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- Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
- Path: sparky!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!eagle!lims01.lerc.nasa.gov!solomon
- From: solomon@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (Robert F. Solomon)
- Subject: OS2 WINS!! I give up!
- Message-ID: <26AUG199210035893@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov>
- News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41
- Sender: news@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov
- Nntp-Posting-Host: lims01.lerc.nasa.gov
- Organization: No Organization, Only Random Events
- Date: 26 Aug 1992 10:03 EST
- Lines: 93
-
- That's right! I give up! I have spent about four weeks trying to
- install the mother of all operating systems on my personal system at home.
-
- When I upgraded my system to a 386/33, I had a platform that would
- operate under OS2. So I got the software, read the FAQ list, got the Tips &
- Techniques file, and got a lot of help and advice from people on the net.
-
- The first step was to add 4 Meg to give me 8 Meg of memory. This
- put my system in a configuration which I thought would handle OS/2. So I
- cleaned out my disk and went for it. I made it all the way through the
- install and got a trap 000 error when I tried to install the printer. Call
- IBM support. Answer: Hardware problem! Memory mismatch. All memory needs to
- be the same speed! (They even said it should all be from the same
- manufacturer!) So I exchanged the chips and got things matched up.
-
- Here we go again. This time, I got all the way through and got part
- way through the installation of the printer. When it was was trying to COPY
- the epsondat.dll file to the hard disk, the machine LOCKED UP! Nothing! It
- just sat there! Cntrl-Alt-Del didn't even work! Okay, hardware reset.
- Wonder of wonders, the OS/2 desktop comes up. I got it made! I'll just
- install the printer manually. Yeah, Right! (Let me interject at this point
- that finding helpful hints in the manuals on how to do common tasks is
- really nice! Yeah, and so are root canals!)
-
- Okay, I finally found out how to add the printer. It seemed easy
- enough. I ran into the same problem with copying the DLL file. Okay, my
- floppy disk file must be corrupted. Call IBM, ask for a new Disk 4 of the
- 5-1/4 inch set. They said they would Fed-Ex it to me. Fine. Let's try
- something else.
-
- I can do without a printer for now. Do the tutorial. That's fine.
- Try a WINOS2 session. Error 3176. Video problems (I have a Prodesigner
- VGA+ with the ET3000 chipset.) Reset. Try the hints. Still problems.
- Try full screen DOS session. Same problems. Same effort. Same result.
- Call IBM. They tell me to try the same hints. That didn't work, so they
- said they would get back to me.
-
- They called on a Saturday! Said they had a fix and would send it by
- Fed-Ex.
-
- On Monday, the printer disk arrived. Too bad they sent me a 3-1/2
- inch disk. So I have to wait until the next day to take it to work to copy
- the files to 5-1/4 disks. Okay, Tuesday, the video patch arrives. 3-1/2
- again! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Don't they listen.
-
- Well, since we can't do much, let's try the printer again. Instead
- of using the install function, let's just copy the printer dll file into
- the whatever it is directory. Drag-and-drop copying locked up the machine
- again. It didn't matter whether it was the old file or the new file. Reset.
- Try this; highlight the file, open the menu, select the copy option, select
- the destination, copy. Now install it. Voila! I now have a printer!
-
- Okay, let's try this. Change the session options for DOS full-
- screen, WINOS2, and who knows what. It works. I now have WINOS2, DOS full-
- screen, OS/2 full screen, and whatever. We're home free.
-
- Let's try WINOS2. Don't bother with any SVGA stuff, 640x480x16 is
- good enough until we get going. Okay, I need a printer here. No problem. This
- one's easy. Except that the available printer list is not (as one would
- expect) in alphabetical order. It's all screwy. Maybe it's sorted by size,
- I don't know. Anyway, we got that done. Now let's get to work.
-
- The whole purpose of this exercise is to get some applications
- running. What better way to do it than to install Ami Pro 3.0 under WINOS2.
- Just install it like I did under Windows. No problem. Wrong! Trap 000!!
- What the ---- is going on? That's it! You ----ed me off one time too many!
-
- I then re-formatted the disk and went back to MSDOS/WIN3.1 so I can
- get some work done.
-
- As an aside, when I checked the video drivers for the ET3000 that
- they sent, they were a beta of VSVGA.SYS and its DLL file. I don't know
- what I'll do with it.
-
- So for now, OS2 is back in the box. Maybe, on a rainy weekend, I'll
- try again. But for now, I have work to get caught up on.
-
- By the way, they sent me some "OS/2 Video Fact Sheets" on Orchid,
- STB, and Trident boards. It seems like they all need patches. Are there any
- video boards that do work?
-
- I must admit that the IBM tech support group did make an excellent
- effort to help me. All my calls were answered or returned. I just think
- that this system needs to be a little more tolerant of hardware.
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- | Robert F. Solomon | What I Said Is Not Necessarily |
- | NASA Lewis Research Center | What I Meant. |
- | Cleveland, Ohio | |
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- | Primary Address: solomon@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov |
- | Alternate Address: ad912@cleveland.freenet.edu |
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
-