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August 2001 [Newsletter Index] [Previous Page] [Next Page] [Feature Index] editor@os2voice.org

OS/2 Tips

We scan the Web, Usenet and the OS/2 mail lists looking for these gems. Have you run across an interesting bit of information about OS/2-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.

Ever lose your mouse cursor when an app misbehaves? You know it's there because it still works, but you just can't see it. If you want to avoid a reboot (which will also fix this problem,) then click around until you get into the OS/2 System|System Setup folder, then use the keyboard to start the Mouse utility. Then click through the tabs, by the time you reach the last one, the mouse cursor will be back on. This will also work if you hit the tab key until the tabs at the top are active, then use the right arrow on your keyboard to pick the Comet Cursor tab, then press space to activate it, next hit right arrow again to go to the Icon tab and hit space. It seems that when you go to the Icon tab after being on Comet Cursor, the cursor comes back on.

Look in the keyboard object : the list is there ;-) Cool eh? Go there to remove the hotkeys which are no longer active because of deleted objects and free them for other use.

I had the same problem (same error message) when I switched to the latest beta of SIO2K. Changing the sequence of the relevant lines in CONFIG.SYS seemed to take care of it:

DEVICE=E:\SIO2K\UART.SYS LOGFILE=E:\SIO2K\SIO2K.LOG
DEVICE=E:\SIO2K\VSIO2K.SYS LOGFILE=E:\SIO2K\SIO2K.LOG
DEVICE=E:\SIO2K\SIO2K.SYS LOGFILE=E:\SIO2K\SIO2K.LOG

I think I followed the example in the README or other doc files.

Background: In Smartsuite 1.6 (included in eCs Preview) the equation editor does not show the correct font. This makes the equation editor unusable. I am not sure if this bug applies to all releases/launguages but is is confirmed by others too.

=== FWD ===
Problem: All fonts installed by WordPro have names starting with "LotusWP..." exept for the TrueType version of the fonts "Math A", "Math B" and "Math C" (which are used by WordPro for Windows). But the OS/2 relese comes with Postscript versions of all fonts. In the Postscript versions the names of the Math fonts start with "LotusWP Math...", but Wordpro tries to load them as "Math...".

Solution: First option: Install the TrueType Fonts from the SmartSuite for Windows if you have them.

Second option: Modify the font files in the LOTUSW4\FONTS folder. More precicely, you have to deinstall the fonts "LotusWP Math*" first. Then modify the corresponding .AFM files in LOTUSW4\FONTS. They are ASCII. You have to change the lines with font name and font family name. Simply remove the string "LotusWP ". Now you can reinstall the font by the usual procedure (font palette/edit font/install). Be sure to select the .AFM files and not ..OFM. The latter are binary files converted by OS/2 during (last) font installation. They will be recreated.

One of the favorite complaints of web users is that some web pages like to pop up annoying extra windows. It looks like Mozilla allows you to prevent this:

The syntax for blocking pop-up windows has changed since Mozilla 0.9. To block pop-up windows, add this line to the prefs.js file in your Mozilla profile directory while Mozilla is not running:

user_pref("capability.policy.default.Window.open", "noAccess");

If you want to allow specific sites to open new windows, add the line above andalso these lines:

user_pref("capability.policy.allowpopups.sites",
"http://www.mozilla.org http://bugzilla.mozilla.org");
user_pref("capability.policy.allowpopups.Window.open", "sameOrigin");

user_pref("mailnews.start_page.enabled", false);

Java 1.3 is available through Software Choice, if you are a (paid) subscriber. If you have the "IBM Web Browser" installed, which is also available from there, it will install a "npoji16.dll" plugin for it. This can also be used with the VAC Mozilla builds, by copying it to the plugins directory.

Mozilla only works with the "Open Java Interface" aka OJI, so you need the latest Java 1.3 for it to work.

Have you ever had your OS/2 or eComstation desktop the way you want it, and would have liked to archive it without rebooting? Well, there is a way. All you need is XWorkplace. Make sure you have the "Replace WPS Archiving" and "Restart Workplace" enabled in the "Startup/Shutdown Features" in "XWorkplace Setup" found in the XWorkplace Installation folder. Most people using XWorkplace probably already have these two features enabled.

If the above is done, all you have to do is go to the "Archive" page found on the "Desktop Properties" pages. Select "Activate Desktop" and then select "At next WPS startup only." Close Desktop Properties.

To make your archive, just right click on the desktop and select "Shutdown" followed by "Restart WPS". The WPS will restart and you will see archiving taking place. Because you selected "At next WPS only", this will be the only archive made with no risk of another unwanted archive being created later. No reboot is involved and the archive is made in a fraction of the time.

I would guess that your registry files are corruped.
Look for

system.dat
user.dat

and delete them. regedit2 should recreate new registry files when started. When regedit2 doesn't crash reinstall odin and opera

I have always had a problem with my SCSI CD-ROM's stopping the boot-up process. Not everytime, but hey it shouldn't happen at all. It seemed like my Adaptec AHA control card was not giving the CD-ROM a chance to respond. The AHA 2940 card's bios don't have any way to set a delay.

The default setting for my CD-ROM SCSI ID numbers was 6. By lowering the ID number to a lower number, such as 2 ((0 and 1) are usually reserved for SCSI hard drives) it changed the way my SCSI hardware booted up. Before, my SCSI CD-ROM was the first device initialized. By lowering the ID number, my SCSI hard drive now initializes first. Since it takes a couple of seconds for it to resond, it gives the CD-ROM a change to do whatever it needs to do. The CD-ROM is now the second device to be recognized. Since, I have swithed to the lower ID number, I have had no trouble booting up with my CD-ROM. No more boot-up hangs.

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