Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education

November 1998

The News Page 3

News Index

email - secretary@os2voice.org
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VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org


November 7, 1998

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the Java-PalmPilot Project homepage at:
http://yaztromo.idirect.com/java-pilot.html

...has been updated. Now available: compiled test code for the physical transport and serial-line protocol layers!

The Java-PalmPilot Project is an attempt to create a full, pure Java based, open API PalmPilot communications solution built from the ground-up. The design attempts to utilize object-orientation to it's maximum potential, and as an open API freeware (for individual use) project, the Java PalmPilot Project is perfect for third-party developers who wish to add PalmPilot access to their applications at any level of integration.

More details on the project and what it entails are available from the above homepage. For E-Mail announcements, please send a request to be added to the annoucenment list to Brad BARCLAY (yaztromo@idirect.com).


Movember 7, 1998

BETA: SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2!!

Dear OS/2 Aficionado,

SciTech is readying the first release of SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 Warp!!

SciTech Display Doctor is the universal display driver utility that supports over 250 different graphics chips -- just about every one ever made. SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 will bring SciTech's proven device driver technology to the OS/2 Warp platform. SciTech Display Doctor requires OS/2 Warp 3 (Fixpack 35+) or OS/2 Warp 4 (Fixpack 4+) and is built using the new IBM GRADD display driver technology. Included in the product is support for resolutions from 320x200 up to 2048x1536 (including 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV modes!) in color depths from 4bpp up to 32bpp with full refresh rate control. SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 drivers are fully accelerated and will support DIVE/EnDIVE for enhanced video playback and games.

SciTech is looking for all types of OS/2 users to help us stress test the utility before its final release. If you would like to participate in a beta, please fill out the form below and reply to this email (KendallB@scitechsoft.com).

For more information about SciTech or current versions of SciTech Display Doctor, please see http://www.scitechsoft.com.

Regards,

The SciTech Display Doctor Beta Team

===========================================
SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 Beta Application

Name: ____________________________________________________________

Company: _________________________________________________________

Phone: ___________________________________________________________

Email: ___________________________________________________________

OS/2 Version: ____________________________________________________

CPU TYPE: ________________________________________________________

Graphics controller type(s);


Board vendor/model              Chip vendor    chip type



Applications used:





Why are you interested in testing this utility?





Other useful information:







[  ] I am not affiliated with a company that develops display drivers

I hereby certify that the information I provided above is true and
correct and I agree to be bound by the terms of SciTech's beta license
agreement.

Signed,

____________________________


Please return this form to KendallB@scitechsoft.com. Thank you for your
interest in SciTech products!

--

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|      SciTech Software - Building Truly Plug'n'Play Software!         |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kendall Bennett          | To reply via email, remove nospam from    |
| Director of Engineering  | the reply to email address. Do NOT send   |
| SciTech Software, Inc.   | unsolicited commercial email!             |
| 505 Wall Street          | ftp  : ftp.scitechsoft.com                |
| Chico, CA 95928, USA     | www  : http://www.scitechsoft.com         |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

November 7, 1998 Source: Dan Casey, VOICE President

IBM has "recalled" Fixpak 9 for Warp 4 due to problems with the WPS and some applications.

A Usenet post attributed to Mike Persell explains it:

In <crefryyubzrpbz.f21c1c0.pminews@news>, on 11/07/98 at 05:47 AM, "Mike Persell" <persell@home.com> said:

The word from IBM is "It hangs the system if you use Back Again/2 or UniMaint or some of the Stardock products (Object Desktop?). We will work on this Monday."

If you've already downloaded FP9, don't install it, yet.

If you've already installed it, it is probably a good idea to "Back Out" to the previous level, and wait until it's re-released.

If you need assistance with Backing Out the Fixpak, there are instructions on my website:
http://www.ameritech.net/users/dcasey/index.html

I'm going to check with BMT and make sure that they don't send out any of the new Fixpak CDs with the bad FP9 on them.


November 5, 1998

Denmark - November 1, 1998 -- F/X Communications announced today releasing an updated Tunnel/2. Field testing has proved the update an excellent, mission critical tool for building a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN). This release is even more perfectly suited for geographically dispersed and mobile business users.

If you are not yet up to speed on Virtual Private Networks (and how one can save your business big money in communications costs) drop by our Web site for a quick look:
http://www.fx.dk/tunnel

Tunnel/2 v1.40 IMPROVEMENTS:

Tunnel/2 FEATURES:

FUTURE PLANS:


November 5, 1998 Source: Hans Hockx (jhockx@worldonline.nl)

Just a short note to let you know that the OS/2 Switchboard website has been updated. By now it holds 699 links to OS/2 related sites all over the world. Please visit the Switchboard at URL:
http://home.worldonline.nl/~jhockx


November 5, 1998 Source: Adrian Gschwend (ktk@netlabs.org)

I just installed the new PilotLink tools for OS/2. PilotLink allows you to connect the PalmPilot to your PC without the need of any Windows application. You can synchronise Emails with PMMail, you can send mail with SENDMAIL, you can backup and restore your Pilot and for sure you can also install programs to the PalmPilot.

I really recommend the PilotTools to any OS/2 user with a PalmPilot or a IBM Workpad!

You can get the new version (0.8.13) at Hobbes:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu, the filename is PLK0813.ZIP


November 5, 1998

Stardock has released the "Look and Feel Creation Kit" for Object Desktop 2.0. It requires VisualAge C++.
http://www.stardock.com/products/od20/


November 5, 1998

CLOCK01.SYS in Warp 3 Fixpaks 37 and 38 and Warp 4 Fixpaks 7, 8, and 9 can cause the System clock on some systems to jump from the 29th of one month to the 1st of the next month. Systems currently known to experience this problem are:

To see if your system has this problem after applying one of the Fixpaks mentioned above, do the following:

  1. Shutdown all applications
  2. Start the System Clock program from the System Setup folder
  3. Click mouse button 2 on the clock face, select properties.
  4. Click on the View tab
  5. Select "Both date and time" under Information
  6. Select "Digital" under Mode.
  7. Click on the "Date/Time" tab
  8. Set system time to 11:59:30
  9. Set system date to 28
  10. Close the Properties window

Watch the date as the time crosses midnight. If it jumps to the 1st of the month then you have the problem, follow the instructions below. If not, you do not have the problem and do not need to apply the fix below.

In either case, reset the clock to the correct date and time after the test.

To resolve this problem, replace CLOCK01.SYS in the OS2\BOOT directory of your boot drive with the one from CLOCK01.ZIP in this directory. Below are more detialed instructions:

  1. Download CLOCK01.ZIP (ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m009/clock01.zip)
  2. Unzip CLOCK01.ZIP (Use UNZIP or PKUNZIP)
  3. Rename \OS2\BOOT\CLOCK01.SYS CLOCK01.FPK on your boot drive
  4. Copy CLOCK01.SYS to \OS2\BOOT on your boot drive
  5. Shutdown and reboot your system. Repeat the test to verify the problem is fixed.

November 4, 1998

IBM has updated MPTS (WR08424). You can download a copy from:
ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/mpts/fixes/english-us/wr08424_conv/

This update is to be applied on top of WR08421 or WR08423 ONLY, not the new WR08610 FixPak. Also, it must be applied using the CSF FixTool v1.39b, not by running MPTS.EXE as was done previously.


November 4, 1998 Source: Chuck McKinnis (mckinnis@ibm.net)

Applying WR08610 to MPTS on a Warp 4.0 system with TCP/IP 4.0x leaves a mess. It would appear the WR08610 is intended to be applied to systems with TCP/IP 4.1+ (but I have no confirmation on this). I recovered by applying MPTS WR08423 back over the top of WR08610. I wound up having to do it twice to get everything to take. I suspect this had something to do with locked file processing, and you may want to verify that the IFS statement for HPFS is ahead of any DEVICE statement in your CONFIG.SYS file (APAR IC20181 in WR08424). INETVER reports 4.02r. I then applied the latest TCP/IP stack updates, and INETVER reported 4.02t. I then ran the WR08424 apply, and INETVER reported 4.02w. It appears that both MPTS and TCP/IP fixes can change the INETVER output. All seems well at this point.


November 4, 1998 Source: Fernando Cassia (cassiaf@netscape.net)

One more OS/2 native release from IBM...

Net.Data v2.0.5 for OS/2 (see http://www.software.ibm.com/data/net.data/)

Will be of interest for ISPs or anyone who runs a web server in os/2.


November 4, 1998 Source: Fernando Cassia (cassiaf@netscape.net)

IBM has quietly released a major update to its industrial-strenght database, DB2.

Of course, the new 5.2 version is also available for OS/2.

Get a 60-day trial (warning: big download, and this is not a database for storing your phone/address book ;-) ) at:
http://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/udb/downloads.html

And read a review of it at:
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayTC.pl?/reviews/981019db2.htm

(They mention availability on every platform, but somehow "forgot" to mention the os/2 version... strange right? If some writer has to forget to mention something, it sure has to be OS/2 ;-) <ironic mode off>


November 4, 1998 Source: Dr. Dirk Terrell (admin@os2ss.com)

The OS/2 Supersite is pleased to announce that the OS/2 Master Updates Page created by Kevin Royalty and sponsored by the Team OS/2 Cincinnati Users Group has been moved to the OS/2 Supersite and will be maintained by the Supersite Staff. This valuable OS/2 site has been around for nearly three years but had not been actively maintained recently.

"As the original author of the OS/2 Warp Masterupdate pages, I am extremely happy that the OS/2 Supersite has agreed to take them over for me," said Royalty. "As most people that frequent our site know, I got married in late 1997, and starting in early 1998, turned over responsibility for our users group website to several different webmasters who failed miserably at the job of keeping our site current. At this point, the most important pages are being turned over to sites that we feel will keep up the reputation of the pages. My apologies to the OS/2 community for not keeping them up to date due to my new "life". I feel better knowing that excellent sites like the OS/2 Supersite will keep the pages alive for a long time to come."

The site has been given a new look but will carry the same valuable content. The Master Updates Page is located at http://www.os2ss.com/masterupdate/ and users are encouraged to send us information on fixes that they find that might be useful to others by using the feedback form on the web site.


November 4, 1998

Stardock has released Entrepeneur 1.5:
http://www.stardock.com/update/update_ent.html

Changes in 1.5 over 1.31

There are also two new maps available:
http://www.stardock.com/products/ent/goodies.html


November 4, 1998

CFM Twain has been recently updated to version 5.10 with some new features and scanners supported.
http://www.cfm.de/f_products_start.htm


November 4, 1998

FixPack 9 for OS/2 Warp 4.0 can be found at:
http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/getobj.pl?/pdocs-usa/softupd.html#warp34.

The APAR's can be found at:
ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m009/readme2


November 3, 1998 Source: Chris Wohlgemuth (chris.wohlgemuth@cityweb.de)

HIDEWIND.DLL V1.00 is avaiable from my homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/index.html

This addon DLL for watchcat 2.1 gives you an additional item in the addon menu to hide windows of crashed processes. This works even if a process hangs in the exitlist and the window blocks your screen (in most cases). The crashed program is removed from the window list so it cannot be brought back onto the screen accidentally.

This utility is released under the GPL and comes with full source.

UPDATED: November 4, 1998

Today I realised that the wcat-hidewindowaddon_v100.zip contains a wrong version of hidewindow.exe which does not remove the program from the window list when invoked. However it hides the window. Get the corrected package V1.01 from my homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/index.html

I appologize for all the inconvenience this may cause!


November 3, 1998 Source: Robert Blake (phxsoft@fci.net)

For those of you who have had trouble accessing the Phoenix Software web site over the past couple days, here is an explanation:

Our "upstream" ISP has been cut off from the main backbone of the internet, so the Phoenix Software web site is currently offline. We have changed upstream providers, and we are currently waiting for Internic/IANA to move the phxsoft domain to the new name servers in the root server. We expect to have the Phoenix Software web site back up tommorow.

We apologize for any concern or confusion this may have caused. Please note that this DOES NOT mean that Phoenix Software is having any other problems. We continue to develop the Think Tool Pro and other products successfully.

Also, you may be interested to know that we are currently in the process of revamping, revising and adding new info to our web site, so you may want to check it out once the server is back online. The URL is http://www.phxsoft.com. We appreciate any feedback you have on the changes.

Once again, our web server should be back up tommorrow.


November 2, 1998 Source: Julien Pierre (madbrain@thetaband.com)

The beta of Theta Band Software's MMPack for OS/2 is now available.

More information is available at http://www.thetaband.com/mmpack and online ordering is at http://www.thetaband.com/ordering.

The initial version of the MMPack has 3 components :

MMCHECK - This is a utility that checks your MMPM/2 installation (i.e. MMPM2.INI) for errors or suspicious settings. If it finds any, it will tell you what they are, so that you can fix them.

MPU-401 Driver - This is a replacement for IBM's MPU-401 driver, which is used to MIDI support for a number of sound cards, including sound cards that use the Crystal Semiconductor drivers. Enhancements over IBM's driver include:

NPDSMI 2.0 - An enhancement over the free DSMI Netscape plug-in, this new version supports compressed (zip) module files.


November 2, 1998 Source: Duane A. Chamblee (duanec@indelible-blue.com)

I've put some tools and "icon" kits in my anonymous files...they are:

1) Netscape Communicator Icons, with 40x40 and 20x20 forms (high res). Included in this zip is a REXX program to apply the new icons.
http://duanec.indelible-blue.com/anonymous/os2/wps/nscicons.zip

2) An updated ICQJava installation program. REXX again, the program has the icon file imbedded in it. Download it to your ICQJava directory and run it.
http://duanec.indelible-blue.com/anonymous/os2/wps/icqwps.cmd

3) The REXX program (used above) to imbed icons into REXX programs. Everything is plain text embedded and it will append a subroutine to create the icon to your existing REXX programs.
http://duanec.indelible-blue.com/anonymous/os2/wps/bin2rexx.cmd

4) other various stuff.
http://duanec.indelible-blue.com/anonymous/os2

I would encourage OS/2 users to modify the my scripts for their favorite Java (or not) programs and send them to the vendor. There really no reason applications can't come with an install for the OS/2 Desktop. It's just so EASY!


November 2, 1998

TarGzip has been updated to 1.5

The update includes:

Available from:
http://users.powernet.co.uk/vpub

Look in the project or local download.

This is email ware.

For those whoe do not know TarGzipPm is a rexx PM front end to Tar.exe and Gzip.exe which must be on the path to run it.


November 1, 1998

As of today the 1st of November, InetPowerServer v0.75Beta2 is released.

This new release includes a lot of bug fixes and some major changes as well as new features. (See ips\doc\history.html in the distribution archive).

IPS is a server application for Internet based protocols like ftp, pop and smtp. It lets you setup a ftp and/or mail server.

The new version is uploaded to hobbes (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu) with the name ips075b2.zip as well as on the home IPS site: ftp.iq.to.


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