OS/2 has been around for a long time, and one of the great strengths of the platform is a strong user-to-user community of professionals and power users willing to assist in solving problems and giving quality advice.
Several good places exist on the internet, depending upon the type of information desired and one’s preferred method of communication (mailing list, newsgroup, or forum). Here is a sampling of links to get started:
OS/2 VOICE (see the Resources menu)
OS/2 World (see the forums)
eComStation mailing list at Yahoo! Groups
eCS-Technical mailing list at Yahoo! Groups
This is a known issue for DOS and 16-bit Windows sessions (Win-OS/2) under OS/2, eComStation, and ArcaOS (and probably more). It is not a defect in ArcaOS, and is in fact due to a number of limitations in DOS itself (which can’t normally see disks larger than 2GB, anyway).
The workaround is to install a small TSR in your AUTOEXEC.BAT which limits the amount of free space exposed to DOS to 2GB. The file is 2GBFIX.COM, and is available from the excellent Hobbes file repository:
https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?search=2gbfix
Download the file, unzip, and read the very simple directions in the included 2GBFIX.TXT.
While you’re downloading that file from Hobbes, be sure to browse other great software available there, and consider donating. Hobbes is a true resource for any OS/2 user, and is completely free for all.
An alternative solution is to download and install the V2GB.SYS driver in CONFIG.SYS:
http://www.tavi.co.uk/os2pages/v2gb.html
The advantage of this solution is that it does not take up additional space in the VDM (Virtual DOS Machine).
Note that neither of these solutions is developed nor supported by Arca Noae. References here are for convenience, only. Unintended side-effects may occur with the use of either of these suggested workarounds (e.g., in the case of V2GB.SYS, running “dir” in a DOS session while this driver is active will close the session once the command completes). Be certain to disable any workarounds for this before opening a trouble ticket for the DOS subsystem itself.
In a word, no.
Software and drivers included with ArcaOS and not distributed separately (either freely available from Arca Noae or provided as part of a non-ArcaOS subscription) are not licensed for use on, supported when installed on, nor have they been tested on other operating systems. In short, once you break the terms of the ArcaOS licensing agreement, you are on your own.
An excellent example of this is Arca Noae SNAP included with ArcaOS. This is not a free upgrade to SciTech SNAP/se installed with eComStation, nor is it an upgrade for SciTech SNAP Professional. While Arca Noae SNAP as included with ArcaOS has been updated, it has only been tested with ArcaOS, and is only licensed for use with ArcaOS. Installing Arca Noae SNAP from the ArcaOS installation media on any non-ArcaOS system is a direct violation of the ArcaOS licensing agreement, and Arca Noae will not provide any technical support for such installations, even when the ArcaOS license itself was legally obtained and when the ArcaOS license is not in use (ArcaOS itself has not been installed).
Arca Noae engineers are monitoring the responses by hardware manufacturers and other operating system vendors. The current status of our analysis and official policy statement is reported in this blog post (which will be updated as necessary).
Additional information and links regarding these security concerns may be found in that post, as well.
If you elect not to renew your ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription, the following changes occur in your account:
- Your ArcaOS Download Center, accessed through your customer portal, will no longer have downloads available. Any updates or interim enhancements released in this manner will no longer be accessible.
- Subscription-only content available from the relevant Arca Noae subscription repository/ies will no longer be accessible (your credentials will no longer work to authenticate).
- Your original ISO download will no longer be accessible. We recommend you maintain an archive of your downloaded content—including the last ISO available during your subscription term—prior to subscription expiration.
- Access to the Mantis bug tracker to open new issues, report on existing issues, or as a knowledgebase of reference material will no longer be available.
As mentioned elsewhere in this FAQ, a subscription is not an entitlement. When it expires, all privileges associated with it expire.
Should you choose to renew your subscription within six months of expiration, you may do so for the normal renewal price. This will extend your subscription term until the next (normal) anniversary. So, if the subscription expires June 30 and it is not renewed until December 15, the renewal will extend the subscription term until June 30 of the following year.
Late renewals are also possible (after a 6-month lapse), but are subject to a reinstatement fee. A late renewal includes one full year of subscription coverage from the date purchased.
In general, yes.
ArcaOS ships with the Base, Net, and Win Runtime packages to support various components included with the operating system (including the enhanced File Open Container). You should feel safe updating these whenever we post an update (we test these for regressions on ArcaOS). While the WPS Runtime does not ship with ArcaOS, it may optionally be installed to provide its functionality.
ArcaOS 5.0.1 shipped with the following eCo Runtime versions:
- Base – 2017-03-20
- Win – 2017-03-20
- Net – 2016-05-06
Visit our eCo Software Runtimes download page to check for updated packages.
Arca Noae continues to work to add wireless network adapter support to ArcaOS in the form of additional MultiMac drivers for some of these devices. However, in the interim, there is a workaround.
Wireless ethernet bridge devices are compact, generally inexpensive (under $50) units, which connect to the wired ethernet port on the computer and then wirelessly associate with an existing access point. These devices are produced by several manufacturers including Asus and IOGEAR, and generally, these are powered via USB. Often, they support a wide range of networking protocols and configure easily, using nothing more than a web browser. In addition, because they are external devices, installation is easy, and they can be positioned to obtain optimal signal without having to reposition the computer.
While Arca Noae does not recommend any one device over another, and cannot provide specific support for the configuration of these units, we can provide support for ArcaOS and its related configuration necessary to connect to one of these devices.
No problem. We’ve created this handy comparison table (which is also available in all of the subscription product pages — just click the Compare tab).
Still confused? Contact us.
Requesting a refund is a simple matter of using our contact form and submitting your request. Please note however that most sales are final.
There are no refunds for licensed software (ArcaOS) or for unused subscription terms, for example. Generally, this is because the licensing which we have to purchase does not allow for us to return a license to stock once it has been issued. This means that if we were to accept returns, we would actually have an unusable license coming back to us.
If there is something which is not quite working as expected, please let us know, either by using our contact page or by opening a support ticket. Perhaps it’s a known issue, or perhaps we are unaware of the problem, and may be able to look at addressing it with a software or documentation update. In any case, please give us an opportunity to address your concerns. We’re here to help.
Personal subscriptions and licenses entitle the holder to create support tickets in the bug tracker, and to access software updates. If a personal subscriber or licensee has a suggestion to make for a product enhancement, we will gladly listen to it. Support issues are handled on a best-effort basis, which means that resolving them may take anywhere from a few hours to a few months, depending upon how busy staff is supporting commercial subscribers and licensees.
Commercial subscribers and licensees, in contrast, receive prioritized support. This doesn’t always mean that problems will be resolved overnight, but efforts are first put into resolving issues reported by commercial subscribers and licensees, and when product enhancements are requested, these go to the top of the stack when we are considering where to expend our development efforts. In essence, commercial customers hold more sway, and their needs are always a priority for us, generally because we understand that mission-critical processes may be hanging in the balance, whereas personal subscribers and licensees should be using the software in non-business, and thus, non-critical environments.
Note also that the included term of support for some products may differ for personal vs commercial subscriptions. An example of this is ArcaOS, where the personal edition includes 6 months of technical support and updates, whereas the commercial edition includes one full year (12 months) of technical support and updates.