OS/2 Technical Notes

OS/2 Instructional Videos (23 Aug 2022)
I've produced some instructional videos to help users with simple oprations in ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation. These videos are aimed at all users who need help with simple operations in OS/2.
1. WiFi using a Travel Router (23 Aug 2022)
  How to use a Mango Travel Router to get WiFi on OS/2.
2. How to set up a printer (23 Aug 2022)
  How to set up a printer on ArcaOS. This may also help users on OS/2 and eComStation.
OS/2 Museum, West
Blonde Guy helps curate the OS/2 Museum, West.
Setting Up (17 May 2021)
I've produced detailed installation guides for OS/2 Warp 4 and OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business that reflect current hardware and assume a networked environment.
1. Installing Warp 4 (2 Jan 2013)
  How to install OS/2 Warp 4, a detailed installation guide that reflects current hardware and assume a networked environment.
2. Installing Warp 4 Convenience Package (25 Jan 2002)
  How to install OS/2 Warp 4 Convenience Package, a detailed installation guide that reflects current hardware and assume a networked environment.
3. Installing eComStation 1.0 (11 Nov 2001)
  How to install eComStation 1.0, a detailed installation guide that reflects current hardware and assume a networked environment.
4. Installing Warp Server for e-Business (3 Apr 2002)
  I've produced a detailed installation guide for OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business that reflects current hardware and assume a networked environment.
5. Installing Warp Server for e-Business Convenience Package (29 Aug 2001)
  Installation guide for OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business Convenience Package; also known as the Aurora Convenience Package (ACP).
6. How to create utility disks (26 Feb 2000)
  Instructions for creating the utility disks that can be used to boot an OS/2 machine from diskettes. This procedure is needed because the easy-to-use utility in the System Folder gets and error on disk 1, and leaves you to fend for yourself. Read this essay so you can fend for yourself.
7. Install Warp 4 on an IBM Thinkpad A20 (17 Jun 2001)
  Instructions for installing OS/2 Warp 4 on an IBM Thinkpad A20m. I did this install for a client, and I did get OS/2 to install on this unsupported laptop. But there were issues, of course.
8. Install Real Audio Player 5.0 (19 May 2000)
  Instructions for installing Real Audio Player 5.0 on OS/2 Warp 4 with particular attention to getting the Netscape plug-in to work.
9. Virtual PC (25 Feb 2011)
  Instructions for installing and configuring Virtual PC for OS/2.
10. Dual Boot Drive Sharing (1 Dec 2008)
  How to share data between the Windows and eCS when the computer is configured to boot either operating system.
11. OS/2 Remote Printing (23 Oct 2012)
  How to print to your home printer from a remote location.
12. How to Print (2 Dec 2008)
  A novel way to print on a network-attached postscript printer.
13. Recovering from an OS/2 Screen Resolution Disaster (31 May 2009)
  This is the the sequence of keys to reset the screen resolution on OS/2 and eComStation.
14. How to Set Screen Resolution (11 Oct 2013)
  How to set the screen resolution in eComStation.
15. How to use a Recovery DVD (3 Aug 2022)
  This page describes how to use a Blonde Guy recovery DVD.
16. Serial cards on eComStation (20 Aug 2013)
  This page describes how to use several Serial cards on eComStation.
17. GenMac in Unsupported mode (21 May 2009)
  How to add networking support for devices that lack an OS/2 driver.
18. How to format a USB Thumb drive (9 Mar 2019)
  under eCS using DFSee. Original posting by Jan van Wijk.
19. Zip and Unzip for OS/2 (12 Mar 2019)
  A comparison of available versions of these valuable tools.
20. How to use a Wacom Graphire tablet under OS/2 (30 Oct 2013)
  covering how to install device drivers and set up the QueenCy drawing software.
21. Using an Uninterruptable Power Supply with eComStation (17 Apr 2014)
  covering a monitor for APC Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) written by Larin Yury (aka Improver).
22. Automating an Automobile Assembly Line (23 Feb 2019)
  covering how OS/2 is used in three vehicle assembly plants.
23. How Config.Sys controls OS/2 boot behavior (20 Nov 2019)
  covering how booting OS/2 is controlled by the Config.Sys file.
24. Installing ArcaOS over Windows 10 (16 Mar 2021)
  How to get ArcaOS to install on a hard drive that already has Windows 10 on it.
25. ArcaOS installation troubleshooting (6 Jan 2020)
  What to do when ArcaOS installation goes wrong.
26. USB Notes (11 Feb 2020)
  Notes and details of USB support on OS/2.
Hardware (17 May 2021)
There is a guide for building a computer to run OS/2, and procedures for adding CD-Writers, Zip Disks, Wheel-mice and DSL to OS/2.
1. OS/2 Notebook Server (16 May 2006)
  Converting an old, unused notebook computer to a server can save electricity, and prevent waste.
2. How to replace the server hard drive (6 Aug 2006)
  When the hard drive on the server goes, you've got to replace it quickly, to minimize server down-time. Here is a complete procedure.
3. Building a computer to run OS/2 (19 Mar 2000)
  I built my own computer to run OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business. I used only components I knew to have OS/2 support. The computer worked first time, and there were no glitches installing OS/2.
4. Iomega Zip Drive (2 Dec 2008)
  I've produced a detailed installation guide for the Iomega Zip Drive ATAPI version. If you have a parallel port version, return it to the store.
5. Using SATA DVD-RW drives (22 Apr 2016)
  I'm a long-time RSJ CD-Writer user, but it stopped working on modern drives. This essay gives procedures for using modern SATA-attached drives.
6. IDE CD-RW drive (13 May 2021)
  I've produced a detailed installation guide for some IDE CD-Writers. Read the essay to which CD-Writers will work.
7. ScrollPoint or Wheel mouse (20 Mar 2000)
  I've produced a detailed installation guide for the ScrollPoint or Wheel mouse. Users of WSeB do not need this guide because wheel mouse support is standard.
8. Installing a new Sound Card (22 Jan 2005)
  I found this explanation of how to install a new sound card in OS/2, and it was the most elegant way I have seen.
9. USB Multi-Port Hub (24 Aug 2009)
  Some notes I made when I needed a parallel port on a new computer that had none.
10. HP252dw Printer (28 Nov 2015)
  Some notes I made when I installed my HP Color Laserjet Pro HP252dw.
11. M93 Parallel Port Upgrade (17 Feb 2019)
  How to install a parallel port on a Lenovo M39p Desktop.
12. Icy Dock (20 Jun 2021)
  Notes and details of Icy Dock dual removable SSD support on OS/2.
Network (17 May 2021)
I've been networking OS/2 computers for a long time. Some of these articles are no longer up to date, but I continue to present them to help people with old legacy networks. However, the new Samba for OS/2 article is up to date as of 2020.

I have more than one computer in my home. Even if I only had one, I would still need a network to use DSL or a Cable Modem. This section shows how I set up a home network. Instructions for the InJoy Firewall are also included. The wireless network page applies to networking notebook computers over 802.11b WiFi.
1. Building a home network (22 Jan 2005)
  I have more than one computer in my home. Even if I only had one, I would still need a network to use DSL or a Cable Modem. This section shows how I set up a home network. Instructions for the InJoy Firewall are also included.
2. InJoy Firewall (26 Nov 2006)
  I've produced a detailed user guides InJoy Firewall, standard edition, which I use to do Network Address Translation so all the machines on my home network can share one DSL connection.
3. Wireless networking (20 Apr 2016)
  A description of my WiFi 802.11n networking setup under eComStation revised in July, 2014.
4. Virtual Network Computing (13 Jan 2018)
  How to set up the VNC server and client under OS/2 for remote desktop control.
5. Travel Routers for OS/2 Users (25 Apr 2024)
  How to set up a Travel Router to provide WiFi capability to an OS/2 computer that lacks WiFi drivers.
6. Samba for OS/2 based systems (27 Aug 2020)
  Some of my customers are just staring out with computer networking, and this guide is intended to help them.
7. Using the Mango router with a Blonde Guy laptop (25 Apr 2024)
  How to set up a Mango Travel Router using a Blonde Guy laptop.
XFree86/2 (17 May 2021)
There is a wealth of Unix programs that are ported to OS/2. Much of the time, the documentation still assumes you are using Unix, and so this software is difficult to install and use. I am writing procedures for OS/2 users to lower the effort needed to use programs we got from Unix.
1. Installing emx (31 Oct 2000)
  How to install emx, a prerequisite for XFree86.
2. Setting Up XFree86 OS/2 (1 May 2000)
  I've produced a detailed installation guide for XFree86 OS/2.
Developers (17 May 2021)
I have developed a few programs under OS/2. Some of them are on display here.
1. my experience with emx (2005-01-22 20:31:00)
  My first essay ever was my experience with emx. Rough, but I had a heartfelt need to develop OS/2 apps. The company was totally ungrateful, even though they made so much money from their contract that the company was acquired.
2. OS/2 Agent (15 May 2000)
  This essay describes an OS/2 agent I wrote for a software tracking product. The agent tracks all the programs that the user runs.
3. OS/2 C/C++ Compilers (13 Jun 2021)
  A brief description of the C and C++ compilers in use today on OS/2.
4. OpenWatcom FORTRAN (16 Mar 2021)
  How to install and use the OpenWatcom FORTRAN compiler and Integrated Development Environment.
5. Unattended Installation using WarpIN (5 May 2005)
  I needed to automate WarpIN installation for my Suntan Special project. I've summarized what I learned here. This can be useful if you prefer command line and text editors, or even if an application using WarpIN won't let you do what you want.
6. Popuplog Analyser (2 Jan 2013)
  Displays the crash events in your OS/2 trap-information log.
Hot Keys (2 Jan 2005)
I've made a short description of the hot keys available on OS/2. Now I don't have to remember them, I can look them up here.
SNAP vs. Panorama (2 Jun 2010)
This page presents benchmarks of SNAP vs. Panorama on a desktop computer with two graphics adapters to compare SNAP with and without accelerated graphics vs. Panorama.
Flashblock extension for Firefox and SeaMonkey (6 Jul 2013)
I no longer recommend Flashblock for Firefox and SeaMonkey. This page looks at an alternative extension.
Pleasant Surprises for OS/2 users (19 Mar 2000)
I decided to build a PC to run OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business. These are the things I found to be easier than I thought.
Web applications (22 Jan 2005)
Run your application on a web server and use the web browser as your viewer. This may be the future of OS/2. See my web applications and how to run web applications on OS/2.

OS/2 Question and Answer

Q: Why would you use OS/2 when there are other operating systems out there that can use most if not all of the software OS/2 uses?

A few people really prefer how OS/2 works to more modern solutions. Some enterprises have big investments in OS/2 programs that have no equivalent on other operating systems, and which are difficult to port. For many users, it would be expensive or inconvenient to move years or decades of their data and programs to a new platform.

For some users, having something different that works is a good enough reason.