VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org | June 2003 [Newsletter Index] [Previous Page] [Next Page] [Feature Index] editor@os2voice.org

## OS/2 Tips

We scan the Web, Usenet and the OS/2 mailing lists looking for these gems. Have you run across an interesting bit of information about OS/2 or eComStation recently? Please share it with all our readers. Send your tips to tips@os2voice.org. If you are interested in joining a particular OS/2 mailing list, check out the VOICE Mailing List page for subscribing instructions for a large variety of existing lists - http://www.os2voice.org/mailinglists.html.

Editor's note: these tips are from OS/2-eComStation users and in some cases can not be verified by myself. Please heed this as a warning that if you are not sure about something, don't do it.

April 16, 2003 - Our first tip of the month is from Rich Walsh and concerns adding improved DragNDrop to Mozilla for users of Rich's DragText utility. This was posted the Mozilla News server in netscape.public.mozilla.os2 in response to a question about using DragText with Mozilla.:

> Andreas, thanks for the kind words. As to your question, "no" because it would just be an extension of existing features. Mozilla integration on steroids might do, though :-)

> Since you like OverDrag, add this to OS2.INI then reopen Mozilla:

>     application:  DRAGTEXT_ON
>     key:          MOZILLA.EXE
>     value:        000000000003

Now whenever you drag from Moz, you'll be able to open folders, min/restore windows, change their z-order, etc. while you drag.

N.B. Because Mozilla doesn't lock the screen during d&d, you may see video corruption when scrolling windows. Time for another workaround...

April 18, 2003 - Christian Hennecke forwarded this tip from Frank Berke on how to speed up the Mozilla web browser.:

> You can tell Mozilla not to wait until a certain amount of a page has been transmitted before starting to display a page. As a result you will be able to see what a page looks like earlier, but it can also cause Mozilla having to re-render the page as more content (and HTML structure) comes in, thus increasing the system load somewhat.

> To do so, open the file user.js (or create one if it doesn't already exist) in your Mozilla profile directory Mozilla\Mozilla\Profiles\<profile_name>\<some_cryptic_string>.slt and add the following statement:

> >      user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay",0);

> Note that this file *must* be sorted!

> Christian Hennecke

April 27, 2003 - I frequently post about the Epson printer drivers in response to questions about printers supported by OS/2, so I thought I'd post it here as well for anyone considering one of these Epson models:

> There are currently 5 versions of the EPOMNI drivers, each supporting a specific set of printers. Several seem to have disappeared from IBM's servers for some reason but can be found on Epson's European FTP server <http://www.filesearching.com/cgi-bin/s?t=n&l=en&q=ftp.epson-europe.com/pub/de/driver/os2>.

> All of the EPOMNI drivers use to be found on IBM Japan's FTP site - <ftp://ftp.jp.ibm.com/pub/pspj/os2ddpak/printers> and on IBM's DDPakOnline <http://www.filesearching.com/cgi-bin/s?t=n&l=en&q=ftp.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/os2ddpak_cur> Though it appears they have thinned those directories out and most of the EPOMNI drivers left are Japanese versions.

> The original EPOMNI (12-03-1998) (Available from ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/os2ddpak_cur/epomni.exe ) supports the following:

> > Epson Color Stylus 600
> > Epson Color Stylus 800
> > Epson Color Stylus 850
> > Epson Color Stylus 1520
> > Epson Color Stylus 3000
> > Epson Stylus Photo
> > Epson Stylus Photo EX
> > Epson Stylus Photo 700

> EPOMNI2 (07-01-1999) (Available from ftp://ftp.epson-europe.com/pub/de/driver/os2/epomni2.exe ), supports the following (This driver used to be named ep2en.zip):

> > Stylus Color 640
> > Stylus Color 740
> > Stylus Color 900
> > Stylus Photo 1200
> > Stylus Photo 750

> EPOMNI3 (05-01-2000) ( Available from ftp://ftp.epson-europe.com/pub/de/driver/os2/epomni3e.zip ) supports the following:

> > Epson Stylus Color 660
> > Epson Stylus Color 760
> > Epson Stylus Color 860
> > Epson Stylus Color 1160
> > Epson Stylus Photo 870
> > Epson Stylus Photo 1270

> EPOMNI4 (08-01-2000) (Available from ftp://ftp.epson-europe.com/pub/de/driver/os2/epomni4.exe ), supports the following:

> > Epson Stylus Color 670
> > Epson Stylus Color 680
> > Epson Stylus Color 777
> > Epson Stylus Color 880
> > Epson Stylus Color 980

> EPOMNI5 (08-01-2001)is currently Japanese only (Available at ftp://ftp.jp.ibm.com/pub/pspj/os2ddpak/printers/epomni5.exe ), but should be available on IBM's DDPakOnline or Software Choice soon in an English version. From the Japanese readme, the following are supported:

> > üEEPSON PM-780C
> > üEEPSON PM-880C
> > üEEPSON PM-3500C
> > üEEPSON PM-900C

> An English version of the EPOMNI5 driver which has support for the C60/C70/C80 (including the currently available C82) models was released in June 2002. ftp://ftp.jp.ibm.com/pub/pspj/os2ddpak/printers/EP5US.ZIP

There was supposed to be a new EPOMNI driver from Epson Japan but I have recently heard that work on it was stopped, so it appears there will be no new Epson models supported unless IBM takes over the support. :-(

April 26, 2003 - Tim Sipples passed on the following on configuring a PCCARD modem:

> Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to troubleshoot your PC Card modem. I should probably congratulate you again for getting a good deal, assuming you can get it operating correctly.

> You first need to go into the PC Card Director and see if OS/2 Warp is assigning that modem a COM port. If not, you'll need to use the Auto Configurator Utility to configure the AUTODRV2.SYS file with a modem card profile that has three things: an unused COM port number (e.g. COM3 if that's open), an unused base I/O address (3F8 is normally COM1, 2F8 is normally COM2, 3E8 is normally COM3, and 2E8 is normally COM4 -- but note that you don't necessarily have to stick to that rule), and a free IRQ/interrupt (9, 10, 5, or 13 are often free).

> In the Auto Configurator Utility, start by removing any modem entries from the right side of the window. If there are other entries (such as a SCSI adapter) that you don't use either, get rid of them, too, just to keep things simple. You'll need to add a modem profile back to the right side that provides the parameters your system needs to assign to a modem card.

> Use you can use these commands to (usually) determine free system resources like I/O addresses and interrupts:

> > RMVIEW /IO

> shows the IO addresses. If you don't see 3F8, 2F8, 3E8, or 2E8, pick the first one you don't see and use that. Choose the modem profile in the left window that corresponds to your free I/O address, click on Edit, and then proceed to modify the other two settings ("IRQ level" and "COM No.").

> This command:

> > RMVIEW /IRQ

> shows the interrupts (IRQs). Again, pick the first one you DON'T see,
> although I recommend picking a "high" interrupt (like 9, 10, or 13, if
> available). Note that if you have this line in your CONFIG.SYS:

> > BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS

> and NOT this line:

> > BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS /IRQ

> you may be able to use interrupt 7 as well. (Normally the printer port uses interrupt 7, but only if you have the /IRQ parameter after your PRINT01.SYS driver. The default is for OS/2 Warp NOT to use the interrupt for the printer port.)

> To determine (fairly well) what the first unused COM port number is, try these commands, in order:

> > MODE COM1
> > MODE COM2
> > MODE COM3
> > MODE COM4

> The first one that fails with a SYS0039 is the COM port number you should try first. So, for example, if that's COM3, use 3 as the COM port number in the Auto Configurator Utility.

> Once you've changed both the IRQ level and COM No., click on OK, then move that profile to the right window by clicking on the Add button. Click on Save to save your changes. Exit.

> Before rebooting, make sure that DEVICE=...COM.SYS (or Ray Gwinn's SIO driver) appears in your CONFIG.SYS. There should be no need to add parameters to COM.SYS if you're using the Auto Configurator Utility. (AUTODRV2.SYS and COM.SYS should be "Resource Manager aware.") There should also be a VCOM.SYS line (if you want to use the COM port from DOS and Windows 3.1 applications.)

> Shutdown, reboot. Go back to the PC Card Director. You should see your modem with a "COMx:" displayed (where x is your COM port number) and a "Ready." If not, try again with some different settings. Remove the (single) modem entry from the right window of the Auto Configurator Utility and start again with one or more difference choices. Keep track of what you've tried. Pretty quickly you should find the right combination. If you don't, it's likely either your modem is the culprit -- perhaps it's an awful "WinModem" -- or you have some problem with the PC Card/Cardbus drivers (PC Card Director) not recognizing your card slots.

> Have some boot diskettes (or a boot CD) and a text editor on standby when you do this. It is remotely possible you can pick something that causes your system to have problems booting. (I've never seen that, but it is theoretically possible.) If that happens, REM out the AUTODRV2.SYS driver in CONFIG.SYS temporarily, and you should be able to boot up.

> Occasionally you'll run into a system which has a defective slot (or in which the drivers recognize only one or some of the slots). You may wish to try these tests with both slots. (If a particular set of parameters doesn't work, move the modem to the other slot then try the same parameter set again by rebooting.) I do not recommend using slots in a docking station, if you have one, since the goal is to get the modem recognized first then worry about where you put the modem. Usually it's kind of silly to use a modem in a docking station anyway, because you're much more likely to use the modem while traveling.

> Some systems have so many devices that there's not much "room" for extras like modem cards. In that case, try going into the BIOS setup program (by pressing F1 at bootup on modern ThinkPads, for example) and disabling the infrared port and/or serial port, in particular. That should free up some resources. Remember that if you do go back and reenable these devices you may need to pay another visit to the Auto Configurator Utility, either to add another modem profile or to change the one you've got.

> Hope that helps!

April 30, 2003 - Here's a tip from Sander van Leeuwen on the OdinUser mail list for people trying new releases of Odin:

> The format of some dll rename entries in odin.ini has changed. Make sure you update your odin.ini with the one included in the next daily/weekly build or delete the file. (it will be recreated the next time you load a win32 application) If you fail to do so, you can expect failures to load e.g. winspool. (printing dll)

> Sander

April 30, 2003 - Our final tip of the month is from Per Johansson:

> I haven't been able to play Audio CD's in my Pioneer DVD-305S player through MMOS/2. People have suggested that WarpCD be used instead.

> Now I found this advice from Roland Reimers from a post in de.comp.os.os2.setup:

> In English: In the System Setup folder - Multimedia Setup object - Compact Disc tab - page forward (+) to Drive Capabilities - Features - deselect "Seek".

> It works!

> By the way, I use JJSCDROM.DMD and I haven't tested with OS2CDROM.DMD.

> Mr. Per Johansson

[Feature Index]
editor@os2voice.org
[Previous Page] [Newsletter Index] [Next Page]
VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org