eComStation 2.0 Silver Release available

2009-08-29 13:51:51 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Serenity Systems International and Mensys BV are pleased to announce the immediate availability of eComStation 2.0 Silver Release.

This product is available for download to all registered users of Software Subscription Services for eComStation. For more information, please visit: http://www.ecomstation.com/subscription/

== WHATS NEW? ==

• 259 bugs were resolved, of which 174 'fixed', since the release of eCS 2.0 RC6a.
• over 1450 CVS commits were made, since the release of eCS 2.0 RC6a.

The most notable changes since RC6a are listed below.

New Features:

• Updated preboot menu system to allow target hardware selection.
• The trace (and other) files are now properly installed by clifi. This will produce more useful data in case the debug kernel is required.
• ACPI is now being installed in the form of a WPI package. This should make it easier to supply updates to an installed system later on.
• Added a Video Driver Wizard, which allows to switch between SNAP, Panorama, GRADD and VGA drivers on an installed system. This will make it easier for people to recover from video problems.
• Added GRADD reset option in preboot menu (via ALT-F1).
• Updated LLAECS: it now should work better and prevent problems with netbios over tcpip. The default dhcp timeout of 0 seconds has been reinstated, but now LLAECS waits until it has a valid DHCP lease (up to 30 seconds) before continuing. This should be less, as soon as a DHCP lease has been obtained.
• EVFSGUI (the Samba GUI) now properly detects the status of network connections. This makes the tool a lot more intuitive than before.
• ... and a lot more, see: http://ewiki.ecomstation.nl/ecomstation20rc7whatsnew

Updated Applications:

• Updated Firewall utility to 2009-08-05
• Updated DejaVu font package to version 2.29, now packaged as Warpin file
• Updated WarpIn to version 1.0.18
• Updated TIMESET to 1.0RC1
• Updated RSJ CD writer to version 6.02
• Updated setboot.exe to version 1.07
• Updated MEMDISK to version 2009.01.07
• Updated OS2CSM to version 2009.01.06
• Updated TAR.EXE to version 1.20
• Updated ARCVIEW to 2.02
• Updated eStyler to fix keyboard selection bug in reboot list
• Updated Lucide to version 1.2.1
• ... and a lot more, see: http://ewiki.ecomstation.nl/ecomstation20rc7whatsnew

== REPORTING ==

To increase the amount of user feedback we implemented a 'Feedback Wizard' which will be invoked automatically after installation. Please use it to submit the required details to the eComStation development team. If you want to manually start the Feedback Wizard, for example because you made a significant change to your configuration with different results, this can be easily done by clicking the Feedback Wizard icon in the Help Center. ('Desktop' -> 'Local System' -> 'Help Center')

For information on how to report problems related to UniAud, please refer to http://svn.netlabs.org/uniaud

When you create a new ticket, please always attach logs. You can create all the logs we need, by downloading this package: ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/uniaud/UniInfo.zip Please attach the zip file that Uniinfo creates to your ticket.

For information on how to report problems related to ACPI, please refer to http://svn.netlabs.org/acpi

Before raising a ticket, please read http://ecomstation.ru/projects/acpitools/?action=logs Collect all the data that applies to your issue and include it with the ticket.

For information on how to report problems related to Samba, please refer to http://svn.netlabs.org/samba

You are also welcome to join the TestTeam if you want to discuss this beta and future developments. See http://ewiki.ecomstation.nl/TestTeam for more details.

== DISTRIBUTION / CREATING CDS ==

This product is provided as a downloadable ISO file, this is a raw CD image that you can burn on CD-R media. For instructions on burning the CD image to CD please consult the PDF document howtoburncds.pdf in the same directory.

The file to download is: ecs20rc7_cd1_en.zip

== SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES ==

Please note that although some subscriptions have expired by now, you are not required to purchase a renewal to obtain the GA version of eComStation 2.0.

More details can be found at http://www.ecomstation.com/subscription/

== ENJOY ==

We hope you will enjoy this new and improved version of eComStation 2.0 and ask you to provide feedback via the Feedback Wizard or the Bugtracking system.

More information on eComStation 2.0 Silver Release can be found here

Reminder for the users of eCS/Rus 1.2.5

2009-07-22 23:11:00 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Attention! We remind to the users of eComStation/Rus 1.2.5 one more time: Install critical update for JFS filesystem driver. Else the volume with bootable JFS may stop to boot and you spend time to reanimation.

In the beginning of 2007 there was an announcement: "eComStation developers and Willibald Meyer fixed bug in Bootable JFS: "JFS booter is reading files located above 4 Gb not properly", please download updated UJFS.DLL from eComStation beta-zone."

(eComStation 2.0 beta versions include this update)

List of updates in BETAZONE

Do you need new features and applications?

2009-06-28 02:49:17 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

The development of eComStation 2.0 components was started in 2001, to create the next version of eComStation it's necessary research current requirements of users first.

• Perfect eComStation (users need recovery tools, fast boot, installer improvements, support of hardware, better USB support, better multimedia, system files protection, etc)
• I need new applications (users need internet phones, editors, catalogues, ODBC, vocabularies, etc)

Users need more software:

• OS2 World.Com Bounties
• The Warp Wishlist
• eCo Labs tasks (100 tasks)

eComStation on netbooks

2009-04-21 21:47:10 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Sigurd Fastenrath published videos about eComStation on netbooks again: www.youtube.com (help me to remember why the movies were removed?)

History of eComStation - 10 questions

2009-03-31 21:39:38 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

History of eComStation (russian language), the author is interested to listen the opinion of users:

• Who organized the first Warpstock?
• When REXX was included to the system?
• What could happen if Stardock continues the development of the OS?
• History of Odin development (links)
• What was new in WSeB (links)
• What was new in eComStation 1.2 (links)
• What is the role of japanese IBM in the history of OS/2?
• Which famous companies were born in OS/2 (started to work on OS/2 market)?
• Which user group is the most strong and devoted to the system?
• Which multi-language versions of OS/2 existed in 90-th?

Installing eCS on discs +512 GB and next to Vista

2009-01-09 20:20:46 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [Mensys, Roderick Klein, http://www.os2world.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,63/topic,1406.msg9873/topicseen,1/#new]

Some work that makes eComStation possible is done by volunteers. Other things are possible because people and companies buy licenses of eComstation, software subscription etc. Thats how I (Roderick) and other people can work on eComStation.

Some of this research has been done in the last 2 weeks. We need your feedback in the eComStation bug tracker to see if it works. To access the bugtracker you need to login www.ecomstation.com and then goto the bugtracker. This stuff is not for the faint harted. If you don't know what your doing and get confused from reading these bugs then don't work on it :-) Hopefully these two items WILL be fixed in eComstation RC 7 so it will be just a matter of clicking some buttons!

Point 1: Some people who have been experimenting with eComStation and hard discs bigger then 512 GB have found some problems. Basicly if you wipe the LVM information AND the first sector of the hard disc with DFSEE and create all partitions on the drive with eCS. You can dual boot Windows XP and eCS. Even boot eCS from a drive bigger then 512 GB.

See eComStation bugnumber 2345 for details. Hopefully we can come up with a solution to make it work without having to wipe the hard discs. This is still in the research stages. But it has something to do with the CHS values.

Point 2 People installing eCS next to Vista may have found that you get a Vista winload.exe error. The solution is that you need to use DFSEE to collect the "NT disk signature" value. Do the install and THEN install the boot manager and eCS. Go BACK into dfsee and put back the "NT disk signature" value. This should fix the winload.exe error message. And you should be able to boot Vista via the eCS boot manager. Details can be found in bug 2354.

More feedback on your experience with Vista and eCS is also needed when it comes to drive layout. Read bug report 2355 for this.

Again the bugtraker is NOT intended to ask support questions if you don't understand something. I need people to provide feedback if it works yes or no.

Thanks for your feedback,

DOS/Win-OS/2 on multi-core processors

2008-12-22 15:33:52 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Are you interested in support of DOS and Win-OS/2 on multi-processor computers? (SMP APIC), please join the testing (how to register in the tracker) Subj of ticket: VPIC.SYS, %short description of DOS-sessions problems in SMP APIC%

It's necessary find the testers which are ready to test:

• it's necessary test the start of dos machine
• Win-OS/2 sessions with networking
• sound in DOS sessions
• the debugging may require: join irc-channel, PC with com-port

Solutions based on eComStation

2008-12-20 01:10:06 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

eComStation may attract new users if it's commercially successful.

OS/2 (eComStation) is alive while people are using and improving the system. The developers of solutions ensure long life for our operating system because computers with OS/2 make money for their customers year by year. The developers bring new industrial technologies to OS/2, feed support service, fill OS/2 with unique features to keep the solutions competitive.

What's new: (homepage of solutions!)

• Plant floor automation systems, Company: Automation ONSPEC Software
• All commercial paging in St.Petersburg (Russia) is based on eComStation solution
• All the ticketing kiosks and machines are using OS/2 Warp
• Actually, the New York City subway replaced Warp 4 with eComStation on their ticket selling kiosks some time ago.
• We added new section: "Airports", please help us find the facts of WSeB usage in the airports (USA)

Why should you write the story today?

• You should do this to protect your investments made into OS/2 platform.
• OS/2 users are located in different countries and cities. They will read the story because of OS/2 word :) And spread the information about your company and products among own colleagues.
• The developer of the operating system will get information about your requirements and improve OS to satisfy them.
• Your story gives stimulus to thousands of users, developers and companies.
• It's easy. Solution story is based on usual product flyer.

Your participation:

• The developers may join the development of Point-of-sale toolkit
• Businessmen - publish new story for Solutions page
• Tech.specialist -- write the story about eComStation in your company.

Where to collect solutions? www.ecomstation.ru site is hosting Solutions list since 2002. Yyou can publish german, dutch, english texts there.

How to write Solutions story? Take the flyer of your product, add Introduction, add one-two paragraphs about advantages of OS/2 usage, add 2 advertisement photos/screenshots, 2 screenshots of back-end demonstating usage of OS/2. Use the web-form to send your contact information

eComStation 2.0 RC6a is available

2008-12-07 04:06:18 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Serenity Systems International and Mensys BV are pleased to announce the immediate availability of eComStation 2.0 Release Candidate 6a. Official announcement

• eComStation 2.0 RC6a, README
• eComStation 2.0 RC6a, whatsnew
• Temporary bugs in eCS 2.0 RC6a, follow this recommendations, economize your time
• Send us the bug-reports

You can use eComStation 2.0 parts today, you need eComStation Software Subscription.

Short list:

• eComStation 2.0 RC6a - you can download via mensys.nl
• Drivers for ACPI (PSCOM.SYS, ..) - BETAZONE
• Utilities for eCS (USB Dock, Firewall ports setup, FrImage, InstPDR, ..) - BETAZONE
• Bootable JFS - BETAZONE

Moreover, eCo Software is going to publish eComStation 2.0 Essentials - package of small utilities and applications, which are not included to eComStation but should be installed on every PC.

P.S. Why eComStation release is delayed?

• The final version can be released after full debugging, else support service will be overflowed.
• eCo Software let Mensys down, the company delivered poor quality components several times so the cycles of beta-testing were broken.

IBM starts to sell OS/2 Warp

2008-11-14 17:02:20 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

IBM Corporation started the sellings of IBM OS/2 Warp operatung system again, you can read the conditions on www.ibm.com site

eComStation Frequently Asked Questions

2008-10-19 00:28:41 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

The eComStation Frequently Asked Questions Book contains 233 pages of valuable information for any eComStation user.

Why do you need this book?

• Learn the experience of other users, economize your time,
• You can resolve the problems even if no Internet connection,
• Invest into Support Service, support eComStation development.

Full list of questions

The book is distributed via Mensys network of eComStation resellers (Mensys shop)

ACPI - let's test sleep/resume

2008-10-15 00:47:42 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

Current version of ACPI: 3.11

It's time to make the last fixes to suspend-resume. Please setup your PC (read apm docs), post the results to the bug-tracker

What to test:

• Сonfirm that suspend/resume works 100% for Uni and SMP + /PIC
• Test suspend/resume on multi-core notebooks and barebones
• Check the stories of success from other testers: http://ecomstation.ru/projects/acpitools/?action=acpi-apm-suspend-resume-stack

Attention: write to the title of ticket: Suspend/resume %model of notebook%

Every user has different model of PC and notebook, so every computer requires additional efforts. Subscribe to eComStation Software Subscription and join the testing, if you don't post a report about your model of PC, eComStation will not support it.

Solutions based on eComStation

2008-09-13 20:49:56 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

eComStation may attract new users if it's commercially successful.

OS/2 (eComStation) is alive while people are using and improving the system. The developers of solutions ensure long life for our operating system because computers with OS/2 make money for their customers year by year. The developers bring new industrial technologies to OS/2, feed support service, fill OS/2 with unique features to keep the solutions competitive.

What's new:

• fresh information about Railroads
• added link to Co-StandbyServer
• more information about Stereolitography

Why should you write the story today?

• You should do this to protect your investments made into OS/2 platform.
• OS/2 users are located in different countries and cities. They will read the story because of OS/2 word :) And spread the information about your company and products among own colleagues.
• The developer of the operating system will get information about your requirements and improve OS to satisfy them.
• Your story gives stimulus to thousands of users, developers and companies.
• It's easy. Solution story is based on usual product flyer.

Where to collect solutions? www.ecomstation.ru site is hosting Solutions list since 2002. Yyou can publish german, dutch, english texts there.

How to write Solutions story? Take the flyer of your product, add Introduction, add one-two paragraphs about advantages of OS/2 usage, add 2 advertisement photos/screenshots, 2 screenshots of back-end demonstating usage of OS/2. Use the web-form to send your contact information

Welcome to homepage of solutions!

eComStation Myths

2008-08-06 23:28:00 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

The web-site eComStation Myths is updated (the 1-st page is aimed at interested guests, the 2-nd is for eComStation and OS/2 Warp users which have doubts)

Interview with Joseph Shrago

2008-07-31 22:55:07 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

We have published new interview with Joseph Shrago (russian language), he is a developer which is making money (ops, big money) on eComStation.

More interview on eComStation community site

Testing eComStation 2.0 RC5

2008-07-30 02:55:03 -- Eugene Gorbunoff [ecomstation.ru]

The development of eComStation 2.0 required more efforts, we ask all russian speaking users join the testing, test compatibility of applications and hardware with new version of OS.