update procedures for OS/2 Warp 4.52 v14.089_W4

[KevinP]

I have OS/2 Warp 4.52, rev. 14.089_W4 installed on an old Gateway Pentium 4 machine.  I want to apply updates and have downloaded XR_C005 and XR_C006.  I have a couple of questions.  The first is:  do I need to follow "all" the instructions in the readme of XR_C005 or is there a better/shorter way to do it?  Second question:  I've read varying things about whether XR_C006 should be applied.  The instructions that I've read for XR_C005 are "detailed" to say the least and I wondered if I need to follow all of it or if some of it will be automated by the CSF_144.  The version I downloaded was a .zip folder that has a subdirectory labeled "Fix" which has compressed folders of diskettes 1-7.  I wondered if I needed to decompress those or if CSF_144 will do that. 

Thanks,

Kevin

[Dave Yeo]

It's been a long time since I applied a fixpak. There were a couple of alternate ways of applying them that the community came up with instead of using the floppies, unluckily I forget what they were.
The last fixpak was a leaked unfinished fixpak and yes it is questionable, forget the specifics.
Good resource, http://web.archive.org/web/20060926004818/www.warpupdates.mynetcologne.de/english/site_contents.html and in your case, http://web.archive.org/web/20060926010643/http://www.warpupdates.mynetcologne.de/english/base_fixpak45x.html
Lots of broken links but the file names can be googled.
Hopefully someone remembers better then I.

[RTAN]

Fairly recently I installed WSeB 4.52 as part of a currently-paused project and the notes I made for myself as part of the right FixPak installation order were as follows:

1. XR_C006 (Base Operating System Fixpak - 14.106)
2. XR_D003 (Device Driver FixPak - 14.070)
     - this one is installed by running OS2SERV.EXE within its directory
3. WR08708 (MPTS 6.01 FixPak - build 20040227.2)
4. IP08608 (LAN Services 5.20 Fixes - build 20040324.1)
5. UN02334 (TCP-IP 4.32, build 20040521.1)

You obviously may not need IP08608 if you're running Warp Client 4.52 rather than WSeB 4.52.

You're right in that FixPaks beyond the publicly-available FP3 should be treated with caution. My own understanding, and happy to be corrected, is:

FP4 was fine but only released to Software Choice subscribers so it's harder to find and there's less documentation about it.

FP5 introduced some regressions in HPFS386 (which you won't be running anyway if you're on Client not WSeB).

FP6 fixed some(but not all) of those regressions but was only ever an internal FixPak and possibly released to a very small number of IBM customers in the dying days of WSeB before it was sold/licenced to Serenity Systems and became eComStation.

I'm happy to help provide links or additional documentation if it would help. To install most of the FixPaks you use the FixTool utility, taking advantage of two environment variables CSFUTILPATH and CSFCDROMDIR to install the actual fixpaks (without needing to use floppies).

[KevinP]

Fairly recently I installed WSeB 4.52 as part of a currently-paused project and the notes I made for myself as part of the right FixPak installation order were as follows:

1. XR_C006 (Base Operating System Fixpak - 14.106)
2. XR_D003 (Device Driver FixPak - 14.070)
     - this one is installed by running OS2SERV.EXE within its directory
3. WR08708 (MPTS 6.01 FixPak - build 20040227.2)
4. IP08608 (LAN Services 5.20 Fixes - build 20040324.1)
5. UN02334 (TCP-IP 4.32, build 20040521.1)

You obviously may not need IP08608 if you're running Warp Client 4.52 rather than WSeB 4.52.

You're right in that FixPaks beyond the publicly-available FP3 should be treated with caution. My own understanding, and happy to be corrected, is:

FP4 was fine but only released to Software Choice subscribers so it's harder to find and there's less documentation about it.

FP5 introduced some regressions in HPFS386 (which you won't be running anyway if you're on Client not WSeB).

FP6 fixed some(but not all) of those regressions but was only ever an internal FixPak and possibly released to a very small number of IBM customers in the dying days of WSeB before it was sold/licenced to Serenity Systems and became eComStation.

I'm happy to help provide links or additional documentation if it would help. To install most of the FixPaks you use the FixTool utility, taking advantage of two environment variables CSFUTILPATH and CSFCDROMDIR to install the actual fixpaks (without needing to use floppies).

Some of the information I have read indicates that XR_C005 can be installed from a directory under the root directory by running "service.exe" from that directory.  In my case, I unzipped XR_C005 to C:\xrc005.  If I run service.exe from a command prompt while in that directory, will that work?  Are there prerequisites I need to install? 

Thanks,

[RTAN]

By all means try that, and there are no prerequisites for FP5 (XR_C005).

The way I did it successfully for FP6 (XR_C006) is as follows:

1. Grab a copy of the latest FixTool and extract it somewhere, e.g. C:\Fixes\FixTool
2. Copy the FP6 files into a temporary folder, e.g. C:\Fixes\FixPak6
3. Set two environment variables as follows:

SET CSFUTILPATH=C:\FIXES\FIXTOOL
SET CSFCDROMDIR=C:\FIXES\FIXPAK6

4. Now "CD" into C:\Fixes\FixTool and run SERVICE without any parameters

That should work for you, and once you've rebooted you should then "commit" the FixPak to cleanup temporary files and for neatness (actually perhaps someone else could chime-in here to better explain what "commiting" a fixpak actually does! I think it simply prevents rollback to pre-FixPak).

To commit it, repeat steps (3) and (4) above and select Change product list... > Uncommitted products > Commit

If you don't have a copy of the latest FixTool just shout and I can attach it - it's freely available on IBM's FTP server and many other locations.

Hope that helps!

[KevinP]

By all means try that, and there are no prerequisites for FP5 (XR_C005).

The way I did it successfully for FP6 (XR_C006) is as follows:

1. Grab a copy of the latest FixTool and extract it somewhere, e.g. C:\Fixes\FixTool
2. Copy the FP6 files into a temporary folder, e.g. C:\Fixes\FixPak6
3. Set two environment variables as follows:

SET CSFUTILPATH=C:\FIXES\FIXTOOL
SET CSFCDROMDIR=C:\FIXES\FIXPAK6

4. Now "CD" into C:\Fixes\FixTool and run SERVICE without any parameters

That should work for you, and once you've rebooted you should then "commit" the FixPak to cleanup temporary files and for neatness (actually perhaps someone else could chime-in here to better explain what "commiting" a fixpak actually does! I think it simply prevents rollback to pre-FixPak).

To commit it, repeat steps (3) and (4) above and select Change product list... > Uncommitted products > Commit

If you don't have a copy of the latest FixTool just shout and I can attach it - it's freely available on IBM's FTP server and many other locations.

Hope that helps!

OK, what I ended up doing was changing to the C:\xrc005 directory and running fix.cmd.  Running "service" did not work.  I didn't set the environmental variables (the computer is in what is basically a shop building away from my house so I couldn't read the forum at the same time I was working on the computer).  That got it updated to 14.103_W4.  One reason I've been trying to do this is to see if this helps get the Arca Noae USB drivers to load and work correctly if the kernel is updated. 

Has the XR_C006 worked for you?  I've heard varying things about it which is why I have held off installing it.  Someone suggested I needed an smp kernel to get the last USB issues resolved. 

Thanks,

[KevinP]

I should add that while it was updating it would find files that were more recent than the ones in the update package.  As with Windows, it would ask if I wanted to replace the existing file with that in the Fixpak.  What threw me off a bit was that the choice was not "Yes/No" but "OK" or Cancel.  I chose Cancel in each instance so I hope that was correct.  It proceeded with the update after each instance of that.

[Dave Yeo]

The kernel level is just the kernel. To see the level of each component, run syslevel at a cmd prompt, takes a while.

[RTAN]

...I chose Cancel in each instance so I hope that was correct.  It proceeded with the update after each instance of that.

Yes, that was exactly the right thing to do - it cancels the replacement of that particular file.