Installation step 2: Finishing all HPFS and FAT partitions & boot manager

Next step is to set up the almost final partitioning as far as all HPFS and FAT (including FAT32) partitions is concerned.

Start up OS/2 FDISK and make the following primary partitions (see Fig. 2):

1. A temporary partition (at the beginning of the empty space) just as a place holder, in its space plus the space occupied by the primary partition you are working from the future OS/2 HPFS partition will be located;

2. A boot manager partition (just one cylinder, usually 7 MB on large HDs), at the start of empty space;

3. A large (several GB) partition which is to be the future Windows FAT32 partition. Now you got 4 primary partitions. You cannot add any partition anymore.


Figure 2

4. To be able to add logical partitions (i.e., add one extended partition), now delete partition D: (Fig. 2). FDISK will report empty space between your temporary OS/2 FAT partition and Boot Manager partition (see Fig. 3). You now have 3 primary partitions, i.e. the temporary OS/2 FAT partition, OS/2 Boot Manager and the future FAT32 Windows partition. From now on you can only add logical partitions, viz.:

5. A logical FAT16 partition of 200-300 MB, meant as a common FAT16 partition and (more importantly) as a future OS/2 maintenance boot partition;

6. A small (say 20 MB) FAT partition to be changed into a Linux /boot partition later;

7. Partitions for any other OS than Linux, OS/2 and Windows you plan to install. I don't treat other OS-es than these three; I assume here that other OS-es can boot just fine from a logical partition or can be booted from a DOS FAT16 partition with DOS-based boot loaders similarly to Linux (viz. using loadlin).
   I have put my Windows 98 here - just needed 650 MB for that.

8. A Linux swap partition (say, 100-200 MB);

9. One or more Linux partitions (/, or perhaps /, /usr, /home, etc.) where the bulk of Linux will be installed;

10. A large FAT partition, to be turned into FAT32 later.

Figure 3

While you are at it, look out and be sure to avoid at least cylinders 1016-1026, better even 1013-1030, as these are the cylinders where the Libretto BIOS will dump the hibernation information. (Have a look at the Windows page to read the gory details). Make sure that no partition extends into, or starts in this area. You can temporarily place a logical FAT partition here, as a last step before closing down FDISK, you can either delete this partition, or you may choose to later change it (using Linux fdisk) into a partition type not recognized or used by any OS you will install on the Libretto (e.g., type a0 = IBM hibernation partition).

In addition, it may be wise to leave some 75-80 MB empty space at the end of the HD as maybe (who knows) some day Toshiba may decide to upgrade the Libretto BIOS and move the hibernation area to the end of the HD.

11. Now that all partitions are made up (by OS/2 FDISK), they have to be turned into the proper types. OS/2 FDISK can only make FAT (or HPFS) types. In addition, this will also make the drive letter assignment look more like the final one.
    You need partition editing software or a DOS or OS/2 disk editor to do this. I used an old Norton Disk Doctor and/or Linux, but other candidates are Partition Magic, PartEdit (DOS version, look here), .....
    If you take Linux, you can do it along these lines: copy some preliminary Linux start-up files to a FAT partition and boot e.g., Linux Mandrake 9 (or any other distro which can initialize the PCMCIA slots). Look here for some more details. You don't have to install Linux - the "installation" only goes as far as the Linux disk partitioning section - just change the partitons made in steps 3, 6, 7 - 10 into type 0b, 83, ?? (I took 0b for FAT32), 82, 82 and 0b, respectively.
    Would you be unable or unwilling to run Linux or PartEd or so, then you can easily remove all logical partitions other than FAT16 or HPFS to get the proper drive letters. Later, when installing Linux, the Linux setup can easily re-create them.
    Be warned that Win9x may not recognize FAT32 logical partitions beyond the 1024th cylinder if the logical partition chain is no more in disk order; if so, the extended partition type must be changed to 0f rather than 05, rendering it inaccessible for Warp 3. You can circumvent this using the EXPARTW4 package (look on Hobbes) but the downside is that primary FAT32 partitions will be inaccessible (hidden) for OS/2 then.

12. Now, add the following partitions to the Boot Manager menu:

    • The primary OS/2 FAT16 partition from which you have booted;

    • The anticipated Windows primary FAT32 partition;
      (It may be better to wait until Windows has been installed - BM needs the proper boot sector which will only be there after Windows has been installed.)

    • The anticipated OS/2 logical maintenance partition;

    • The anticipated Linux /boot partition;
      (Likewise, it may be better to wait until Linux has been installed.)

    • Any other boot partitions you may have reserved for other operating systems.
      (Likewise, defer this until these actually have been installed.)

Installation step 3: OS/2 maintenance partition

This next stage comprises installation of a very limited OS/2 into the maintenance partition, plus preparing for the installation proper of OS/2 on a primary HPFS partition.

1. Format the (logical) OS/2 maintenance partition (FAT). Assign it a proper label. Copy ALL files from the primary OS/2 FAT partition (including the possibly hidden system files).

2. Using the files in GT2GBW3.ZIP, update the boot sector of the OS/2 maintenance partition using
   SYSINSTX <driveletter:>
   (otherwise the Libretto just won't be able to boot from it, all you'll see then is a cursor in the upper left corner of the screen).

3. Edit the copy of CONFIG.SYS on the maintenance partition and be sure to delete all references to any drive letter; only absolute paths starting at \ may be included.

4. Copy the OS/2 Warp installation tree from CD-ROM (or floppies, using LOADDSKF), the various fixpak trees and the downloaded and expanded utilities to this partition.

5. Start up FDISK and delete the primary OS/2 FAT partition we started from in Step 2. Together with the empty space from the deletion of partition (A) in step 2, you now have contiguous space from the first cylinder til the Boot Managers partition. Assign all this space to a new partition (where OS/2 will be installed), set it Installable and add it to the Boot Manager's menu as your native OS/2 Warp partition.

6. Reboot the maintenance partition.

Installation step 4: Warp Connect itself

If you copied the CONFIG.SYS file from the install floppy #1 to the maintenance partition, there is a chance that OS/2 wil boot up with the installation screen. If so, installation of Warp 3 is a piece of cake.
If not, enter the following commands:
cd <drive where OS/2 installation tree resides>
cd \SET PATH=x:\os2image\disk_1;x:\os2image\disk_2;%path%
SET SOURCEPATH=<X:\os2image >   <Enter>
SYSINST2   <Drive_letter:\directory_containing_OS/2_installation_tree > <Enter>
Where X: = drive letter of partition containing OS/2 installation tree. If SYSINST2.EXE can't be found, it is in \os2image\disk_2
(Hopefully) You will see that OS/2's setup screen will show. If not, some files from OS/2 install_disks 1 & 2 must be added (I'll have to find out which ones).
Follow the instructions; be sure to format the OS/2 Warp partition as HPFS and to specify VGA as the screen driver.

BEWARE! As soon as the first reboot occurs, first boot from the maintenance partition and run the files from the GT2GBW3 archive, to be sure that OS/2 can boot from the newly made partition. Probably OS/2 boot manager will be instructed to boot your new Warp partition immediately and you'll be stuck with a black screen with a blinking cursor. No problem, just press the three-finger salute CAD.)

After the first reboot, the Selective Install screen is shown. On the Main menu (= actually Hardware menu, although it doesn't explicitly say so), add PCMCIA support (any Toshiba or Matsushita will do), plain VGA, no Multimedia, maybe a simple text printer or no printer at all, and no (repeat: no) brand of sound card or the like. On the next screen (= actually Software menu, again not explicitly), install Multimedia Support and all other options you like.

From then on, installation proceeds easily.

Hardware

Warp Connect and plain Warp 3 ran on my Libretto 110CT quite OK with:

• Matsushita or Toshiba PCMCIA Socket Services (IBM2MAT1.SYS or IBM2TOS1.SYS). It may be useful to know that many PCMCIA cards (especially external storage) are only properly recognized if inserted in the lower (first) PCMCIA slot. Surely this is an OS/2 limitation, as in Windows or Linux the slot number does not matter at all.

• OPL3 sound driver from the Toshiba web site (P660SND2.EXE) for Portege

• GRADD driver for video, but you'll have to apply fixpak 40 before installing that anyway.

• NICs:

  • I got an old Xircom CEM33 PCMCIA 10Mbit LAN/33K6 modem combo; drivers can be found on Internet, runs like a charm but 10 Mbit/s half duplex is not fast. To get it working I had to manually specify "Force Twisted Pair = YES" in MPTS. Furthermore, to allow other PC-cards to be recognized properly, it had to be in the upper slot. This is without doubt due to the point enabler software used to get it running.
  • A second NIC is a Conceptronic 10/100 card. It only works OK in WIndows; in Linux it renders the entire PCMCIA subsystem unstable, under OS/2 I haven't got it to work. It has a RTL8139 chip, I've tried Veit Kannegieser's cbenabler software but no luck.
  • Later I got an IBM EtherJet Cardbus 10/100 card, which is indeed quite a bit faster. Turns out that the moron who packed the drivers for Win31, DOS and OS/2 made them Windows InstallShield executables, which can only be expanded under Win32(!). Why this dumbass made it an installer rather than a zip file, and then only able to be expanded in another operating system than what the drivers were intended for is beyond me. In a text editor the IBMCNDIS.OS2 driver reads "This program requires Microsoft Windows" (....)
    All right, it works, but newer drivers can be obtained from Intel/Xircom for the 10/100 Cardbus credit card adapter. After unpacking some files are patched and drivers for Xircom, Intel and IBM cards are obtained, proving that the IBM Etherjet Cardbus 10/100 adapter is just a rebranded Xircom card.
    Anyway, to get this Cardbus card recognized the BIOS setting for the PCMCIA slots must be set to "16bit/Cardbus". A little problem then is that all other PCMCIA cards won't get recognized as the socket drivers (IBM2TOS1, IBM2MAT1, TPIC95SS) won't get loaded. I haven't been able to get the IBM Etherjet card running with PCMCIA BIOS setting to "Auto".
  • Nowadays I have a Cisco Aironet 352 wireless NIC to access my wireless network (truly mobile computing!). The driver (cisco340.zip) can be found on Hobbes, too bad it only allows 40-bit WEP keys.

  On the Canadian Toshiba web site there is an archive with some old OS/2 2.1 drivers - perhaps these can be used on the Libretto, I haven't tried.

• External data storage:
  I've got three PC-card CD-ROM players/rewriters, several CF cards and an external hard disk cradle. Additionally there's a parallel ZIP100 drive collecting dust.

  • An (now ancient) PCMCIA Argosy PMCIA 6X CD-ROM is working flawlessly through its own driver (ARICD2.FLT).
  • A Freecom Traveller I CD-R/RW rewriter; it works quite OK with the DANIS506.ADD and DANIATAPI.FLT drivers.
  • Recently I purchased a Freecom Traveller II+ Combo (CD-R/RW&DVD-player). It works only under Windows, not even under Linux. No hope to get it running under Warp...
  • CF cards are recognized, initialized and readable/writable using the DANIS506.ADD driver. No problem.
  • Finally there is an Argosy external 2,5" HD cradle with a PCMCIA interface (and a USB one, but my Libretto has no USB). Sometimes it is recognized using the DANIS506.ADD driver and proper OS2DASD.DMD parameters, but up til now I could only access the HPFS partitions. It may be that the PARTFILT.FLT driver (for access to FAT32 partitions) is in the way -- it is known to be buggy.
  • Although I haven't tried recently, I know that the parallel ZIP 100 drive can be put to order with drivers from Hobbes. I have got it running at one moment, IIRC 4 years ago or so.

An important thing to do as soon as possible after installation of Warp itself is to apply FP40 to the newly installed Warp. This procedure is easily done as follows:

1. Make sure that the fixpak files are expanded (using LOADDSKF) and put in a directory tree on the maintenance partition;

2. Make sure that the service diskettes (currently at level CS1.43) are expanded into the same directory;

3. Setup a RESPONSE.FIL file (instructions for FSERVICE) as follows (where in this example the fixpak directory tree resides in E:\OS2FP40 - fill in *full* pathname incl. driveletter on your computer):

   * :LOGFILE C:\OS2\INSTALL\SERVICE.LOG
   * :FLAGS REPLACE_PROTECTED REPLACE_NEWER
   :FLAGS REPLACE_PROTECTED
   :SOURCE E:\OS2FP40
   :SERVICE
   :SYSLEVEL D:\OS2\INSTALL\SYSLEVEL.OS2
   :ARCHIVE \ARCHIVE
   :SERVICE
   :SYSLEVEL \MMOS2\INSTALL\SYSLEVEL.MPM
   :ARCHIVE \ARCHIVEM
   *
   * End of sample SERVICE response file without backup.

4. Type: FSERVICE /<params>

GRADD video driver

You will soon get bored by the 640x480 16 bit VGA screen mode. Currently the only alternative is to use the (non-accelerated) GRADD generic video driver. I also tried the SDD driver (versions 7.04 & trial 7.09) but both couldn't be instructed to display properly in 800x480 resolution.
I also downloaded a Neomagic driver => same problem.
Even the Scitech SNAP drivers (as late of v. 2.2.3) can't be instructed to show 800x480 resolution. Worse yet, after uninstalling SNAP and reinstalling GRADD97, I initially kept the newer SNAP versions of various video files and then GRADD couldn't show 800x480. I had to reinstall GRADD again, this time overwriting all video files left behind by SNAP, to get 800x480 back....

For GRADD, it is best to have the latest fixpak installed (FP40, the higher ones are for Warp Server not Warp 3) and your display resolution must still be plain VGA.
Unpack / unzip the GRADD files into a temporary directory and run the installer:

SETUP GEN

where GEN stands for "generic".

(You can also specify SETUP NM, but then you must in a later stage exchange the line "SET C1=NMGRADD" in Config.sys with "SET C1=GENGRADD" - no harm done.
I got two CONFIG.SYS versions in \OS2\BOOT which differ only in that NMGRADD or GENGRADD line and use the recovery choices screen to boot between an external 1024x768 panel -accelerated- and internal 800x480 -stand-alone, unaccelerated. I still have to find out which files must be copied in place to skip the System screen where the other resolution must be selected first. I'll keep you informed)

(Although Neomagic is listed as supported, I couldn't get it working properly with setup NM. In 800*480 resolution, the mouse pointer refused to go beyond pixel column 640 and the screen image would pan to the left and wrap around instead: look here and compare with the picture at the top of this page to see what I mean. Vertical panning worked perfectly. I suspect there are still standard resolutions (viz. 640*480) hard-coded in the accelerated driver. Admittedly, it *was* accelerated...)

Before rebooting, you must manually add the following PRIVATE.DIF file to your C:\OS2 directory:

[Monitor]
OEMString = "DDC 2 TOS 20612"
XSize=160
YSize=96

[comment]
Graphics Mode: 640 x 480 at 60Hz vertical refresh.

[ModeInfo]
XResolution = 640
YResolution = 480
VerticalRefresh = 60
HorizontalRefresh = 0
VPolarityPositive = 0
HPolarityPositive = 0

[comment]
Graphics Mode: 800 x 480 at 60Hz vertical refresh.

[ModeInfo]
XResolution = 800
YResolution = 480
VerticalRefresh = 60
HorizontalRefresh = 0
VPolarityPositive = 1
HPolarityPositive = 1

[comment]
Graphics Mode: 800 x 480 at 75Hz vertical refresh.

[ModeInfo]
XResolution = 800
YResolution = 480
VerticalRefresh = 75
HorizontalRefresh = 0
VPolarityPositive = 0
HPolarityPositive = 0
[comment]

Graphics Mode: 800 x 480 at 85Hz vertical refresh.

[ModeInfo]
XResolution = 800
YResolution = 480
VerticalRefresh = 85
HorizontalRefresh = 0
VPolarityPositive = 0
HPolarityPositive = 0

Next, reboot, and in the OS/2 System \ System Setup folder doubleclick on "System", select "DDC 2 TOS 20612" monitor and on the next page select a suitable 800x480 resolution & color depth. You have to reboot to try and test it.

INSTALLATION OF NETWORK COMPONENTS

Next the network section of Warp Connect needs to be set up.

Put the NDIS (NDIS2) driver for your network LAN adapter (I assume a PCMCIA-, nowadays called PC-card adapter) in a temporary directory on your hard disk.
In case you got a PC-Card without OS/2 drivers, it is wise to search the Web using e.g. Google - look for e.g., "OS/+2 NDIS LAN adapter <brand name>". Especially a number of Russian and Hungarian sites contained usable drivers.
Would you have a RTL8139 based PC-Card LAN adapter wih a suitable OS/2 NDIS driver, please inform me as I have been desperately looking for it ;-)

On the Warp Connect CD you'll find files called PRODINST.CMD and INSTALL.CMD. The former allows separate installation of network components, the latter will install a complete network environment.

If you selected PRODINST.CMD, after installation of Peer and TCPIP you'll need to configure networking adapters. On the desktop or in the OS/2 System folder you'll find an MPTS icon. Click on it, click "Configure", and in the next screen select "Configure LAN adapter". In the following screen you must first select your LAN card ("Have disk").

Once the LAN adapter is selected, you must bind the required network protocols (e.g., NetBios, LAN requester, TCP/IP, etc.). When that is done, click "OK"; in the next screen (which you've seen before) you now need to select "Configure NetBios" in case you have bound that protocol to your network adapter, otherwise click "Done". NetBios merely comprises setup of network names and a unique name for your computer. MPTS will try to update your CONFIG.SYS - on my system it didn't work out OK, I had to manually fix up my CONFIG.SYS. Once MPTS is finished, it may be time for a reboot.

Beware that a number of card brands (e.g., Xircom) do not need socket services but instead use a so-called point-enabler. You might need to disable the card slot where your network card resides, e.g.

BASEDEV=IBM2TOS1.SYS /IG0=2

disables the upper slot (the second, #2). Mind you, it is a zero not an O in IG0!

Next step is -if needed- to setup TCP/IP. TCP/IP setup is found in the Network icon on the desktop.

Then it is time to reboot and check if the network can be reached: open an OS/2 command prompt and try to ping other computers on the network.

Updating the TCP/IP stack and utilities

Although OS/2's naming might deceive you, it is the TCP/IP stack which is updated by MPTS upgrades. The TCP/IP utilities are updated through TCP/IP fixpaks. You need to successively update MPTS by applying the following fixpaks, either through FSERVICE (from a maintenance partition) or through MPTS itself:

WR08423
WR08425
WR08610
WR08621

TCP/IP upgrades are available up till level UN2100 (16 bit); real 32 bit can only be achieved if you patch the relevant SYSLEVEL files to deceive FSERVICE into thinking you got Warp Server rather than Warp Connect. But you can also try to manually unpack the fixpak files and copy them over the respective files in the TCP/IP directory; I've already unpacked them but never tried - my network is running OK so why should I change it? Again, much information can be found on the Warpupdates site. Relevant fixpaks are (in order of application:)

UN0959
UN0980     (to be applied before WR08621 above, and again after having applied WR08621!)

Once you've updated the TCP/IP stack and util, you might consider upgrading other Warp Connect components, too. These comprise IBM Peer, LAN Requester, AskPSP, ...

Optional: NFS

NFS is a very efficient protocol and very fast (even with 16-bit utils still twice as fast as NETBEUI between my Libretto and my desktop). Apart from a quite easy Linux - OS/2 + Windows file sharing, it also allows to avoid NetBIOS over TCP/IP (TCPBEUI) which may eliminate some risks of file sharing across the Internet - OTOH, NFS is not that safe either and you must be sure to run a firewall and to properly set up your NFS exports.
Regarding NFS on Warp Connect one has to resort to the UN57064 stuff from IBM (a very busy server, you might need to retry often) or from Hobbes. This NFS Kit can easily be installed on top of Warp Connect's network stuff, but beware: specify \TCPIP rather than the default \MPTN install directory, otherwise your NFS won't work! (at least, that's what IBM suggested in an old TCP/IP Newsletter. I did by accident install it in \MPTN and found that until now all stuff works as expected ...)   In addition, you'll need an updated NFSD.EXE and NFSCLIENT.EXE (grab one here or here (look for PN69745.zip - a free download if you use ZOC for Telnetting into the BBS).
Note: one can still download various 32-bit TCP/IP utilities for Warp Server etc. Although they can't be installed using the regular way (one or more of the syslevel files have to patched for that) one can unpack them and manually copy the utilities into place. Some day I'll try them out on my Virtual PC Warp Connect box.
 

OTHER INTERESTING SOFTWARE

This department comprises:

• Basic OS/2 utilities

• Installation of the EMX stuff

• Installation of ODIN (a Windows 32 bit emulator)

• (Not for the weak of heart) OpenOffice

• Installation of the WatCom C++/Fortran 77 compiler and (parts of) IBM's Developer Toolkit, plus IBM's Developer Driver Kit.

• Various useful software (StarOffice + updates, Battery indicator, EZPlay, Gibbon mouse enhancements, NPS WPS Enhancer, FTaskBar, Blackout, Hybernate....

• X-Windows server PMX and X-Windows suite XFree86

To be able to do some useful things under OS/2 a lot easier, a number of free but IMO vital tools are needed. They can be found on Hobbes or Netlabs or the IBM download site(s). These are:

• UNZIP, which is quite a vital archive expander. It seems you had best download it here (from IBM), or here (newer version compiled with VAC 3.08) or here (same newer version, but compiled with gcc) as only these versions have the same set of (un)compression methods built in as PKUNZIP2 (the latter apparently doesn't fully support Extended Attributes, so stay away from it) . Other UNZIP builds lack support for one compression method (a licensing issue?);
  (These are rumours I've read in comp.os.os2.setup.misc and associated newsgroups; they may or may not be true, but better be warned.)

• VFDISK30, a virtual floppy disk driver;

• LOADDSKF, a utility to load floppy disk images to (real or virtual) floppy. You can also use DSKXTRCT for it, it seems to be much easier to use;

• Acrobat Reader. For OS/2 the latest version is 3.0;

• The Warpin installer;

• Java 1.1.8 (the highest available version you can download for free from IBM). Look here for information on how to install it properly - the instructions are for Warp 4 but apply equally well to Warp 3;

• Either
    - Java 1.4.2 from Innotek (based on ODIN),
  or
    - Java 1.4.1 from Goldencode (native OS/2, but not tested on Warp 3. Anyway, on their site click on "software, select Java 1.4.1 and proceed by clicking on "Licensing");

• Netscape 4.61 browser and plugin pak;

• File browsers like MrFilePM and MC;

• Henk Kelder's FAT32 device driver, allowing you to access your Windows FAT32 drives.

EMX is a Linux emulator for the OS/2 platform. It is needed for various useful programs. Look on Hobbes and download the latest version (currently as of September 2003 it was 0.9d or so). You can follow the instructions in the ZIP file for installation.

Odin

ODIN is an emulator (or better, an interpreter) which allows 32-bit Windows programs (Windows 95 and up, not Windows 3.1) to be run seamlessly under OS/2 Warp. Although Warp 3 is not supported, ODIN can be run on that platform; some fiddling around is needed.

Why run Windows programs? As the ODIN people say, "some good programs have been written for the Win32 platforms", and I do agree with them. Pity those programmers ignored OS/2.

Why not? Well, because this way, viruses for the Win32 platform now can also harm OS/2 Warp. As ODIN runs at Ring 0 (the most privileged level of the OS/2 kernel), harmful programs cannot effectively be shielded. You might need to install and run an OS/2 virus scanner and update it regularly.

Anyway, detailed instructions for installation of ODIN on Warp 3 are outlined here. Suffice it to say here that you might need to download quite a number of fixpak levels for Warp 4 (yes, four) before you get hold of the proper PMSHELL.EXE version for your language (the mentioned site features just UK-English and DE-German). FYI, on my US Warp Connect I run a Warp 4 FP12 PMSHELL.EXE.
The latest ODIN builds can be found here.

OpenOffice 1.1

OpenOffice is IMO a real good, quite complete office suite, and it's free. It is by no means easy to get it running on Warp 3, but I managed to do it the following way.

I could access my Windows FAT32 C:-drive from Warp 3 as drive E:. I booted Warp 3, fired up the Register Editor and exported all keys to a file. I then read that file into a text editor (e.g. Warp's EPM, Enhanced Editor) and threw away all keys which did not relate to OpenOffice. Many OpenOffice keys feature names containing "Star", "Staroffice", "Sun", etc. Next I did a search-and-replace action to replace all path names in the file from e.g., C:\<some_path> to E:\<some_path> (as OpenOffice seen from OS/2 resides on E:). Then in OS/2, I used the Win98 registry Editor (which runs fine on Warp 3 using ODIN) to import all the keys into the registry kept on the Warp drive (Warp's / ODIN's registry editor is just a piece of sh....). The next action comprised making a desktop shortcut to E:\Programs\OpenOffice.org1.1\programs\soffice.exe and associate .xls, .ppt and .doc files to OpenOffice.

Not all OpenOffice components run as desired (Help nor Spell Checker work, selecting languages doesn't work either) but most functionality is useable. Hopefully it gets better with newer releases of OpenOffice and ODIN.

In the meantime Innotek has published a beta port of OpenOffice 1.1 for OS/2. It needs two helper apps which are readily installed, but the OpenOffice setup itself does not work out OK.

OpenWatcom C++ & Fortran77

If you want to do some real developing for OS/2, you might need this compiler. It is a free download from the OpenWatcom site (currently version 1.2 stable). As valuable bonus this package features cross-compiling (you can develop e.g. Windows NT programs on an OS/2 platform) and OS/2 16 bit programs, which may look outdated until you realize that most OS/2 device drivers have 16 bit interfaces to the operating system. The only other available compiler which can do this trick is the old Microsoft one (see below). Go to the OpenWatcom ftp site and either download either open-watcom-os2-1.2.exe or a selection of the various zip files for version 11.c (which is advertised as an "upgrade" but really is an almost complete package); either way, take good care of the README.TXT.

For 11.0c you might need the IBM developers Toolkit in addition, but that one is not free. But wait- the IBM Toolkit 4.0 upgrade can (could?) be downloaded for free. You must first register as a guest user on the DevCon site. Then search for os2tk199.zip and download it. Simply expand the zip file into a proper directory somewhere and edit the various LIBPATH, INCLUDE, BOOKSHELF and HELP statements in CONFIG.SYS. This toolkit upgrade features almost all include files, libraries and utilities you need including the resource compiler, save for one vital file called bseerr.h.

However, a similar file is included in the OpenWatcom Fortran include files (it is called bseerr.fi) and you can have it translated to c by the f2c utility. Or you can do it yourself at the expense of some work. I used a text editor with a good search-and-replace followed by a spreadsheet program to translate the Fortran decimal constants into hex, but you might do it your way.

A while ago a clever programmer put together a zip file containing many needed include files (inc. bseerr.h) here, hopefully you can still find it (start from there looking for archive.zip).

More information on OpenWatcom is given on http://www.openwatcom.org.

In case you want to do some cross-compiling for Windows, you also need Microsoft's Platform SDK. For this you must surf to Microsoft's MSDN site and do a search for Platform SDK (you can order one on CD). Its location changes continuously, so once you get hold of a Platform SDK download make adequate backup copies.
The newest version of OpenWatcom (1.2 and up) for OS/2, which seems to have a preliminary but working toolkit included.

IBM DDK online

IBM's on-line Driver Developer Kit has recently been re-opened on a new location. For a while you could not register anymore (that has been re-enabled too), but someone on comp.os.os2.programmer.tools found out that you can access the library anyway using guest for both login name and password. If I were you I'd download really all files as the site still may close down in the near future.
Amongst others, on the DDK site you can find the old Microsoft C compiler and their MASM assembler, with can both be used for driver development.

Miscellaneous useful software

NPS WPS NPS-WPS (look for NPSWP182.ZIP) is a PM enhancer capable of autoraising windows (much like X-Windows) and it can provide a close button so that you do not have to double-click in the top left of each and every window anymore to close it. In addition, it has many more goodies.
Gibbon Double Click This one transforms a click on the middle mouse button into a double-click. The program used to be shareware but nowadays you can get a registration key for free by registering at http://www.gibbon.com/.
Star Office 5.1a (look on Hobbes) is the latest version for OS/2. It has quite good support for MS-Office file formats (at least MS-Office 97). Upon acquisition of Star Division, Sun has released a public key for previous version 5.1, reproduced here (type it literally, mind case):
Company: Sun Free Download version
Key: 680A-0JH7-M60MVR-CQPD-147K
(if it doesn't work, experiment with the O's (uppercase o) - some of them may be 0 (zero's) instead.
On Hobbes some patches and updates can be found.
EZ-Play is PC-Card management software from IBM. It does not support Cardbus cards (very well), and I could only get my CF-cards recognized. None of my PCMCIA CD-ROM players could be set to work with it.
Speaking of it, Veit Kannegieser has made a PC-Card Cardbus enabler and a patch for a faulty PCMCIA.SYS (look on Hobbes). Perhaps these allow for better recognition of PC-Card mass storage devices.
I had more luck with the DANIS506.ADD and DANIATAPI.FLT drivers - they allowed me to use my Freecom Traveller 1 CD-R/RW as a CD-rewriter. I tried to get my Cardbus Freecom Traveller II+ CD-R/RW/DVD and Argosy external 2,5" HD to work, too, but no luck. I begin to think that that may be related to the DANI drivers not being able to cope with the ISA bus on the one hand where the internal HD is connected to and the PCI-to_Cardbus on the other hand where PC-Card mass storage is to be connected to .... in addition Warp 3 doesn't have very good PCMCIA support.
BATTERY.ZIP (again, on Hobbes) is a good tiny battery status indicator for the desktop.
BLACKOUT.ZIP (here) is a screen blanker (OS/2 Warp APM as shipped cannot blank the screen by itself); I run it with a command line like "Blackout -t 0 -s 4 -l -m" from the Startup folder.
HYBERNATE (here) is a package which is NOT suitable to hibernate your OS/2 Warp! (it will fubar your entire MBR!) but, when used together with APM2V1.4 it is quite useful for powering the Libretto down after shutdown (another thing OS/2 Warp 3 cannot do). Hybernate setup asks you to swap the original W3 kernel for a W4 kernel from fixpak 12 and patch that a bit, together with a few other files (DOSCALL1.DLL, PMMERGE.DLL, VW32S.SYS, IBMKBD.SYS, RESOURCE.SYS) and add ISAPNP.SNP and PNP.SYS. Of course you need a W4 license.
 

X-server PMX

Maybe not so very useful, but I liked it much: On top of Warp Connects TCP/IP stack one can very well run IBM's X-Windows Kit for TCP/IP V. 2.0. That used to cost $ 140,-, but you can freely access download updates and CSDs which together constitute the complete package. FWIW, nowhere in the included docs did I see a provision that one is to be a licensee of the TCP/IP 2.0 Kit; in the latest package README.1ST file, a stanza says that the product's end-of-life has been reached (already in 1997) and that installation is all at your own risk.

There is a more recent and without doubt better and also free X version (XFree86 v. 4.3.0) but that is always full-screen; the PMX server allows "rootless" windows, even the Linux kdm login screen (after enabling XDMCP) is just a PM screen.

OK, the stuff is a bit outdated (it is for X11 Release 5 rather than contemporary X11R6 as featured on Linux); in addition it can't handle a scroll mouse wheel. Nevertheless, I get the impression that PMX is quite a bit faster than XFree86 and better integrated into the PM desktop.
To show what can still be done, here's a picture from my Libby running Linuxconfig on my desktop through X-Windows:
 

"

When e.g. the datafiles for an X-application are on my Lib, I mount the Lib's drive(s) through NFS on the desktop (if needed through X-Windows) and then run the CPU-hungry app on the desktop. Provided the graphics output speed of the app is not the issue, a significant speed improvement can be noted; as I do quite a bit of number-crunching with limited graphical manipulation, that provision is accounted for. Of course on the desktop PC itself things go much faster.

Download all the files in the UN59374, UN87312 and PMXFixup directories from ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/tcpip/fixes/v2.0os2 (keep these directories apart on your HD).
Expand all files using LOADDSKF or -preferrably- DSKXTRCT or unzip and start with installation in the order given above, using the TCPINST.EXE in each package. I read in an old IBM TCPIP Newsletter that installation should be in \TCPIP rather than the default \MPTN , but I've tried both and couldn't discern any difference. Reboot between installation of each package just to be sure.
A much easier alternative is to download the complete PMX.ZIP package from the OS2Ports.com site which is devoted to *NIX->OS/2 ports.
After installation and reboot you need to add/specify a few thingies in the TCP/IP Configuration (in OS/2 System folder):

• On the Autostart tab, enable inetd (foreground session, minimized), telnetd (Inetd super server daemon);
• On PMX tab 2 specify the automatic focus settings to your needs (I like "Move pointer into client area for focus");
• On PMX tab 3, add all the host names of the PC's in your LAN whose X-program output you want to see on your Libby's screen. On a graphical Linux desktop, virtually ALL programs are X-programs. Don't forget the host name of your Libby!
• On PMX tab 6, delete \<MPTN or TCPIP>\X11\MISCPCF from the font path (I got PMX choking on that directory being non-existent). To be sure, just add this subdirectory in the TCPIP or MPTN tree where you installed PMX. Set DHCP font path setting to "Do not use";
• On PMX tab 9, you can as well select "Turn off XDMCP" - I tried it to login to Mandrake Linux 9.0 on my desktop, but found that although the login screen (kdm) was shown nicely, all available window managers simply refused to start. No doubt that this is due to PMX being too outdated.

X-suite XFree86

XFree86, the native Unix/Linux X-server, has been ported to OS/2 by Holger Veit. I call it a "suite" because it includes a.o. a window manager (twm) and much more utilities than PMX or other commercial X-servers.
In contrast to PMX and e.g., Hoblink X, XFree86 demands exclusive access to the screen; consequently PM/WPS and PM-programs will be inaccessible once XFree86 has been started. IMHO this is quite a disadvantage, it effectively limits usability of your OS/2 box to a few ported X programs and/or turns it into an X-terminal, but it may be that many other users have other opinions.
Detailed instructions can be found on OS2Ports.com. Take notice that the latest version mentioned there is 3.3.6, although 4.3.0 is also on their XFree86 ftp-subdirectory. It may be that the 4.3.0 branch on Netlabs (I can't get the %22 from the URL, remove it yourself please) is somewhat more recent as regard fixes.

I found that only version 3.3.6 could be run on my Libretto. I can give you the XF86Config files for the internal LCD screen (with a virtual 800x600 resolution) and an external 15" 1024x768 TFT panel.
XFree 4.3.0 could only start the X-server itself in 640x480 and lower resolutions; twm did not start through. The system would hang when using the above XF86Config files (actually meant for v. 3.3.6, but on Linux XFree86 4.3.0 runs OK with 3.3.6 F86Config files).

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