topic Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation (OS2TOOLS.ZIP tools) in VMware Workstation Pro Discussions

OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

neohal — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:40:32 GMT

Hi ...

Does anybody knows if OS/2 run in VMware Workstation ?

I have OS/2 e-business Server version installed in some machines and I would like to know if I can install it in a workstation with VMware WorkStation or GSX ...

Thx ...

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

KevinG — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:50:08 GMT

Unfortunately OS/2 is not a supported guest OS and there are no VMware Tools available for this OS.

You can always give it a try

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

devzero — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 18:41:56 GMT

hello !

afaik, vmware doesn`t support OS/2 as a guest and it probably isn`t even worth spending time on trying OS/2 with that (there isn`t even "experimental" support!?)

see

http://www.vmware.com/support/reference/common/guest_os2_exp.html

you may take a look at M$ virtual pc or parallels workstation, which are products similar to vmware. at least for parallels i can tell, that you can boot OS/2 with that.

regards

roland

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

CrendKing — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 06:34:01 GMT

you may take a look at M$ virtual pc or parallels
workstation, which are products similar to vmware. at
least for parallels i can tell, that you can boot
OS/2 with that.

MS Virtual PC does support OS/2. Unfortunately that this seems to be one area where MS outshines VMWare

https://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=268462&#268462

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

pillicht — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 18:56:07 GMT

it's a tragedy - the answers are correct or helpful but not these one right.

in this forum(s) your aren't find the enthusiasts which are give very useful hints and tips, unfortunately.

that's here's the normal world

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

DaveP — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 19:05:33 GMT

There are plenty of enthusiasts giving tips here. But it isn't possible to run OS2 on VMware. There was someone who claimed it would work on WS 3 several years ago, but no progress using and undocumented features has allowed it to run on any recent version.

Dave

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

telfred — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:23:22 GMT

Come on VM Ware "Helm, Warp, engage"

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

petr — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:25:22 GMT

Are you sure? This should work... http://www.vmware.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=12572. You may have to run with debugging disabled.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

DaveP — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:08:19 GMT

Oops forgot about that. What about WS 5.5 etc.? There was another way on the web which I won't descibe as it involved hacking the license keys.

Dave

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

petr — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:18:37 GMT

Oops, forgot about that. You need special license...

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

Cmpeng — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:26:44 GMT

I currently have OS/2 Warp 3 working on VMware 5.5.1

It takes about 5 minutes to boot (most likely due to my VM settings) but needless to say it boots. The only problem now is to find drivers for the VM virtual ethernet adapter.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

martyfelker — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:27:25 GMT

It's pretty amazing that you got OS/2 Warp 3 to work under VMware WS 5.5.1. Any chance you could send a bit more information for the memories of a great OS that was abandoned by IBM?

Regardless, I remember the outrage when VMware removed even experimental support for OS/2. The experimental support did seem to work as far back as I can remember - but I think it was WS 2.x or perhaps 3.x. This was when there was no forum - only email lists. The reasons given were the amount of programming time vs the economic return. I've thrown out my Warp diskettees and CD-ROM. I had a fair amount of softtware for it, even the original start (roots) of Object Desktop. The boot manager worked great and I installed 3 or perhaps even 4 OS's on a machine. But its not worth my time (even if I still had the software) and money to buy the M$ version of its virtualized software.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

Cmpeng — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:52:56 GMT

Well really I didn't do anything out of the ordinary for installing OS/2 Warp 3 or atleast I don't think I did.

I created a new VM selecting "Typical' for the VM configuration, followed by 'Other' for the operating system and 'Other' for the version. I enable Legacy Emulation for the CD-Rom drive.

The only problems I've experienced during the install was to NOT install network support. When I did, the install hung and I had to restart the process.

Here's a screenshot:

http://www.advernet.ca/os2/os2_3.JPG

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

kingneutron — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:38:35 GMT

--Guys, guys... OS/2 is Certifiably Dead. D-E-D Dead. It was shot thru the heart somewhere back around 1998-99. Trust me, I used to use it up until Win98 came out, and then Linux really started gathering momentum and usability.

--OS/2 config.sys would barf if you put a SPACE before an REM statement. That alone, plus the incredible lack of interest/support from IBM, lack of \[ drivers, applications and development ] put a permanent end to my OS/2 Warp days. I switched to Linux, fooled around a bit with Free- and Open-BSD, purchased Vmware Workstation 3, and never looked back. IBM doesn't even use it on their MAINFRAME config terminals anymore.

--Yes, it was a decent multitasking OS with some interesting features (it did Win 3.1 better than MS did, arguably - and LOOKIE, I can format a floppy while doing $blah!) but there's a time to Let Go and Mov On...

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

OrelseIamfired — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:37:28 GMT

Hi neohal,

OS/2 is still marketed here, and it has been kept up to date by Serenity Systems :

<http://www.ecomstation.com/>

There is a virtualising software, certainly not yet as mature as VMWare, here :

<http://www.serenityvirtual.com/>

/ Louis

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

telfred — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:52:18 GMT

With the much heralded delay in Vista I checked IBM and OS2 only to discover that even IBM have abandoned supporting or selling it. So that fact that someone else has picked up the ball and is running with it is good news.

It is good that it works under VM Ware 5.5.1, and now for the really silly question where do you get device drivers for OS2 ?

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

Cmpeng — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:04:07 GMT

I find the majority of drivers through manufacturer's websites. If that fails I turn to Hobbes, http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/

Found drivers for a virtual ethernet adapter for OS/2 Warp 4.52 running on MS Virtual PC there. As well the AMD PCNet drivers required for OS/2 Warp 3 on VMware are there. Great site indeed.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

kingneutron — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:31:26 GMT

Found drivers for a virtual ethernet adapter for OS/2 Warp 4.52 running on MS Virtual PC there. As well the AMD PCNet drivers required for OS/2 Warp 3 on VMware are there.

" And thus am I humbled, for I spoke out of ignorance... "

--Good on ya for finding + sharing the driver site. OS/2 did have some nice things going for it, native REXX support being one of them.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

Cmpeng — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:43:41 GMT

Hi guys just want to give you a little update on my progress.

I've encountered a problem with my CD-Rom drive functionality; whether it's attributed to the OS/2 side or VMware I'm not entirely sure.

Basically, the problem occurs during the base OS/2 installion. Shortly after MPTS is installed the system has to reboot and attempts to continue network support installation. However, after rebooting, CD-Rom support is gone. OS/2 doesn't detect the CD-Rom drive at all and thus you get several errors about not being about to find srvrexx.exe on your CD and the install hangs.

Anyone have a clue why I'm losing CD-Rom functionality half way through my installation? Furthermore, any advice on how to fix the problem?

Side Note: If do perform the base installation without network support, the installation completes. However, upon booting into the OS and checking which drives are available one notices that CD-Rom functionality is again not available.

This is really throwing me for a loop since the CD-Rom works perfectly until the machine has to reboot during installation or at the end.

Re: OS/2 in VMware Workstation ...

OrelseIamfired — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:09:25 GMT

telfred,

Hobbes is a must-know site. Also, here are some other important web sites.

<http://www.netlabs.org/>

<http://ecomstation.ru/>

<http://www.innotek.de>

<http://www.mensys.nl/>

<http://www.bmtmicro.com>

/ Louis