Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education
VOICE-Homepage: http://de.os2voice.org 		März 2004

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February 28

eBayWatch/2 Ver 1.09v

Hello All,

"eBayWatch/2 is an auction management tool for OS/2 users. It works solely with the eBay auction site. It is meant to aid the user in searching for, monitoring and bidding on auction items. eBayWatch/2 is copyright freeware.

Required -
1) partition with long filename support (hpfs/jfs)
2) rexxutil.dll and rxsock.dll in libpath
3) must start from its work directory, or a program object which sets the work directory "

I have uploaded ver 1.09v to -
http://www.eclipse.net/~knkrchnr

This release is to fix several items broken by recent eBay changes. From the readme -
Ver 1.09v (released 20040228)
- eBay changes break "Seller" search
- eBay changes break "View Seller Auctions"
- eBay changes break item import/refresh
- eBay change breaks "View Bid Page"

As usual, any feedback of things strange or broken is appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

P.S. No, I have not abandoned the planned version upgrade of eBayWatch/2. It has been a very busy time the past few months and I've not been able to do much else. I hope to get back to the new version coding in about 6 - 8 weeks.

February 28

TCP/IP on OS/2 and eComstation

If you are using eComstation 1.1 and you are experiencing frequent traps (kernel dumps) then please read the following! People who use OS/2 (MCP 4.51 or MCP2 4.52) or WSeB or eComStation 1.0 this information might also be usefull for!

eComStation 1.1 CD #2 contains the "TCP/IP tuner" (In both the German and English version). People who used this tool, please pay attention.

Q. First of all: how can I tell if I have installed this TCP/IP tuner?

A. Look in the directory \mtpn\etc\ for the file inetcfg.ini. If you do not know much about TCP/IP and the file is present, you most likely installed the TCP/IP tuner from CD #2. If the inetcfg.ini file is found, open it in an editor and look for the line with the term SACK, with a number 1 behind it.

What to do:

If that option is set to 1, remove the line from the file and save the file, to make certain the new settings are activated you should reboot your system!

Background information:

Q: Why was the TCP/IP tuner introduced ?

A: People using Netscape 4.61 sometimes experience "broken pipe" messages on OS/2. Also the commandline tool nslookup.exe (to look up the IP adres that belongs to a domainname) sometimes is *very slow* or times out.

If this is the case you will likely experience timeouts with other applications as well, because your system cannot properly connect to other systems on the internet. Overall TCP/IP performance can be bad (especially on dialup connections)

To overcome these issues, the TCP/IP tuner was introduced. It will change a couple of the default TCP/IP settings to increase performance and reliability.

Q: What is the problem with the SACK setting ?

A: SACK means Selective Acknowlegdement. It is used between computers communicating over the internet or a LAN with the TCP/IP protocol. *Early* research seems to indicate that TCP/IP stack contains a bug. There are so called RFC's documents that describe how network protocols and its features should work. When connections are made to a computer connected to a network, the computer will allocate memory buffers etc. As connections are closed or timeout this allocated memory is released.

When an OS/2 or eComStation system has the SACK option set to 1 somehow these buffers do not seem to be released. The result is that more and more of your systems RAM gets allocated (so called MBUFS).

You can verify this by using the following command from the commandline:

netstat -m:

Two lines are important:
mbufs obtained from page pool= protocol control block mbufs=

If there are for example more then 5000 to 6000 buffers allocated then you could be affected by the SACK setting. It is no problem if there is a *peak* in the allocation of these buffers. The amount of buffers allocated by the TCP/IP stack should be dynamic. If the buffers are not released, the system will run out of memory (resources) and just lockup or trap.

According to the RFC, SACK should only be used when another connecting party also has SACK enabled.

This problem has also been reproduced on MCP 2 from IBM and an older TCP/IP stack from 2001.

Who could be potentialy be affected by this:

* People who have a lot of web traffic because of surfing the internet (people who have an ADSL or Cable internet connection).

* Especially people who run a webserver.

* People who use NetBIOS over TCP/IP

Closing note:

Everyone should apply the TCP/IP tuner to boost performance of the TCP/IP stack in eComStation. However, make sure the SACK line is absent (or the value set to 0) in the \MPTN\ETC\INETCFG.INI file.

February 27

OS/2 and USB Web Site Updated

There had been some devices added to the OS/2 and USB site.

There had been added:

# BioStar Flash Card Reader 6in1 intern
# DeLock Hi-Speed USB Flash Disk 128 Mb
# Transcend JetFlash USB 2.0
# Pentax 330GS Digital Camera
# Konica Minolta Dimage Z1 Digital Camera
# Canon i850 Photo Printer

Visit http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=usbnews

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. Keep sending me the USB stuff that works under OS/2.

February 27

Tim's Warped Bargains: Samsung B&W Laser Printer

Dear Bargain Hunters:

I found an excellent deal on an eComStatation (and Warp) compatible monochrome laser printer. This particular printer does not include automatic duplexing, but it does accept a full 500 sheet pack of paper all at once, which is especially nice for higher volume print jobs.

It's the Samsung ML-1450. Other specifications include both USB and parallel ports, up to 1200 dpi, low consumables costs, small desktop footprint, 15 pages per minute engine speed, and -- in this deal -- both PCL 6 and Postscript Level 3 support.

And all that's just $129.99 (after $50 rebate) here:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10317380&dcaid=1688

If you can increase your order total a bit (by ordering another item or two from the same company), you can get $15 off by using this coupon:

http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=88301879&dcaid=1688

and you can get a 2% cash rebate if you visit FatCash.com and then click through from there to Buy.com to order.

I have no affiliation with these companies.

February 25

Mozilla for OS/2 1.7a release

Though it doesn't appear on the Warpzilla page yet, it is now on the Mozilla 1.x Releases page: http://www.mozilla.org/releases/

"OS/2 Installer (14MB)
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.7a/contrib/mozilla-os2-1.7a-installer.exe
or Zip File (14 MB)
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.7a/contrib/mozilla-os2-1.7a.zip
Both require libc04fix1
http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc04fix1.zip
Please read the installation instructions before installing
http://www.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.7a/installation-ports.html#ports_os2."

February 25

DFSee CDROM distribution updated to version 6.02

The ultimate disk/partition recovery tool DFSee version 6.02 is now available for worldwide shipping on a very cute 8cm bootable mini CDROM that boots FreeDOS and uses DFSDOS.

The CDROM also includes the full DOS, OS/2 and Windows versions plus documentation for regular installation.

You can buy a complete CD including a standard license for just 47 Euros plus shipping ...

If you already own a DFSee 6.xx registrations, check the DFSee website first to get significant upgrade discounts!

For the 6.02 changes compared to 6.00, see:

http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm#whatsnew

DFSee is the SWISS-ARMY-KNIFE for disk and filesystem problems. With FDISK-like displays, analysis and recovery, FIX commands, UNDELETE for HPFS/NTFS, imaging and cloning. More details at:

http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm

February 24

InnoTek GCC for OS/2 Beta 4

InnoTek GCC for OS/2 web site: http://www.innotek.de/products/gccos2/

"InnoTek GCC for OS/2 is a commercial distribution of the GNU C/C++ compiler suite and associated utilities for the IBM OS/2 platform. InnoTek maintains an OS/2 platform port of the GNU C/C++ compiler suite and provides comprehensive support for the compiler environment to enterprise customers.

The InnoTek GCC for OS/2 distribution provides the following benefits:

* availability of a modern C/C++ compiler environment on OS/2, supporting the latest C++ language standards

* a complete, easy to use and well tested compiler suite from the leading OS/2 ISV

* enterprise level defect support for mission critical use of the compiler suite

* custom enhancements and modifications available as part of a support agreement

The GCC compiler suite is licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL) and can be used free of charge. All OS/2 specific changes and enhancements performed by InnoTek are released under the GPL as well. InnoTek GCC for OS/2 can be downloaded at no charge."

GCC for OS/2 Beta 4 (22MB):
http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/3.2.2-Beta4/gcc-3.2.2-beta4.exe

GCC for OS/2 Beta 4 release notes:
http://www.innotek.de/products/gccos2/download/gccos2releasenotes_e.html

The runtime library for GCC 3.2.2 Beta 4 can be downloaded from one of the following links:

libc-0.5.0.exe (500kb compressed):
http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc-0.5.0.exe

GCC for OS/2 support forum:
http://ubb.innotek.de/ultimatebb.php?category=8

February 23

Thunderbird 0.5 has been released

Warpzilla web site: http://www.mozilla.org/ports/os2/

Thunderbird web site:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
Thunderbird Download:
ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/0.5/contrib/thunderbird-0.5-os2.zip
Installation Instructions:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/#install
Requires libc04fix1:
http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc04fix1.zip

February 23

Ghostscript 8.14

Ghostscript 8.14 web page -
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/AFPL/get814.htm
Ghostscript 8.14 download -
ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/AFPL/gs814/gs814os2.zip

" Ghostscript is the name of a set of software that provides:

* An interpreter for the PostScript (TM) language, with the ability to convert PostScript language files to many raster formats, view them on displays, and print them on printers that don't have PostScript language capability built in;
* An interpreter for Portable Document Format (PDF) files, with the same abilities;
* The ability to convert PostScript language files to PDF (with some limitations) and vice versa; and
* A set of C procedures (the Ghostscript library) that implement the graphics capabilities that appear as primitive operations in the PostScript language.

Ghostscript works in conjunction with the PS/PDF viewer/graphical interface GSView http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/index.htm

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