Tag Archives: driver

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.

ISO Installable File System Driver Package version 1.1.3 now available

Dynamic Icons Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the ISO Installable File System Driver Package for OS/2 version 1.1.3 (ISOFS). Arca Noae wishes to thank Rich Walsh for his work on this update.

Highlights of this release include:

Reformatted dialogs to accommodate NLS versions (DE EN ES IT RU).

The ISOFS package includes ISODrive, which compliments the Arca Noae Removable Media Monitor XCenter widget (a feature reserved for ArcaOS) and also provides its own GUI for mounting and unmounting ISO files.

This is not considered a critical update.

If you have ArcaOS, language specific driver packages are 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 system this may be a good time to consider moving up to ArcaOS.

FAT32 Driver Package version 5.0.5 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our fork of the FAT32 Installable File System Driver Package for OS/2 version 5.0.5. Arca Noae wishes to thank Gregg Young for his work on this update.

Highlights of this release include:

Minor performance improvements
Packaging improvements
Added Spanish and Russian localizations (all languages included in the package)

Please read the FAT32 wiki and the ReadMe for additional details and before installing this software.

The FAT32 Installable File System Driver Package is open source, licensed under the GNU LGPLv2.1, with source code publicly available (see the FAT32 wiki for details).

This is not the same driver as distributed by Netlabs, and cannot coexist with components of the Netlabs FAT32 driver. Please uninstall the Netlabs driver first if you wish to install the Arca Noae FAT32 driver.

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.

MultiMac NIC driver package 20230921 now available

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. This package contains all the MultiMac drivers, however only the E1000B, MMIGB, MMLEM, MMAE, and MMRE drivers have been updated. The E1000B and the MMRE drives were updated to add new supported devices. The other 3 drivers are simply rebuilt and have no functional changes. 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.

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 go to the ArcaOS Download Center to access your software.

Panorama Video Driver Package version 1.19 now available

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our Panorama Video Driver Package for OS/2 and eComStation version 1.19.

This is a maintenance release containing a fix for Custom Resolution support for ATOM video BIOS with a DTD mode table. This feature is rarely used so installation of this update won’t affect most users. No normal functionality was changed.

More information about the Panorama Package may be found in the Panorama 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 go to the ArcaOS Download Center to access your software.

DaniS506 driver package version 1.8.16 now available

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the Dani S506 IDE disk driver package version 1.8.16 for ArcaOS, OS/2, and eComStation.

This release is a maintenance update that corrects an issue with certain types of disks. This change is similar to the recent change to the AHCI driver.

This update is recommended for everyone. More information about the DaniS506 IDE disk driver may be found in the DaniS506 IDE 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 go to the ArcaOS Download Center to access your software.

JFS Driver Package version 1.09.10 now available

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our JFS Journaling File System Driver Package version 1.09.10.

This is a maintenance release that contains a minor fix for a situation that can cause a trap if a media error occurs while trying to write an Extended Attribute for a file. This update is recommended for everyone.

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

AHCI Driver Package version 2.09 released

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our AHCI Disk Driver Package version 2.09 for ArcaOS, OS/2, and eComStation.

This release is a maintenance update that corrects a few reported problems.

Fixes a problem starting up in some Virtual Machines with quirky emulation issues.
Changed the routines that try to recover from hardware failures to be more reliable.
Added a quirk for certain disks that don’t work properly with standard (non-native) commands.
Changed the default operation to use native commands (/N). This can be disabled with /!N.

This update is recommended for everyone. More information about the AHCI Disk Driver Package may be found in the AHCI wiki.

Panorama Video Driver Package version 1.18 now available

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of our Panorama Video Driver Package for OS/2 and eComStation version 1.18.

This is a maintenance release containing some minor changes primarily targeting problematic and limited environments. Some of the changes include:

Some initialization errors and warnings are now visible when booting.
Mode list verification and resolution verification was added to help prevent black screens by preventing the use of unsupported resolutions.
Some of the translated help was updated.
Some installer improvements.

This package also includes the updated GRADD base subsystem which is included in all GRADD drivers. The GRADD base subsystem has an updated GRADD helper driver. This update is recommended for everyone, but it is not critical, so it can be installed at your convenience.

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