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Feedback from May 23

Review of the Iomega Zip drive

I just read your review of the Iomega Zip drive in v1n12. I don't think the review is 100% accurate. Here are my comments:

1: Iomega makes an internal SCSI version of the drive as well as the external parallel and SCSI models. This version may not have been available at the time of the article, but it was when I bought mine. The internal drive comes with a simple SCSI card for no extra money, so you don't have to buy your own.

2: When using the .ADD drivers, the drive runs much more slowly than using the OAD drivers. This is because OS/2 sees the drive as a 100M floppy drive and doesn't cache any data. This can be easily fixed in one of two ways:

With either of these methods, however, Iomega's utilities (like read/ write protecting the media) will not be usable.

3: With a SCSI drive, you can actually use the zip drive with no special drivers at all. The downside is that OS/2 will treat it as a large floppy, meaning it will be slow and not partitionable. (The NEWDASD drivers require Zip media to be partitioned - which is how Iomega's preformatted disks come.)

4: HPFS media can be ejected, but you need a freeware utility to do it. HPFSREM will flush the HPFS buffers, unlock, and eject the media.

5: If you use IBM's "NEWDASD" drivers, formatting and using HPFS is very simple. You just do it. when these drivers are used, the drive will lock itself on media insertion, so you must eject using the (supplied) command-line eject utility or the eject menu item on the (also supplied) replacement WPS drive icon.

6: Iomega's software read/write protection should not be trusted. If you use an alternate driver (like NEWDASD, Iomega's driver in "fixed" mode, or no driver) then all protection is off and you can read and write everything, even on protected disks.

7: The EA storing problem is an OS/2 problem, not a Zip drive problem. It does not exist on Warp 4.

David Charlap


Epistemological Question On Last Month's Survey

Whereas I plan to use OS/2 for years to come, I don't know whether a fast moving planetoid will destroy all life on Earth in the next 5 seconds or not. So the obvious answer to the 3rd survey question for me is: I Don't Know. Not because I am ignorant but because I don't. How could anyone for that matter? Perhaps a better survey question would be: How long do you plan to use OS/2?

Martin Gordon


Sorry Guys. Should have had another option for the "How long will you continue to use OS/2?" question which should have been "Not currently using?". That sadly would have been my selection. I distrust MS with a passion but the tools I NEED are only on other platforms. I have started to build web sites & I don't know how good HTML studio is but I have chosen NetObjects Fusion. It is awesome but only available for 95/NT/Mac.

I still keep up with what is happening with the best OS though. I hope in my hearts of hearts that IBM/Lotus have taken so long with SmartSuite 97 (which is fantastic) for OS/2 because it is being Javaised.

I don't believe that we will ever see feature for feature, same time release of native SmartSuite for OS/2 (any ver). If it hasn't happened yet it never will. I have had my free upgrade coupon to the next version of native SmartSuite for more than a year, so I rang Lotus last week. When I asked about when the native OS/2 version was up to, there were only polite but evasive answers. I just said "We are never going to see SmartSuite 97 for OS/2 are we" I asked 3 times and each time the guy said, "I can't tell you that sir!" He didn't have to.

I could keep going on but my 5 copies of OS/2 (bought & paid for) are sitting uninstlled in the software cupboard while I live with 95 falling over every now and then while I figure out how to fine tune NT.

I can only pray that Warp is being fine tuned as THE Java desktop client and that SmartSuite 98 will be same time, same feature JAVA when the 95/NT version ships. There is a spare partion on my hard disk just waiting.

Graham Howard


Contacting IBM about OS/2

I would like *very much* to see a list of contacts at IBM to whom I could send e-mail regarding my thoughts about OS/2. Some middle management and upper management contacts in the software division would do nicely. See if you can put such a page up on your site.

I very much want to see OS/2 developed for the home market for one very good reason. Whatever operating system the business owners and business managers use on their home systems will translate into market share in corporate america for that operating system and decreased market share for any other operating system. I try hard to sell OS/2 systems in my company but time and again run into managers who have Windows XXX at home and don't want to have to learn "something new". Perhaps if enough of us send sane and reasoning e-mail to IBM then the snoozing giant will wake and begin to see the home user as a serious business opportunity and a way to maintain existing business.

Gene Alexander


No need to reinvent the wheel. Check out OS/2 Connect. They have a list of EVERYONE relevant to OS/2 at IBM.

- editor


IBM's vision for OS/2

These are my personal thoughts and should not be construed to be the thoughts or opinions of my employer.

Per your article "Our Investment" - by Kel Brown

You say IBM has missed the market by not supporting the home market platform and concentrating only on the business platform and needs.

Well I have used OS/2 in the workplace for many years. But if OS/2 (and IBM) cannot resolve the issue(s) necessary to run and support W95 programs, I am afraid they will totally lose out in both the home and business platforms.

Yes, there are more and more OS/2 platform specific products available. But their are still a lot of companies choosing to support W95 only. If you have to access (or run) one of these programs, OS/2 begins to fall away. Yes there are alternatives, such as adding a Windows NT server, etc. But the cost of additonal hardware, software and support make the battle to defend OS/2 a very difficult one.

Tonya Pfannkuch


NetRexx

This is a comment on the NetRexx article in the April issue. NetRexx's author has just released a major new feature that really helps compilation speed. Its now possible to specify all the source files to be compiled on one line. NetRexx loads all the files, resolves any references, translates and calls java. It lots faster this way. It also make for simplier coding. I my case the new comipler allowed me to get rid of four interface classes that existed only to allow me to compile mutually dependent classes.

Ed Tomlinson


Vigilance On Talos V

I bought a copy of Vigilance. If you get it, you must download the patch from PolyEx Software. Without it, I was unable to play the game in a DIVE window on my system. With it, all ran well. The full-screen mode was excellent, rivalling DOS and Windows games. The windowed mode was too slow on my hardware (80 Mhz 486, with S3-805 base VLB video card.)

The only disappointment I have with the game is that it is too short. You defeat the big bad guy at the end of the third level. I got that far in about a week. I was expecting the game to have at least 8-10 levels, so I wouldn't finish it so quickly.

But that aside, Vigilance is an excellent game. It shows the world, once and for all that OS/2 is a good game platform - all it took was a software company that was willing to do it right.

David Charlap


Hitting the wall

I love your magazine and spend a lot of time checking the site near the middle of the month. Recently though, I've started to become amused by John Cochran's column 'Need for Speed'. It appears that John has run up against the same problem that keeps OS/2 articles out of the Ziff-Davis mags. There's just not much you can do to tweak OS/2. Windows user always ask, "where are all the utilities for OS/2?" The truth is, there are none because there is no need. Other than a few config.sys settings that could easily be set by the installation program to a more appropriate setting, OS/2 runs at full throttle. People say OS/2 is hard to install, but by measurement of speed-up-articles, it is by far the easiest to maintain.

Maybe John could pull out one of the Ziff-Davis tricks and do a 101 ways to arrange your desktop pieces.

Ernest Christley


Chris' Rant

In your article you stated: "Data told the holodeck computer to..." It was Gordi (sorry if I misspelled the name) that asked/programmed the computer.

Robert B. Gamble


Thanks for the correction!

- editor


Getting hold of OS/2 product(s)

I have been trying for a few months now to get an upgrade from Warp 3 to Warp 4, without success. I have also been attempting to get an upgrade to my now aging DB2/2, a version of CICS/2 (depending on price), Visual Age COBOL, Visual Age C and PC-DOS 7. I have approached IBM UK for details of local dealerships/resellers because I do not like to use mail order.

One dealership point-blank refused to supply me because I am not a multi-million pound company, only a small consultancy. Another promised to get back to me with details of when I could expect to collect the products and the price but have never done so, despite three follow-up telephone calls from me. The other does not seem to want to answer their telephone.

I feel more and more threatened in my belief that OS/2 is the superior desktop solution but it becomes harder for clients to take that seriously if I cannot get hold of product.

It is likely that, if this state of affairs continues, I shall be forced into the arms of the Anti-Christ's 95 product which is so easy to obtain.

I have tried the link on the IBM Website to "contact IBM" but the link doesn't seem to work, at least not for me. I have even spoken to more than one IBM field rep who was surprised that I should want the Warp product and not the 95 thing.

The result of this situation leads naturally to migrating to another platform if I am going to be able to continue in my consultancy and development work. The only obstacle to this is that I have not decided to change horses just yet, and to try again.

Do any of your other readers have similar horror stories of shabby service from an organisation that once excelled at service provision?

Charles F. Hankel


Our Man Mike

An assertion has been made about the attitudes of Microsoft employees toward Microsoft products that I feel is in error. Having loads of friends who live in Seattle I know a lot of people working for Microsoft, and not one of them who makes less than $200,000 a year thinks ANY Microsoft product is of high quality. Much less functional.

Gordon Williams


The Future of OS2 and the Home PC

Will I finally decided to invest in some serious OS2 software. Thought I would try out SofTouch Suite (at almost $200.00 I call that an investment!). First vendor I called could supply the Warp4 upgrade but was unsure about any other program since their supplier went out of business. This was my first try so I haven't given up. I have posted on the IBM BBS (Canada) for help securing Canadian vendors, no response yet. Would you like to reassure me that OS2 is a viable operating system for the home computer? I come from an Atari ST background and it seems history is repeating itself.

Brian Sellers


It can be difficult here in Canada, I agree. Hopefully, US vendors will realize this and help local retails to fix this situation.

- editor


Why we don't do Windows

Yes, many people are disliking Microsoft and Windows, but know of no alternatives. I would suggest OS/2, but most everyone has 8 MB of RAM, and it can't handle Warp. We need an OS/2 Lite version real bad for home use (BlueBird might be what we need if they make an Intel version).

Or Neeman


Galileo Review and Busmastering

I enjoyed reading your review of the Einstein Galileo in OS/2 e-Zine!. Informative and well written.

You noted that busmastering should be turned on with /BM on the ibm1s506.add driver. However the Warp 4.0 help says that the parameter /!BM should be used if one wants to disable busmastering.

I thought I vaguely recalled that Warp 4.0 defaulted to busmastering; so now I'm wondering.

Frank Schmittroth


Frank:

I checked the Warp 4.0 help file under IBM1S506 parameters, and you're right -- it says use /!BM to disable bus-mastering. It also says that options are valid both with and without the preceding !, and that the ! can be used to explicitly disable an option. I can only tell you that in my case, I added /BM to my CONFIG.SYS.

I just ran two tests with Sysbench 0.9d. In one I booted the system with the IBM1S506 parameters it originally came with -- that is, the default of none -- and in the other I used /A:0 /BM /V. The results are below. You'll see that CPU Load increases from 14% to 71% and the transfer rates drop by more than 50% without the /BM parameter.

I think you 'll agree that _something_ beneficial is going on!

 Sysbench 0.9.1d result file created Sun May 18 15:16:21 1997

Machine name    - Indelible Blue Galileo Mid-Tower
Manufacturer    - Diamond Flower, Inc.
Processor       - Cyrix P166+
Graphics card   - S3 Trio64V+
Disk Controller - Onboard PCI

Machine data
Coprocessor     = Yes
RAM             = 64.00 MB
Priority        = Dynamic
Maxwait         = 1
Timeslice       = (32,32)
Swap file size  = 32.00MB
  ...initially  = 32.00MB

CONFIG.SYS: With /BM (BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /BM /V)

 Disk I/O disk 1:  2012 MB - Undefined
   Avg. data access time :       24.000    ms
   Cache/Bus xfer rate   :        7.496    MB/s
   Average Transfer rate :        5.124    MB/s
   Disk use CPU load     :       14.000    percent
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Total :       37.334    Disk I/O-marks

CONFIG.SYS: No /BM (BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD)

 Disk I/O disk 1:  2012 MB - Undefined
   Avg. data access time :       22.000    ms
   Cache/Bus xfer rate   :        3.933    MB/s
   Average Transfer rate :        3.072    MB/s
   Disk use CPU load     :       71.000    percent
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Total :       22.567    Disk I/O-marks

- Francis Reddy


April's Survey Results

No surprise in the April poll. Maybe some of the Quasi-Gurus who constantly bemong the existence of OS/2 might consider the true loyalty we have to it and IBM. So much for the MS myth that hype is better than substance.

I wonder what the market will do (especially the Mac market) if IBM includes the Mac OS in the next release. We are seeing more and more Mac apps ported to OS/2...like Apple's QuickTime and Adobe....two super good apps.

The Mac users may have allies they never knew existed... And Apple a market they could only dream of... We'll see.

Bill Easley

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