Tag Archives: update

Why update or upgrade to ArcaOS 5.1.1?

If you’re holding off upgrading from ArcaOS 5.0 to 5.1 or updating from 5.1.0 to 5.1.1, here are a few things to consder to get you off the fence.

ArcaOS 5.1.1, over a year and a half in development, incorporates over 50 improvements and refinements, from smoother installation and better integration with other operating systems to better stability and usability of the system. Here are a few points to consider from the changelog:

Now available in four languages (with more on the way): English, German, Spanish, and Russian. More comfortable computing in your native language? This is all made easier with ArcaOS 5.1.1.
For existing English installations, upgrading from 5.0 or updating from 5.1.0 could not be easier. Back up your system, boot from the installation media, select the option to update/upgrade, and select your existing installation from the list. The rest of the procedure is automatic.
Multimedia support has been upgraded and enhanced. Not only has the multimedia subsystem been translated to the system language, but if you have a CD collection and a modern PC, ArcaOS now handles digital transfers and supports the GnuDB CD track identification database.
Both remote control of the ArcaOS system and control of other systems from ArcaOS has been greatly enhanced with a new VNC server and client, supporting features found in UltraVNC, such as chat, file transfer, and encryption for web clients.
Of course we’ve also included the latest ACPI and updated device drivers for USB, video, mouse (new, major revision), FAT32 filesystem (for better interoperability and data exchange with other operating systems), and even a new keyboard driver for better operation on more hardware.

In short, 5.1.1 is the most stable, best performing ArcaOS release to date, and provides a truly modern OS/2 computing experience for PCs. It’s also quite at home in a virtual environment, running under Oracle VirtualBox or VMware ESXi or Workstation.

Best of all, for ArcaOS 5.1 licensees with active support subscriptions, the update from 5.1.0 to 5.1.1 is absolutely free. Let your subscription lapse? You can still renew and get the 5.1.1 release for no additional charge. Still running 5.0? Now is a great time to take advantage of the steep upgrade discounts offered to upgraders.

AMouse driver package v4.01 released

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

This is a major update with significant parts of the code rewritten. If you have ArcaOS version 5.1.1 then you already have this update. This update is now available for those who don’t have ArcaOS 5.1.1. The highlights of this update are:

Better handling of missing or emulated 8042.
Automatic mouse integration for VMware and Virtual Box.
Better handling of some PS/2 mice.
Better handling of some touchpoint devices.
Better NLV support.
Miscellaneous other minor fixes.

More information about the AMouse driver 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 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.

Driver updates now available

MultiMac With the release of ArcaOS 5.1.1, several drivers have been updated. These updates are already included in ArcaOS 5.1.1, but if you are not updating to ArcaOS 5.1.1 you can still take advantage of some of the new driver updates. They are now available as part of the Support & Maintenance subscription for your ArcaOS product, and in the Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription, Please log into your account and visit your ArcaOS Download Center to access your software. Specifically, these updated packages are:

USB 12.17 (updated from 12.16)
Panorama 1.20 (updated from 1.19)
ACPI 3.23.18 (updated from 3.23.17)
Multimac

These releases include minor fixes and enhancements over their previous versions, and while recommended, are not considered critical updates. Again, if you have ArcaOS 5.1.1, you already have all of these updates. Here are the highlights of what’s new:

USB 12.17

Enhanced USBMOUSE to handle more mouse features.

Panorama 1.20

Enhanced to select font size for ArcaOS installer.
NLV enhancements.

ACPI 3.23.18

Fixed acpidump to work on more systems.

MultiMac

Minor updates to E1000B 1.1.9, MMAE 1.1.9, MMRE 1.1.10, and MMJME 1.1.4

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. Thinking of upgrading your current ArcaOS 5.0 installation? Now is also a good time.

If you have an Arca Noae OS/2 & eCS Drivers and Software Subscription, these driver package are 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.

EAMaster has been updated to v1.2.1 with even more new features!

Following onto the October release of last year, Keith Merrington has again updated his handy EAMaster utility to v1.2.1. This latest build now includes three new tools:

A tool to examine hold files produced by the EAUTIL OS/2 command or by EAMaster.
A utility to search and optionally correct duplicate or incorrect long name.
A utility to compare the EAs between directories.

If you already have a license for EAMaster, simply download the latest version (which should be available on Hobbes) and install to upgrade your current installation. Your existing registration will be recognized, and you’ll be good to go immediately.

If you don’t yet have a license, please visit our store for more information on this extremely useful package.

eCo Software Runtime packages updated to 20241129

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

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

More information on these packages may be found on the developer’s site.

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.

EAMaster has been updated to v1.0 with new features!

Keith Merrington has updated his handy EAMaster utility to v1.0. This latest build includes two new tools:

A tool to examine files produced by the EAUTIL OS/2 command when stripping EA’s and saving them in a hold file.
A utility to search and optionally correct duplicate or incorrect long name.

If you don’t yet have a license, please visit our store for more information on this useful package.

USB driver package version 12.16 now available

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of release 12.16 of our USB stack.

This is a maintenance release that contains some minor updates.

Fixed a trap that could occur configuring certain endpoints primarily on Isochronous devices.
Fixed an SMP issue that could occur when operating multiple Mass Storage Devices (MSD) on a system with more than one CPU active.
Enhanced the USBSER driver to support up to 16 devices simultaneously.
Added new USBAXGE USB to Ethernet driver.

Most people will see no change in operation after installing this update. See the package readme.txt for details. This update is recommended for all users.

As usual, this release is intended to update an existing installation. Although it can install most of the drivers in the package, it does not install the Host Controller drivers, so it cannot add USB support to a system that does not already have basic USB support installed. 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.

USB driver package version 12.15 now available

USB Arca Noae is pleased to announce the immediate availability of release 12.15 of our USB stack.

This is a maintenance release that contains some minor updates.

Fixed physical address handling in all of the Host Controller drivers. New drivers and applications can now use previously unusable features.
A USB keyboard is now initialized earlier. A USB keyboard will become usable earlier in the boot process.
Enhanced XHCI endpoint configuration. New drivers and applications can make use of new features.
Fixed the initialization of several chipsets in the USBASIX driver. Previously supported but non-working devices will now work with this new version.
Fixed an isochronous transfer issue in USBCALLS driver. Applications that use the affected function(s) should work with this new version.
The USBSER driver has been added to the USB distribution. It has been enhanced to to be compatible with the modern ArcaOS USB stack and to handle multiple devices.
The installer was changed to preserve some config.sys driver parameters. Installing this update will not remove or change existing settings for the affected drivers.

Most people will see no change in operation after installing this update. See the package readme.txt for details. This update is recommended for all users.

eCo Software Runtime packages updated to 20240126

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 2024-01-26. The Win update improves compatibility of the File Open Container (FOC) used by default in ArcaOS with the standard system file dialog, while some of the other updates address issues in other applications which utilize these libraries.

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

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.