P60/D system having OS/2 v2-2.1


PROBLEM - P60/D systems having OS/2 version 2.1 installed by a customer from a shrink wrap package fails to run DOS applications correctly in the DOS box.

Systems AFFECTED - 6384 P60/D only.

SOLUTION - If a P60/D system is loaded with an off the shelf shrink wrap OS/2 version 2.1, the system can experience problems running applications in the DOS box. this is fixed with a patch diskette available from OS/2 support referencing apar PJ09814.

OS/2 2.1 utilizes the pentium processor's virtual mode extensions (VME). A BUG in OS2 2.1 was discovered in which applications that do their own interrupt management hang on systems with vme and OS/2 2.1. This affects all pentium and all SL-enhanced 486 systems, a fix for OS/2 2.1 has been incorporated into an update (service pak) which IBM plans to ship by end of this quarter. The fix will also be in the Q1 manufacturing refresh, after which all new product is OK.

Applications which allow OS/2 to manage interrupts are not affected. If the P60/D was purchased with OS/2 2.1 factory installed, the system will not have this problem. The patch diskette was installed at the factory. Additionally, the patch diskette is shipped with us machines that are pre-installed with OS/2. This problem only effects P60/D systems when a new shrink wrapped OS/2 version 2.1 is purchased from a retailer and is installed on the system. The operating system will install and run except for the DOS box problems described above. The patch diskette brings the OS/2 operating system from the shrink wrap package up to the same level that the factory pre-installs. The part number on the patch diskette shipped with the pre-installed systems is 82G4462. This should be printed on the diskette.

Permanent fix - Get the patch diskette from OS/2 support and install. OS/2 will be releasing a new version of the shrink wrap package that will have this fix included. The release is scheduled for 1Q/94 and is called OS/2 version 2.11.

Isolation aids - A list of affected applications (all DOS and Windows) follows:

MS - Multiplan v4.20
Borland Paradox
MSD
Qbasic
Animator Pro
Color Tools
Lumena
Multimedia Explore
Linkway Live
Media Master
Mannequin
Storyboard Live
Castle Wolfenstein
Leisure Suit Larry
Stealth Fighter
Flight Simulator
CLOCK01.EXE
DEBUG.COM, CODEVIEW, TURBO debugger (essentially all debuggers)
Banyan Vines

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