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Fun n games with OS/2

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First post, by Caluser2000

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Spent a few hours today and last mucking around with two hdd that had OS/2 installed on them.

Number one was had OS/2 v3 Connect formatted as fat16 on a 2gig BigFoot ide hdd set originally to access a Novell Netware network via serial port. I promptly remove the Netware starting on boot up to prevent errors. Couldn't for the life of me figure out why the thing wasn't connecting to the router. I knew the cable was fine, nothing wrong with the router/modem/tcpip settings. I even updated the network/tcpip to the v4 server client. Tried static and dynamic addressing. After a couple of hours it dawned on me most 10Mbs ISA cards I've tried in the past have had this issue. The solution was to have an intermediary 10/100 switch to connect to a 1000/100/10 router.. It's not always the case but does happen so issue sorted.

Number two is a Quantum 3.5" ide 1.2gig hdd loaded with OS/2 v4 Adnvanced Server with the hdd formatted as 386HPFS. This has the Warp v3 interface and was set up as some sort of NAS server. Originally installed on an IBM Aptiva of some sort looking at the set up utilities, This thing was giving me all sorts of grief even though. I'd tried resetting using previous archived sessions. The problem was after the boot screen logo it would display half a page of text that was just jumbled crap and a message at the bottem to call your administrator and locked up. Similar to a Windows BSOD. I certainly didn't want to hunt the interweb fo a zillion hours trying to decipher the jumbled mess and I was the administrator.

In then in the end I decided try the Selective Install option. This and previous archived sessions are accessed when you press ctrl-alt-F1 when you see the OS/2 white boot blob top left side of the screen. Finaly we had had something OS/2 did it's thing basicly going though the install process with out needing any media. This sets the system up on vga and goes though country, cd drive selection and a few other settings and then scans the drive for installed programs and set them up for use on the desk top. A few minutes later we had a desktop with a few warnings saying things didn't load but that didn't matter. I had a check around and a few program links were broken but that's pretty common in this situation. Just to make sure every thing was ok I rebooted to make sure it booted to the desktop directly, except for some network config error from a previous session from lines in the config.sys file.

Now ctrl-alt-del and tell it to revert back to it's original install to get those links back and she's all hocky docky. A job well done.

Networking icons are all present, correct and seem to be usable, ready for more service. Alls happy like crappy in a little chappies nappy....

Here's a few shots:

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Anyone else can feel free to record their own OS/2 exploits here if they wanted.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 1 of 31, by Jo22

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I skipped Warp 3 Connect pretty much and went to Warp 4. 😀
I once got networking on Warp 4 working, but it took me some thinkering.
Maybe the instructions for the OS/2 Warp 4 Virtual PC config may help.
The guys from Vrtual Box and Virtual PC were fromer OS/2 devs, or so I heard.
One thing that I remember is that threre must be dummy NIC installed, or TCP/IP won't work.
Once TCP/IP works, backports of modern applications should run on Warp 4.

Edit: Sorry for typos. I have trouble seeiing clearly since a while.
May need a bigger screen. Or glasses. 🙁

"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 31, by Caluser2000

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No, no Virtual PC images will help. As explained I needed intermediary step for the ISA nic to talk to the router was required. It's not uncommon and the reason I have three other 486 class and below systems connected to a 10/100 switch out in the conservatory. I just totally forgot that step was require, having set it up years ago. I'm also very familiar in setting up Warp v4 for networking. Sometimes it's TCPIP/Network setup routine does not modify the PROTOCOL.INI and IBMLAN.INI files correctly. You have to manually edit them to get the set up working. It's a well known issue. No dummies needed. I also have a fully functioning DECpc 486DX2/66 with plain Warp v3(no fixpacks) and Warp v4 Server network client. It connects perfectly every time via DHCP through the switch when I had it set up in a bedroom..

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Compaq Presario CDS524, Zenith Z286LP PLUS and MITEC 386DX25 all networked via D-Link 10/100 switch to the router with perfect connection every time. The 286 is showing the PIRCH16 irc client running in MS Windows 3.1 using nic packet driver, the winpkt.exe shim and Trumpet Winsock.

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2019-09-29, 04:35. Edited 1 time in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 3 of 31, by Jo22

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Cool setup! 😎 What I meant was a VPC tutorial for OS/2 Warp 4.. It also worked on real hardware for me.
Speaking of the network, I once connected several PCs and Macs in an Appletalk network.
Power Mac G4 OS X 10.3, 286 PC on DOS, Power Mac G3 on Mac OS 9, several VMs on an Athlon 64 and so on. 😉

"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 31, by Caluser2000

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I'm glad that worked but is definitely is not needed. I've still got my original Warp v4 FP14 hdd from some time ago. I plug it in from time to time to see if it is still alive. I've got a little Mac SE but I've never had a requirement to network it. Never was Mac fan but did use Macs at one of my old work places for creating technical documents. The section I was in used various platforms. That got me interested in knowing a bit more about computers. Would mind one of the later Apple IIGSs. It has a certain appeal to me.

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2019-09-29, 21:07. Edited 1 time in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 5 of 31, by Caluser2000

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One of the fun things about OS/2 v3 was you could run an OS/2 command session, a Dos session possibly running a game of some sort and another booting a completely different Dos session natively on the desktop on a 486.

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I don't think NT had the capability of doing the later.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 6 of 31, by Jo22

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Caluser2000 wrote:

One of the fun things about OS/2 v3 was you could run an OS/2 command session, a Dos session possibly running a game of some sort and another booting a completely different Dos session natively on the desktop on a 486.

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I don't think NT had the capability of doing the later.

I think the same. The floppy boot window of OS/2 even had the ability to boot off an floppy image, if memory serves.
I'm speaking under correction, though.

"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 7 of 31, by Caluser2000

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Definitely physical floppy disks. Later fix packs possibly but non of what I've dealt with in my limited personnel experience. Possibly an innstalable file system (IFS) add on. Certainly v4 Warp with FP14 doesn't support it natively. Like Dos and Windows the constant rebooting/restarting of OS/2 on most system configuration changes is a pain. The config.sys file is HUGE and there are ways to speed things up. Though on the P166MMX rig booting OS/2 v3 is a lot quicker than my trusty DECpc 486DX2/66 with 16megs of ram. Linux is in total contrast and kind of a breath of fresh air in some respects.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 8 of 31, by Jo22

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Wow, you know a lot about OS/2 it seems. "Back in the day" I had Warp 3 only. Got it used, because I got a lot of old computers.
My father was a "freelancer" (right English term ?) doing computer engineering, so he supported me in buying all stuffs of old computer.
Don't get me wrong, we weren't rich in any way. But since he knew a lot of people with computer problems (which called him to solve them),
he had made contacts here and there. That way, we sometimes got old computers, monitors, serial mice etc and software.
In fact, it was likely cheaper to them than to dispose the junk the official way. 😉
OS/2 Warp 4 however, wasn't part of it if memory serves. I got it on a computer fleamarket that we visited once.
That must have been the same place(s) that "sold" Caldera DOS on a single 1.44MB floppy.
OS/2 2.11 was different, though. I got it for free from a family friend. It came on floppy with a set of huge manuals.
Years later, I also got OS/2 2.0, which was a curiosity, since it contained WIN-OS/2 based on a modfied Windows 3.0.
Original Warp 4 is fine, though. It runs on real vintage hardware still, like 386DX/486DX PCs. Warp 4.52, I don't know.
Gratefuly, though, all versions of Warp can still execute OS/2 1.3 programs:
The PowerPC version was planned to remove support for 16-Bit (NE exeutables) ..
Only downside is a little compatibility issue with old Presentation Manager programs.
I don't know why, but a few ancient programs written for OS/2 1.1 run fine on OS/2 2.11, but not Warp,
Ironically, the also run fine under Windows NT 4 with the PM add-on. 😉

PS: Also interesting:
OS/2 Warp 3 or 4? OS/2 Warp 3 or 4?
Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine? Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine?
The OS/2 discussion thread - The OS/2 discussion thread

Edit: I hope what I wrote was right. My memories about these things are a bit sketchy right 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//

Reply 9 of 31, by Caluser2000

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Collecting x86 operating systems is a hobby of mine.

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As far as OS/2 goes I have original copies of IBM OS/2 versions from v1.3EE(with maybe a disk or two missing) through to v4 Advanced Server. Yes, early on OS/2 was shipped on floppy right up to v3. You could also get v4 floppies from IBM if you needed them. CD Rom versions were introduced with v2.1 I believe. Still looking for that. From about 1995 until around 1999 I usually had an OS/2 machine of some sort to fiddle with. After that OS/2 and/or linux(starting with a 486DX2/66) box of some sort. Kept all the old hdds I good shape in case I needed to refer to them.

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For day to day stuff I stated on x86 systems at home with DR Dos 6/GeoWorks on a 286/16 and then MS Dos 6.22/Win3.1/3.11(not Windows for Workgroups) on a 486DX33 upgraded to a 486DX2/66 over time in the same case, which thw 1meg SIPPS converted to SIMMs by desoldering their pins.. Used that up until around 1999. It did every thing I wanted of a computer system. Access UseNet, irc and a few computer forums IE3 or Netscape over dail up no worries. Some of those I communicated with were surprised I used such an old set up. Some down right rude and others seeing my way of thinking. When I first started inquiring about linux boy it was easy to wind the ol school types up. Not being a gamer I had no need to upgrade every other year. Original Windows 98 on an second hand IBM PC300GL Celeron kept me going until about 2012. It was the families ppp internet gateway until we went to BroardBand. From then on it various XP hand me down systems. The PC300GL mini tower was a was a trouper. It was updated with unofficial SPs, dual booted with QNX/BeOS/Linux and never gave much bother at all and never had to reinstall Win98 in the time I had. Just regular maintenance and that was it. It was the only IBM system I had that didn't give me grief. Still have it ready to recover any old drivers I downloaded for the various systems I had.

Once a system starts giving trouble I'll spend maybe about 2hrs on it then if issue is not solved that system is scrapped with peripherals put aside for for future us ein another set up. I like to get the most out of my systems with out spending too much money, time and resources on them . It's a lot easier that way I found over the years. The only new system I had was my original PC General 286/16 and I still have the mouse, keyboard and MediaVision Thunder Board sound card I bought for that.

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2019-09-30, 09:34. Edited 2 times in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 10 of 31, by appiah4

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I will be installing some OS/2 version on my DX4-100 build for sure, but I'm not sure what version to go for and what Windows version to dualboot it with.. I have quite a stack of OS/2 versions at hand. I believe Warp 3 Connect and Windows 95 would be good fits for a DX4-100 PC with 16MB?

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 11 of 31, by Caluser2000

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appiah4 wrote:

I will be installing some OS/2 version on my DX4-100 build for sure, but I'm not sure what version to go for and what Windows version to dualboot it with.. I have quite a stack of OS/2 versions at hand. I believe Warp 3 Connect and Windows 95 would be good fits for a DX4-100 PC with 16MB?

Sounds good. Having a bit more ram if you have it around is good though if using Win95b/c. Say 32megs. The thing to remember is MS operating systems were never designed to play nice with competitors operating system and wanted the hdd all to themselves. There are still good old tutorials out there showing how to get around this. Warp has its own boot manager and boot managers like XOSL or Boot Magic do the trick. Now you have Grub for Dos. I found the old ones quite sufficient and easy to deal with in the past. Having something like Partition Magic or equivalent is also useful to have lying around.

http://www2.arnes.si/~fkomar/xosl.org/faqhow/faq.html
https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/Getting_the_Boot

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 12 of 31, by Caluser2000

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Jo22 wrote:
PS: Also interesting: OS/2 Warp 3 or 4? OS/2 Warp 3 or 4? Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine? Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine? The OS/2 d […]
Show full quote

PS: Also interesting:
OS/2 Warp 3 or 4? OS/2 Warp 3 or 4?
Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine? Ultimate OS/2 Warp 4 machine?
The OS/2 discussion thread - The OS/2 discussion thread

Edit: I hope what I wrote was right. My memories about these things are a bit sketchy right now. 😊

Cheers jo22 for adding those links. Keeps things consolidated. Boy time does fly. Those screen shots of mine reminded me how long I've been a member here. I had a, shall we say, about four years of severe illness which I seem to be getting over and renewing my interest in the old kit. Nice to see others interested in keeping ol stuff going as well..

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 13 of 31, by Jo22

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You're welcome. 😀

"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 14 of 31, by CBM

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I wonder if the old catacomb abyss would run on OS/2?

Main PC SPECS:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
GPU: Powercolor Red Devil Radeon RX 5700 XT
RAM: 8GB*4 Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz
Motherboard: ASUS Prime B450M-A
PSU: Corsair RM850

Reply 15 of 31, by Caluser2000

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CBM wrote:

I wonder if the old catacomb abyss would run on OS/2?

No reason why it shouldn't. I'll fire up my dedicated warp v3 box some time shortly and give it a shot.

Edit-Shots windowed and full screen.

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Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2019-10-16, 04:54. Edited 1 time in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 16 of 31, by Caluser2000

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Pulled out my old OS/2 v4.5 install to see if it was still holding up. It is Warp 4 with Fix Pack 14 which is valable at Hobbes I tried FP 15 but that cused a whole host of issues.

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Booted up fine but because this is a different computer I had to make a few changes like using default VGA. The video routine doesn't like my LDC TV but no biggy at all.

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I ran XWorkplace on this system which give you some extra functionality that the default Workplace Shell lacks, You can have up to 9 archived desktops.

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Looks like I've installed a bit of stuff in the past like Firebird(Firefoxes original name) SeaMonkey, Star Office 5.2, Embellish and some other stuff. Brings back a few memories. I'd originally made this install in 2004. I still had my Win98FE back then on my PC300GL doing most of the donky work until I got given an XP box.

I did a selective install to some bit n bobs which reactivated that pesky dancing elephant. Here is a link on how to totally eliminate it. https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/OS/2_ … _%28ARTCHRON%29

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 17 of 31, by Caluser2000

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A good resource to things OS/2 Warp v 4 are Al Savages page. Some handy tips and updated disks. http://asavage.dyndns.org/OS2/Warp4Install/Warp4Install.html It's good to see it's still up. One thing I don't miss is the repeated reboots.

A pretty cool thing OS/2 does is save previous Desktops

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Pic shows a previous desktop within a previous desktop. If your current desktop for some reason doesn't show some program you can drag them from the previous desktop/s to the current one.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 18 of 31, by CBM

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ahh good old catacomb abyss 😁

the hours wasted playing that game back in the day 😀
I had an EGA based system with a very nice EGA phillips monitor... I still have the monitor in storage!

These days I mostly play it using the GZDoom mod (with my own modifications)

Main PC SPECS:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
GPU: Powercolor Red Devil Radeon RX 5700 XT
RAM: 8GB*4 Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz
Motherboard: ASUS Prime B450M-A
PSU: Corsair RM850

Reply 19 of 31, by Caluser2000

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Going through my old OS/2 v4.5 install to see whats on it over the last few days and tidying links up. It's been a while since the hdd was powered up. On it is a directory of 800 ico files. I can try and zip them up if anyone is interested. They were free so no issues there. Can't exactly remember were I got them. Hobbes possibly.

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Screen shots were taken using GotCha!, converted to jpeg from bmp in Embellish 2.0, which was given away free for Win9x and OS/2 when it was no longer commercially viable. I'm using File Commander for OS/2. It's shareware and a lot quicker than digging around in the default set up. And is similar to mc in Linux.

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2019-10-17, 21:55. Edited 2 times in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉