=== eComStation 2.0 beta 3 README === Thank you for your interest in trying the latest beta of eComStation 2.0. We have worked hard to make this release worthwhile, please see the 'WHATSNEW.TXT' document for an overview of all changes. This product is available for download to all registered eComStation customers of Software Subscription Services. For more information on that, please visit: http://www.ecomstation.com/subscription/ This beta offers a number of improvements that we would like to have tested on a larger number of configurations. These are: ** Preboot harddisk integrity check ** there are a couple of situations that cause installation problems with LVM later on in the install process. - PBR problems: Set when either the 'hidden sectors' or the geometry fields in a bootsector do not match the position of the partition or the used disk-geometry. - CHS problems: Set when the CHS-values in a partition-table for a partition do NOT match the current disk-geometry used by the operating system. This may lead to error from (mini)LVM about the disk being 'corrupt'. Another possible cause for this error is that if there are any partitions present on a disk that have NO LVM information at all, and are of a type that gets a default driveletter assigned in that case (by OS2LVM.DMD/OS2DASD.CMD) - Boot problems: Set when extended-containers are marked ACTIVE, when multiple primaries are marked ACTIVE, or if any non-standard flagbyte values are used in the partitiontable. These errors MAY lead to the system failing to boot properly! These will now be detected before the installer starts and an option to fix them is being presented. If you choose not to fix them, you are not able to proceed the installation. This technology uses a custom DFSee 'engine' and should be safe, however, neither Serenity Systems International nor Fsys can be held liable for any damages that may occur to the data on your harddrive. !!! When testing beta software, always be sure to have a tried and tested backup of your system !!! ** Harddisk volume resizing ** This beta has a custom DFSee engine that enables reliable RESIZING of FAT32 and NTFS filesystems to allow shrinking an existing Windows installation to make room for eComStation on the same system. While this functionality has been available in DFSee (and the OEM Engine) for quite a while, it was NOT considered reliable enough to offer to end-users during eComStation install. Starting with DFSee release 7.12, and the OEM Engine based on that, the reliability of resizing has improved to the point where it can be used without hesitation for this purpose. A Windows NTFS filesystem resized by DFSee will pass a subsequent Windows CHKDSK with NO ERRORS now. The engine included in Beta 3 is at level 8.08. To use this feature in this beta, you need to select it from the Maintenance Console (when booted from CD) and select "Resize Disk" under the "Disk" menu. The GUI interface of this feature will be updated before the final release of eComStation 2.0. ** Genmac ** This package provides generic driver support for several network interface cards under OS/2 and eComStation. Moreover, Genmac is enabled to support WPA encryption with the Wireless LAN Monitor 3.x or better. Genmac and the Wireless LAN monitor will be installed when the appropriate hardware is detected by the installer. If it is not detected, you can manually select the driver in the network installation dialog. Note: only the selected driver will be copied onto your system, in order to prevent problems with the MPTS installer later on. This may seem confusing, when you run MPTS in a later stage, it will not show all Genmac supported NICs. A full list of supported NIC chipsets can be found in 'WHATSNEW.TXT' ** ACPI & APM ** Support for ACPI is available in this beta. The current version is 2.15. ACPI will be automatically enabled if appropriate hardware is detected. You can manually enable or disable ACPI support at page 2 (miscellaneous) of the eComStation installer preboot menu. Even if not installed, the corresponding documents are installed on your harddrive. You can find detailed information and testdocuments in \ECS\DOC\ACPI and \ECS\DOC\APM Several tests can be performed, please refer to \ECS\DOC\ACPI\TESTER.DOC and \ECS\DOC\APM\TESTER.DOC When ACPI is installed, there is a number of utilities from the ACPI Toolkit you can use, see the list below: AcpiTree.exe - Show ACPI tree ButtonJin.exe - Wait press Power Button (as demon), GUI WaitButton.exe - Wait press Power/Sleep button, VIO PowerOff.exe - Power Off (immediate!!) SetGetThrtl.exe - Get/Set throtlling CPU UpTime.exe - Show uptime via PM Timer GetValue.exe - Get current value from PM Timer AcpiIRQ.exe - Show current IRQ routing IrqStat.exe - Show IRQ calling statistics (SMP only) SetGetState.exe - Get/Set frequency/power state EmbeddedEvent.exe - Show events from Embedded controllers GetNotify.exe - Show notify Thermal.exe - Show temperature of thermal zone ScanPCI.exe - Show PCI devices TmrTest.exe - Test working of timer (testing IRQ0 timer 0) ** Core Duo CPU support (SMP) ** This beta supports the installation of eComStation on a Core Duo computer. To enable it, please select the appropriate feature in the installer 'Select Components' page (only available in Advaned Install mode). This enables the use of Intel Dualcore, Hyperthreading and multi-CPU systems. Please note: AMD Dual Core CPU's are currently unsupported. Also, many drivers are not SMP capable, which may cause instability or unexpected behaviour on your system. For more information please refer to \ECS\DOC\ACPI\ACPI_SMP.DOC ** eComStation Virtual File System (Samba client support) ** Samba is a SMB/CIFS protocols file and print sharing server/client set originaly made for UNIX world to cooperate with corresponding Windows and OS/2 servers or clients. eComStation has a native implementation of SMB/CIFS server/client set - IBM LAN Manager and IBM Peer. These products haven't been updated for a long time and have some compatibility problems with modern Windows SMB/CIFS implementations. Serenity Systems International has reached an agreement with Blueprint Software Works for the inclusion of the 'eComStation Virtual File System' driver which provides support for Samba Client. Currently a GUI to configure it is lacking, but an example of how to mount a Samba resource can be found in \ECS\DOC\EVFS\REXX ** eSchemes ** eSchemes (in this beta we include version 1.37) provides a new way to configure the look and feel of the desktop. This is considered highly experimental and as such can only be installed with Advanced Installation, under "Experimental Features" the option to select is "Interface customization". Traditional "eStyler" functionality is lacking, for example the titlebar customization. Feedback on eSchemes is highly appreciated. You can find documentation on eSchemes in \ECS\DOC\ESCHEMES\. eSchemes can be applied by rightclicking them from the Appearance folder and select 'apply scheme' this wil take a while of diskactivity, but no progress indicator is shown. After application you should reboot to enable the scheme entirely. A scheme can be edited after a doubleclick, but this functionality is not implemented entirely. Depending feedback of this beta we will decide if eSchemes will be available in the GA release eComStation 2.0. == REPORTING == To tell us your findings, please create a report at: http://www.ecomstation.com/support/beta3report/ You are also welcome to join the TestTeam if you want to discuss this beta and future developments. See http://ewiki.ecomstation.nl/TestTeam for more details. == DISTRIBUTION / CREATING CDS == This product is provided as a downloadable ISO file, this is a raw CD image that you can burn on CD-R media. For instruction on burning the CD image to CD please consult the PDF document howtoburncds.pdf in the same directory. The file to download is: ecs20beta3_cd1_en.zip == REGISTRATION KEY REQUIRED FOR INSTALLING == For the time being you can use the eComStation 1.2 (or 1.2R) key to install this beta release of eComStation 2.0. (c) 2001-2006 Serenity Systems International [eof]