Tag Archives: update

USB XHCI driver preview available (v12.06)

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of a preview release of our new xHCI driver. xHCI controllers are designed to support USB1, USB2, and USB3 devices.

This release is a preview release that has some limitations. The xHCI driver in this release is exactly the same xHCI driver that is included in ArcaOS 5.0.5 and has the same limitations regardless if you got it by installing ArcaOS or by installing this package.

The xHCI preview is only available for ArcaOS customers. The full GA release (coming soon) will be available to ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription holders for free, and to eCS and OS2 users for a small fee.
The xHCI preview is intended to be a one time only release. We don’t expect to release any updates to the preview. If there are updates to the rest of the USB stack before the full GA release of the xHCI driver, those updates will not contain the xHCI driver and may render the preview inoperative.
The xHCI preview requires that the version 12.06 USB stack be installed first.
The xHCI preview has no support. Please do not open tickets to report problems with the preview.
The xHCI preview has limited functionality. The limitations only apply to devices connected to an xHCI controller. If you have a system that has OHCI, UHCI, and/or EHCI controllers in addition to xHCI controllers, devices connected to these other controllers are not affected by the preview and will have full functionality as before.
- Isochronous transfer support is not implemented in the xHCI driver yet. This means that any kind of streaming media such as audio and video won’t work when plugged into an xHCI connected port.
- Problems have been reported with a small number of xHCI controllers. Depending on the specific xHCI controller(s) you have, your experience using the preview may vary.
Make sure your system is fully up-to-date. Specifically, you should be using the latest Arca Noae 14.201 kernel, the latest ACPI PSD, and not using the /VW switch for the PSD.

Unlike the USB stack package, the xHCI preview package is not “update only”. The installer in the xHCI preview can and will install the xHCI driver on your system, but only if you are running ArcaOS and only if you have detectable xHCI controllers in your system. If you are not running ArcaOS the xHCI driver package will notify you and will not run.

More information about the USB drivers can be found in the USB wiki. Information about the xHCI preview can also be found on the Troubleshooting Guide, and may be updated as more information becomes available.

If you have ArcaOS, this driver package is available for download from the Arca Noae website as part of the Support & Maintenance subscription for your ArcaOS product. Please log into your account and see your ArcaOS order details page to access your software.

This driver package is not available for download from the Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems this may be a good time to consider moving up to ArcaOS.

USB driver package version 12.06 released

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of release 12.06 of our USB stack.

This release has a minor fix that affects certain USBCALLS applications. Version 12.06 is the same version as in the recently released ArcaOS 5.0.5 so if you install or update to ArcaOS 5.0.5 you already have these drivers. As usual, this release is update only. It will only update an existing installation. It will not install USB support and will not install new drivers. More information about the USB drivers can be found in the wiki.

If you have problems with any of the drivers in this release, please read the Troubleshooting Guide in the wiki first. If your problem cannot be resolved with the Troubleshooting Guide, then the problem should be reported in the ticketing system.

If you have an Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription, this driver package is available for download from the Arca Noae website as part of your Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription. Please log into your account in order to access your software.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems and haven’t yet purchased a software subscription, this is a great reason to do so now. It may also be a good time to consider moving up to ArcaOS.

ArcaOS 5.0.5 now available

Arca Noae is proud to announce the general availability of ArcaOS 5.0.5, the fifth maintenance release of ArcaOS 5.0 (Blue Lion).

ArcaOS 5.0.5 introduces support for xHCI (USB3) controllers to install on a wider array of systems than ever before. What’s more, for updaters, even if your USB controller was previously unsupported, and you had to install or update from DVD in the past, you may now boot into the installer from USB stick to perform the update. USB3-attached keyboards and mice should work, as well.

ArcaOS 5.0.5 includes over 100 updates, enhancements, and fixes since 5.0.4 was released. If you have experienced difficulty installing previous releases of ArcaOS on your hardware, the fixes and updates included in 5.0.5 may address your issue(s). If installing from USB stick, the image may be created using any major operating system at hand (Windows, Linux, MacOS, and of course, OS/2, eComStation, and ArcaOS). Once built the USB stick can be inserted into any USB port in the target system to boot into the ArcaOS installer/updater.

For a complete list of updates in this release, see the ArcaOS wiki. Be sure to review the README.TXT, as well, as this contains critical information to ensure that you get up and running fast, and includes tips for getting things adjusted right away.

This update is included with your valid ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription at no additional charge. To download your fresh ISO, simply visit your customer portal page, select the Orders & Subscriptions link on the navigation panel to the left, then click on the order for your ArcaOS license. Once there, click the download link to request a fresh ISO, and wait for your notification email.

If your ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription has already expired, and you missed your window of opportunity to renew at regular rates, you may still renew at less than the cost of a new ArcaOS license.

USB driver package version 12.05 released

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of release 12.05 of our USB stack.

This release has only a few minor fixes and enhancements, but it is required in order to use the upcoming xHCI driver. This update is recommended for everyone. As usual, this release is update only. It will only update an existing installation. It will not install USB support and will not install new drivers. More information about the USB drivers can be found in the wiki.

USB driver package version 12.04 released

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of release 12.04 of our USB stack.

This release has both minor and major changes including:

Fixed a trap in the USBCALLS driver.
Fixed some minor problems initializing devices in USBD.
A new USBMSD driver which brings significant stability and reliability improvements.
A new USBMOS driver for Moschip based USB to ethernet adapters.

This update is recommended for everyone. As usual, this release is update only. It will only update an existing installation. It will not install USB support and will not install new drivers. More information about the USB drivers can be found in the wiki.

ArcaOS 5.0.4 updates for 2020-02-26

Dynamic Icons Several packages included in ArcaOS 5.0.4 have been updated or refreshed today, and are now available as part of the Support & Maintenance subscription for your ArcaOS product. Please log into your account and see your ArcaOS order details page to access your software. Specifically, these are:

Dynamic Icons 2.5.2.1 (refreshed)
Archive Tool 1.03.03 (updated from 1.0.0)
ArcaOS Desktop 1.0.13.1 (updated from 1.0.12+)

In addition, it is now easier to identify which packages have been updated since the last ArcaOS ISO release.

More updates are on the way to the Support & Maintenance subscription channel as we continue our work on the next release of ArcaOS. Watch for more announcements right here.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems and haven’t yet moved up to ArcaOS, this is a great reason to do so now. If you’ve already made the switch, but haven’t renewed renewed your support subscription, this is also a good time. Not sure what’s coming next? Have a look at our product roadmap pages.

ACPI Driver Package version 3.23.13 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our ACPI Driver Package for ArcaOS, OS/2, and eComStation version 3.23.13.

This release contains improved bus bridge fixup logic for systems with multiple busses and a problematic BIOS. Please see the ACPI Driver ReadMe for details about this update.

This is a non-critical maintenance update that only contains an improvement for specific systems in rare cases. This update is recommended for everyone.

Driver and Software Preview Releases: Some General Guidelines

From time to time, we may make feature preview releases available. Driver and software preview releases differ from new GA releases and testcase packages in several ways. Consider testcase packages first:

Packages uploaded to the testcase files area are made available to specific customers to evaluate the effectiveness of various changes to our GA versions, usually to address one or more issues reported in specific trouble tickets. Feedback from the affected customer(s) is requested when we provide these packages, and these links are limited to only the custmer(s) involved in the related ticket(s), not for general use, and as always, not for sharing with other users.
Sometimes, we may go through several testcase revisions. Usually changes which have been vetted through this process will end up in the next GA of the package. Once the GA is released, all customers with related subscription access to the new package will be able to download and install it.
Testcase packages are almost always time-limited, and the remaining time will be prominently displayed in the banner during bootup or for other software, at program start. If a new GA of the package is not available when nearing the expiration, simply follow-up in the ticket to request a refresh.

In contrast, preview releases serve a different purpose and are subject to different terms of use:

Preview releases are made available to all customers with related subscription access.
Preview releases generally are not updated (one preview is provided before GA).
Preview releases may be time-limited. If a preview release is time-limited, that does not mean that another preview will be made available.
If a time-limited preview release has expired and a GA version has not yet been released, it may be necessary to uninstall it.
No trouble tickets are accepted for problems with preview releases. These are not beta tests. A preview may simply be feature-limited version of what would otherwise be considered finished software, or it may be a preview of as-yet-unfinished software that will be coming soon. Because these releases are previews – and may not be fully functional – reports of missing functionality, unexpected behavior, etc. are not relevant and will not be addressed. Please read the documentation that comes with the preview for a description of its particular limitations.
Preview releases may be completely broken or disabled by a subsequent update of another related GA package. As an example, if installing a preview release of a network driver, and later updating the network stack package, that preview release driver may cease to function. This is not unexpected behavior, and not a software fault. To continue to use the preview, simply return the system to its previous state, wait for the GA release of the driver, and then update the driver and the rest of the stack.
No feedback via email or tickets is requested for preview releases. They are for your benefit and use only, and intended to provide a sample of what is to come.

In the near future, we hope to bring preview releases for various works in later stages of development.

All previews will be available through the ArcaOS Support and Maintenance Subscription, However, some preview packages may not be available through the Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription, so now may be a good time to consider moving up to ArcaOS.

Dynamic Icons version 2.5.2 for ArcaOS released

Dynamic Icons, the new spin on Sunny Icons from eCo Software, specifically enhanced and built for ArcaOS, has been updated to version 2.5.2, and is now available as part of the Support & Maintenance subscription for your ArcaOS product. Please log into your account and see your ArcaOS order details page to access your software.

Version 2.5.2 includes a new unified Icon page in the WPS Properties notebook with the ability to easily switch between and browse for either a traditional icon file or a PNG image. In addition, it is now possible to add one-line comments to the “bigicons.txt” icon list file (see the online help from any Icon page for more details).

Arca Noae progress report: USB, ArcaOS updater, multimedia

Here are some of the recent happenings around the Arca Noae labs and design studios:

We’ve recently made significant progress toward localizing various parts, particularly for German and Spanish, and will soon have a new test build of the CWMM classes in Spanish (a completely new translation for this component).

We continue to improve the update process for the next ArcaOS release, as we find edge cases where the current updater doesn’t quite finish due to unexpected conditions in the target system. (As a reminder, please check the ArcaOS Updating wiki page before beginning an update to the latest release. There you’ll find hints and tips to help avoid – or resolve – some known problems.)

When IBM left off USB driver development, OS/2 had a working, 16-bit USB 1.x and 2.0 driver stack. Fast forward to 2019, and this is no longer adequate for the needs of today’s hardware.

The Arca Noae USB stack is now fully 32-bit, and USB 3 support development continues to make good progress. Implementing USB 3 support has been tedious because the OS/2 USB architecture didn’t accommodate the peculiarities of USB 3 well.

Adding USB 3 support was not as simple as just writing a new xHCI driver. Significant changes were required throughout the entire USB stack, including changes to USBD and the OHCI, UHCI, and EHCI drivers. The xHCI driver as it exists today in beta testing works quite well. There are just a couple of things that still need to be done before we will be able to release it for general availability. One thing is to implement support for Isochronous transfers (audio and video devices). The second thing is to improve the error recovery speed. Error recovery speed was not an issue with USB 2 because USB 2 devices rarely, if ever, had errors. Super Speed (USB 3) devices operating at the new USB 3 speeds have higher error rates so the error recovery speed is important. We are actively working to resolve these last two issues.

Once the xHCI (USB 3) driver is released, the Arca Noae USB stack will make it possible to install and run ArcaOS on systems which lack USB 2.0 (EHCI) controllers. (Even though many modern systems advertise the availability of USB 2.0 ports, these ports are indeed wired to xHCI controllers. Without an xHCI driver, this will result in loss of keyboard and mouse control shortly after boot and the inability to mount the installation ISO from USB-attached media.)

Don’t have ArcaOS yet? Now is a great time to pick up a license or two and replace that aging Warp 4 or eComStation installation and get to know what’s new and improved. ArcaOS supports more modern hardware than any other OS/2 distribution available today, making hardware upgrades much easier than ever before.