I used to run Os/2 as my daily driver, alongside MS-Dos 6.22 back in early-1995 to late 1996. (Got Win95 in tripple boot along the road).
Back then I was running an Intel 486dx2-66, 8mb Ram and 800mb HDD. The soundcard was an Creative SB16 Value (CT-2770), and the
gfx card was an CL-5428-1mb VLB. The controller was an Side-JR pro VLB. Allmost forgot the Conner QIC-80 Tape Backup I had in it too.

I had no issues with Warp 3.0 (non-connect) and I loved that system. Yet I had no AWE32 before 2013, so no comments on that.

Interesting, did you install MS-DOS 6.22 first and then OS/2 or viceversa for it to dual boot ?
Since I currently have installed MS-DOS 6.22, I could get it to dual boot aswell (and I hope I can get the CD-ROM drive to work with it this time...)

I remember wanting to try OS/2 in the mid 90s, but I never gave it an honest chance because I was persuaded by my brother (who was working for IBM at the time) to not bother with "that piece of shit". He seemed to hate that OS, in particular I remember him being annoyed at the INI files...

But that may have been because he was pissed off with his job, as he resigned not long after that 🤣. Maybe if I have the time I'll play a bit with OS/2 one of these days.

Elia1995 wrote:

Interesting, did you install MS-DOS 6.22 first and then OS/2 or viceversa for it to dual boot ?
Since I currently have installed MS-DOS 6.22, I could get it to dual boot aswell (and I hope I can get the CD-ROM drive to work with it this time...)

Installed the boot manager, then devided the harddrive into desired number of primaery partitions.
Then added them to the boot manager and rebooted. When in the boot manager, I usually tried to boot an empty partition, in order to set the active flag, and then rebooting with the specific OS installation media in question. Then installed the desired OS.
When installing Windows95/98 and later, they will remove any kind of boot manager in the MBR.
It is easy to fix. Just load up the Os/2 installer and reinstall the boot manager.

To give you the long answer in short...
It does not really matter wich to install first, as long as you know how to work with partitions and OS requirements.

Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine?

😀

brostenen wrote:

Installed the boot manager, then devided the harddrive into desired number of primaery partitions. Then added them to the boot m […]
Show full quote

Elia1995 wrote:

Interesting, did you install MS-DOS 6.22 first and then OS/2 or viceversa for it to dual boot ?
Since I currently have installed MS-DOS 6.22, I could get it to dual boot aswell (and I hope I can get the CD-ROM drive to work with it this time...)

Installed the boot manager, then devided the harddrive into desired number of primaery partitions.
Then added them to the boot manager and rebooted. When in the boot manager, I usually tried to boot an empty partition, in order to set the active flag, and then rebooting with the specific OS installation media in question. Then installed the desired OS.
When installing Windows95/98 and later, they will remove any kind of boot manager in the MBR.
It is easy to fix. Just load up the Os/2 installer and reinstall the boot manager.

To give you the long answer in short...
It does not really matter wich to install first, as long as you know how to work with partitions and OS requirements.

So let's see if I got this straight... currently I have MS-DOS 6.22 in a "Primary" 2GB FAT16 partition with the whole 18 or so GB free without any partition.
Now I should boot the OS/2 Warp 3 installation from the floppies and, once I get at the fdisk part of the installation, make a new partition and set it as active ? But how do I add a "boot manager" ? Does OS/2 automatically create it and then, after installation, on reboot ask me what to run (like what Windows does when I dual-boot 7 and XP in my main or XP and 98SE in my other PC) ?
Currently this 20GB hardisk is just like that:
1 partition, C drive set as "Active" with the FAT16 file system and 18 GB unpartitioned free space.
Ah yes... and I suck at partition jobs 🤣 I've grown a fandom of the "easy stuff" that XP and 7 provide on installation 🤣

Another weird thing I noticed about OS/2 was the "language"... I mean, either they translated that system with some sort of automatic translator of the time (if any existed already) or the guy that made the Italian language was dislexic, but I found it very funny and awkward.
I mean, first of all I dunno how's the English translation of OS/2, but in Italian they renamed the trash bin as "Shredder", instead of using the word "address" to specify a directory, they used an awkward distortion of that word, something like "addressory" (they wrote in Italian "Indirizzario" which is like "aadressory" and NONE of those two words actually exist 🤣 ) and then they called the floppies "mini-disks" ok that floppies are smaller than CDs and are small whatsoever, but "mini-disk" ?? Come on !!!!! 🤣

Whew, some old terms are beeing used there!
That's what they mean (speaking under correction):
Flappy= 8"
Floppy= Generic or 8"
Mini Floppy= 5.25"
Micro Floppy= 3.5"
...
Flippy= Floppy with programs on both sides.
One for IBM PC and the other for C64, or so.

PS: The OS/2 trash can is weird in all languages, I'm afarid.
Wouldn't be surprised if they named it grinder, mangler or something like that in English.. 😁

Well, but if "mini floppy"/"mini disk" refers to the 5.25" floppies, it's still being used improperly there, as my OS/2 Warp 3 still came with 2 3" floppies (which my father apparently lost and I had to make from the batch files on the CD root...), perhaps previous OS/2 versions had 5.25" floppies instead and they forgot to change that term, that must be the reason 😁

But "addressory" still makes no sense at all 🤣

Elia1995 wrote:

So let's see if I got this straight... currently I have MS-DOS 6.22 in a "Primary" 2GB FAT16 partition with the whole 18 or so G […]
Show full quote

So let's see if I got this straight... currently I have MS-DOS 6.22 in a "Primary" 2GB FAT16 partition with the whole 18 or so GB free without any partition.
Now I should boot the OS/2 Warp 3 installation from the floppies and, once I get at the fdisk part of the installation, make a new partition and set it as active ? But how do I add a "boot manager" ? Does OS/2 automatically create it and then, after installation, on reboot ask me what to run (like what Windows does when I dual-boot 7 and XP in my main or XP and 98SE in my other PC) ?
Currently this 20GB hardisk is just like that:
1 partition, C drive set as "Active" with the FAT16 file system and 18 GB unpartitioned free space.
Ah yes... and I suck at partition jobs 🤣 I've grown a fandom of the "easy stuff" that XP and 7 provide on installation 🤣

Another weird thing I noticed about OS/2 was the "language"... I mean, either they translated that system with some sort of automatic translator of the time (if any existed already) or the guy that made the Italian language was dislexic, but I found it very funny and awkward.
I mean, first of all I dunno how's the English translation of OS/2, but in Italian they renamed the trash bin as "Shredder", instead of using the word "address" to specify a directory, they used an awkward distortion of that word, something like "addressory" (they wrote in Italian "Indirizzario" which is like "aadressory" and NONE of those two words actually exist 🤣 ) and then they called the floppies "mini-disks" ok that floppies are smaller than CDs and are small whatsoever, but "mini-disk" ?? Come on !!!!! 🤣

Os/2 boot manager is installed on the MBR.
You can create up to 3 or 4 primaery partitions with an IDE harddrive.
Os/2 boot manager can handle drives up to 8gb.
Every primaery partitions are linked to the bootmanager entry.

Let me explain....
When you create a primaery partition with dos fdisk, it is eighter set active when created, or you need to "set active partition".
This is only a "flag", in wich the computer knows what partition it should load an operating system from.
When you choose an operating system from the Os/2 boot manager, it will start by setting the active flag and then load the OS.
This can work to you'r advantage, when you install different operating systems.

If you'r harddrive is too large, there is extended fdisk in excistance. It can handle larger drives.
It can handle Os/2 too, and works pretty much the same.

No idea, but by "Mini Disk" I think of that thing from Sony (the MiniDisc).
Anyway, both names seem to be valid (Mini Disk, Minifloppy).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#5.25

I can't find any references for flappy, though (except for that game).
I guess that's wrong then. But I could swear that I read it somwhere..

So if for example now I'd install OS/2 in another 8GB partition I create with the installation fdisk, when the computer reboots automatically shows me the selection prompt between DOS 6.22 and OS/2 ? (was replying to Brostenen, Jo22's message arrived just while I was typing this 🤣 )

brostenen wrote:

Os/2 boot manager is installed on the MBR.

True, true. OS/2 also had a simple dual-boot manager (OS/2 and DOS).
The command was boot dos and boot os/2 (or boot os2). It worked on a single partition; both OSes would co-exist in that case.
It's perhaps not pretty, but it allowed an easy installation on an existing DOS/Win3x system.

So... would it work like Windows 3.11 in that case ? Like a "dos program (automatically boot in DOS and then launch it whenever you want with the command)" more than an "actual operative system (Windows 9x)" ?

This reminds me, I still have another "operative system" I never tried which works like that, called "Ensemble" but I won't add anything more because I want to keep this thread focused on OS/2 😀

Speaking of OS/2, are there some known famouse compatibility issues with DOS games and Win 3.11 (16-bit) applications ?
As I said before, I couldn't get my AWE32 to 100% work, for example, and I couldn't get the CD-ROM drive to work either so I couldn't even put in ANY game at all (well... I could try some games from flopp... "mini-disks", but I didn't think about that)

Had to think a bit.... (and write a little guide, hence two posts)

First you need a blank harddrive as this is a guide for a clean installation.
Lets say the harddrive is aprox 2 to 4 gb, just to make shure this works with Os/2 boot manager.

1:
Boot the Os/2 installation and choose advanced/user defined fdisk/partitioning (can't remember what it is named).
It is found as one of the first options in the Os/2 installation. It will load a tool.

2:
Once in the Os/2 fdisk tool, choose to install the boot manager (found in the options menu)

3:
Add two or three partitions. One for MS-Dos, one for Os/2 and one for Win9x.

4:
Add each as an entry to the Boot Manager, and name them accordingly to what they shall contain.
Like... Ms-Dos 6.22 and Warp 3.0 you know, names like that....
Make note that they are NOT formatted, and when you boot, the boot manager is the "active one".

5:
Reboot the computer and you will now see the boot manager when the computer loads the operating system.
If you choose any of the entry's in the menu, the computer will report "operating system missing" and you
will be kicked back into the boot manager again.
The last choosen operating system from the menu, is now the one that have the active flag set.
Now it is time to insert an installation media and reboot the computer.

6:
Now you have to install the operating system like you normally would. Make note that every other primaery
partitions are "hidden" from the operating system you are installing. So no worries there.

7:
If you have installed Win9x or other operating systems that are writing a new MBR (removing the boot manager),
you can fix this by loading up Os/2 fdisk again, install boot manager again and reboot.

8:
If having trouble... Just use extended fdisk, as this is strucktured somewhat the same as Os/2 boot manager
and Fdisk tool. Just play around with the Os/2 version first.
One advantage when using extended fdisk, is that it can handle larger drives and the second advantage is that
you can boot something from floppy drive a within the boot-manager-menu.

Hope this is helpfull to you. 😀 If there is some error's in my guide, then I apologise. It is just from my 21+ year
old memory. However, it's only regarding the Os/2 part. I have used extended fdisk a couple of times in the past 4 years.

Elia1995 wrote:

Speaking of OS/2, are there some known famouse compatibility issues with DOS games and Win 3.11 (16-bit) applications ?

Depends... It came in different flavours. Some with Dos or Dos+Win311 included, other flavor's had none, and you had to have
Dos and Win installed first. I can not really remember wich, what and how.

Well, my OS/2 Warp 3 has this "Win mode" (I forgot its name) thing in the prompts folder (where there are all the stuff like "fullscreen dos", "windowed prompt", etc) which didn't work at all (guess because there was no Windows 3.11 installed ?) and I have no idea what it is for either... it has a distorted Windows logo over a blank window or a prompt as an icon.

Elia1995 wrote:

So if for example now I'd install OS/2 in another 8GB partition I create with the installation fdisk, when the computer reboots automatically shows me the selection prompt between DOS 6.22 and OS/2 ? (was replying to Brostenen, Jo22's message arrived just while I was typing this 🤣 )

If installed correctly, each entry in the menu, is a primaery partition. The menu is only a fancy selectable list that refers to each partition.The entry however is user generated. Nothing here is done automatically. Once in the list, it's in the list. And only installation of an OS that writes a new MBR, makes the menu go away.

Elia1995 wrote:

Well, my OS/2 Warp 3 has this "Win mode" (I forgot its name) thing in the prompts folder (where there are all the stuff like "fullscreen dos", "windowed prompt", etc) which didn't work at all (guess because there was no Windows 3.11 installed ?) and I have no idea what it is for either... it has a distorted Windows logo over a blank window or a prompt as an icon.

Then I guess, you'r edition is the one with Windows build into Os/2.
I have only tried the one without, and during installation of Os/2 it will look for windows components.
You can actually choose this, when you mark all the different programs/components for installation.

Well, as I said before I currently have installed MS-DOS 6.22 with Windows 3.11 (of which I'm trying to solve "that cursor problem" in the other thread), but they're in a partition.
Now, if I'd install OS/2, that would be in ANOTHER partition, would it hook up Windows components from the other partition (let's say from drive D, for example) or Windows 3.11 must be in the same partition as OS/2 ?