May 1998

Happy to report that we had good attendance again in April. About 30 happy OS/2 faces.

Throughout all the previous months, the Q&A session (if any) was always placed at the end of the meeting agenda, and in many instances there was little or no time left and some of the members left due to the late hour. Additionally, most meetings started somewhat later than 7:00pm due to the time required for setting up equipment, etc.

Consequently, in April, a new meeting format was tried to start the meeting with the Q&A session right up front. David Moskowitz presided over this session while all equipment was being set up, thus eliminating lost time.

The Q&A session was quite lively, lasting to about 8:15pm. Member reaction was most enthusiastic about this arrangement, and many good questions were asked and answered. We'll continue holding the Q&A session up front at future meetings.

Following the Q&A session, we took a break to socialize, enjoy the complimentary refreshments and conduct our customary 50/50 lottery. In addition to the usual chips, pretzels and soda, Bill Dyke brought in a coffee maker and the makings provided by Ray Waechter. Ray was unable to be with us in April due to a death in the family. We send our collective sympathy and condolences to Ray and his family.

A copy of the new Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 Warp 4, donated by Lotus, was also raffled off. Mike Minard was the lucky winner.

After the intermission, there was the monthly list of OS/2 announcements, news items of general interest, new software, forthcoming events, etc. which were briefly reviewed and discussed.

SIG member Bill Dyke then took center stage and conducted a most fascinating and interesting presentation/demonstration of an OS/2 application for a weather satellite tracking station which Bill uses at the high school where he teaches.

The station receives signals from GOES and NOAA weather satellites, downloads these signals to the computer, converts analog information to digital, and displays images on the computer monitor which can be analyzed, combined with other images to show the motion of a weather system over a period of time, etc.

For purposes of our presentation, recordings of previous satellite transmissions were used to show weather patterns and the movement of these weather patterns across North American areas taken by the two different orbiting satellite systems with sensors operating at various wavelengths.

The meeting ended quite close to the scheduled 10:00 pm, but many of the members lingered for another 30 minutes ar so to socialize, compare notes with each other about various OS/2 matters, etc.

We finally cleaned up the premises, packed up all the equipment, and departed around 10:30pm.

Many thanks to the folks at Episcopal Academy for the continued use of their meeting facilities.

A pre-release of Java 1.1.6 for OS/2 Warp is now available for download from IBM's PCPD Customers web site:
http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pcpd.nsf

all of three packages:

Runtime Package
JAVAINRT.ZIP 7469KB

Runtime Package w/Unicode Font
JAVAINUF.ZIP 17386KB

Development Package
JAVAINTK.ZIP 11366KB

Use extreme caution. This pre-release is a beta, not a final GA release. Some user reports are quite positive, but many problems have also been reported, especially with J Street Mailer.

The Win32-OS/2 Project has released Alpha 2 of their converter. This will allow you to convert Win32 applications into native OS/2 applications. You can find out more information about this project or download a copy of the converter from the Win32-OS/2 Project web site: http://www.os2ss.com/win32-os2/

The most recent version is v.A0.02 which was released on April 18th.

InnoVal released Build 98.4.3 on the evening of April 30th for download by members of the Charter Users Group, now numbering in excess of 600, according to Dan Porter, InnoVal's president.

This release provides support for LDAP and IMAP, among other new features, and also fixes many of the features and problems reported by users. Message traffic on the jstreet email listserver between InnoVal and the Charter User beta testers continues on at very heavy levels seven days per week.

InnoVal has also published a plan to market the J Street Mailer to educational institutions at very attractive site license prices, based on total student/staff population levels. This would apply to college and university campuses, schools and school districts, etc.

Golden CommPass announced the release of Golden CommPass v.3.0. Golden CommPass is an OS/2 navigation program designed to automate access to the CompuServe Information Service.

This new version provides support for CompuServe's Host-Micro Interface (HMI), the New Information Systems Architecture (NISA) Forums and personal addresses (alphanumeric user ids). The Forums notebook has been redesigned for easier use and a customizable, graphical button bar has been added to every window. It is now possible to access up to 200 forums. Native TCP/IP support has been added for users that have a TCP/IP connection to the Internet.

Golden CommPass version 3.0 will only be available via electronic distribution from the Golden CommPass Support Forum (GO GCPSUPPORT) on CompuServe.

The suggested list price for Golden CommPass has been reduced to $59. The upgrade cost is $39 for all registered users of the previous version.

All orders must be placed directly with Creative Systems Programming Corporation customer support at 71511.151@CompuServe.com or by calling 609-234-1500. Complete billing information (including Visa or Mastercard credit card number and expiration date) is required to purchase an upgrade.

Lotus very recently released the initial portions of their new eSuite package written completely in Java. As soon as evaluation copies are made available to us, a demo will be planned for a near-term meeting.

The following is extracted from the editorial page of the April issue of the OS/2 Connect eZine, by permission of the editor, Tim Bryce:

Information coming down the Internet Pike indicates that IBM is quietly working on FixPak 7 with an anticipated release date of mid-August or early September. One of IBM's PM Driver Developers slipped and hinted at one of the expected corrections. FixPak 7 will correct the odd distortions caused by the Times New Roman MT30 fonts that shipped with SmartSuite for OS/2 Warp. Some users report the font style can result in particularly grotesque italics.

Another rumor coming out of Sweden from an insider with the Swedish OS/2 User Group, who is adament in this, says: IBM intends to release an upgraded Warp 4 client before the end of the year. It will be OS/2 Warp 4.1 (version 1) and will include the updates from SoftWare Choice, including support for huge hard drives, removable media, Java 1.2. Also expected is 3D GRADD support and PCI generic sound driver support, and will ship as a new upgradable CD.

Another year has passed, and PC-Expo is right around the corner: June 16-18, at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. This year, 1998, PC-Expo is being combined with WEB.X.

Here's how to register online, for free admission to the combined WEB.X and PC-EXPO exhibits:

Log on to http://www.webdotx.com/

Then go to the registration page and enter source code PB98 if you have received an announcement card in the mail, or PA98 if you have not received a card. Then proceed with the remainder of the online registration form. When finished, save the confirmation page. A email message will also be sent out to you within a few minutes very shortly thereafter. An admission badge should be received in the mail a week or two prior to the show.

Now that Chicago has been selected as the host for Warpstock '98, interest and activity is rapidly going into high gear.

Log in on the Warpstock '98 web site at http://www.warpstock.org to stay abreast of all the appenings. And better yet, add your name to the email listserver, and you'll receive copies of all the message traffic about the event, and you'll also be able to participate and add your own two-cents worth.

OS/2 Headquarters Now Shipping OS/2 Bumper Stickers!...
OS/2 Headquarters' Web Master Tom Nadeau reports, "Os/2 Bumper Stickers are now shipping. The printer used a dark navy blue ink, so after a month or two of weather and fading, the sticker will probably look even nicer as the blue color becomes brighter."

Visit the OS/2 Headquarters web site at http://www.mindspring/com/os2headquarters, and order one of these stickers for your bumper today!

The Java lobby is a group of people who share a common interest in Java software development and the advancement of Java standards and software. The main purpose of the Java Lobby is to represent the needs and concerns of the Java developer and user community to the companies and organizations who have influence in the evolution of Java. We encourage all people who care about Java to stand together with us.

Read the full basic statement of "who we are" and "what we stand for." Join us! It's free, it's easy, and your support makes all the difference!

Do it now: http://www.javalobby.org/

Get a free copy of Hacksaw for OS/2?

InnoVal will give you one for free if you join the Java Lobby at http://www.javalobby.org. It won't cost you anything to join but a moment or two of your time, and by joining you are showing your support for Java. InnoVal says: "We are making this appeal because, as a traditional OS/2 ISV, we bleieve that true 100% pure Java is important to the future of OS/2."

Hacksaw is a great little tool for use on the internet. You can retrieve web pages, send email, check to see if you have email, retrieve that email and delete email on a Pop3 or SMTP server. The FTP commands are very well done. You can send and receive files via FTP, change or list directories and more. And InnoVal will give it to you for FREE if you'll just join the Java Lobby.

Early on this year, after installation of the Java 1.1.4 runtime update (build of January 21st) strange things started to happen with Java and Netscape and several other unrelated applications. Worst cases were the launch failures of J Street Mailer, the CaffeineMark benchmark and several other Java applications/applets. The problem was finally narrowed down to som sort of conflict between the new JAVAI.DLL file and something else in my system. By continuing to use the November version of the JAVAI.DLL, the major problems were checked, but there was still random instability in various areas.

The root cause was not found, and the November JAVAI.DLL usage had to be continued with each new Java runtime update.

Subsequently, when the new Lotus SSW4 was installed, the "tour" feature in 4 out of the 5 SSW4 applications also refused to launch, accompanied with a SYS3175 error.

At this point, tests were initiated to uninstall many of the current applications, one at a time, and then checking to see if the SSW4 tours would work.

Finally, after DeskMan/2 was uninstalled, all the SSW4 tours became fully operative. And surprisingly, all the Java problems also cleared up, along with the problems of many other applications.

Subsequent conversations with DevTech allowed a further narrowing down to the VUEMan component of DeskMan/2.

Detailed descriptions of the matter were then sent to Lotus, IBM, DevTech and InnoVal. Hopefully, the root cause will be identified and fixed sometime in the near future.

Many OS/2 users have recently reported difficulties with installation of Warp 4 on systems which include IDE hard drives larger than 4.3GB.

Reason for this is the 1996 vintage drivers in the original Warp 4 installation disks aren't capable of supporting the newer large IDE drives. Consequently, updated drivers must first be installed on the disks in order to have a successful system installation.

SIG member Jim Smith ran into this problem when he recently attempted to do a fresh installation of Warp 4. Happy to say, Jim finally succeeded, and provided the following writeup for the benefit of other OS/2 users who may find themselves in similar circumstances.

Installation Procedure

Copy new versions of IBM1S506.ADD and IBMIDECD.FLT to Diskette #1 These files are included in FixPaks -5 and -6.

Proceed with normal installation beyond FDISK - this allows setting a partiton as installable - to the end of using Diskette #2

At the end of using Diskette #2, select the Command Prompt, then copy new versions of IBM1S506.ADD to the x:\OS2\IBMINST\ directory and IBMDECD.FLT to x:\.

Now remove Diskette #2, insert Diskette #0, and continue normally.

-- Jim Smith --

Even more recent versions may be found in IDEDASD.EXE dated 4-27-98. Drivers here are updated to support EIDE drives larger than 8.4GB and other new remobvable media. Please review the README.TXT file in this archive. Further information is provided below under the New IBM OS/2 Releases section.

Thanks to SIG member Murray Weismer for finding this nice trick.

Many OS/2 users experience problems with the Netscape browser. At times, it locks up and cannot be shut down or killed with any of the usual procedures or task killer apps.

The Netscape window stays up, and if something else overwrites the window, its image is also left on screen within the NS area. Switching to fullscreen and back will leave a black area where NS was. The only cure was to re-boot. The following tip comes from Seth McFarland, published in the VOICE Newsletter.

Step 1:

Download PMTREE (PMTREE30.ZIP), available at Hobbes, RPS BBS (215-624-8960) and other places, and extract into a directory. Create a program object on the desktop and place in an area that would not be covered by the NS window. (This program can also be run from a command line if you don't want the program object.)

Step 2:

When you get the NS crash, Run PMTREE and select from its menu:

"Window->object" followed by "Window->Top Child"

Step 3:

Hold down [CTRL]+[S] until NS goes away.

Note: "PMTREE may hang itself during this once or twice, but all you need do is just kill PMTree, start it again, and repeat the above until NS goes away."

Murray reports success with this procedure, without the stuff in the note. It's much better than rebooting. I tried it also, and it worked well.

"Follow the Mouse Pointer" been reported in several places.

Add the following line in your CONFIG.SYS:

SET MENUSFOLLOWPOINTER=ON

WarpCenter menus will work similar to Win95. If the mouse pointer is moved over the "drop down" menu items, they will become highlighted as the mouse pointer moves over them. Moving the pointer towards the little arrow on the right side of folder items will cause these folders to automatically open, and so on ...

After getting used to it, it seems to be a rather nice feature.

Wednesday, May 27th, the 4th Wednesday of the month, at 7:00pm, is the date and time of the next monthly SIG meeting at our current home, The Episcopal Academy, in Merion.

Mark your calendars and plan to attend. And bring an interested friend or associate along to see what a real operating system can do. A system will be on hand for live demos of OS/2 Warp 4, a variety of OS/2 apps, Java, Internet, etc.

Members without cars can take SEPTA's R-5 (Paoli Local) to Overbrook. Since Episcopal Academy is so close to public transportation, why don't you Philadelphia Center City folks who don't have cars call Larry Lavins ahead of time to be picked up at the Overbrook train station. Hey, you guys in Center City, the trains are running. There's no excuse now for not coming to your OS/2 SIG meetings.

Everybody should keep up to date by logging in to our OS/2 SIG web site at frequent intervals: www.pasug.org/

Planned May Agenda:

1. Q&A Session. Starting the meeting off with the Q&A session was so very successful in April, that we'll keep doing it. Time *WILL* definitely be allocated for a good solid general Q&A session of about 1 hour, starting at 7:00pm. So please try to be here on time. If you have questions, this is the place to bring them up. Someone is sure to have the answers.

2. Intermission, raffles, etc. As usual, complimentary light refreshments will be served. We will also have our customary 50/50 raffle followed by a software raffle, including another copy of the new GA release of SmartSuite for Warp 4, donated by Lotus. So come to the May meeting and test your luck.

3. General SIG business session: Announcements, news of interest, new OS/2 products, future plans, etc.

4. Feature presentation. Larry, with possible help from other assorted wizards and gurus, will demonstrate one or more of the new Lotus SSW4 applications, as preparation and time may permit.

   A request was also made to Larry Finkelstein to do a presentation/demo of the new Golden ComPass v.3.0, but no response was received as of the time of submitting this article. Appropriate announcements will be made on the www.pasug.org/ web page and via POSEIDON.

5. Larry's system will be on hand for live demos. Member requests for specific demos are solicited, and will be done if the software is available and as time may permit. Episcopal Academy has installed a permanent analog phone line in our meeting room for our use for Internet access. Please call Larry prior to the meeting date to permit preparation.

All of our more experienced users are urged to attend the May meeting to share their knowledge and expertise with others.

See you all on May 27th. Mark your calendars. Bring your friends and associates to show them that OS/2 is really alive and well.