The F5 feature didn't get added until DOS 6, so I wouldn't be shocked if it's indeed missing from OS/2 of that vintage.

In later versions, there's Alt-F1, but no idea if it works in 1.3...

Grzyb wrote on 2023-06-13, 20:18:

In later versions, there's Alt-F1, but no idea if it works in 1.3...

Tried it, press multiple times during startup and no dice.

There's the E editor, which should run with the system booted off the floppies.

Grzyb wrote on 2023-06-14, 00:19:

There's the E editor, which should run with the system booted off the floppies.

Does that run In text mode too? I however have another problem. When I boot off the install disk and press Esc on the blue screen, I get an A: prompt. So I switch to C:, but that is the MS-DOS partition. So I try D:, because I have a separate HPFS partition and when I do a "dir" I get:

The system cannot find the file specified

with no files listed. However the volume label is something OS/2 related. Drive letters beyond D: predictably don't exist. I only have the DOS and OS/2 partition on the drive. I can boot OS/2 from that HPFS partition, but of it of course crashes part way through so that's useless.

This is foreign to me as I've never used such an old version of OS/2 before!

In CONFIG.SYS, I can see "device=vdisk.sys 160,256,32", so I suspect the D: drive is RAM-disk, and it's normal there's no files there.

If you can't access the HPFS partition using 1.3 diskettes, perhaps you can do it with diskettes from some later version, eg. Warp 3 ?
Of course, later versions can only work if the CPU is at least 386.

Edit: another idea is to try some HPFS driver for DOS...

Grzyb wrote on 2023-06-14, 03:42:

In CONFIG.SYS, I can see "device=vdisk.sys 160,256,32", so I suspect the D: drive is RAM-disk, and it's normal there's no files […]
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In CONFIG.SYS, I can see "device=vdisk.sys 160,256,32", so I suspect the D: drive is RAM-disk, and it's normal there's no files there.

If you can't access the HPFS partition using 1.3 diskettes, perhaps you can do it with diskettes from some later version, eg. Warp 3 ?
Of course, later versions can only work if the CPU is at least 386.

Edit: another idea is to try some HPFS driver for DOS...

Ok that's helpful. I didn't think about it creating a RAM disk. Still weird it won't see its own partition. I can even see the message that it loaded the HPFS driver when I start from floppy.

Good idea about access from DOS, but I investigated the three DOS drivers I could find that allow HPFS access and two are read-only, and the one that isn't, HPFSA v1.02, requires a 386. Gaaaahh.

I could always put the drive in another computer to do this but that's just not right!

eesz34 wrote on 2023-06-14, 11:27:

[..] one that isn't, HPFSA v1.02, requires a 386. Gaaaahh. [..]

Does it use 32-Bit code or just some 386 instructions?
If it's the latter, EMU386 may help.

Jo22 wrote on 2023-06-14, 18:23:

eesz34 wrote on 2023-06-14, 11:27:

[..] one that isn't, HPFSA v1.02, requires a 386. Gaaaahh. [..]

Does it use 32-Bit code or just some 386 instructions?
If it's the latter, EMU386 may help.

I really have no idea. But interesting driver! I will try this.