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November 2000
editor@os2voice.org


October 28

I have made the RexxMail information files ("Teach yourself RexxMail in 21 steps") available on the Web. Point your browser to:

http://www.degeus.com/rexx

or:

http://www.degeus.com/rexx/index_english.html

if you prefer English, and follow the RexxMail link.

The RexxMail information files are a set of HTML files containing a tutorial and background information for the RexxMail e-mail program, which I hope to make available soon. The information can be read on-line or downloaded as a ZIP file.

The purpose of publishing the RexxMail information in advance is to give you an idea of what RexxMail looks like and how it works, and to encourage feedback.


October 28

I recently saw this article:

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2000/1023ipv6.html

which had a blurb about Sue Horn, the person at IBM responsible for rolling out IPv6 support. Several of their operating systems were listed, but not OS/2 or even WSeB. So I sent her an email asking about this, and here's what I got as a response:

"David,

Thank you for your inquiry. As I've said, IBM is assessing IPv6 from an end-to-end view, as part of our overall e- business initiative. In addition to already available operating system support, we will provide additional support as appropriate based on market demand and customer needs. We have worked closely with many of our customers worldwide to determine what features, functions, and services are required as they make the transformation to becoming an e-business. We have based our plans on their feedback and their future plans for OS/2. Given IPv6 deployment dates, our OS/2 customers have indicated that they will not have a strong need for this support. As a result, IBM currently does not plan to offer IPv6 on OS/2 Warp 4 nor on OS/2 Warp Server for e-business.

We appreciate your continued use of IBM software. If you or your company has further interest in discussing IPv6 support for OS/2 Warp 4 or OS/2 Warp Server for e-business, IBM would welcome a discussion to determine whether this work could be done by our consulting group on a for fee contract basis. Lloyd Stearns (lstearns@us.ibm.com), in our OS/2 consulting group, would be an appropriate contact.

Thank you,

Sue Horn
Vice President, WebSphere Foundation Extensions
Development, Director of
the Raleigh Lab and
SWG RTP Site Executive"


October 28
--------------------------------------
SciTech Display Doctor 7.0.4 for OS/2
PREVIEW RELEASE 35
--------------------------------------

Where do you get it?
--------------------

You can download SciTech Display Doctor 7.0.4 for OS/2 BETA 35 from our ftp site using the following URL:

ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/sdd/beta/os2/sdd-os2-7.0.4-b35.exe

What's new:
-----------

. All remaining changes are now tracked on the web. Public changes are tracked at the following URL:

http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd2_changes.txt

What is SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2?
----------------------------------------

SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 brings SciTech's proven DOS and Windows device support technologies to the OS/2 Operating System. Although one of the core features of our DOS and Windows products is the support for the VESA VBE/Core standard, the OS/2 version has nothing at all to do with VESA services. Rather SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 incorporates the new SciTech Nucleus, Graphics Architecture device driver technology to bring SciTech's device support to the OS/2 platform.

SciTech Nucleus is a binary portable, OS neutral, device driver architecture. As binary portable drivers, SciTech can fully develop and test the core device drivers in the DOS and Windows environments, while being able to target any Intel x86 based OS as the runtime environment (such as OS/2). This essentially allows the OS/2 product to utilise the same SciTech binary device drivers as the DOS and Windows versions of the product, improving the quality and performance of the drivers for all supported operating systems.

Runtime Requirements
--------------------

SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 requires a version of OS/2 Warp 3 or OS/2 Warp 4 in order to run. More imporantly, it requires at least Warp 3 with fixpack 35, or Warp 4 with fixpack 5 installed. If you have a version with earlier fixpacks installed, SciTech Display Doctor will refuse to install.

List of all certified chipsets:
-------------------------------

This is a complete list of the various graphics chipsets that have been certified to work correctly with this version of SciTech Display Doctor. Please note that this list refers to the actual chips being used, not a board-level implementation. Thus you will not see any products from Hercules or STB on the list, but their products are supported because they use S3, Cirrus, Tseng, etc. chips. Also, any card with less than 512KB of memory cannot be supported by SciTech Display Doctor.

Note: Please check the separate list of supported laptop chipsets for more information if you are using this product on a laptop. All laptop chipsets are still listed here as many laptop chipset can also be used in regular PCI/AGP boards.

.. 3DLabs Permedia, Permedia 2, Permedia 2V, Permedia 3
.. 3dfx Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo3, Voodoo4, Voodoo5
.. ARK 1000PV, 2000PV, 2000MT, 2000MI (Quadro64), 2000MI+ (Quadro64)
.. ATI Mach64 GX, Mach64 CX, Mach64 CT, Mach64 VT, 3D Rage, Mach64 VTB
.. ATI 3D Rage II, 3D Rage II+, Mach64 VT4, 3D Rage IIC, 3D Rage Pro
.. ATI 3D Rage LT Pro, Rage Mobility, Rage XL, Rage 128, Rage 128 Pro
.. ATI Rage Mobility 128
.. Alliance ProMotion 6422, ProMotion AT24, ProMotion AT3D
.. Chips ~Technologies 65548, 65550, 65554, 65555, 69000
.. Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434, CL-GD5440, CL-GD5436, CL-GD5446
.. Cirrus Logic CL-GD7555 LCD, Laguna 5462, Laguna 5464, Laguna 5465
.. Cyrix MediaGX
.. InteGraphics CyberPro 2000, CyberPro 2010
.. Intel i740, i740 PCI, i810, i810/DC100, i810e, i815
.. Macronix 86250, 86251
.. Matrox MGA Millennium, MGA Millennium II, MGA Mystique
.. Matrox MGA Mystique 220, MGA-G100, MGA-G200, MGA-G400, MGA-G450
.. NVIDIA RIVA-128, RIVA-128ZX, RIVA-TNT, RIVA-TNT2, RIVA-TNT2 M64
.. NVIDIA RIVA-TNT2 Vanta, RIVA-TNT2 Ultra, GeForce 256, GeForce DDR
.. NVIDIA Quadro, GeForce2 GTS
.. NeoMagic MagicGraph 128, MagicGraph 128XD, MagicGraph 256AV
.. NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV+, MagicMedia 256ZX, MagicMedia 256XL+
.. Number Nine Imagine 128, Imagine 128 II, Imagine 128 II VRAM
.. Number Nine Imagine 128 II DRAM, Ticket 2 Ride WRAM
.. Number Nine Ticket 2 Ride SGRAM, Ticket 2 Ride IV
.. OAK Spitfire 64107, Spitfire 64111, Eon 64017, Eon 64217, Warp 5
.. Philips 9710
.. Rendition Verite V1000, Verite V2200
.. S3 Trio32, Trio64, Trio64V+, Trio64UV+, Trio64V2/DX, Vision 864
.. S3 Vision 964, Vision 868, Vision 968, Virge, Virge/DX/GX, Virge/VX
.. S3 Virge/GX2, Virge/MX, Trio3D, Trio3D/2X, Savage3D, Savage4
.. S3 Savage/MX/IX, Savage2000
.. SiS 6202, 6205, 6215, 5597/5598, 6326, 5595/530, 5595/620, 300, 305
.. Sigma Designs RealMagic 64 GX
.. Trident TGUI9440, TGUI9440-R2, TGUI9680, ProVidia 9682
.. Trident Cyber9385 LCD, ProVidia 9685, 3DImage 975, Cyber9397 LCD
.. Trident 3DImage 985, Blade 3D, Blade 3D (Via)
.. Tseng Labs ET4000/W32p, ET6000, ET6100
.. Weitek P9000, P9100
.. VESA VBE 1.2, VBE 2.0, VBE 3.0

List of all non-Certified chipsets: ----------------------------------
-

This is a list of the various graphics chipsets that have native drivers developed for SciTech Display Doctor, but have yet to be completed and pass certification. The drivers should work relatively well, but as they have not been fully certified problems could arise if you use one of these chipsets. Please do not report problems related to uncertified drivers!

.. Alliance ProMotion AT25
.. InteGraphics IGS 1680, IGS 1682, IGS 1683
.. NVIDIA GeForce2 MX, GeForce2 Ultra, Quadro2 Pro, Quadro2 MXR
.. NeoMagic MagicGraph 128V, MagicGraph 128ZV, MagicGraph 128ZV+
.. Philips 9712

List of all supported laptop chips:
-----------------------------------

The following is a complete list of the various laptop graphics chipsets that we support in this version of SciTech Display Doctor. Please note that this list refers to the actual chips being used, not the laptop brand or model itself. Thus you will not see any products from Gateway or Dell on the list, but their products are supported because they use NeoMagic, ATI, Cirrus etc. chips.
.. ATI 3D Rage LT Pro, Rage Mobility, Rage Mobility 128
.. Chips ~Technologies 65550, 65554, 65555, 69000
.. Cirrus Logic CL-GD7555 LCD
.. NeoMagic MagicGraph 128, MagicGraph 128XD, MagicGraph 256AV
.. NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV+, MagicMedia 256ZX, MagicMedia 256XL+
.. S3 Virge/MX, Savage/MX/IX
.. Trident Cyber9385 LCD, Cyber9397 LCD
.. VESA VBE 1.2, VBE 2.0, VBE 3.0


October 27

Lotus had released a while ago Domino Server Version 5.0.5 update for OS/2.

Lotus Domino/Notes Release 5.0.5 Quarterly Maintenance Release 1 of 2 (Global Edition):

http://www.notes.net/qmrdown.nsf/f94cf4c5c1a011e885256833007439f4/fea169447ae8140b85256967005ec5b7?OpenDocument

Lotus Domino/Notes Release 5.0.5 Quarterly Maintenance Release 2 of 2 (Global Edition):

http://www.notes.net/qmrdown.nsf/f94cf4c5c1a011e885256833007439f4/ed0a3aab910f5d3385256967005ec401?OpenDocument

Every link are from:

http://www.notes.net/qmrdown.nsf/QMRWelcome

The main web site is:

http://www.notes.net


October 26

The following link to the PartitionMagic white papers show that the HPFS file system is still supported. The main product infomation page does indeed show the absense of HPFS information. Fortunately, the white papers are more detailed.

http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/pmwhitepaper.html

All PartitionMagic features can be used with HPFS, except those features that are specific to the FAT and FAT32 file systems.

Copyright 1994-2000 PowerQuest Corporation. All rights reserved.


October 26

This is an OS/2 Port of tnef-0.14.1, which is a program for unpacking MIME attachments of type "application/ms-tnef".

Due to the proliferation of Microsoft Outlook and Exchange mail servers, more and more mail is encapsulated into this format.

The TNEF program allows one to unpack the attachments which were encapsulated into the TNEF attachment. This alleviates the need to use Microsoft Outlook to view the attachment.

Installation with WarpIn.

You can download this program from:

http://teamos2.ru/files/tnef0141.wpi (~93Kb)


October 26

VyperHelp 1.11 has been released. The new version adds the following features:
- Output and conversion to HTML (single file, framed and HTMLHelp) - Support for bitmaps in the editor - Retain naming of bitmap files - Remember last directory for file operations - Import C header file with IPF file - Other bug fixes...

VyperHelp is a visual outliner and editor for creating online help for OS/2, WinHelp, and HTML systems. A command-line conversion program is included, which allows conversion to and from OS/2 help and WinHelp, and to HTML, HTMLHelp, and RTF printable output.

The program allows a 30 day trial use period. During this period, it inserts promotional text at the end of each section. Registration is $49. For more niformation and download and ordering links, see

http://www.vyperhelp.com


October 26

In "A fanatic's first person guide to OS/2's history", Stardock's founder, Brad Wardell, talks about his "crusade" as an OS/2 fanatic and how over time the very fanatics he was once part of became his biggest detractors.

http://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/article_sdos2.html


October 24

Just a very short e-mail regarding that the Picture Gallery is now up and running @ OS2 World.Com with pictures from Warpstock Europe 2000.

Following url will get You to mentioned resource:

http://www.os2world.com/gallery.shtml


October 24

Blueprint Software Works, Inc. has updated NetDrive for OS/2.

The new version can be downloaded at:

ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/netdrive/ndfsv10.zip

Also the update has been uploaded to Hobbes ftp server at:

ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/system/drivers/filesys/ndfsv101.zip

List of changes in the update:
NEW: ndreg.cmd registration script
NEW: REXX function NdRxQueryCTL
NEW: FTP resource returns detailed information about flags
NEW: ndquery utility returns information about NDCTL
FIX: Error SYS0065 when copying a large file to a ftp server
NEW: 'storesize' parameter for FTP resources
FIX: EAs were not set for created files or directories on LOCAL resources
FIX: 'Too many open files' error on LOCAL resources
FIX: FTP resources reported incorrect time/date for some remote files

NetDrive is a new virtual file system that allows users to mount an FTP site or a local directory or a network resource to a virtual volume.


October 24

I have just uploaded beta 7 of MAMERun and the source code to the MAMERun home page:

http://home1.gte.net/vzn05zki/mamerun.htm

The screencaps (13Mb) can be downloaded from Hobbes at:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/emulator/mrunpix.zip

Whats New Beta 7:
Added Screenshot viewing
Cleaned up interface (should be easier to read now)
Fixed some more minor bugs
Added splash screen Checked for compatibility with latest
release of MAME

What:

MAMERun is a FREEWARE, Opensource PM front end for the DOS version of MAME Multi. Arcade Machine Emulator). A front end is a program that makes it easier for the user to interface with his application, which usually has a command line interface. MAME is a very popular emulator that allows you to run thousands of classic arcade games on your PC (if you own the ROMs). You can find the MAME home page at:

http://www.mame.net/

The Official (and very good) OS/2 PM port of MAME was done by Marty Amodeo and is at

http://emuos2.vintagegaming.com/

Requirements:

OS/2
MAME for DOS
DOS Support installed
RexxUtil
IBM joystick device driver (for joystick support, download from Hobbes or DDPAK)
Use one of the enhanced joystick drivers for best performance (available at Hobbes)
ROMs (DO NOT ASK ME FOR, OR WHERE TO GET ROMS!!)


October 24

With all of the interest in barcodes being generated by the free availability of :CueCat barcode scanners at Radio Shack, I thought it might be a good idea to compile GNU Barcode 0.95 on OS/2.

Source code, libraries and executables for GNU Barcode 0.95 are now available from:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/graphics/barcode-0_95.zip

GNU Barcode 0.95 is a FREE barcode printing program that produces postscript output suitable for use with Ghostscript. GNU Barcode supports a wide range of barcode formats including UPC, EAN, ISBN, Code39, Code128 and others.

The :CueCat is able to process all of these formats assuming your printer is good enough to render them clearly. I found that all, but the tinyest compressed formats work well with :CueCat even when reading barcodes printed on my ink jet printer.


October 23

Chris Wohlgemuth has released Audio-Data Cdcreator V. 0.42. New with V0.42 (09.Oct.2000):

- mkisofs runs with increased priority when writing on the fly preventing buffer underruns in high load situations
- priority of mkisofs now changed after FIFO is filled preventing high CPU load during filling.
- added toolbars
- cover creation for data CDs
- preliminary CDDB support for audio tracks
- option to create shadows as default
- min FIFO size was limited to 4MB when using spinbutton on general page, now 0MB
- Fix: No statusbar update when writing an image with FIFO=0MB
- Keyboard navigation added to folder

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/creator/creatormain.htm


October 23

Alex Samorukov (samm@os2.ru) said that Photoshop 5 runs with Odin 0.0.5 (22.10.2000): "It even works, I managed to load a picture in it, to apply filter and save the result! It is not suitable for work yet as palettes are not shown correctly and it crashes often".

We believe the fact that it started and partly works is a great hope for OS/2 users working with graphics.

At the screenshot on OS2.Ru - OS/2 Warp 4.5 with Adobe Photoshop 5.0 started where file AURORA01.JPG is loaded from OS/2 distributive.

Russian Team OS/2 thanks to Netlabs for this great work!

http://os2.ru/soft/odin/gallery.phtml#photoshop5


October 23

Nice OS/2 Enhancer, the well-known free utility for improving the OS/2 Presentation Manager, was updated to version 4.3.

Forced compatibility with:
Fix #1 for Aurora - no wallpaper in Rooms (internal security) Lotus WordPro - flicker when printing (very annoying bug) HOBLink X-Server - no "Close window" button (don't know why) lSwitcher - Rooms feature turned OFF (my curve hands)

No new features were added, so program works as stable as possible :-)

You can download version 4.3 (850 KB) from Hobbes:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/wps/nice-os2-v43.zip

Program URL with more information:

http://os2.boom.ru

The Nice OS/2 Enhancer adds new features to the OS/2 operating system such as the ability to:

Move an image into all windows by means of mouse or keys,
Change frames for all windows,
Extend your workplace by new "Rooms" around the Desktop,
Define keys to perform various actions,
Attach any network drive or FTP folder from file dialogs,
Manage the priority for some applications,
Remove items from the Window list,
Arrange text, WPS and Java windows by center of the screen,
Hold "Num Lock" always "ON" or "OFF",
...and more.

I use it day by day and think that this is a great "run-time" Fix for OS/2 Warp.


October 23

I've just ported and uploaded samba 2.0.7 to OS/2 on Hobbes. All is working but (TODO) I must create an inetd compatible with UNIX --> PGM started with stdin ~stdout redirected to the open socket. The sources will be released I think on Netlabs.

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/new/samba.zip

It will later move to:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/network/tcpip/samba.zip


October 22

SysInfo/2 project is updated again. Now its version is 0.67.

Main changers are:

- MPTN identification algorithm rewroted again. All MPTN peculiarity are now taken into consideration, so I think SysInfo/2 will work better. Note: this version of SysInfo/2 can determine all types of Network Interface cards and Protocols only if /PROTOCOL (for NIC description files) and /MACS (for Protocol description files) directories are subbdirectories of /IBMCOM. What does it mean? You can move entire /IBMCOM directory somewhere from drive C:, but you cann't move /MACS or /PROTOCOL directories separately from /IBMCOM to another location. New version of SysInfo/2 will not work in that case, so, please, do not send me bugreports if you move your /MAS or /PROTOCOL directories in that manner.

- Video adapter and video memory identification algorithm rewroted again. For now SysInfo/2 know and can determine all Video cards are supported by SDD Beta 32, plus allmost all Video adapters that are supported by OEM (all that I can find).

- Possible memory leaks corrected in some basic SysInfo/2 classes.

- On "Network" page a new option is added. Now you can choose your Internet/Intranet LAN adapters installed in your system (LAN0-:-LAN7) and see appropriate IP address and Network masks.

- MMOS2 identification algorithm rewroted. So, may be now allmost all SysInfo/2

What I can't correct for now:

- SysInfo/2 main window resizing - I really do not know how I can do that using Sibyl classes.

- 100% CPU usage and traps while Multimedia for OS/2 is analizing
- there are only errors that comes from IBM MMOS2
- I don't do somewhat else than collecting information about multimedia adapters and their properties. Moreover, I took all my Multimedia code from public Help files comes from IBM DDK. ;-))

SysInfo/2 ver. 0.67 may be downloaded from Hobbes and from Phoject Home page:

http://www.os2.ru/projects/sysinfo/indexeng.shtml


October 22

There is a new Kernel available which has some new features like:
1) alt-f3 works (being the equivalent of alt-f1 plus alt-f2) 2) the blob stays up a reasonable time on all machines (I think) 3) alt-f2 functionality is ALWAYS enabled if there exists a file named altf2on.$$$ in the root or the \os2\boot dir of the boot drive.

Warp4:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m014/w41019.zip
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m014/krnl1019.txt

WSeB:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4.5warp/english-us/xr_e001/smp1019.zip
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4.5warp/english-us/xr_e001/uni1019.zip
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4.5warp/english-us/xr_e001/krnl1019.txt


October 22

CDR/RW Wizard 0.9.94 released. See readme file for more information.

http://www.quasarbbs.com/rocco/index.htm


October 22

The Think Tool Pro desktop database and information manager for OS/2 *IS* still in development. In fact, the final *beta* version of the Think Tool Pro is now complete.

However, we are currently in the process of moving into our new, larger, office space - to accomodate the hiring of additional staff and other company growth.

We will be releasing the final beta as soon as we have completed our move to our new office. Registered beta testers will receive a CD and printed documentation. Everyone will be welcome to download the final beta from our web site. (NOTE: it isn't available yet.)

For additional information on the Think Tool Pro beta, look here:

http://www.phxsoft.com/beta.html

The location for downloading the final beta (once it has been uploaded) will be:

http://www.phxsoft.com/download.html

Phoenix Software is also now hiring for some positions, and will be hiring for additional positions in the near future.

http://www.phxsoft.com/posit.html

Or by emailing us at: work@phxsoft.com

For those of you who have not yet heard of us, Phoenix Software develops database, database application, and XML related products on OS/2, Solaris and Linux.

You can get additional information about us here:

http://www.phxsoft.com/
http://www.phxsoft.com/company.html
http://www.phxsoft.com/news.html



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