 7) Close all windows opened in steps 1-6.  8) Now click the right mouse button on the desktop to bring up the menu. You now see your OS/2 Window entry on the menu. Selecting it will give you an OS/2 window.

- Enabling the UNDELETE function --

If you activate the OS/2 UNDELETE function, you should only delete files from command prompts. Files deleted through the Workplace Shell user interface are permanently deleted.

To activate this function, simply edit the CONFIG.SYS file, and remove the "REM" from the line beginning REM SET DELDIR.......

Upon reboot, the undelete function is active

- Preventing STARTUP applications from opening

OS/2 2.0 has a STARTUP folder which will automatically start any programs within it at system boot time. Additionally, any programs that were running when the system was shut down are started upon bootup.

There may be some cases where you have installed an application to  automatically start and it has somehow become corrupted. It is sometimes useful to inhibit the auto-start features of the Workplace Shell. You can do this as follows:

When the system is starting, you will see the Workplace desktop background paint. As soon as you see the mouse pointer show up on the desktop, press and hold the CTRL and SHIFT keys then press and hold the F1 key. You should hold this down for approximately 15 seconds, or until the desktop icons appear. If the hard disk light stops during this period, your system may be suspended. Release the keys quickly, then resume holding them until the desktop icons appear.

This will inhibit all of the applications in the startup folder from coming up, and inhibit the auto-start of programs running at the time the system was shut down.

- Shutting down a mouseless system

The shutdown procedure is accessed from the desktop's menu. To access this menu without a mouse, first press and hold the CTRL key while pressing the ESC key. Cursor up to the OS/2 Desktop entry and hit ENTER. Now press the spacebar to deselect all currently selected icons. Press SHIFT and hit the F10 key. This will bring up the desktop's menu. You can now cursor down to  the Shutdown option and press enter to shut down the system.

- Restoring a corrupted desktop -

There may be cases where your desktop may have been corrupted. An example is if you booted DOS and tried to rearrange your hard disk and corrupted either INI files or Extended Attributes. The following mechanisms have been implemented to help in these cases.

1) There is an undocumented function in OS/2 2.0 that will backup your     current INI files and CONFIG.SYS and give you the ones that were set up      initially during installation. Note however, that any modifications      (such as shadows and associations) since installation will be lost      and have to be recreated.

This is function is also useful if you have followed the product documentation and created new INI files you wish to make current. (i.e.- OS/2 1.3 "look and feel" INI files)

The steps are:

a) Reboot your system.

b) As soon as you hear a single beep from the system speaker after the        Power on Self Test completes (or as soon as you hit the enter key at         the MOST menu or power-on password prompt), press and hold the         ALT key and press F1. Hold these keys down until you hear rapid         beeping from the system indicating that the keyboard buffer is full.

c) This will back up your old INI files and CONFIG.SYS. You will see        a message during the boot process confirming the backup. If you do not         see the message, it did not work and you may have to try again.         This will not erase any files off of your disk, just restore your         desktop to a basic state.

The INI files in the \OS2\INSTALL will be copied and made active. If you have new INI files you wish to make current, place them here (but remember to back up a copy of the old ones). Then execute this procedure.

2) If you have corrupted INI files, or lose objects such as the clock or     font palettes, and option (1) above does not help, you can retrieve them      by remaking your INI file.

To do this, boot off the install disks. Press ESC to get to a command prompt and change to the \OS2 directory.

Once there, type MAKEINI OS2.INI INI.RC

Then reboot your machine.

This will look at the INI file from installation and merge items in it     with your current INI file, thus restoring the lost objects.

3) If you have corrupted EAs and have lost folders and/or program     references, the recommended method is to simply use the templates      and recreate them.

The second option is to try step (1), above.

In the event that your desktop objects are so far gone that you cannot use it (this is the last resort), boot your install disks and escape to a command prompt. Then delete the \"OS!2 2.0 DESKTOP" directory and everything underneath it. Then look at item (1), above.

Section 2 - Application tips -

- Microsoft Windows Product -  In general, it is advisable to not keep the Microsoft Windows product on   your OS/2 system. The reason is that IBM OS/2 2.0 includes a full, working copy of the Windows code called WIN-OS2. Applications from Windows can be  run under WIN-OS2. We advise that you use OS/2's "Migrate Applications" utility to capture all of your Windows apps and remove the Windows code. Many of the files from Microsoft Windows have the same names as WIN-OS2, but are different. WIN-OS2 offers you the function of running Windows programs on your OS/2 desktop and if Windows files are also on your disk, there may be conflicts. So, if you plan to run WIN-OS2, you should remove the Windows product from your disk.

- Clipboarding from DOS or OS/2 to WIN-OS2 programs -  If you are using the clipboard to cut. copy or paste from DOS or OS/2 Presentation Manager programs to a Windows (WIN-OS2) application, be sure that both the OS/2 or DOS application AND the Windows application are running before doing the mark, then cut or copy from the source. If not, the copy may not be successful.

- Configuring Program References --  OS/2 2.0 is an object-oriented system. Is is very tempting to enter the Drives folders and begin moving program files where you want to use them. The recommended way to do this is to not move the program files, but to  create Program Reference objects. In the settings for these objects, you specify where the program file is. An alternative method is to create a shadow of the program file. This way the files stays where the application installation program put it, and no matter where it is  subsequently moved, the shadow points to it. You can then place the shadow(s) wherever you like.

- Borland C++ ---  If you wish to run Borland C++ for DOS under OS/2, you need to set the DOS settings for that session for DPMI_DOS_API. This setting must be  DPMI_DOS_API set to ENABLE in order for C++ to function.

- After Dark for Windows --  After Dark, the Windows screen saver program, places a TSR (terminate and   stay-resident) program into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file when it install itself. If you wush to run After Dark in seamless mode (a Windows window on the  OS/2 desktop) then you must remove the reference to After Dark in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

- IBM PC LAN Support Program --  If you use the IBM PC LAN Support Program using the DOS device drivers in an MVDM session, it may be necessary to reset the token ring adapter card. That is, if you open the VDM, then shut it down and subsequently wish to open another VDM with the LAN program. The file RSTTOK.ZIP can be found in the IBMFILES section on Compuserve and on the IBM National Support Center BBS. (For IBM internal users, it can be  found as RSTTOK PACKAGE on OS2TOOLS).

- Microsoft Word for OS/2 ---  Microsoft Word for OS/2 has experienced problems running on OS/2 2.0. Microsoft is able to provide a fix for this. If you are a registered user of Word for OS/2, you may call Microsoft Support and request this fix.

- Lotus Freelance Graphics for OS/2 -  If you are a user of Lotus Freelance Graphics for OS/2, you may experience problems installing the software. This has to do with how Freelance checks for OS/2 version levels. A fix is available from Lotus. You may also download FLGOS2.ZIP from the IBM BBS or Compuserve (in the IBMFILES  section) or INSTAL.ZIP from the LOTUS section of Compuserve.

- IBM 4029 Postscript driver for WIN-OS2 --  If you are installing the IBM4029 WINDOWS Postscript driver for use in   Win-OS/2, use the following steps. Doing it in any other way may create an invalid entry in your WIN.INI file.

Click on the Control Panel icon Click on the Printers icon Click on the button "Add Printer" Select from the list of printers "Unlisted Printer" (bottom of list) Insert the printer drivers diskette 4 In the Files and Directories dialog click on "A:" Choose PSCRIPT.DRV from files list (PScript driver is being installed)

Click on button "Configure" Select proper port Click button "Setup" Select from list of printers "IBM4029 (17 font, 600 dpi)  Click on "OK" 3 times.   Exit the Control Panel   Exit WIN-OS/2, saving changes

Section 3 - Hardware tips -

- Alternate pointing devices --  There is an undocumented function in the mouse device driver. If you have some alternate pointing device such as a tablet or touch screen, you may use it in addition to the the regular mouse pointing device.

1) Install the device driver for the device with the appropriate     DEVICE= statement in CONFIG.SYS (this must be an OS/2 device driver)

2) Add the following to the end of the DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS line:

STYPE=xxxxxx$

Where the xxxxx$ is the name of the device (from the device driver's     manual)

3) Upone reboot, both pointing devices will be active.

- AOX systems ---  If your computer has an AOX add-in processor card and you encounter problems either installing or booting your OS2 system, you should call AOX support and ask for the latest "flash-prom" code upgrade.

- ISA (non Microchannel or non-EISA) bus systems --  Some customers with AT-bus(ISA) systems may have disk controllers that are not recognized or supported by 2.0. OEM drivers for their disk controller may not yet be available.

SYMPTOMS: Very slow install Very noisy hard disk during install FDISK errors Disk not recognized

WORKAROUND: 1) Use DOS to edit the CONFIG.SYS on Diskette #1 in the 2.0 package.     Diskette #1 is the first diskette AFTER the Install diskette.

Change the line - BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD

to

REM BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD

2) Boot the Install diskette and proceed with Install through the     first five diskettes.

3) After diskettes 1 through 5 are processed, you are asked to     reinsert the Install diskette.      DO SO.      After copying some files from the Install diskette, you are      asked to remove the Install diskette and press Enter to reboot.

DO NOT DO THIS. LEAVE THE INSTALL DISKETTE IN THE DRIVE.

4) Press Enter with the Install diskette in the drive.     This will boot the Install diskette.      You will be asked to insert Diskette #1.      DO SO.      Watch the screens carefully. You will see a      screen that tells you (on the lower left) to press ESC to exit.      When you see this, press Esc.

5) You are now at a command line.     Enter the following commands:

RENAME C:\OS2\IBM1S506.ADD  IBM1S506.XXX COPY  C:\OS2\IBMINT13.I13   C:\OS2\IBM1S506.ADD

Note: If C is not your install drive, adjust the commands accordingly.

6) Remove the diskette from the drive.     Press ALT-CTRL-DEL to reboot the system, and install will      pick up where it left off.

- IBM PS/2 Model 90/95 systems For model 90 systems, you should ensure that your system has engineering change (EC) level ECA-053 and/or ECA-084. ECA-053 is needed to address a downlevel processor card which could cause memory parity errors. The ECA-084 is to address a memory riser-card problem that could cause memory errors. Your IBM hardware service representative can assist you with this.

If your processor card has part number 84F9356 then it should be replaced. (ECA-053)

If your memory "riser" card is part number 84F8157, then it should be replaced. (ECA-084)

For both model 90 and 95 machines, you must ensure that you have matched pairs of memory SIMMs. This means that each pair of SIMMs, as described in your technical reference manual, must be matched as to memory size and speed. Mixing SIMMS can cause some machines to report memory errors.

- Printing When instaling auxiliary parallel port expansion cards, you need to  ensure that they are configured to share interrupt level 7 (IRQ7). Not doing so will cause printing under OS/2 to function erratically.

If you send a print job to a printer that is powered off, you may experience a corrupted job when responding to the RETRY dialog after powering on the printer. You should cancel the job and resubmit it  after turning on the printer.

There are some printers, when attached to an IBM Model 95 can lose interrupts if DMA Parallel is turned on. By turning off DMA parallel with the reference disk, you can clear this up. This can vary from system to system and printer to printer.

- SCSI cards --  The early versions of the IBM 16-bit SCSI adapters may experience problems and report erroneously that the device is not functioning. This can be corrected by replacing the SCSI card with a card with updated microcode.

- General ---  There have been some intermittent problems using 50 mHz systems with AT-style bus machines with a mouse. The mouse can get out of synch. Input will function through the keyboard and the mouse, but it is  recommended to shutdown the system and restart to "resynch" the mouse.

Thanks to the following contributors:

Irv Spalten             IBM Corp. Dave Blaschke            IBM Corp. John Hare and Jeff Muir  IBM Corp. Mel Hallerman            IBM Corp.

Anyone else who I may have forgotten.