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OS/2 Shareware BBS: 36 Tips
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36-Tips.zip
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dehint.zip
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de_hints.txt
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1994-10-08
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22KB
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478 lines
What follows are some hints and tips that I have collected
from CIS and my own experience that may help OS2 users
(particularly new users). I offer them with NO WARRANTY OF
FITNESS, PURPOSE OR OTHERWISE, but I hope they might help you.
CONTENTS
1. DOS_SETTINGS (SETTINGS NOTEBOOK FOR DOS/WIN-OS2)
a. BE CAREFUL ABOUT CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS. . . . . . 1
b. DOS_AUTOEXEC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
c. DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
d. IDLE_SENSITIVITY AND IDLE_SECONDS . . . . . . . . . . 1
e. MEMORY -- EMS VS. XMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. CONFIG.SYS
a. DELDIR: "REM" IT IF YOU CAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
b. IOPL=NO (CONFIG.SYS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. USING BOOT MANAGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. HOT-KEYS (QWIKSWITCH) AND DOS MACROS . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. FORCING DOS APPS TO RELEASE COM PORT WHILE STAYING OPEN. . 3
6. ADDING MEMORY (HELP SOLVING TRAP0002 ERROR MESSAGES) . . . 4
7. SYSTEM WON'T WARM BOOT WITH CTRL-ALT-DEL . . . . . . . . . 4
8. LOSING VIDEO SYNCRONIZATION BETWEEN OS2 AND DOS SESSION. . 4
9. FAST CPU -- SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
10. PRO AUDIO 16 BASIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. DOS_SETTINGS (SETTINGS NOTEBOOK FOR DOS/WIN-OS2)
a. BE CAREFUL ABOUT CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS
I lost the beep from OzCIS (DOS version of CIS navigation
program) and other DOS apps by setting HW_TIMER=ON in just one
application. When I opened that app, sound was lost in all my DOS
apps. SysOp Mike Bessy (75300,1215) diagnosed the problem and
pointed out that it's better to stay with the following default
settings unless there is a strong reason to change (and I heartily
concur):
HW_NOSOUND=OFF
HW_TIMER=OFF
INT_DURING_IO=OFF
Mike added: "Note that if _any_ active session has "HW_TIMER=ON",
then all bets are off and other sessions may very well lose their
ability to generate simple "^G" beep." Well, mine sure did.
b. DOS_AUTOEXEC
OS2 lets you create multiple autoexec-type files and name them
anything you want, so long as .bat is the extension and the full
path is specified. I have at least 4 that I use for different
apps. All load the anti-virus software, but the path differs some,
along with TSRs I might want to use. This is a handy way of
controlling some of the operation of your DOS sessions and lets you
customize them even more than the settings notebook does. To keep
track of them, I put "auto" in front of each: for example, my
Windows .bat file is autowin.bat.
c. DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION
If your DOS/Windows apps don't need to operate in the
background, set this to OFF. Realize with Win-OS2 sessions,
though, that if the first session opened allows background
operation, all others opened into that session will do likewise.
For them, either specify that they will be opened as separate
sessions, or change the settings on the first session you open so
that it does not call for background execution.
d. IDLE_SENSITIVITY AND IDLE_SECONDS
Setting IDLE_SENSITIVITY higher gives it greater access and
use of the CPU. If you want an app to be more responsive in the
foreground, one possibility is to increase this number. If you
reach 100, no idle detection will occur (which I understand means
that it will get CPU time and attention even when nothing is
happening: adversely affecting background apps). I have a PIM
(Instant Recall for DOS) that beeps me when a reminder time is
reached. It's setting is 10. WordPerfect 5.1+ has a setting of
25. Both respond quite adequately in the foreground and handle
background tasks well, and with only those two open, the CPU drops
to 1-2% use when I am at the OS2 desktop. That 1-2% is probably
the PIM polling for its timer.
e. MEMORY -- EMS VS. XMS
I found that specifying EMS (expanded memory) for one of my
DOS app's session impaired that session's foreground operation
whenever a Win-OS2 session was open. By specifying XMS (extended
memory), I found that I avoided some significant performance
degradation caused by Quattro Pro for Windows (an excellent
spreadsheet, but a terrible CPU and memory hog).
2. CONFIG.SYS
a. DELDIR: "REM" IT IF YOU CAN
If you find that certain DOS apps take much longer to open and
close, to save certain files or open others, than the apps did in
native DOS or even Windows, and IF you have DELDIR operating in
OS2's CONFIG.SYS and in the DOS_AUTOEXEC file you have specified,
rem or delete that line unless you have no other way to get at
deleted files. Here's why:
Many apps create temporary files that are deleted when a file
is saved, an app is opened or closed, or certain files are opened.
DOS would normally only change the first character in the FAT, but
when DELDIR is operating, the file is actually moved to the DELETE
directory on the drive where the temp file was. If several files
are to be deleted, that will add noticably to the time your file
operations take. If you're still using FAT, try your DOS undelete
utility. Otherwise get GammaTech Utilities or one like it with an
undelete utility.
b. IOPL=NO (CONFIG.SYS)
The August 1994 OS2 Magazine carried an article on tuning OS2,
in which the author points out that OS2 defaults to IOPL=YES
because certain older devices like LaserJet printers needed direct
access to the IO priority level. But the author suggests changing
that to NO except for programs that need the IOPL set to yes. For
them, this line might read IOPL=FAX,FAXWORKD (as mine does for
FaxWorks for OS2). A "No" setting increases system stability and
makes the system more crashproof. Hey, that's what I wanted in OS2
in the first place, so I went for it. It works.
3. USING BOOT MANAGER
When I first installed OS2, I was told I'd have to reformat my
hard disk to create the 1Mb partition needed by Boot Manager. When
I got into FDISK, however, I found that my hard disk already had a
1Mb partition at the end of it. So I used that, and have had no
problems at all. I have 2 SCSI disks, both operating under an
Adaptec 2742T adapter, each partitioned by MS-DOS's FDISK and
formatted by MS-DOS's FORMAT. Bottom line: Run OS2's FDISK before
you do anything to your hard disk. You may already have the 1Mb
partition needed for boot manager.
4. HOT-KEYS (QWIKSWITCH) AND DOS MACROS
I use QwikSwitch (by Bitware Consulting) to allow me hot-key
access between my full screen DOS apps (it works with OS/2 and Win
apps as well but I don't use it for them). I also use Borland's
Superkey macro program (it dates from 1986 but is still very
useful) to add much needed macro power to a couple of my most used
DOS apps. To solve conflicts that were causing crashes and weird
behavior, I placed the command that loads QwikSwitch's TSR
(QWIKTSR.EXE) in the *.bat file that loads those apps following the
command that loads SuperKey: No more conflicts, crashes or weird
behavior. But be aware that QWIKTSR controls over the macro
program, so if you use this device, it may be necessary to change
some of your key combinations.
5. FORCING DOS APPS TO RELEASE COM PORT WHILE STAYING OPEN
One of my big disappointments with OS/2 when I first began
using it was that my DOS PIM (Instant Recall) would take control of
the COM1 port where my modem is and would not release it for use by
other DOS communications apps. So I was forced to close it in
order to use those other apps. Many other DOS apps did the same,
but I did not mind closing them. Then I discovered that Ray Gwinn
includes a program called SU.EXE in his SIO package (an excellent
bundle that includes communication drivers to replace COM.SYS and
VCOM.SYS). SU stands for SIO Utilities and contains a number of
useful functions. The command "SU 1 close" forces my DOS apps to
release the COM1 port. If you use it, replace the 1 with the
number of the COM port your modem uses.
I have included that line in my autoexec files that I use to
load my DOS comm apps, so the COM port is automatically released
when those apps are opened. I also created an OS/2 desktop object
to invoke a *.cmd file I wrote to send that command at the OS/2
prompt. If I get the message that the COM port is being used by a
DOS application that has to be closed, I just double-click on that
object, and the port is released for the app that wants to use it.
6. ADDING MEMORY (HELP SOLVING TRAP0002 ERROR MESSAGES)
This is a very tricky subject in OS2. Because of the
tremendous demands made on memory by OS2, memory chips that have
operated just fine in DOS and Windows (and that might even test out
as fully functioning on chip testing equipment) can still produce
intermittent trap0002, trap000e and other trap error messages. The
safest (and easiest) course is (in order of decreasing importance):
(a) Get chips that are recommended by the motherboard
manufacturer. Get that info from the motherboard or
system handbook or from the manufacturer.
(b) Be sure that the chips were all manufactured at the same
speed: check that all have identical markings/numbers --
I have been told that even very slight speed variations
can produce intermittent errors
(c) Do not mix chip speeds within a bank (and preferably no
anywhere): use all 60ns, 70ns or 80ns, or whatever.
If you have done these and still get those trap errors, try
swapping banks of memory (move the chips in bank 1 to bank 0 and
vice versa). If you have one bank of slower chips than another
bank, swapping banks may help: Some folks have found that moving
slow RAM to bank 0 helps while others have found the opposite is
true.
7. SYSTEM WON'T WARM BOOT WITH CTRL-ALT-DEL
Something about my system and OS/2 (IBM tech support says it's
my keyboard BIOS, AMI H-level) does not allow my system to warm
boot when I hit ctrl-alt-del. I found the following solution that
works very well: Before hitting ctrl-alt-del, I hit ctrl-alt-
numlock twice. When I get the message telling me to insert the
diskette created by CREATEDD, I hit ctrl-alt-del. My system
reboots as it's supposed to.
8. LOSING VIDEO SYNCRONIZATION BETWEEN OS2 AND DOS SESSION
This is a combination of video board, driver and monitor
problem. I found that after making configuration changes in my
system, I sometimes lost sync when shifting to a DOS session. My
solution was to reinstall the video drivers. It worked for a
little while, but would then break down.
Another suggestion from Sue Manning [IBM] (72420,1005)
"Sometimes these corrupted displays are solved by going to a
real DOS session and using SVGA ON DOS at the command line,
then renaming SVGADATA.DOS to SVGADATA.PMI, then rebooting to
OS/2. If you're still having problems, use the DOS/WIN video
settings in the sessions notebook and test each one of those
out."
This did help some, but not on a regular basis. I have now
replaced my monitor, so this is no longer a problem.
9. FAST CPU -- SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE
If you have a fast CPU (486 DX2/66 or DX/50 and up), you use
OS2 2.1, and you haven't installed the Service Pak for OS2 2.1, you
may experience a problem that several OS2USERS ran into: You are
typing or moving around in your DOS apps, the cursor stops or moves
as if it were a slug, and the keyboard buffer fills regularly and
causes lots of beeping. The solution for me was in a file named
PENTIUM.DSK that I downloaded from the IBM BBS. The fixes in that
file are in the Service Pak, so it's not needed if the SP is
installed. If you don't have the HPFS installed, you will have to
copy HPFS.IFS manually to your [d:]\OS2 directory to complete that
installation, since the installation file assumes HPFS.IFS is on
your disk.
10. PRO AUDIO 16 BASIC
This card will allow you to have sound in Win-OS2 and in OS2
apps when a Win-OS2 session is open, provided you use the Sound
Blaster side of the card for Win-OS2 and the PAS side for OS2.
Here's some "sound" advice from Ron Higgin 76516,2115:
------------------------------------------------------------
As you may or may not be aware, the PAS 16 has two independent
sets of circuitry on a single card. In effect it is two cards
in one: a PAS and a Soundblaster. Each side of the card is
independently configured as to the I/O port address, IRQ
number, and DMA channel it uses. The PAS side of the card is
ALWAYS enabled by the "MVPRODD.SYS" driver when it is loaded
during the OS/2 boot-up process. The Soundblaster side of the
card is enabled through the "/S:1" switch on the "MVPRODD.SYS"
driver parms ("/S:0", the default, disables the SB side of the
card).
You have two choices when configuring the PAS 16 for use in an
OS/2 environment:
1. Disable the SB side of the card and share the PAS
side between all active OS/2, DOS, and WinOS2
sessions.
2. Enable the SB side of the card and use the PAS side
of the card for OS/2 sessions, and the SB side for
all DOS and WinOS2 sessions.
Option "1" is OK as long as:
o All sound-enabled DOS apps you want to run support
the PAS 16 in native (non-Soundblaster) mode.
o You install the Mediavision supplied "Windows"
sound drivers for the PAS 16 card.
o You can live with the fact that some apps may
programmatically change sound mix/volume controls
and that such changes will affect all sessions
running under OS/2, including the OS/2 Desktop.
Option "2" is OK as long as:
o You install the WinOS2 or Creative Labs supplied
"Windows" sound drivers (for the Soundblaster card,
which is emulated by the PAS 16 hardware).
o You are willing to individually configure DOS and
WinOS2 apps to get the sound quality you're looking
for.
Generally speaking it is recommended (by MV) that you select
option "2". To do this with minimum discomfort you must assign
the SB side of the card one of the defacto Soundblaster
configurations: I/O port 220, DMA channel 1, and IRQ 5 or 7.
This can present a bit of a problem since most machines have
printer port LPT1 assigned to IRQ 7, and many bus mice use IRQ
5. Some DOS applications are smart enough to either find the
SB "card" no matter how it's configured, or via a "standard"
Soundblaster DOS environment variable (I believe it is called
"BLASTER"). Unfortunately, in my experience, most DOS apps
(especially older ones) only check for one of the two defacto
configurations. Windows (and WinOS2) is a little more forgiv-
ing since the sound driver is explicitly configured within
Windows itself and apps simply access the "sound" hardware via
Windows defined programming interfaces.
To use option "2" you must:
1. Add the following to the "MVPRODD.SYS" driver in
"CONFIG.SYS":
/S:1,220,1,x
where "x" is the IRQ number you want to assign to
the SB side of the card (normally "5").
2. Reboot your system to enable the SB side of the
card.
3. Start a full screen WinOS2 session and use the
WinOS2 "Control Panel" to install the Soundblaster
(NOT the MV) driver.
4. Restart the WinOS2 session.
Please keep the following in mind when selecting the I/O port
address, DMA channel, and IRQ for each side of the PAS 16
card:
o EACH selected I/O address, DMA channel, and IRQ
number MUST be unique within the SYSTEM. The values
must be unique for each side of the card AND MUST
NOT be in use by any other card in your system, or
in-board (on the motherboard) I/O ports.
o The PAS side of the card uses a 16 bit DMA channel
interface. In some cases it MAY operate correctly
(with reduced performance and/or sound quality) on
an 8 bit DMA channel, but if at all possible it
should be assigned to one of the 16 bit DMA chan-
nels (5, 6, or 7). The "/Dx" option on the
"MVPRODD.SYS" assigns the DMA channel to be used by
the PAS side of the card.
o The SB side of the card uses an 8 bit DMA channel
interface. The initial driver provide by Media-
vision actually REQUIRED the SB side to be assigned
DMA channel one. Later versions removed the re-
striction but there's no point in wasting a 16 bit
DMA channel on the SB side so it's best to pick one
of the 8 bit DMA channels (1, 2, or 3). Remember,
the selected DMA channel must NOT be used by any
other card/device in your system.
o Some video cards have been known to use I/O port
220. If this is true for your video card (check
your video card manual to determine if this is
true) you'll have to pick an alternate I/O port for
the SB side of the card and live with the resulting
compatability problems.
Finally, most DOS apps do NOT require any special driver to be
loaded in the DOS session in order to use the sound card.
However some stubborn DOS apps do. If you get sound with some
DOS apps and not others you'll probably have to configure a
special program reference object (icon) for it specifying (via
the "DOS Settings") that the "MVSOUND.SYS" driver needs to be
loaded when the application is launched. WinOS2 sessions do
NOT require you to load the "MVSOUND" driver since, as
previously stated, the Windows environment is customized for,
and controls sound card access."
------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some additional considerations that I have gleaned
from other threads or learned from experience:
(a) IRQ, DMA, and IO address conflicts are notorious prob-
lems. If you get repeating sounds or system hangs, look
for these first. For example, don't be deceived by
success in using IRQ7 in DOS for both LPT1 and one side
of the card: OS2 shows little or no tolerance for use of
the same IRQ by multiple devices.
(b) There are at least 2 versions of the PA16 Basic: The one
with pins at J14 and J15 is called the LSI-version (It
was developed for some kind of future development that
Media Vision has abandoned). To use it, remove the
jumpers from those pins (hang them to the side from one
pin or remove them entirely). Then you will probably
want to get the beta MVPRODD.SYS driver that (on the date
I wrote this) was contained in a file on the Media Vision
BBS (510-770-0968) called PROD508B.EXE (password 508B):
rename PROD508B.SYS to MVPRODD.SYS and copy it to the
MMOS2 directory.
(c) Even though these boards are being sold currently, the
drivers included with them are old. There are newer
drivers and utilities available in these files, and you
will probably want to download them from the Media Vision
BBS or CIS: WIN145.EXE, OS2.EXE, MV324.EXE, and
SETPAS.ZIP, along with information files: PASSET.ZIP and
PASLIST.ZIP. Please note, however, that most of the
drivers are dated 1993 and even 1992. There are few
dated in 1994.
(d) You may still experience difficulties getting sound from
OS2 when you have a WinOS2 session open. I think this is
because (on some systems) that session is accessing the
MV side of the card, despite the loading only of SB
drivers (no explanation offered). The answer for me has
been to open a DOS session that has the MVSOUND.SYS
driver loaded to access the PAS side of the card, then to
open the WinOS2 session (which has only SB drivers
loaded), then close the DOS session. Voila! Sound in
both WinOS2 and OS2. Convoluted, maybe, but it works.
With a .cmd file called as a desktop object, this is a
simple step.
(e) If you download the updated drivers referred to above,
forget any instruction to patch a VDMA.SYS driver to
allow using the card in "enhanced" mode operation of Win-
OS2. The patches have been made in the updated drivers.
(f) Expect sound from Windows to be quite loud and to
increase the volume of your OS2 sounds. I have compro-
mised by boosting the sound volumes for my OS2 sounds and
simply lowering the speaker volume level. Ron Higgin
suggested downloading a SB "mixer" driver that would
allow controlling SB sounds in Win-OS2 sessions. I
haven't tried that yet.
J:> David Eckman (Houston) 75430,1525
October 8, 1994