Category Archives: ArcaOS

Considering new hardware for ArcaOS?

If you are thinking about a new computer, you may be wondering if a new system will run ArcaOS. Most modern hardware will run ArcaOS just fine. But if you want to know more, Arca Noae has some resources to help.

We have a wiki page with quick information about Choosing a System for ArcaOS. We also have a list of a few systems that we have tested on our Tested Hardware page. Don’t be discouraged if the system you are considering is not on the list of tested hardware; we can’t test everything, and new systems are being released all the time. Additionally, you might want to try looking at some of the information available in the OS/2 World wiki (note: Arca Noae is not affiliated with OS/2 World).

If you have access to the new computer (or an identical model on display at a local retailer), and it is a UEFI system, we have a System Evaluation tool that may help with your decision. The System Evaluation tool is available on your ArcaOS install DVD or USB stick, and also as a separate stand-alone tool. To use the System Evaluation tool you don’t need to install anything, ArcaOS is not required, and you don’t need an ArcaOS license for the stand-alone version. You can download the stand-alone System Evaluation tool here and follow the directions to add it to a FAT formatted USB stick. Note that the stand-alone version is probably newer than the one on the ArcaOS install medium.

In order to boot to the System Evaluation tool, it will be necessary to disable Secure Boot if it has been enabled. Many display systems at retail stores run in a “kiosk mode” which sets Secure Boot, disables access to the BIOS settings, and may also disable access to USB ports. When unsure, ask a sales clerk for assistance (and be sure to introduce him or her to ArcaOS!).

The System Evaluation tool cannot guarantee that a given system is capable of running ArcaOS to its fullest potential, but it should be able to assist in at least ruling out systems where it cannot detect known, supported hardware devices. It should also be able to provide a good estimate of the amount of memory which will be visible to ArcaOS below the 4GB boundary (you might want to avoid systems with extremely low memory headroom).

Happy testing!

Arca Noae Status Update: Wi-Fi Drivers

We are aware that many people have been asking about availability of drivers for new wireless networking adapters. If you’ve followed our driver roadmap and our Warpstock presentations, you might be aware of the fact that these drivers are still in development.

Wi-Fi drivers are by their nature considerably more complex pieces of code than wired ethernet drivers. As a result, they take a considerably longer time to build than wired ethernet drivers. The complexity and multi-functionality requirements of Wi-Fi drivers, and the radically different architecture of unix (or Linux) means that Wi-Fi drivers cannot be created by simply compiling a FreeBSD driver for OS/2 as is generally possible for MultiMac wired ethernet drivers. Wi-Fi drivers need to be developed specifically for OS/2, with the capability to handle expected wireless communication protocols and be manageable by XWLAN, the de facto standard for Wi-Fi device and profile management on the OS/2 platform. All of this work is extremely time consuming and requires comprehensive knowledge of Wi-Fi operations and OS/2 networking.

ArcaOS 5.1 is the first version of OS/2 capable of not only booting on modern UEFI hardware with or without the availability of a Compatibility Support Module (CSM), but also the first to be able to access – and indeed, boot from – GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk layouts. All of this work was prioritized above Wi-Fi driver development, under our guiding philosophy of “if the system can’t boot, not much else matters.”

As addressed in our FAQ, the standard workaround for lack of a Wi-Fi driver is to use a small wireless bridge device. Indeed, this is not a solution, but a workaround until such time as Wi-Fi drivers are available for more modern chipsets.

We understand that wireless drivers are very important to a some of our users. We are doing what we can to address that need while simultaneously continuing to improve the ArcaOS experience overall. We appreciate everyone’s continued patience.

ArcaOS Desktop updated to 1.0.16

Dynamic Icons

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of ArcaOS Desktop (ANXWP) 1.0.16 in English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Russian. This is a maintenance release containing bug-fixes and updates that have accumulated since the last release. The primary improvements include:

New Features

  • Text Size
    Use the first page of the Desktop’s Properties notebook to set the text in folders, menus, titlebars, and most dialogs to a size best suited for the current screen size and resolution.
  • Large Icons in XCenter
    XCenter’s Properties notebook allows selection of Large (full-size) or Mini (half-size) icons. The WinList widget allows setting its icon size separately from XCenter as well as the choice of text, icons, or both on its buttons.
  • Low Battery Alert
    The Battery widget now has a Properties page to set up the widget’s new alert. Set the level at which a warning should pop up (e.g. at 15%), and optionally, set follow-up warnings whenever the level drops another specified percent (say, 5%).

Updates and Bugfixes

  • XStartup
    Large parts of the XStartup code have been rewritten for improved reliability
  • XWP Help
    A Table of Contents has been added to the XWP Help system to organize its many pages into 21 top-level topics.
  • Other Changes
    • XShutdown has been revised to invoke Text Size’s shutdown processing when updates occur. Related code has been refactored.
    • An undocumented setup string has been added to XFldDesktop to enable Styler and other shutdown utilities to invoke Text Size’s shutdown processing when changes are pending.
    • ‘xwptrap.log’ has been partially reformatted to make it less versbose.
    • ‘h2i.exe’ which converts HTML help to .INF format has been revised to support an optional “Table of Contents” mode.
    • ‘xunlock.exe’ has been added to the distro to ensure scripts always have access to an “unlock” utility. It returns 0 if the file is now unlocked and >0 if it remains locked or an error occured.
    • A rewrite of the Window List widget should ensure that its last button doesn’t paint over the widget to its right.
    • Code to read the display’s EDID has been added to support future Text Size enhancements.

See the Version Information topic of the ArcaOS Desktop Users Guide and Reference located in the Help Center for more details about this release.

Arca Noae would like to thank Rich Walsh for his work on maintaining and improving XWorkplace and ArcaOS Desktop. This release also includes contributory work by Alex Taylor.

If you have ArcaOS, this software 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.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation this is a great reason to consider moving up to ArcaOS. This update includes reserved features licensed for use exclusively with ArcaOS.

 

Clearing up some more upgrade confusion: Subscription downloads

It’s important to remember that when an ArcaOS 5.0 license is upgraded, the existing ArcaOS 5.0 license is converted to an ArcaOS 5.1 license. This does not create a new license for another system. If the ArcaOS 5.0 license has a Support & Maintenance subscription in effect, any remaining time is added to the ArcaOS 5.1 subscription. Several actions take place automatically on Arca Noae’s side of the transaction and other actions should take place on the customer’s side.

First, on the Arca Noae side:

  1. The existing ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription for that license is terminated as of the date of the upgrade of its associated license to ArcaOS 5.1.
  2. With the termination of the ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance, access to associated downloads for ArcaOS 5.0 is removed If you have more than one ArcaOS 5.0 license with current support and are only upgrading one of those licenses to 5.1, the associated downloads will still be available for your other ArcaOS 5.0 licenses.
  3. Whatever time was left on the ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription is added to the included subscription for ArcaOS 5.1. So, if you recently renewed your 5.0 subscription, and it had 12 months before the next renewal, your new ArcaOS 5.1 personal license will now have 18 months of support & updates (6 months from the new ArcaOS 5.1 subscription plus the remaining 12 months from the old ArcaOS 5.0 subscription). You don’t lose anything.

On the customer side, the installation of the ArcaOS 5.0 license being upgraded should be upgraded to ArcaOS 5.1. It is a violation of our license terms to upgrade a 5.0 license to 5.1, install the 5.1 license on another system or partition, and to continue using the 5.0 installation. One license is consumed per bootable installation, regardless of the edition (personal or commercial). If that license has been upgraded, the upgraded license is only valid for the upgraded ArcaOS version. An upgrade does not create a new license for another installation.

If you would like to maintain access to ArcaOS 5.0 downloadable content, but would also like to install ArcaOS 5.1, then we invite you to purchase a new ArcaOS 5.1 license from our store or from your preferred authorized reseller. In that case, the two subscriptions will be separate, and their contents will be available in your ArcaOS Download Center as long as the respective subscription remains in force.

For more information, please refer to this FAQ item.

ArcaOS

Upgrading to ArcaOS 5.1? Here’s how

If you’re a current ArcaOS 5.0 licensee, the upgrade to ArcaOS 5.1 is available at a discount. With a valid ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription, your discount is even bigger (plus, your remaining 5.0 subscription time will be added to the included 5.1 support term).

To upgrade and download your 5.1 ISO, visit your customer portal page and select the ArcaOS Download Center link on the navigation panel to the left. Click the Upgrade to 5.1 button, and proceed to checkout.

Once you’ve completed the checkout process, your initial ArcaOS 5.1 ISO will be built in English. When other languages are available for ArcaOS 5.1, you may request any additional ISOs (free of charge, as long as your Support & Maintenance subscription remains in effect) from your ArcaOS Download Center by selecting the Build ISO again button and selecting the language you would like.

Once an ArcaOS 5.0 license has been upgraded to ArcaOS 5.1, support and updates for the 5.0 license will cease. Not all ArcaOS 5.1 associated downloads will be applicable to 5.0, and licensed updates for one version are specifically not licensed for use with the other version.

If your original ArcaOS 5.0 license order contained more than one license and you only wish to upgrade one or some of them but not all, please contact support.

See this post for a summary of pricing options for ArcaOS 5.1 upgrades.

ArcaOS 5.1 upgrades processing correctly

The issue which was preventing ArcaOS 5.1 upgrades from processing in the store has been corrected. If you find that you cannot upgrade your existing 5.0 license (whether or not you have an active Support & Maintenance subscription), please open a ticket and let us know.

Apologies for the inconvenience!

ArcaOS

ArcaOS 5.1.0 now available

After years in development, Arca Noae is pleased to announce the general availability of ArcaOS 5.1.0.

In a first for any OS/2-based distribution, ArcaOS 5.1 supports installation on the latest generation of UEFI-based systems, and includes the ability to install to GPT-based disk layouts. This enables ArcaOS 5.1 to install on a wide array of modern hardware.

ArcaOS 5.1.0 can be used for new installs or to upgrade any prior version of ArcaOS 5. If installing from USB stick, the USB install stick 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 in either UEFI or traditional BIOS mode (alternatively, the DVD image may be burned to physical media and also booted to either UEFI or traditional BIOS systems).

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 upgrade is available at a steep discount with your valid ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription (and your remaining subscription time will be added to the included support term). To download your fresh ISO, simply visit your customer portal page and select the ArcaOS Download Center link on the navigation panel to the left. From there, click the “Upgrade to 5.1” button, and proceed to checkout.

If your ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription has already expired, you may still upgrade at less than the cost of a new ArcaOS 5.1 license. Follow the procedure above to order your upgrade, and the discount will be reflected in your cart.

ArcaOS 5.1.0 is available in English ONLY, with other languages planned to follow in the near future.

ArcaOS

Pricing for ArcaOS 5.1

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the pricing schedule for the upcoming ArcaOS 5.1 release.

New licenses for ArcaOS 5.1:

Personal edition:   $139.00 (includes 6 months of Support & Maintenance)
Commercial edition:   $249.00 (includes one year of Support & Maintenance).

Discounted upgrade pricing will be available for all customers with a valid ArcaOS 5.0 license. However, the best upgrade pricing will be available for customers who have an active Support & Maintenance subscription (S&MS) in place. Also, you won’t lose any remaining time on your old subscription—any remaining time will be added to your new ArcaOS 5.1 subscription.

Upgrade to ArcaOS 5.1 for customers with active Support & Maintenance:

Personal edition upgrade:   $59.00
Commercial edition upgrade:   $109.00

As mentioned above, any remaining time on the ArcaOS 5.0 subscription will be added to the included Support & Maintenance for the selected ArcaOS 5.1 product edition.

Upgrade to ArcaOS 5.1 (for customers without active Support & Maintenance):

Personal edition upgrade:   $89.00
Commercial edition upgrade:   $189.00

These include the standard Support & Maintenance subscription term as provided with new licenses: 6 months for the personal edition, and one year for the commercial edition.

In all cases, volume discounts for aggregate commercial purchases or upgrades of 25 licenses or more will apply.

The subscription channel for ArcaOS 5.1 will be separate from the channel for ArcaOS 5.0. This means that 5.0 Support & Maintenance ends when that license has been upgraded to 5.1, and 5.1 Support & Maintenance will have some different content specific to ArcaOS 5.1 (features which are reserved for ArcaOS 5.1 and not available for ArcaOS 5.0).

Support & Maintenance renewals for ArcaOS 5.1 will be:

Personal edition Support & Maintenance:   $70 ($63 early renewal; $87 late)
Commercial edition Support & Maintenance:   $125 ($112.50 early renewal; $187 late)

As always, the best practice is to renew early. This cannot be stressed enough when upgrading to ArcaOS 5.1, as any remaining time on the ArcaOS 5.0 Support & Maintenance subscription will be added to the subscription included with the selected ArcaOS 5.1 product edition.