VOGONS


First post, by Dracolich

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Hello, everyone. I hope this is the right forum for this question.
On my i430TX rig I've had Warp installed and running on a Quantum 1.0GB disk for a while. I did not have the boot manager installed and it was a hassle to switch between the OS2 and DOS disk drives to multiboot. Thus I made raw backups of the disks and continued playing with the OS2 as a VM in PCem. It worked fine in the VM and the specs were very close to my real hardware. I could also write the backup back to the hd and it would work on the real hardware.

Recently I got a Syba CF->IDE adapter to replace the primary master disk in this computer. Now I have reduced the DOS installation to <1GB and transferred to a CF and it works nicely. Windows 3.11 has a small quirk that sound effects play too fast. The exit sound had to be disabled as it caused Windows to hang when exiting. I have also installed Puppy Linux 2.17 to another CF and it works fine.

OS/2, however, is giving a fit. It displays the splash screen but freezes. I can press Alt+F2 at the "blob" to see drivers while loading and it is hanging on I2OSOSM.ADD. I came across a thread on this site where another user had the same problem but it was not solved. There are only a few differences between the configuration of the hardware and the VM.

Hardware          VM
i430TX i430VX
intel 233MMX AMD 233MMX
128MB RAM 128MB RAM
1GB CF IDE0 1GB IDE0
18GB IDE1 CD-ROM IDE1
Zip100 IDE2 2GB IDE2
CD-ROM IDE3 empty IDE3
Floppy A, B Floppy A, B
2x USB 1.0 USB N/A
4MB Virge/GX 4MB Virge/DX
4MB Voodoo1 4MB Voodoo1
SB16 SB16
DFE530TX+ NET N/A

Both the 18GB IDE1 and the 2GB IDE2 are FAT32 non-booting disks. I have tried disconnecting the 18GB disk and the Zip100; and have tried swapping the Zip and CD-ROM. I wonder if it might be reading too fast. I tried disabling UDMA for it but that didn't help. One thing I haven't tried yet is arranging the CD-ROM and 18GB disk to match the VM positions. I know OS/2 is picky, but could it be so much that it complains if non-booting drives are rearranged? I hope it can be solved without reinstalling. I can attach the CONFIG.SYS if anyone has ideas and needs to see it.

Reply 1 of 6, by Jo22

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Hello Dracolich,
This is an interesting issue you've got, not sure if I can be of any help.
After reading what I believed was the other thread. Anyway, I'll try..

Some ideas :

a) Did you try to REMove that I2OSOSM.ADD (+I2OXPORT.SYS) device driver from config.sys and see what happens ?

b) Perhaps the BIOS between real PC and VM differs (drive geometry).

c) OS/2 is very sensible when it comes to the file system. It supports FAT12/16B, but also keeps some meta data.
Aliase for long file names are stored in hidden text files, etc. You can run chkdsk /f or chkdsk c: /f from the prompt to fix issues.

d) You can use a backup program to create a full image of the VM's HDD.
I booted the backup program inside of the VM and as a target, I used another VM HDD to store the backup file.

When it was finished, I opened the VM HDD file with WinImage and extracted the backup file and "burned" it onto a CD-ROM.
Back in time, I used Acronis True Image 7 and 9 for this, which also supported compression.

It's backup media also included a DOS-based backup/restore program, which I used, if the other PC was too old.
Once booted on the old PC, the program would re-size/align the backup to the new HDD.

e) Not really related, but the 64MB option was for pre-Warp releases. You can leave it disabled (NO).

Also helpful (perhaps):

OS/2 Warp Frequently Asked Questions List
SCSI drivers

Good luck!

Best regards,
Jo22

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 2 of 6, by Dracolich

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Thank you, Jo22. Those are interesting ideas. I did not REM the driver in config.sys since, as posted in the other thread, it did not solve his similar problem.

(c) is interesting. I could try to boot from the floppy to do chkdsk. My OS/2 is installed as a single HPFS partition.

(d) is a lot like what I did. My raw backup from the Quantum disk was created in Linux using dd, giving me a bit-by-bit image of the disk, including boot sector, partition table, etc. PCem is able to mount and use such images (up to 8GB). When the emulated hardware is configured the same as the real hardware the OS doesn't know the difference. PCem also uses real BIOS roms, and the emulated 430VX uses the same Award 4.51g as my 430TX board. I already double-checked comparing the two to be sure the settings matched.

This morning, instead of rearranging my IDE drives, I wrote the backup image to the Quantum disk and installed it as the primary master. Sure enough, it booted with no problem. That means the OS and the config.sys are in good working order. Theoretically, the CF card *should* work as well since it is cloned from the same image. I suspect the problem must be with trying to boot OS/2 from the CF instead of a real hdd. Maybe it reads too fast or maybe DaniS506 can't read it.

If it won't work from CF I can still use it in my VM and from the real hdd. CF would be nice, though 😀

Reply 3 of 6, by Jo22

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You're welcome. 😀

I do know very little about Warp 4.52, I'm afraid. 😅 Originally, I started with Warp 3.0 and 2.11.
Much, much Later, I got a blue-spine copy of Warp 4.0 again, which I installed and updated in Virtual PC 2004.

That beeing said, I haven't really used any of the newer fixed disk drivers.
However, if they are smart, they sure like to utilize some sort of Multi-Word DMA or UDMA,even.
If that's the case, it couldn't hurt check your CF adapter for the DMA lines.
A few of mine don't have them (they are still good for DOS and 286/386 machines!)

Anyway, good luck. 😀

Jo22

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 4 of 6, by Dracolich

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Thanks again, Jo22. You give me some new ideas. Today I tested a theory regarding disk geometry. In the BIOS I specified the geometry and set to NORMAL then did a clean install. It won't even begin to boot on NORMAL, only on LBA, then on LBA the same problem occurs.

The box my CF-IDE adapter came in states it is capable of UDMA and I am using 80-pin cables. However, based on what you say, my CF might be to blame. I am using a SD-CF adapter with a 1GB SD. The SD-CF adapter is quite old and cannot read higher than 2GB.
https://farm1.static.flickr.com/80/258250692_ … c317dba0d_b.jpg

At least it's working with DOS. That's higher priority as this rig is for my DOS gaming. 😀
In the near future I plan to do the same with my Win98 rig and will likely get some new CF cards then. I can get better cards then for DOS and OS/2 and try again.

Thanks!

Reply 5 of 6, by Dracolich

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I managed to find a 1GB Compact Flash and transferred my OS/2 image from the SD to the CF. Warp boots happily on this CF card 😀

Thanks, Jo22, for your ideas eventually leading me in the right direction.

Reply 6 of 6, by Jo22

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You're welcome! 😀

I'm glad it works now.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//