Bugs found so far in XFree86/OS2 3.1.2E

Last updated 7 Jul 96 19:07 CET (DST)

These HTML pages can be downloaded from SET.GMD.DE (/pub/misc/XFree86OS2/html) by FTP. Bug fixes below are collected in /pub/misc/XFree86OS2/fixes at the same site.

If you came here by a notice of this URL in some newsgroup article: Here is the toplevel of the XFree86/OS2 pages.

There is also a mailing list available.


Note: If possible, I will provide fixes as fast as possible on this page. The main archive for the distribution is ftp.xfree86.org. If appropriate, I'll also update the distribution files at this site. Maintainers are urged to mirror ftp.xfree86.org for this software.

Generally, please ensure, that you have NO HARDWARE CONFLICTS, and that your system runs stable in general. Flaky hardware and improper OS/2 configuration may hide various effects or cause problems that wouldn't be there otherwise. Don't expect that XFree86/OS2 can turn an instable OS/2 into a stable one.

List of recent files

The following is the list of recent file dates and sizes from the main archive at ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/beta/OS2. If your archives or files differ from that, you have old versions (likely from some other archive). Obtain the recent files!
total 71604
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   886852 May 22 10:43 312E8514.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   965722 May 22 10:44 312EAGX.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   942433 May 22 10:45 312EI128.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   945596 May 22 10:46 312EMa32.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1089304 May 22 10:47 312EMa64.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   891070 May 22 10:48 312EMa8.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   969850 May 22 10:49 312EP9K.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   213830 May 22 10:49 312EPEX.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1053475 May 22 10:50 312ES3.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1129522 May 22 10:52 312ESVGA.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   622223 May 22 10:54 312EVG16.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   896073 May 22 10:55 312EW32.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196     5800 May 22 20:20 312E_ANNOUNCE.TXT
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   145474 May 22 17:48 312Ebase.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  2458298 May 24 03:28 312Ebin.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   135163 May 22 17:48 312Edoc.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1709238 May 22 11:04 312Ef100.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   531339 May 22 11:05 312Efcyr.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  3077649 May 22 11:09 312Efnon.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1730147 May 22 11:13 312Efnts.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1130890 May 22 11:14 312Efscl.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   168727 May 22 11:15 312Efsrv.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1920116 May 22 11:18 312Eman.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   612120 May 22 11:19 312Emono.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   713548 May 22 11:20 312Enest.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196  1916134 May 22 11:23 312Eprog.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   804893 May 22 11:25 312Eslib.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   903814 May 22 11:26 312Evfb.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196     4197 May 22 17:48 LATEST.OS2
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196    26570 May 22 17:49 README.OS2
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196     1648 May 22 17:49 README.UPDATE
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   457965 May 21 20:24 S3128515.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   527771 May 21 20:36 S312AGX.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   512865 May 21 20:48 S312I128.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   516665 May 21 20:55 S312Ma32.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   550971 May 21 21:05 S312Ma64.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   461958 May 21 21:15 S312Ma8.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   491805 May 21 21:24 S312Mono.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   287042 May 21 21:28 S312Nest.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   534006 May 21 21:35 S312P9K.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   617713 May 21 21:45 S312S3.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   665262 May 21 21:54 S312SVGA.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   502238 May 21 22:12 S312VG16.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   465364 May 21 22:17 S312W32.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10099  1198   478094 May 21 22:05 S312vfb.zip
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196    65676 May 22 17:49 X11OS2.FAQ
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196       51 May 22 11:27 XVERSION
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196     4172 May 22 11:27 _READ_ME.1ST
-rw-r--r--  2 10098  1196   377371 May 24 15:53 emxrt.zip

BTW: the S312* files are small versions of the X servers, which do not contain the rarely used PEX, XI and XIE extension, but are otherwise functionally equivalent. These files are mentioned incorrectly in the docs as S12D*.

Bug descriptions for older releases

The following link(s) refers to bugs known to be present in older releases. Note that once there is a new release, we won't give support for older versions any longer, unless the bug is still present - it is mainly of problem of man power. Please upgrade to the most recent version.

Severe bugs

Please get the following fixes, and apply them after the system is installed.

System unresponsive when using fvwm2 and maybe other software
This is related to change in the select() code of EMX.DLL fix 4 which is required in the recent release. Recently, emxfix05 has been issued which corrects the problem. The emxrt.zip archive listed above has been updated to fix level 5.

Minor bugs

Annoying, but harmless, likely to be fixed in the next version, use workaround for now, if available.
Keyboard mapping is incorrect for some keys.
Some versions of 312Ebin.zip contain a German .Xmodmap file in /XFree86/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap. Simply remove it, if your keyboard is not a German one. The archive in the above list is fixed.
Clients started from xinitrc.cmd leave CMD windows on PM
Change the start/min/k used in /XFree86/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc.cmd to start/min/n
XMAN has certain problems
Obtain the following fix FX0001.ZIP. The archives, including contrib.zip from the ported software page still contain a buggy xman.
BlackOut screensaver for PM likely causing problems
We got reports that the public domain screensaver BlackOut (0.94, maybe also other versions) causes problems with XFree86. The effect is that mouse and keystroke events are delayed or are suppressed, causing XFree86 becoming rather unresponsive. A preliminary fix is available from abbott@hiwaay.net. Try out this until an official fix from the author becomes available. You need the original BlackOut 0.94 distribution and docs, e.g. from hobbes.nmsu.edu.
File xos2 is missing.
It is in 312Eprog.zip, not in 312Ebin.zip as expected. Here is a copy of it.
Xf86sup.sys has a bug with ICRNL (interesting only for programmers)
This is fixed in FX0002. Plus, you get a bonus: A program to kill processes that won't die otherwise.

General problems

May appear with XFree86 on other platforms as well, no idea when this will be fixed.
(3.1.2D/E) There exists a general hardware conflict between certain S3 or Mach32/64 based cards and COM4 (port addres 0x2e8)
This is a deficiency of these chip sets, unfortunately. If this happens, the only workaround known is to disable the COM4 port, or switch it to a base address other than 0x2e8.
(3.1.2D/E)Superprobe misdetects the videocard.
Double check that you really have the hardware which was sold to you We have found one case where Superprobe was right, and the dealer was lying. If you are right, this turned out to be almost always a problem with Superprobe, not with OS/2 or XFree86/OS2. Please send the output of Superprobe from now on directly to xfree86@xfree86.org with a detailed description of what this card really is.

Things that are not a bug

(but candidates for the FAQ...)

None reported yet.

Mistakes in the documentation

README.OS2 does not mention the file 312Eslib.zip
But _READ_ME.1ST does. This file contains static versions of the X libraries, and is only useful for programmers who have very special requirements concerning their programs. Normal X clients should not be built with these libs.
EMX version emx09b fix 4 required
This version unfortunately has a problem which slipped through our tests. You should get EMXRT.ZIP of fix level 5 or later. The file in the XFree86/OS2 distribution has been updated to level 5. The main archive for EMX is at ftp.uni-stuttgart.de in /pub/systems/os2/emx-0.9b.
Where is "checkupdate" mentioned in the FAQ?
This is a typo, what is meant is "checkinstall".

Inaccuracies or omissions from the XFree86 beta docs

None reported yet.

Useful hints and tricks

The following are not bugs, but comments and hints, partly from other people. Added here without warranty.


Send reports to: Holger.Veit@gmd.de