Updates from last month's column:

SysBar/2, which was part of Gary Granat's series on "Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat", is now at version 0.22 as of 01/06/2003. It contains a task switcher, a named pipe monitor, and also contains a clock/calendar window and a miniature CD player. Source is also available. Use search key sbr2 on Hobbes.

AutoScroll has been updated as of 01/03/2003. This is an add-on for Mozilla and Phoenix that allows auto-scrolling functionality similar to HotScroll and XWorkplace. If you are not familiar with this, when you middle-click on a page, you can then move the mouse up and down to have the page scroll. Go to http://autoscroll.mozdev.org/.

GoGo (not to be confused with WarpGoGo) version 3.11 fix1 has been updated as of 01/06/2003. This is a very fast MP3 encoder based on LAME. NOTE: The EMX runtime is a prerequisite. Use search key gogo on Hobbes.

The Neptune project is a giant library of "skins" for the PM123 MP3 player. Go to http://www.os2ecs.net/neptune/index.shtml. (NOTE: There are 1,550 skins available; also the URL is different from what I had last month).

WarpVision was updated on 01/30/2003. It is a player for DivX3/DivX4 format video streams, with MP3/AC3 audio. The latest version has a nice GUI interface, and no longer uses Odin and Win32 codecs. Go to http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.php.

NOTES:
1. There are downloadable "skins" available at http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.skins.php.
2. There is also a command-line (01/24/2003) version of WarpVision available.
3. According to the author, you must delete VIDEO2.INI prior to updating from a previous version of WarpVision.
4. There is now DVD support via a plug-in called DVDCSS. For that, go to ftp://ftp.os2.spb.ru/pub/mmedia/contrib/dvdcss.1.2.4.zip.

BTTV version 0.04 (for BT8X8 TV cards) has been released as of 01/30/2003. It is a port of the Linux BTTV driver, with radio and TV working. Included is a small radio application, a small TV application, and the source is available (along with a LXAPI32 support driver for porting Linux drivers). Go to http://www.nord-com.net/s.milcke/bttv_en.htm. NOTE: This should be considered a beta driver.

Open Watcom, which has been featured at several recent SCOUG meetings, is now at version 1.0 RC2 as of 01/28/2003. This is an open-source release of the Watcom compiler. Harry Chris Motin carefully took us through download and installation issues in March 2002; read it at scoug204.watcom.html. Michal Necasek, our June 2002 co-presenter, has an article describing how to set up Open Watcom at http://pages.prodigy.net/michaln/os2/Watcom11c.html. Go to http://www.openwatcom.org/download/download_licenses.html.

UpdCD version 2.31 has been released as of 01/13/2003. It can be used to update the base Warp 4 or Warp Server for e-Business installation files with FixPaks, and supports the creation of updated installation diskettes. You can use the updated OS/2 image in combination with these diskettes to create new installations of OS/2 which already incorporate the FixPaks and other software. Go to http://xenia.sote.hu/~kadzsol/rexx/sajat/updcd.htm. NOTE: This is a fix that must be applied to the base 2.3 version.

DFSee, which was demoed at the June 2001 SCOUG meeting, is now at version 5.11 as of 01/28/2003. It is a FDISK, display, analysis and recovery tool for disks and filesystems. It now includes some JFS and LVM support. With this version, it can now replace LVM.EXE and VCU.EXE to create & modify compatibility volumes. Go to http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm, or use search key dfsee on Hobbes. Tony Butka's tutorial on DFSee is at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug012.dfseetutorial.html. NOTE: DFSee is now shareware. Registration is at Mensys (http://shop.mensys.nl/catalogue/mns_DFSee.html).

eBayWatch/2 version 1.09h was released. As the name implies, it is an eBay auction management tool. Go to http://www.eclipse.net/~knkrchnr/.

Preferential version 0.4.1 has been released as of 01/12/2003. This is an add-on for Mozilla that gives you a tree with access to all of the preferences, including those that are not normally exposed. Go to http://preferential.mozdev.org/.

jSyncManager has been updated as of 01/12/2003. It is the most popular Palm handheld sync solution for Java. Go to http://jsyncmanager.sourceforge.net/.

JAlbum version 3.0.1 has been released as of 01/10/2003. This is a web photo album generator that runs on Java 1.3, which means you need a current Software Choice subscription or eComStation. Go to http://www.datadosen.se/jalbum/.

CBIRC preview 1 has been updated as of 01/05/2003. It is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client (the CB is the author's initials). It is written in Java; the author recommends Java 1.3.1 with Java Web Start (which means you need a current Software Choice subscription or eComStation). Go to http://www.bratschi.net/cbirc/.

The RAR archiver has been updated to version 3.11 as of 01/24/2003. This is a command-line compression utility, with tight general and multimedia compression, recovery record option management of non-RAR archives, RCVT (aRchive ConVersion Tool), and more. Go to http://www.rarlab.com/.

The eComStation Maintenance Tool is now at version 1.12.0 as of 02/01/2003. Be sure to get the latest language files as well. Go to http://www.ecomstation.com (HOWEVER: You must be a registered user of eComStation to download).

This month's new listings - Drivers:

ASPIROUT.SYS version 1.1 beta 6 has been released. It is a driver that is needed for some of the free CD recording utilities. Go to http://home.clara.net/orac/os2.htm.

There is now a PCI soundcard matrix, listing all the PCI sound cards that work under OS/2, including links to the drivers. Go to http://www.os2usr.org/os2sound.html.

Matrox has released as of 01/16/2003 version 2.57 of their video card BIOS updates, which updates the G200, G400, G450, and G550 video cards. Go to http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/bios/home2.cfm.

The Network Interface Card Pak (NICPak) has been updated as of 01/17/2003. This is a collection of various NIC drivers and a tool for detecting and installing them. Go to http://pws.prserv.net/mckinnis/nicpak/.

There is a driver as of 01/28/2003 for network cards with Realtek 8139/8130/810x chipsets. Use search key rtsnd323 on Hobbes. Also there is a generic CardBus enabler suitable for the Realtek 8139 CardBus network card. It is a patch to PCMCIA.SYS (version 10.056) to allow CardBus access functions, and a tool to view info about inserted PCCard and CardBus cards. Use search key cbenable on Hobbes.

There is a driver as of 01/29/2003 for the Xircom CardBus Ethernet 10/100 Adapter, the Intel EtherExpress PRO/100 Mobile CardBus 32 adapter, and an IBM EtherJet 10/100 adapter. Use search key xbe314_xircom_ibm_intel on Hobbes.

CWUSBMSD.ADD version 1.2b was released as of 01/28/2003. This package contains drivers to use USB mass storage class compliant devices, and supports other, maybe more, devices than the IBM drivers. It has support for both UHCI and OHCI. Use search key cw-usbmsd on Hobbes.

IBM has updated as of 01/29/2003 the BIOS for the ThinkPad T30. Go to ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/spsd1i61.exe.

IBM has updated as of 01/30/2003 the Universal Audio Driver. It supports the following sound cards:

• Sound Blaster Live!
• Cirrus Logic CS4281 chipsets
• Avance Logic ALS4000 chipsets
• C-Media CMI8738 chipsets
• Intel ICHx + SigmaTel STAC9721/23 chipsets

IBM has updated as of 01/14/2003 the USB Basic Device Support drivers. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/usb/usbehci.exe.

NOTES:
1. You need a current Software Choice subscription to download.
2. A prerequisite is the "Loader Package". Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/usb/os2ldr??.exe, where ?? =
   • EN (English),
   • FR (French),
   • DE (German),
   • IT (Italian),
   • JP (Japanese),
   • BR (Portuguese),
   • ES (Spanish),
   • CX (Simplified Chinese), or
   • TW (Traditional Chinese).

IBM has updated as of 01/31/2003 the USB CD-ROM Support drivers. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/usbstor.exe.

NOTES:
1. You need a current Software Choice subscription to download.
2. If you have not installed Device Driver FixPak 3, you need the latest IDEDASD drivers, located at http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/free/idedasd.exe.
3. This also provides support for USB diskette drives and USB memory keys.

IBM has updated as of 01/31/2003 the USB printer support drivers. HOWEVER: You need a current Software Choice subscription to download. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/usbprint.exe.

IBM has updated as of 01/15/2003 the GRADD video drivers. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/free/video/graddbb_e.083.exe.

This month's new listings - Applications:

REXX scripts for integrating PMMail with Mozilla have been updated to version 1.10a as of 01/05/2003. Use search key pmmailmozilla on Hobbes.

z! has been updated to version 2.7 alpha 3. This is a text-mode MP3 player that can handle OGG, streaming audio (Shoutcast), and has Normalize support. Download is at http://dink.org/files/z-2.7alpha3.zip; info is at http://dink.org/z/.

AiR-BOOT is now at version 1.00 as of 01/07/2003. It is a multi-boot partition loader with some extra features, including colored "Award- like" SETUP, virus protection, Linux kernel support, and more. Go to http://en.ecomstation.ru/kiewitzsoft/air-boot.php/, or http://air-boot.netlabs.org/. NOTE: Source is now also available.

Odin Bug Report Generator version 0.5.8 has been released as of 01/13/2003. This was demoed by Steven Levine at the August 2001 SCOUG general meeting. It is a tool to easily generate Odin bug reports. An older version of this program is now included with Odin. Use search key odinbug on Hobbes.

NOTES:
1. Source is now also available.
2. Odin Bug Report Generator is also available in WPI format for installation via WarpIN.

Maul Publisher is now at version 2.22 as of 01/11/2003. It is billed as "the world's first professional desktop publisher for OS/2". It will automatically take care of page numbering in folding booklets, reversal of margins for facing pages, page numbering offsets where you don't want to start from Page 1, reversal of margins for top-bound booklets and top-folding booklets, centering margins on printers with odd margins, and multi-way folding sheets and maps. In addition, you have full control of column, row, gutter, and center gutter guides, including the automatic adjustment of page offsets when a number of sheets are bound into a folding booklet. Go to http://www.manglais.com/subs/php/product.php?MAULE200, or use search key maule on Hobbes.

XSane is now at version 0.90 as of 01/14/2003. It is a front-end for SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy). It requires XFree86/OS2. Go to http://home.tiscalinet.de/fbakan/xsane-os2.htm.

Minta version 2.52 has been released. It is a MP3 tagging, listing, and information utility. Go to http://www.teamos2.ipcon.de/~thielen/programs/minta/, or use search key minta on Hobbes.

Cinema/2 version 0.3.1 has been released as of 01/13/2003. It is a TV application for the WinCast TV cards. Go to http://www.ctlab.de/index.html.en.

BootAble version 2.14 has been released as of 01/12/2003. This is a script which can be used to create a maintenance partition or bootable CD with enough facilities to fully manage and recover your system. It contains support for LVM, HPFS, JFS, FAT32, UDF (turned off by default) and the CD file system. Go to http://www.xs4all.nl/~hrbaan/.

WarpZip version 3.9 has been released as of 01/20/2003. This program will now search for, list, view, extract and do "near seamless" installations from ZIP, ARJ, RAR, LZH, TGZ, GZ, WPI, and OS/2 "packed" file formats. It also features a Download Pre-Processor that will selectively move your downloaded ZIP files to any directory you choose, test them for integrity, virus-test them, and queue them up for later review. It now includes WarpZip Lite, a lightweight version for quick use with ZIP files in the WPS. Go to http://www.pillarsoft.net/warpzip.html.

The Enhanced E editors have been updated as of 01/09/2003 to version 2.8. These replacement system editors have lots of new features. Go to http://www.pillarsoft.net/enhanced.html. NOTE: One editor is free (but the author suggests sending a postcard or e-mail saying you are using it), and the other editor is shareware ($25 registration).

The PillarSoft Suite has been updated as of 01/20/2003. This is a great collection of software and utilities which includes WarpZip and the Enhanced E editors, plus lots more. Go to http://www.pillarsoft.net/suite.html. You can either purchase directly from PillarSoft or thru BMT Micro.

LAME version 3.93.1 has been released as of 01/09/2003. This is a MP3 encoder, and includes a graphical frame analyzer. Use search key lame on Hobbes. There is also a front-end available called Puristin (version 0.26 as of 03/21/2000; download it at http://www.tec.puv.fi/~k3/os2/).

ThirdEye version 2.20 has been released. It is a universal digital camera manipulation program that supports cameras from Agfa, Olympus, Epson, Nikon, Sanyo, Kodak, HP, and Konica. It has a REXX interface, a NetDrive plugin, and both PM and VIO versions of the application. This allows you to browse the pictures in your digital camera with your favorite file manager or the WPS. Go to http://ecomstation.ru/thirdeye/.

Lynx version 2.8.5 dev13 has been released as of 01/24/2003. It is a text-mode browser that is the subject of a multi-part review by Dallas Legan, and was also mentioned in the May 2002 Mr. Know-It-All. This version now has SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) support and NLS support, and is now packaged as a self-installing EXE file. Use search key lynx on Hobbes.

The tools for VIA 8233 motherboards (KT133/266/333 chipsets) that control CPU cooling and power management have been updated as of 01/24/2003. Use search key 8233cool on Hobbes.

Yahoo Quote Grabber version .01 has been released as of 01/22/2003. This is a VX-REXX program that retrieves stock quotes from the Yahoo Historical server. NOTE: You must have VX-REXX (in particular, VROBJ.DLL) installed. Use search key yqg on Hobbes.

Apache version 2.0.44, the premier web server of the Internet, has been released as of 01/24/2003. It offers big performance improvements over the older versions due to multi-threading and elimination of some EMX dependencies. Download it from http://apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/os2/; info is at http://silk.apana.org.au/apache/apache_v2.shtml.

USBMOUNTD has been released as of 01/24/2003. This is a utility for automatic mounting of USB media devices; plugging in a new device automatically updates the list of removable media, and assigns a drive letter. Use search key usbmountd on Hobbes.

Chris Wohlgemuth's port of CDRecord version 2.00 has been released as of 01/17/2003. You can burn single-session, multi-session, or audio CD's. Go to http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/cdrecord/cdrecordmain.htm.

cdrtools version 2.01a01 was released as of 01/27/2003. This contains cdrecord, readcd, cdda2wav, and mkisofs. Use search key cdrtools on Hobbes. NOTE: Since I use RSJ instead of CDRecord or cdrtools, I can't tell the difference between CDRecord and cdrtools.

PolarOS2 was released as of 01/27/2003. It will create a program object to start Polarbar Mailer. Use search key polaros2 on Hobbes.

XWorkplace version 1.0.1 was released as of 02/02/2003. This was part of Gary Granat's series on Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat. This version fixes some bugs; it requires WarpIn to install (see below). Go to http://www.xworkplace.org/proj_xwp.html. NOTE: This version will not work on Warp 3; if you use Warp 3, stick with version 0.9.20.

WarpIn version 1.0.1 was released as of 02/02/2003. This is an open-source PM installer / uninstaller that can also install quietly through environmental variables. A number of bug fixes are included. Go to http://www.xworkplace.org/proj_warpin.html.

Editorial Note: Special thanks to SCOUG's Dallas Legan for writing a handy REXX script to convert URLs in a text file into HTML tags. It's much appreciated!

SCOUG, Warp Expo West, and Warpfest are trademarks of the Southern California OS/2 User Group. OS/2, Workplace Shell, and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.