************************* New Info *************************** ACAD 386 R12c2 UPDATE The Phar Lap DOS|Extender and SVADI.EXP files mentioned below and included in the OS2PCH.ZIP file are NOT needed for AutoCAD 386 Release 12c2. These are only needed for earlier versions of AutoCAD 386 Release 12. The IBM Service Pack will still be needed regardless of AutoCAD Release 12 version for customer-installed IBM OS/2 2.0 versions. PRE-LOADED IBM OS/2 The IBM Service Pack mentioned below does not work with pre-loaded OS/2 machines. Customers using machines which come with pre-loaded IBM OS/2 2.00.1 need to first find out which CSD level of OS/2 they have and then proceed based on their findings. Bring up OS/2 in full-screen mode and type "syslevel". This will list the current CSD level. If it is XR02005, the customer should contact IBM at 1-800-342-6672 to obtain an update of their OS/2 instead of following the instructions below regarding the IBM Service Pack. If it is XR02010 no updates are needed to IBM OS/2 and the following information regarding the IBM Service Pack should be disregarded. IBM OS/2 2.1 (BETA) No update to the OS/2 software is needed. If you have ACAD 386 Release 12c2, no update to AutoCAD 386 is needed. If you have an earlier release of AutoCAD Release 12, follow the instructions below on updating the dos|extender version and using the included svadi display driver. ******************Product Support April 30, 1993***************** Updated Phar Lap Dos Extender for AutoCAD 386 R12 A new Phar Lap DOS Extender, version 4.1-ACAD2, when accompanied with the appropriate DPMI patches from IBM, allows AutoCAD Release 12 386 to run in an OS/2 2.0 Full Screen Dos Box. by Autodesk Product Support November 2, 1992 DOS Extender 4.1-ACAD2 is an update to version 4.1-ACAD which AutoCAD 386 currently uses. The DOS Extender is an integral part of AutoCAD 386. This document will describe how to update the DOS Extender in place. Here are some of the benefits of the updated DOS Extender: DOS Extender 4.1-ACAD2 Benefits ==================================== * Ability to run AutoCAD 386, R12 in a full screen OS/2 dos box. NOTE ==== With Dos Extender 4.1-ACAD2, AutoCAD 386 R12 should run from a dos prompt, within Microsoft Windows 3.1 as a full screen Dos Box Application and with OS/2 2.0(and DPMI Patches) as a full screen Dos Box Application. This update need only be done if you are interested in running AutoCAD 386 R12 in an OS/2 2.0 Dos Box. The environment for running AutoCAD 386 in an OS/2 Dos box is very similar to running within a Dos Box under Windows 3.1. Please refer to the section "Running AutoCAD 386 under Windows" in the Release 12 Installation and Performance Guide. In addition to updating the dos extender within AutoCAD R12, it is also necessary to update the display driver "rcpsvadi.exp." This is more commonly known as the "SVADI" driver. A new version of this driver is enclosed on the update disk as well. Dos Extender 4.1-ACAD2 - A Word of Caution ================================================ Due to inconsistencies between AutoCAD R12 386 and OS/2 2.0, AutoCAD R12 and R12c1 will not run in a DOS window under OS/2 out of the box. Autodesk and IBM collaborated to correct these inconsistencies by developing software patches for both R12 and OS/2. The patches are now complete, but they have not been extensively tested. In the interest of providing these patches as soon as possible, Autodesk has decided to release its patches in Beta form. The patches have not completed all testing that is normally conducted on released software so USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK. You need to obtain the IBM code from IBM. To obtain the IBM patches, you will need to get the OS/2 2.0 ServicePack directly from IBM. For more information about this ServicePack, call IBM HelpWare at 1-800-772-2227. How to update your copy of AutoCAD 386 R12 to use DOS Extender 4.1-ACAD2 ================================================================= A program called NEWDX.EXE has been supplied on the enclosed DOS Extender update disk. NEWDX will remove DOS Extender 4.1-ACAD from AutoCAD 386 and replace it with version 4.1-ACAD2. NEWDX will work with AutoCAD R12 C0 and AutoCAD R12 C1. If you are using a digitizer, we recommend that you upgrade to AutoCAD R12 C1 for improved digitizer performance. This procedure should be done on the installed copy of AutoCAD 386, and NOT on the original floppies. The operational steps are as follows: 1. Change directories to your AutoCAD 386 executable directory. cd \acad 2. Back up your copy of ACAD.EXE, i.e. copy ACAD.EXE to ACADSAV.EXE. copy acad.exe acadsav.exe. 3. Copy the Dos Extender update program into the executable directory, i.e. copy A:newdx.* copy A:newdx.* 4. Execute the program NEWDX.EXE by typing, newdx acad.exe 5. NEWDX preserves any DOS Extender switch settings that you may have had in the earlier version of the DOS Extender. 6. If for any reason you encounter problems with DOS Extender version 4.1-ACAD2, simply copy back the saved executable into ACAD.EXE. copy acadsav.exe acad.exe 7. Update the "rcpsvadi.exp" driver. cd \acadr12\drv copy rcpsvadi.exp rcpsvadi.sav copy A:rcpsvadi.exp The updated driver contains a workaround for an OS/2 bug. It will work fine on all environments. OS/2 2.0 Kernel and DPMI Patches ================================ In order to run AutoCAD 386 R12 in an OS/2 dos box, you will need an OS/2 kernel patch and new DPMI drivers. These files are available from IBM in the OS/2 2.0 ServicePack. Please install the ServicePack patches before trying to run AutoCAD R12 on an OS/2 2.0 system. Running AutoCAD 386 R12 in an OS/2 Dos Box ========================================== In order to get optimum performance of AutoCAD 386 R12 under OS/2 make the following changes to your OS/2 Dos Full Screen Session Settings: Change DOS_FILES to 50 Change DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT to 40 (40MB) Change HW_TIMER to on Settings you may want to change:(Not tested here) IDLE_SENSITIVITY -- change to 100 if using serial devices DOS_HIGH -- why not. COM_HOLD to on Video_8514A_XGA_IOTRAP -- for 8514 people COM_DIRECT_ACCESS AutoCAD 386 will only take memory from the DPMI memory pool. The settings for EMS and XMS have no affect on AutoCAD 386. General OS/2 System Requirements ================================ OS/2 runs AutoCAD 386 much better with 16MB than 8MB. The switch time between applications is much better. Even more memory may be required if you wish to run multiple sessions of AutoCAD. Known Problems ============== We did all of our testing on the VGA graphics subsystem. When we tried to make AutoCAD 386 use XGA support inside the dos box, erratic behavior occurred. We recommend using the "SVADI" display driver choice for AutoCAD and choosing VGA mode for AutoCAD 386. IBM is aware of the problems with XGA support. Just as when running AutoCAD 386 under Windows, we recommend running AutoCAD at 600x480x16 or 800x600x16 display resolution. Higher resolutions or more colors may cause problems unless the display driver has an intelligent screen grabber. Some beta users have noticed that digitizer performance within the OS/2 dos box is not as good as under straight dos.