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September 16, 2004

Injoy Firewall


eComStation 1.2 - the upgrade

On the 16th of August 2004, Serenity Systems officially released eComStation 1.2. The first questions I noticed in the newsgroups appeared about 12 days later, but not anything dramatic, and certainly no reason for me to delay purchasing the 1.2 update. As before eCs is available in three languages, Dutch, English and German, plus the various upgrades from Warp4 , eCS 1.0 and 1.1. Whats new however is a “Academic” Version with a price discount of between 13 and 20 percent. Another change in marketing, is the availability of the application pack to all customers. This was previously limited to eCs customers only. The contents of the application pack have also changed.

Application Pack eCs 1.1

Application Pack eCs 1.2

Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 version 1.7

Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 version 1.7.2

HobLink X11 server

OpenOffice.org

Sti Applause + Scanner drivers

Serenity Virtual Station (Beta)

The delivery

At the moment of writing, only the English version was available in the Netherlands, and then only as the “electronic” version, CD's being available some time mid September. The download is fairly hefty and as with eCs 1.1 it is comprised of two CD's. Apparently there were a lot of other people busy downloading as the FTP server was painfully slow. At one moment when I tried to download I was refused with a message that there were already more than 3000 connections. I don't know if everybody was download eCs but I have not had such heavy traffic previously with this server! After downloading I had two two zip files “ecs-1_2-en_us-cd1.zip” and “ecs-1_2-en_us-cd2.zip”. Each of the two zip files have themselves two files. For CD1 an “iso” file and a MD5 checksum, in CD2 a “trk” file plus again the MD5 checksum. Both iso and trk are image files. Most people will recognize iso whereas trk maybe a mystery that is, unless you have RSJ, in which case you will recognize it as an image file used by RSJ. There was no readme files or other documentation with the downloads! When I asked Mensys about both points they admitted that they had made a mistake with regard to the extension name for the images and they should have both been the same and that they would rectify this. They also informed me that a manual was being prepared and would be included as a pdf file before the third week of September. So by the time you're reading this, the documentation should be available. After unzipping my files I used PM-CRC32 (see Fig1) to check the MD5 checksums of both zip directories which were okay.

Fig 1 - md5 checksum program PM-CRC32

The next part is to burn the CD's. If at this stage you only have Windows and Nero you can refer to Creating eComStation install CD's under Windows. On CD1 a MD5 checksum text file (MD5SUM.TXT) is present but there is no utility on this disk or on CD2 which can be used to check file integrity. On eCs 1.1 there is a check program but this has a different format for the checksum file. Only by changing the order of information on each line and adding dummy information to satisfy the parser can this program be used. The checksums were I understand, generated using one of the Mozilla tools (Moztools.wpi) md5sum but under Linux, which gives checksum errors under OS/2. This is due to differences in the default method of opening files (binary as against ascii). At this moment there is no solution but it is being investigated by Mensys.

Booting

Once you have burnt the 2 CD's you can try booting from CD1. The boot procedure is initially the same as with eCs 1.1. You either can select to boot from the hard disk or from the CD, and thereafter use the default values or select your own. The online documentation (available via the boot screen) is more comprehensive than in 1.1. It now includes several additional pages relating to various chips sets, Raid chips, SCSI adapters,and USB host adapters. If you need to make a hard copy of this documentation you can find it in the root directory of CD1 in the file bootmenu.txt.

The installation process is at first identical to eCs 1.1 with some minor cosmetic changes. There is still the “Easy”, “Advanced”, and using a “Response file” which as with 1.1 is still grayed out. However in comparison to eCs 1.1 there is a message which indicates that in in the documentation (which I don't have, so I can't test it) there is a description on how you can activate this. As before it is also possible to select the management console.

The Management Console

Hear are some of the first visible improvements. The menus have been expanded with some useful functions to make them immediately accessible. These include such things as the LVM in both text and graphical mode. Theres now direct access to the commandline reference manual, an achieve viewer etc.

(click on image to get larger version)

Fig 2 - Management Console

If you want to continue with the installation however you will now be presented with the registration screen which was in 1.1 a few pages later. The registration data has become shorter. Four lines of 22 characters instead of 32 last time. I prefer to use the import facility as I have stored the registration data from my email on a floppy. By the choice on whether or not to format your disk you are told that not formatting will result in a migration of your current installation . I suppose the main difference that you will notice is the multimedia setup page, whereas multimedia support was executed as a last part of the installation and the sound drivers you added manually from CD2, its now done before you set up your network. A big improvement. The rest of the install is identical to 1.1 although if you start digging in the options tree page you will notice a number of minor changes, for example that it is no longer possible to select/deselect the APM drivers. They are always installed! Also under the option Bonus Applications on the “Select Components“ page additional items are listed. On the same page a new options is given to allow you to point to your default “home” and “programs” directory. This is probably one of the few times you might use the browse button to the right of the Destination window marked “....” You will be disappointed as it is only possible to walk through the drives but not through a directory tree, making the browse button useless! The rest of the settings pages are almost identical to 1.1. Serenity should be complement with the changes made to the text on the various settings pages as these are now much clearer and conciser.

The installation

Not wanting to reinstall everything I opted to try a migration. It did not go successfully. During the final phase of phase 2, an error message was given (SYS0241 – network name given not found) and the system apparently stopped. After a Ctrl-Alt-Del the system booted up creating the desktop objects as it went. Afterwards I was presented with the welcome jingle as the a new desktop appeared together with a copy of my original desktop but both my Internet and local my network were inaccessible (both in the documentation and in the pdf Product Announcement of 1.2 warnings are given that problems may occur and a backup is advisable). I did not find out why my network would not work. Even a ping failed, so rather than spend hours tracking down the problem I did a clean install. This went without a hitch with everything working the first around. If you experience problems during the install you might want to look in the file “known_issues.txt” on CD1.

Differences

Some of the things I noticed after installing eCs 1.2, and this is by no means complete, were sometimes found by accident, such as CAD-pop when I used Ctrl-Alt-Del to do a quick reboot. This is a VIO program which can be activated by using Ctrl- Alt-Del (see Fig 3) and when activated you can do a number of things such as: unmount and remount file systems, reset the WPS, and open a mini process list and kill a misbehaving program. I used to use Process Commander but that was not maintained and after I believe Fixpack 12 it no longer worked without patching DOSCALL1. Now I have an effective alternative.

Fig 3 - CAD-POPUP

From this program it is also possible to start the TOP program (see Fig 4) which gives a list of process and the amount of CPU time they are using sorted on cpu load with the highest first. It is not a true load monitor as the statistics calculated are from a previous period which is 2 seconds by default. Now instead of just killing a program you can kill process.

Fig 4 - TOP

A small oversight if you try to use the HELP function the system will report that it cannot find the help file. Its there, together with other documentation in the directory \ecs\doc\top. Just make a copy (a shadow doesn't work) of the file “top.txt” to “\ecs\bin” and all is cured. I found a similar problem with the help file for SLPR not being directly accessible as well. The help file is in the system but not where the program expects it to be. You might find other programs which react in the same way!

Another thing I noticed was that CONFIG.SYS is sorted by cfgSort v 5.0. Nice. This utility is stored on your hard disk but theres no icon on the desktop or in one of the desktop folders. The Warpin installer ver.1.0.2 build 437, is also installed. Another thing you might notice if you are using DHCP that during boot, a timer is started which counts down in 5 second increments while the system is waiting to get its dynamic IP address. Innotec's font manager and runtime routines are also installed together Mozilla (ver. 1.7) with the Acrobat and Flash plug-ins already installed.

A welcome addition is the EscapeGL screensaver from Snow Storm Software. Its a jazzy screensaver (see Fig 5) with a wide range of 3D effects.

Fig 5 - EscapeGL, the screensaver

Of course there are more things, some of which are very noticeable such as RSJ's CD writer. It is a speed limited version but with an annoying pop-up which comes up every time you use it. Then there's eCSCoNet which should help all of you with analogue, ADSL or ISDN connections. If you want to have access to your desktop from another computer then there is PMVNC. After simply entering a password the first time PMVNC is started I can use my web browser on my Windows machine and both see and access my desktop with ease. You can see the result in Fig 6. Most noticeable is the color differences of the background probably caused by the limitation in the color resolution in the transmission. Also only parts of the screen are sometimes updated as can be seen by the residual created by a right click on the trash can (upper right hand corner) and the consequential selection of the foreground window.

(click on image to get larger version)

Fig 6 - The eCs desktop using PMVNC as seen on a Windows 2000 machine

Nevertheless excluding these details, I could do anything at a distance (that I tried) from my web browser that I could otherwise only do when in front of my PC, with just a fraction of a seconds delay. Amazing!

CD2

As with eCs 1.1 running install.cmd, found in the root of CD2, will start up a PM program allowing you to select via tabs the additional software you would like to install. Many of the programs on the second CD are identical to those found on eCs 1.1 some have disappeared and others have taken their place. To give you an idea of the differences I have listed the contents of both CD's below. The things which I consider most significant which are missing, is the reset of MMOS which was included in the tab multimedia with CD2, and the maintenance tool. For the rest most of the programs are now integrated in the base install which is a definite improvement.

ECS 1.2

ECS 1.1

Flash 5 (included in Base install CD1)

Flash 4 & 5


Netscape plugin Pack

Mozilla 1.7 (included in Base install CD1)

Mozilla 1.3

Desktop on Call 3

Desktop on Call 3

Desktop on Call 4

Desktop on Call 4

eCS Maintenance Tool

Java 1.3.1 (note Java 1.4.2 is in the base install)

Java 1.3.1

Streaming Line Printer(included in Base install CD1)

Streaming Line Printer

Lucent Modem Support for Thinkpads

Lucent Modem Support for Thinkpads

Stellar Frontier

Stellar Frontier

Mars Game


Multimedia (included in Base install CD1 )

Multimedia

-

Open GL 1.1

Elsa Card Support.

Elsa Card Support.

Haupage Card Support.

Haupage Card Support.

Legacy IBM Support.

Legacy IBM Support.

LBMISX & Cinema/2

LBMISX & Cinema/2

Acrobat 4 (included in Base install CD1)

Acrobat 3

Ecosoft Cool FM & PM Downloader

Ecosoft Cool FM & PM Downloader

Maul Publisher

Maul Publisher

Norman 5.4.7

Norman 5.4.3

RSJ CD Writer 5.06 (included in Base install CD1)

RSJ CD Writer 5.01

PostgresSQL

PostgresSQL

Warpin Installer (included in Base install CD1)

Warpin Installer

ISDN Drivers (Eicon, Elsa, HST, Teles)

ISDN Drivers (Eicon, Elsa, HST, Teles)

ECSCoNet (included in Base install CD1)

ECSCoNet

-

Network ini File synchronizer

-

TCPIP Stack Tuner

Mobile File System.

Mobile File System.

Novell Network Client

Novell Network Client

Open Watcom

Open Watcom

IBM Toolkit

IBM Toolkit

Device Driver Tips

Device Driver Tips

IBM Bonus Pack (Warp4)

IBM Bonus Pack (Warp4)

(included in Base install )

Flash 5

-

Migration Tool

Hoblink X11

Hoblink X11

-

Scitech Display Doctor 7.1.1

FAT 32 Support.

FAT 32 Support.

Graham Utilities

Graham Utilities

IBM Web Browser 2.03

-

Installation of eCs 1.0 CD3

Installation of eCs 1.0 CD3

FAT32 support is available but it is still hidden away in a directory (FAT32SUP) on CD2, with a disclaimer text that it is unsupported software. This is as far as I know the only piece of software on CD2 which has to be installed by hand. Why this is not one of the optional installs with a warning about being unsupported is to say the least a little strange.

Conclusion

eCS 1.2 is not a revolution, but it is definitely an incremental improvement on 1.1. The installation is more refined with better hardware detection and support, although I still cannot install it directly on my AMD64 machine. The new utilities fill some of the holes not previously plugged, but many of the enhancements are under the skin with the latest fixpacks and drivers already installed. If I was to evaluate eCs as an OS for the first time (I know I am biased towards OS/2 but ... ) I would really like it. I would however wonder why a really good file manager is still missing! You may argue that not all hardware is supported. True, but a hell of a lot is. What OS truly supports all hardware. NT never supported USB! I suppose that the real test of an OS is how it evolves over time, eCs has passed that test!!!


Keith Merrington has been in computing since they used to be programmed with punch cards and were made of discrete components and transistors. He built his first computer soldering the chips in by hand ,back in the 80's before the first PC was born. It was based on a Signetics 2650 8 bit microprocessor with a massive1K memory and with two 8 inch floppy drives. He still builds (assembles) his own PC's and has been using OS/2 since Warp 3 came out. He is married and lives in the Netherlands but was born in London England.

This article is courtesy of www.os2ezine.com. You can view it online at http://www.os2ezine.com/20040916/page_2.html.

Copyright (C) 2004. All Rights Reserved.