Tag Archives: components

AHCI Driver Package version 2.08 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our AHCI Disk Driver Package version 2.08 for ArcaOS, OS/2, and eComStation.

This release contains a correction to the information provided to the resource manager. This release also adds support for disks larger than 2 TB, and is required for supporting GPT disks. This update is recommended for everyone. More information about the AHCI Disk Driver Package may be found in the AHCI wiki.

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.

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.

New MultiMac NIC driver package (20210125) released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of a new release of our MultiMac NIC driver package.

This is a maintenance release of the MultiMac drivers. It contains some minor updates to the system libraries that affects system stability and reliability and applies to all drivers. Specifically, this update fixes a defect that cause a trap on multi-CPU systems with an extremely busy network. This update also adds the ability to pass on the correct link speed for drivers that have the ability to report this. Currently the only drivers that provide link speed notification are E1000B, MMIGB, and MMLEM. This update is recommended for all users.

As always, please read the .txt file that comes with each driver and also provided on the wiki. If you have problems with any of the drivers in this release, please read the Debugging Guide in the wiki first. If your problem cannot be resolved with the Debugging Guide, then the problem should be reported to the ticketing system.

More information about the MultiMac NIC drivers may be found in the wiki.

JFS Driver Package version 1.09.09 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our JFS Journaling File System Driver Package version 1.09.09.

This is a maintenance release that contains an important fix for a problem that can cause the file system to hang in certain situations. This is considered a critical maintenance update that is recommended for everyone.

More information about the JFS Package may be found in the JFS wiki including a detailed description of the problem that was fixed.

ArcaOS Kernels 14.202 SMP and 14.201 W4 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of an updated SMP kernel version 14.202 and an updated W4 kernel version 14.201 for ArcaOS.

This release contains the following changes:

Fixed a problem freeing high memory blocks.

This release is an update for ArcaOS users only. This package contains both the SMP kernel version 14.202 and the W4 kernel version 14.201. The installer checks your system to see which kernel you have installed and applies the appropriate update automatically.

Warning: Do not install this kernel if you are using ACPI.PSD version 3.23.14 or lower. ACPI.PSD versions 3.23.14 and lower will not recognize this kernel and your system may not boot. If you have ACPI.PSD version 3.23.14 or lower installed, update the ACPI Driver Package to 3.23.15 first. Then you can install this kernel. The installer checks this for you.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems and haven’t yet moved up to ArcaOS, this might be a great reason to do so now. This update is not available for nor licensed for use with OS/2 or eComStation.

ArcaOS 5.0.6 updates for 2020-11-14

Dynamic Icons Two packages included in ArcaOS 5.0.6 have been updated, 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:

Archive Tool 1.04.0 (updated from 1.03.03)
DVD Tools 1.08.0 (updated from 1.07.01)

These packages include minor fixes and enhancements over their previous versions, and while recommended, are not considered critical updates. Each package displays a changelog during installation to make it easy to see what’s new.

These are eCo Software applications which utilize the eCo Software Runtime libraries. Updating these runtime packages is recommended for the best user experience. (These packages have been updated since the release of ArcaOS 5.0.6.)

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.

eCo Software Runtime packages updated

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the availability of updated eCo Software Runtime packages, downloadable from our downloadables page.

The eCo Software Runtime packages provide support libraries for several components of ArcaOS and eCS, as well as eCo Software applications. The Base, Net, and Win packages have been updated as of 2020-10-16. The Win update enhances directory tree sorting in the File Open Container (FOC) used by default in ArcaOS, while some of the other updates address issues in Zippy and Archive Tool, as well as other applications which utilize these libraries.

The eCo Software Runtime Toolkit has also been updated with this release.

These packages are provided by Arca Noae as a convenience to our customers, clients, and the community at large. Arca Noae does not produce these packages, and the software is provided “as is” without any warranty of any kind. Support for the eCo Software Runtime is provided by eCo Software, in their support forum.

ACPI Driver Package version 3.23.15 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our ACPI Driver Package for ArcaOS, OS/2, and eComStation version 3.23.15.

This release contains the following changes:

Adds 3 new workaround options to help with problematic BIOS.
Adds a workaround to accommodate unusual back-to-back timer queries.
Updated to the latest ACPICA.

Please see the ACPI Driver ReadMe for details about this update.

This is considered a critical maintenance update that is recommended for everyone.

Panorama Video Driver Package version 1.17 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our Panorama Video Driver Package for OS/2 and eComStation version 1.17.

This is a maintenance release containing some minor changes that fixes an extremely rare regression in the Custom Resolution module, and adds a power management module. This update is recommended for everyone, but it is not critical, so it can be installed at your convenience. It should not change the way existing installations operate.

More information about the Panorama Package may be found in the Panorama wiki.

Arca Noae announces GUID for OS/2 Type 1 GPT partitions

In our last post concerning GPT in ArcaOS, we discussed the first phase of support and how our specification allows for multiple partitions up to 2TB in size. As every GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) partition type requires a GUID, we have set:

90B6FF38-B98F-4358-A21F-48F35B4A8AD3

as the GUID for OS/2 Type 1 partitions.

Any GPT partition using this GUID should ultimately be recognizable by any GPT-aware operating system as belonging to ArcaOS.

Although this is now just a simple proclamation, it is, in point of fact, a major advancement for the platform, and sets the stage for our initial GPT support, currently planned for release with ArcaOS 5.1 in 2021.

Arca Noae makes no guaranty as to availability of GPT support for ArcaOS 5.1. When available, GPT support will be an ArcaOS feature only, with no plans to make the technology available for other OS/2 distributions.

Don’t have ArcaOS yet? Now is a great time to pick up a license or two and replace those aging Warp 4 or eComStation installations and get to know what’s new and improved. If you’ve never run OS/2 before, you’ll be amazed. If you last used OS/2 in the 1990’s, you’ll be even more amazed. ArcaOS runs the vast majority of existing OS/2 Warp 4 software, because it really is OS/2 – just better. ArcaOS supports more modern hardware than any other OS/2 distribution available today, making hardware upgrades much easier than ever before. An ArcaOS 5.0 license now means steep discounts on future upgrades, including 5.1.

Arca Noae’s plan for supporting GPT disk layouts in ArcaOS

Through the release of ArcaOS 5.0.6, all OS/2 distributions have only supported MBR (Master Boot Record) partitioning schemes, that is, up to four partitions on a disk, with the possibility of creating multiple logical volumes in one extended partition. This partitioning scheme is also limited to a maximum of 2TB per disk.

The GPT (GUID Partition Table) breaks out of these restrictions by supporting an almost unlimited number of partitions (without the need for logical volumes) and disks exceeding 2TB.

Supporting GPT is another major step for multiboot configurations where the disk has already been partitioned using this style, which will allow ArcaOS to install alongside other GPT-aware operating systems (Windows 10, modern Linux distros, etc.), without the need to install a second MBR-partitioned disk or to wipe, re-partition, and reformat all volumes on the existing disk.

Arca Noae’s approach to supporting GPT will be multi-phased, with the first phase of development currently underway and anticipated for release with ArcaOS 5.1. The design specification of our initial GPT support is to allow for partitions up to the current 2TB maximum size, with multiple partitions of this size possible on disks larger than 2TB. Our specification further provides that ArcaOS be able to create, delete, and modify GPT partitions which are identified by their GUIDs as being “OS/2-type” partitions, and lastly, that GPT support be available for both traditional BIOS (for data volumes) and UEFI-based systems (for boot and data volumes).