#OS/2 w/ 3DS 3
21 messages in this thread
> I think for now I'll go with Dual Boot and FAT. If I really get
> turned on by OS/2, then it should be a labor of love to convert to
> Boot Mgr and HPFS in the future! <g>
Good choice – Dual Boot is a no-brainer, and if you never end up going back to
DOS, you can convert later (besides, you'll learn so much about OS/2, you'll
want to install it again to do things "right" 🙂
By the time you're ready to re-install, my book, "OS/2 For Everyone" should be
on the shelves (published by John Wiley & co.)
— Doug Azzarito
>> Good choice – Dual Boot is a no-brainer <<
Oh good, that's my favorite M.O.–at least what I'm most accomplished at. <g>
>> my book, "OS/2 For Everyone" should be on the shelves (published by John
Wiley & co.) <<
Hey, GREAT! I wish you much success!
I have just installed OS2 on a system with an Orchid P9000, and am still
struggling with getting them to work together. Does anyone have any experience
with the P9000, OS2 and 3DSR3?
>> any experience with the P9000, OS2 and 3DSR3? <<
I don't (I'm thrashing around with my new Graphite and still dickering to BUY
OS/2 2.1). Maybe Doug Azzarito or others will see your message.
> Does anyone have any experience with the P9000, OS2 and 3DSR3?
The P9000 is an excellent chipset, and the OS/2 drivers work fine (as long as
you have the latest drivers – check with Orchid or Weitek). I think Diamond
was doing more work on P9000 drivers than anyone, but I don't know if their
drivers will work on the Orchid card.
As for using 3DS with that combo, I never tried. My next card will probably be
a P9000, but I don't have one now. Once you get the P9000 working under OS/2,
3DS should fall in line nicely.
— Doug Azzarito
Hi Tim,
I'm using both 3DS and OS/2 and a Viper VLB P9000 video accelerator. Can I help
out?
James
Well, guess what, I succumbed to the temptation of OS/2 yesterday. I went ahead
and bought OS/2 for windows and will be installing it this morning after my
hard drive is totally backed up. <g> If I have any questions I'll be sure to
ask you for help. What's your phone number? <g> Maybe I can help you with
AutoCAD or 3d studio stuff. Right now I'm just going to experiment with it. Do
you know if I can render to my targa + card from 3ds in a dos shell? What about
AutoCAD and my Targa +. This should make for some interesting experiments. <g>
If all this works then I might consider using it in a production environment.
I'll be in touch <g>.
Yann Bertaud – VPG, Autodesk.
PS: can you give me hints as to what to do and what not to do to run 3ds and
AutoCAD.
Hello Yann,
Well, after all that! <g> Good luck, cuz you'll need it! Just teasing (sort
of). But definitely drop me a line if you need a hand. I can't promise miricles
(or spelling), but we all should be able to chip in something.
As for running Targa+, it should be a snap. In the preferences for 3DS in OS/2
(right-click on the 3DS icon, then click on the arrow next to OPEN. Choose
SETTINGS), there is a section called SESSION. Click on that leaf, which will
open that page in the notebook (pretty fancy, huh). In there you'll see a
button called DOS_SETTINGS. Click that and you'll find a whole list of
configurable settings for each dos session. For the 3DS one, you would have it
load the Targa+ device drivers, using the DOS_DEVICE line. Hilite that and
you'lll see a window on the right that is empty. Simply type in there the
targa+ DEVICE= commands, just as you would in the dos CONFIG.SYS file. Consider
this space each sessions own personal CONFIG file. Once those are in, click on
SAVE at the bottom of the main SESSION window. Then click in the top lefthand
corner of the remaining SETTINGS window.
I'm not sure if I'm talking down to you here. I think you'll find once you find
one thing, it'll all fall into place down the line (OOP!). Anyway, the next
step is to load up the AUTOEXEC.BAT file with your SET RADPDI= (? I can't
remember it's been a while since I used this!) – whatever the command… Now
each DOS SESSION can run it's own AUTOEXEC.BAT. You could simply place the SET
call in the general AUTOEXEC in the root dir, but then every DOS session that
uses that BAT file will SET RDPADI, and visa versa. Anyway, simply create or
edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, using the OS/2 SYSTEM EDITOR in the PRODUCTIVITY
FOLDER. Place the customized 3DS AUTOEXEC in the 3DS subdir. Go back into the
settings of 3DS (right click on the icon, etc). You'll see another line that
reads DOS_AUTOEXEC. Hilite that and you have a space to type the full path to
this new AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
When you launch 3ds, you will now get the DEVICE drivers (hopefully) and the
AUTOEXEC.BAT will launch with it. And remember, every program can be run like
this – in it's own virtual machine, with it's own settings.
Well, are you sorry you asked? <g>
James
I'm regretting it already, I feel like I'm part of the Apple commercial which
shows a mac user trying to install stuff vs a DOS user trying to install stuff.
I haven't even gotten to the point where OS/2 is running. I'm still trying to
install properly. We got the cd-rom version and realized (after about an hour)
that it wouldn't work with the internal drive shipping with our gateway
machine, it's not a SCSI drive. Fortunately, it does have a scsi controller so
I hooked up a texel external drive to it. Then we had to find the ultrastor
drivers. Once we got that figured out we were able to run part of the install
program. After rebooting to continue installing, my monitor looked like it was
unable to sync to the graphics card. After a bit of dincking around and
rereading the install manual, I found that the install is slightly different if
you have an ATI ultra pro. You have to setup the ati to powerup in VGA 640×480
at 60hz. The install then proceded succesfully, or so I thought. Now when I
reboot, the machine locks up at the OS/2 logo. I'm on hold right now (for the
third time) with IBM tech support. I still haven't talked to a technician. I
think that I might have configured for the wrong video driver and I have no
clue as to how to reconfigure it without being in the OS/2 windows evironment.
I already don't like it, their support sucks so far. I think I'm gonna go on
the OS/2 forum and see if I can't get any help there.
This where I stand right now, let you know how's it goin tomorow.
Yann Bertaud – VPG, Autodesk.
Yann, WELCOME TO OS/2!!!! Ha ha! <gggg>
You sound just like me! Exactly! I'm sorry to take such glee in anothers pain,
but this is just so typical of OS/2. If you stick with it, you can decide if
it's worth it.
I had probs with both CD-ROM and Display. Try OS/2 Forum, although I've found
they've gotten slower. The tech support used to be better, and sometimes, you
get lucky and find someone who actually cares and knows something – good
conbination.
What message do you get at the LOGO screen lockup? Is it "BIOS detected
incompatible driver. System halted."? I got this same message, and it was my
SCSI driver. Let me know, and I'll go into it further.
James
Doesn't matter anymore, I gave up last night after spending 12 hours
yesterday trying to get this thing to work. I am now back to good ole
DOS and windows. Much easier to setup. Tell ya though, I'm really
glad I backed up my whole system, 'cause OS/2 really screwed up a
whole bunch of stuff. Maybe it works great once installed, but it is
a major pain to install, let alone to get it to work. This is not for
the faint at heart, I consider myself pretty good at dealing with
hardware and software issues, I basically do it everyday, dealing
with various networks and OSs and computers, but I would definitely
not recommend trying this to anyone who doesn't know their system to
well.
I might try installing it again when I have more time. I just wasted a whole
day yesterday on this so, I figure when we slow down a bit, I might try.
For now, I'm staying away from it.
Yann Bertaud – VPG, Autodesk.
That's too bad. I need someone else to be around for help! <g> And
also, it's fun helping others… But oh well, it's almost at the
point where I'm thinking of the options: OS/2 – $150, a couple books
$75, LD calling $10, CIS costs (for all the advice and messages) $20,
possible new SCSI card $300, hours and hours of fiddling and lost
time $150 at least, and miscell $25. That's about $725. I could
probably have bought a used 286 or 386 for modem and writing while
the other computer is rendering – multitasking without hassles,
headaches, swearing, frustration and it sure to succeed!…
>> I could probably have bought a used 286 or 386 for modem and writing while
the other computer is rendering – multitasking without hassles, headaches,
swearing, frustration and it sure to succeed!…
There ya go, that's the way to go. Besides, the more hardware you have
surrounding you the more radiation benefits you get. <g>
Yann Bertaud – VPG, Autodesk.
>> I could probably have bought a used 286 or 386 for modem and writing
I tried that with my old 386sx/16 machine. I bought A/B switches and cables
for the modem, keyboard, and monitor. If the monitor switch had worked with my
NEC 4FG, I would have stuck with it. It didn't, and the old crappy vga monitor
on the 386sx drove me bannanas so I got OS/2.
I also found that my 486DX2/66 is a reasonably fast Windows machine when
running 3DS in the background under OS/2. It feels like at least a 486/33,
while the 386sx/16 felt like a 386sx/16.
Bailey
> I think I'm gonna go on the OS/2 forum and see if I can't get any
> help there.
And if you find you STILL are not getting satisfaction, drop me a note. We aim
to please….
JimmyG – Manager OS/2 Graphics Development
Well, if and when I decide to try and install again, I'll be sure to
drop you a note. Don't get me wrong, I would love to try and run it,
but after yesterday's frustrating install, I just wasn't ready to try
again. I've got projects to work on, and unfortunately don't have the
time to try it again for a while.
Yann,
You might also want to try GO GATEWAY; I've noticed a lot of people talking
about OS/2 setup on Gateways there.
BTW, I finally got those polyhedrons uploaded; have you checked them out yet?
(POLYNS.ZIP)
John
Yann,
>> like the Apple commercial….
Remember, you are installing an OS, not an application<G>. If they
ever do port MacOS to the Intel platform, I bet it will be harder to
install than OS/2.
It is a big peeve of mine that OS/2 requires you to change display
modes from a GUI screen. So if you inadvertantly set the display
mode to something your card or monitor can't really handle, then you
are probably hosed because you can't run the GUI to change it back. I
did this once, but fortunately I was able to see enough on the
out-of-sync display to switch the driver back. Most people aren't
this lucky.
At least Windows lets you change display drivers from a text mode dos
program, and even by editing system.ini.
I think IBM has a complex about DOS. Why not make DOS the bootstrap
loader for OS/2 (and why is MS trying to get rid of DOS for Windows
4.0)? It would be alot easier to deal with problems with OS/2 if the
machine would go through a dos boot first and let you hit a key to
abort the loading of OS/2. Then they could have dos utilities for
modifying/repairing OS/2. The way they have it now, if OS/2 is
hosed, you have to boot off two foppies, which seems to take about
ten minutes, and then there's not a whole lot you can do.
Also, if the OS/2 installation program were dos-based, then you could
install OS/2 from any old CD that you were able to use under DOS.
I hate running bare dos on a system, and I am now an OS/2 true
believer, but I think DOS is a useful least common denominator and
that OS/2 (and the Unix vendors for that matter) should look into
taking advantage of this. It's too bad it looks like MS is giving
this up for Win 4.0.
Bailey
I reallize that I was trying to load an OS not an application. I just
didn't expect it to be so painful. It doesn't matter now, since I
gave up on it last night.
I totally agree with all your points. I couldn't believe that the tech
support person told me that I had to run through the whole install
process to change the display driver. I can't imagine doing that if I
had gotten the floppy version instead of the CDRom version. Needless
to say, I was pretty po'd by the end of the day, as the tech person
just wasn't helpful. She was supposed to have faxed me some stuff on
trying to do it from DOS but I never got it. Waiting on the phone
for half an hour three times is just not my cup of tea, I can think
of better things to be doing.
Anyway, I think I've let off enough steam about this whole thing, so I
won't talk about it anymore.
Yann Bertaud – VPG, Autodesk.
I'v talked to Orchid and they say that new P9000 drivers will be out about the
first week of Jan. I think I'll have to wait until then to push beyond what
I've got so far.
Tim
Thanks Tim, but I'm running the Diamond P9000 card. I should call and find out
what's happening with them.
James