Here is the latest FAQ on FixPack 16 for OS/2. A couple of things seem very important to have success with this FP. First, and this may seem obvious, is to READ THE DOCS. This FP has some subtle little quirks and the install notes can be a big help. I got burned on the first try as well as a lot of other people. The install from FP10 leaves some files lying about that will cause FP16 to fail to install. Excerpt from the IBM FixPack 16 install documentation: '... check for the following files on your OS/2 boot drive in the \OS2\INSTALL directory and in your MMOS2\INSTALL directory wherever it is installed. LOGF0000.OS2 LOGSTART.OS2 LOGARCH.OS2 Also check for the following file: C:\CSF_SEL.000 If any of them exist then rename them and try the FixPak install again. If it works then delete the renamed files....' I had these on my system and they played havoc... The second thing, and this seems especially relevant if you use MMOS/2, is to use the very latest CSD Boot Disks. These are available at your local FTP site as wkickr.zip. Boot Trouble If you have installed FP16 but cannot get past loading the shell and you have PMQSize in your config.sys you need to remove it. The new code from IBM and the patch implemented by PMQ doi not like each other so rem it out. Hangs This one is a " your milage may vary item". I had WatchCat installed on my machine and I had nothing but hangs until I removed WC from my config.sys. Many others have reported this too. However, a number of other users report no conflict with WC on their systems. It seems that newer machines are the ones that get around this problem. I don't know if it related to the specific BIOS or what. If anyone can shed light on this please send me e-mail. IMPORTANT I have read several posts and some e-mail from people that report trashed desktops/ini files from crashes. I was fortunate that this did not happen to me even though I had about a dozen reboots initially. Several wise souls recommend, and I agree, that you should backup your desktop BEFORE you tinker with this FP. I made a point of booting from utility disks after every crash and running CHKDSK [bootdrive] /F:2 repeatedly until I had a clean report. That was time-consuming but I didn't have any ini file troubles as a result. Video Lots of people who use ATI cards report corruption and a host of other ills ranging from minor to major. I have seen some recommendations to re-install the video drivers after you install FP16. For some posters this is all that was needed, however, others had no luck after doing so. Again, your mileage may vary. late note...This may work for errant Cirrus cards as well I don't use an ATI card, in fact mine isn't even supported, but I have had no trouble in this department. Other than a couple of mentions about a Cirrus card and some S3 drivers most trouble seems to come from ATI. If anyone gets there video working properly after having trouble please send the details and I will include it here< with credit of course...> Again I am including a copy of a post made Dec22 regarding IBM working on a late bug fix for this FP. I am trying to find out more details but as of yet I can add nothing more... From: jkess@watson.ibm.com Newsgroups: alt.org.team-os2 Subject: Fixpack 16 updated w/ a quick bugfix Date: 22 Dec 1995 22:26:50 GMT Message-ID: <4bfbba$fi0@watnews2.watson.ibm.com> A problem in SEAMLESS.DLL has been found. Affects focus for seamless Windows apps. Fixpak is being re-built with a new SEAMLESS.DLL and will be uploaded soon. For those who have already downloaded the fixpak, a PJ21367.ZIP file will be made available along with the updated fixpak. This ZIP will contain only the new version of SEAMLESS.DLL and instructions for replacing it. The old version of the file should be on disk 5, and is recognizable as: 12-04-95 11:37p 42624 49 SEAMLESS.DLL (Josh White Jr., on being asked why folk musicians spend so much time tuning their instruments: "We tune because we _care_.") < end quoted post> Single Input Queue It appears that a fix for the Single Input Queue has been effected. A number of people with the tools to measure the Queue have posted that indeed the Qsize is now at 3000. If you install FP16 and can't get the shell to load you should remove PMQSize from config.sys as it is not needed and conficts with the changed code. { as mentioned above } A number of people have also reported that when an app fails to service the Q that there is a color change in the offending application and it has the focus removed therefore you get fewer hangs. Using ctrl+esc seems to be generally more effective but as always some patience is needed for it to work. This is another " your mileage may vary" item. Development Products VX-Rexx code broken by FP10 has been fixed but I am now told that there is another VX-Rexx code break. This one comes from : ve6yj@compusmart.ab.ca < Begin quoted post> Actually, I would humbly suggest that the VX-REXX issue is still current, but for different reasons. Here are my findings. Of course, the 'nasty' was that entry field that was only 1/16" high. When I was at f/p 10, I simply regressed PMMERGE.DLL to f/p 5 and I was fine. With f/p 16 I appear to get the WIDTH of VX-REXX dialog boxes in modal windows cropped. For example, if you save a project that has not changed, you get a modal window with a "?" picture, text and two buttons. The text says "Project has not change. Save anyways?" The buttons beneath are OK and CANCEL. The text was fairly long, so the box was moderately wide. WITH FIXPACK 16, the box is only as wide as required to support the two buttons side by side, and the text is cropped to say "Project has changed." AND THAT'S IT! So it appears we have a width problem now. At f/p 16, I cannot regress PMMERGE.DLL to f/p 5; the system will crash during boot-up. < end quote > If anyone comes up with a solution please forward it me for inclusion here. There is a serious FP16 bug in VAC++ as well. From what I gather if you so much as move the mouse over the action bar buttons you risk a hang or crash. Very nasty! If you get a solution please send it on yada yada yada... SoundBlaster Here is some advice from Troels: I had a problem with the Soundblaster 16 driver; the one included in FP16 is older than the latest drivers from Creative Labs. The new drivers from Creative use another syntax than the driver included in FP 16. Solution: Reinstallation of the latest SB16 drivers after FP16. Only problem with FP16 on my system: FleetStreet (Fidonet message editor) behaves strangely;the FS-windows look different right after starting the program, but they return to normal appearance as soon as I start using the program. ShareWare This fixpack has caused some changes in the behavior of Shareware apps. If something you use has changed, better or worse, send me the details in a short note for inclusion here. Please tell about your system too. Observations I have noticed that UltiMail is quicker to load and my system is generally more responsive. I gather that it is those of us who run Warp on pokey older systems who will see the improvement... Some posters have indicated a change in some dialog boxes and pallette colour changes as well. The Dialog boxes are likely by design but if you have a tip on how to fix the colour changes let me know. Others have noticed an improvement in Win/OS2 in the speed department. I have left out some tings in this file due to time restrictions but I will try to keep things updated as best I can. I'll mention it once again, if you come up with a fix for a problem please send it it along to me for inclusion here. Include a description of your hardware, etc.. Here is a tip that I have used successfully: Place this line in your config.sys SUPPRESSPOPUPS=E:\ where E is a drive of your choice. when you get a crash or hang OS2 will write the details to popuplog.os2 in the details you will see something like this: CS:EIP=005b:17864fdf you can identify the ring location of the crashed code from the CS portion. The following applies: last CS digit is: 0.4.8,or C and EIP <>7xxxxxxx the trap was in the kernel. last CS digit is: 0.4.8,or C and EIP =7xxxxxxx the trap was in a virtual device. last CS digit is: 1,5,9, or D the trap was in ring one. last CS digit is: 2,6,A, or E the trap was in ring two last CS digit is: 3,7,B, or F the trap was in ring three. Ring three is where application code runs and a crash in ring two indicates so form of I/O to a device was taking place. Thanks to Dean Roddey for the ring two advice. This may give you an idea of what happened when you went belly up. I hope to have more on FP16 for you before too long. Send mail to tjerick@ibm.net Here's to a good new year! Tim Erickson