Very Computer

Hi everyone, I tried OS2.1 12/92 beta on my machine last weekend. Here
is what I have experienced.

My Gateway 2K machine has:  486DX2 50 CPU, two local buses,
 ATI GUP with 1 meg vram, 8 meg ram, and  two WD 250 meg IDE drives.

It took me about three hours to download 2.1beta from ftp-os2.nmsu.edu,
which is 20 3.5" disks (0-19) plus 5 printer driver disks. I started
the installation process by backing up everything from C drive to D drive
after I learned os2 boot manager can not be installed on a slave drive.

I switched my ATI card power up configuration from 'Custom' to VGA
under the advice from one netter.  

I partitioned the C drive into three partions, first has a size of 1 meg
for os2 boot manager,  second is a 122 meg, HPFS formated partition for
os2.1, third one is a 120 meg partition for other operation system and I
formated as a DOS partition temporaily. The D drive still holds my DOS
and Window stuff in one big partition and I still have the option to boot
from D drive under the control of the os2 boot manager.

The whole installation process was rather smooth except I spent several
hours looking for the display driver disks and got a little tired
shuffling the disks. The display driver disks turned out to be part of os2
service pack, which are also downloadable from hobbes. It would have saved
me several hours if the display driver disks were boundled with os2.1beta.

After 2.1beta was finally installed and started, I quickly ran into
several problems mostly with display:

(1) The os2 under VGA mode started okey but soon it trashed my diskplay
after I closed and opend several folders.

(2) I avoided the problem(1) by changing the ATI GUP power up mode to 1572FS
and set os2 to use 8514/a mode. But I still could not close some menus and
windows cleanly,i.e,. after I clicked the close option on a menu or a
window, the image of the closed  window or menu bar still hung around on
my display. I had to move the active window (folder) as a big eraser
to clean out those garbage.

(3) I could not set the ATI powerup mode to 'custom' under os2 8514/a mode
otherwise, the display was a total mess. I would like to have the option to
use 'custom' powerup mode since that is the mode I run my DOS and win3.1
applications.  

(4) I have not able to start any window applications so far. I forgot the
exact error message. Anyway, it was about not able to set the display.

(5) When I ran several UNIX like shell commands under DOS windows, the os2
would hung up machine and gave me a window of warning and debugging
messages. However, I can ran those commands under os2 window without any
problem.

Now, I am not sure whether my problem is related to 2.1beta, my machine
or my setup.  I would like to get some input from other netters. If
there are enough interests, I will post a summary or follow up.  

Have a nice day!

-DJ

I've had the same problem. It's the DELDIR setting in your Config.sys.
REM that line out and your problems will disappear.

--
----------                                                      -----------
Andy Patrizio           "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job.
Stamford, CT, USA        It's a depression when you lose yours." -- President

You missed the display driver diskettes: DISP1.ZIP and DISP2.ZIP.

Quote:>I switched my ATI card power up configuration from 'Custom' to VGA
>under the advice from one netter.  

This is important.

Quote:>I partitioned the C drive into three partions, first has a size of 1 meg
>for os2 boot manager,  second is a 122 meg, HPFS formated partition for
>os2.1, third one is a 120 meg partition for other operation system and I
>formated as a DOS partition temporaily. The D drive still holds my DOS
>and Window stuff in one big partition and I still have the option to boot
>from D drive under the control of the os2 boot manager.

Your 'C' drive should now be C and D (I don't think boot manager takes a
letter, but I've never used it), and your 'D' drive should now be E.  
Each partition takes a new drive letter.

Quote:>The whole installation process was rather smooth except I spent several
>hours looking for the display driver disks and got a little tired
>shuffling the disks. The display driver disks turned out to be part of os2
>service pack, which are also downloadable from hobbes. It would have saved
>me several hours if the display driver disks were boundled with os2.1beta.

This is probably what's causing a lot of your problems.  You need the files
DISP1.ZIP and DISP2.ZIP from the 2.1 beta distribution (if it is still on
ftp-os2).  I would guess that the ones from the Service Pack would cause a
few problems.

Quote:>After 2.1beta was finally installed and started, I quickly ran into
>several problems mostly with display:

>(1) The os2 under VGA mode started okey but soon it trashed my diskplay
>after I closed and opend several folders.

>(2) I avoided the problem(1) by changing the ATI GUP power up mode to 1572FS
>and set os2 to use 8514/a mode. But I still could not close some menus and
>windows cleanly,i.e,. after I clicked the close option on a menu or a
>window, the image of the closed  window or menu bar still hung around on
>my display. I had to move the active window (folder) as a big eraser
>to clean out those garbage.

Get the right display drivers and try installing again.  This time, however,
install OS/2 using plain VGA as the display type.  After it's up and running,
use \os2\install\dspinstl and Display Driver Disk 2 to switch to 8514 mode.
Before re-booting OS/2, set your GUP to 1572FS or Custom (see below).  Then
re-boot and you should be fine.

Quote:>(3) I could not set the ATI powerup mode to 'custom' under os2 8514/a mode
>otherwise, the display was a total mess. I would like to have the option to
>use 'custom' powerup mode since that is the mode I run my DOS and win3.1
>applications.  

In your custom setup, under 1024x768 mode, DO NOT set the rate to anything
higher than 72Hz.  My monitor will handle 76Hz, but OS/2 doesn't like it.  I
have the Nanao F550i, which just beeps at me instead of displaying garbage.
I think I tried each higher refresh rate (starting at 60Hz) until it died on
me.  You might try this as well.

Quote:>(4) I have not able to start any window applications so far. I forgot the
>exact error message. Anyway, it was about not able to set the display.

I haven't had problems here (although I had to Selective Install Win-OS/2
after running DSPINSTL as above).  Likely it's due to the display driver
disks you're using.

Quote:>(5) When I ran several UNIX like shell commands under DOS windows, the os2
>would hung up machine and gave me a window of warning and debugging
>messages. However, I can ran those commands under os2 window without any
>problem.

>Now, I am not sure whether my problem is related to 2.1beta, my machine
>or my setup.  I would like to get some input from other netters. If
>there are enough interests, I will post a summary or follow up.  

Let me know if you need more help.

Quote:>Have a nice day!

>-DJ

Randy
--
Randy A. Coulman, M.Sc.         |       ARIES Laboratory
Research Assistant              |       Department of Computational Science
                                |       University of Saskatchewan