From: solomon@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (Robert F. Solomon)
Subject: OS2 WINS!!  I give up!
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: No Organization, Only Random Events
Date: 26 Aug 1992 10:03 EST  

	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                     |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------