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OS/2 Tips

We scan the Web, Usenet and the OS/2 mailing lists looking for these gems. Have you run across an interesting bit of information about OS/2 or eComStation recently? Please share it with all our readers. Send your tips to tips@os2voice.org. If you are interested in joining a particular OS/2 mailing list, check out the VOICE Mailing List page for subscribing instructions for a large variety of existing lists - http://www.os2voice.org/mailinglists.html.

Editor's note: these tips are from OS/2-eComStation users and in some cases can not be verified by myself. Please heed this as a warning that if you are not sure about something, don't do it.

I'm not sure how many people will need it, but there must be more than one person who uses the PC for Linux and OS/2.

To format the eCS partition with a block size compatible with the Linux JFS (only 4096 byte block size supported under Linux at present - August 2001) issue the following command (after having backed up the data to a separate partition of course).

format x: /fs:jfs /l /v:drive_x /bs:4096

where x is the drive letter of the partition (volume) you wish to make JFS. the /l is the long format which I prefer and believe is worth the additional time when changing formats.

The bs:4096 is just telling the format command to use a block size of 4096 bytes. Not too much wasted space and due to the efficiency and speed of JFS well worth it.

If you've ever wondered about IBMese (e.g., DASD):

http://www-3.ibm.com/ibm/terminology/goc/gocmain.htm

And there're actually many general computing terms as well.

No, Process Commander isn't still being updated -- in no small measure, no doubt, because it is based on WatchCat, whose authors have, as previously noted, "done a bunk."

However I was able to continue using it on Warp 4 even with FP13, FP14 and FP15 -- the only difference was that I had to use a key combination other than Ctrl-Alt-Del to activate it:

There are two steps:

1. Get the file EXEPATCH.ZIP from Hobbes: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/system/exepatch.zip Then run the EXEPATCH program to patch the doscall1.dll file.

2. Follow the method in the Process Commander docs for using PC with systems that use their own non-standard keyboard drivers (such as early Matrox video cards used).

>From the PC 1.01 README.TXT:

"Special Instructions for OS/2 2.x Users, Matrox users, Japanese OS/2
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The OS/2 keyboard driver on OS/2 2.x and japanese OS/2 may not be compatible with the Process Commander keyboard driver. Some users reported problems with special versions of the Matrox display adapter, because those adapter have their own keyboard driver. In those cases please restore the old driver (cf. \OS2\BOOT\KBDBASE.TXT) and insert the line:

DEVICE=C:\PC\TMP\PCKBD.SYS KEYB:CA-A

to activate with Ctrl-Alt-A. Hotkeys for other things than activation are currently not supported by PCKBD.SYS "

IOW, Ctrl-Alt-Delete now still does a reboot, but PC can still be invoked by using Ctrl-Alt-A (or whatever other key combination you choose).

NOTE: I think you're going to have to do both the above procedures immediately after installing Process Commander without rebooting first.

For a more detailed explanation look at:

http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug003.mrkia.html

I recently identified one possible cause for this problem (there are probably several). Here's how you can fix that one:

- use Alt-F1 at boot-up, then choose F4 (Maintenance Desktop)
- minimize the big window which covers the Desktop and move the Selective Install window out of the way
- from the System->Command Prompts folder, open an OS/2 window
- if you have a preferred ini-editor run it from there, otherwise run "regedit2"
- select os2.ini (a.k.a. the "user profile")
- locate the "SYS_DLLS" entry, and under that select "LoadPerProcess"
- in the data for this entry, confirm that each dll name listed is separated by a space. In a standard install, you should see "PMCTLS SND". If instead, you see "PMCTLSSND ", then this is the problem. Use the editor to insert a space, then exit and reboot.

BTW... what were you doing prior to encountering this problem? Had you just installed some new s/w? I ran into this after reinstalling MMOS2.

After getting rid of a desktop with the same name... Pull up the task list(Ctrl+Esc) and Alt+Click on the desktop entry. You change the name there.

I would strongly recommend *never* leaving group windows open while running a download. Apart from anything else, it adds enormously to the processing that has to be done and the locking that goes on to ensure that everything is updated correctly on the display. I say this from personal expereince gained over the last few days on the machine I've been testing on. With two article threads going I can max out my ADSL line pulling down ~62KB/s on a dual PPro200/512 with cpu usage running at about 40% on both engines. If I do the same download with a group window open the throughput drops _and_ the cpu usage goes to 100% on both engines!

Remember OS/2's pickup capability? Press ALT-right mouse button on "C Code". It will be highlighted and the cursor changes to a camera. Now scroll until "Source Code" is visible. Place the cursor onto "Source Code" and press CTRL-right mouse button. Ta daa!

Netscape has this function built in. Open up your bookmarks (CTRL-B) and select the bookmarks you want to check (or don't select any). Under the View menu is an option called "Update Bookmarks". It gives you an option of selected or All. It will go through and check and mark all your bookmarks and tell you if they are dead or not and I believe update the ones that are still live.

It's not enough to change the Locale, you have to remember to hit 'Mark as default' as well. That should work. (Works for me, anyway.)

I swiped the following from another list, because it describes it very well:

"There's a site that will do all the work for you. Go to http://www.spamcop.net and follow the yellow line. It will explain the procedure, which is:

• When you get spam, turn on full headers and forward the spam to spamcop@spamcop.net.
  
• Wait about half a minute while they analyze the headers and then they will email back a web address to go to.
  
• Go to the address, and you will see the longest, ugliest list of header analysis imaginable. Ignore all that and go to the bottom, where it will show you all of the people to complain to -- the postmaster off the source of the spam, the administrator of the hosting service, the service hosting any sites referenced in the spam, administrators of hijacked relays, everything.
  
• There's a check list so you can select who to complain to. Just check off who to report the spam to, or use the defaults. There are forms for any additional information you want to add.
  
• To send off your complaints, just click on "Send Reports", and they will write reports and send them to everyone you checked off, with any comments you added. Very sophisticate gadget."
  

Well, yes, but let me explain a little more about this. I have seen this happen right before my eyes... If you have several OS/2 systems visible at the same time in the same machine, NEVER try to open any other desktop than that in the boot drive; at least not if you're using the WPS. The WPS can't tolerate more than one folder with the <WP_DESKTOP> ID, and hence erases it from any folder that is not the real Desktop in that moment. What is more, due to some hideous bug, it sometimes erases the ID of the desktop, too.

The workaround for this is to always have SET DESKTOP=C:\Desktop (or whatever) in CONFIG.SYS, so the WPS can start even with this ID lost. And then it may be useful to keep this little REXX script handy (it requires just a working WPS) to get the ID back.

/**/
Desktop='C:\Desktop' /* Change to your needs */
Call RxFuncAdd SysLoadFuncs,Rexxutil,SysLoadFuncs
Call SysLoadFuncs
rc=SysSetObjectData(Desktop,'OBJECT_ID=<WP_DESKTOP>')
if rc=1 then say 'All OK.'
else say 'Failed to set the ID.'

The SET statement makes the WPS override any search results for <WP_DESKTOP> and use the specified folder instead, but of course does not alter this folder ID (which is stored within the EAs, BTW)...

You have to do this manually, or in the startup.cmd, which can be turned into a regular REXX program just by adding a REXX comment as the first line: /* Comment */, and that's what my script does.

If you don't do so, ANY installer/prog/whatever that is mid-WELL programmed, will fail as soon as it searches for <WP_DESKTOP> (for example, to create some objects) and finds nothing.

Ideally, and this is a bit off-topic, any installer that wants to mess with the Desktop itself should forget any hardcoded paths like \Desktop (I've seen a lot of these through the years/tears ;-) ), and go search for <WP_DESKTOP>, then (if the desktop is not found) make sure the WPS is up and running (perhaps this should be first XD) and search for the DESKTOP environment variable, as this is the only other known way to get a working desktop...

Protocol is in the mptn.zip file on CD1. So is services.

On cd 2, there is a file called s:\cid\server\mpts\mptn\etc\etc.zip that has 4 files:

dhcpcd.cfg
protocol
services
slip.cfg

Looks like the problem is that the directory they are listed in never gets made.

mptn\samples\etc -- this doesn't exist on my install.

Moral, use CD1 as the meat for a reinstall of mpts.

Try the following:

SET LPR_SERVER=nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn
SET LPR_PRINTER=lp
SET USER=userid
start lprmon -b LPT1

This transfers all output from port LPT1 to printer with name "lp" on server with tcp/ip nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn

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