Bugs found so far in XFree86/OS2 3.3.3

Last updated 30 November 1998
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.

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/XFree86/3.3.3/binaries/OS2. If your archives or files differ from that, you have old versions (likely from some other archive). Obtain the recent files!

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.

SHM.DLL not found
If you have updated from version 3.2 or 3.3 (does not happen with 3.3.1/3.3.2/3.3.3), the server won't startup; it will fail because some small DLL named SHM.DLL is missing. This DLL is in the Xbin.zip file which you might not have installed, if you have just installed a new server (the README.UPDATE file suggests that you can do this). You can get the standalone file SHM.DLL from set.gmd.de if you need it.
Trap of xf86sup.sys in Aurora on shutdown.
If you get this, you may have obtained an older version of Xbin.zip or Xbase.zip from an XFree86 mirror archive. Get the fixed xf86sup.sys as a workaround. The archives at set.gmd.de have been updated.

Recently, an unrelated trap has been reported in CONSOLE$ for Aurora beta when starting a window manager. This will be further investigated. No fix known yet. It is possibly a semaphore bug in Aurora beta.

Minor bugs

Annoying, but harmless, likely to be fixed in the next version, use workaround for now, if available.

Xslib.zip and Xman.zip missing.
They managed not to get uploaded to the server, therefore, probably not all mirror archives have them. They are at set.gmd.de, though.
SuperProbe does not detect the Matrox G100/200.
Well, so is it. No fix. But the X server (SVGA) handles them.

General problems

May appear with XFree86 on other platforms as well, no idea when this will be fixed. These problems are usually repeated on each bug page until there is a final solution.
There exists a general hardware conflict between certain S3 or Mach32/64 based cards and COM4 (port address 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.
Server breaks SLIP/PPP connection
No solution known yet, but there have been also reports for Linux and FreeBSD in the XFree86 mailing lists, indicating that this is not an OS/2 problem. It is possible that this happens with bad designed serial I/O hardware which does not decode I/O port addresses correctly, and may then point out some address conflict between video and serial I/O card. If you know more about this, please tell me.
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.
Matrox G100/G200 cards not detected by SuperProbe.
This is a prominent example of the before mentioned SuperProbe mis-detection problem. Don't worry about this, XFree86-3.3.3 (SVGA) does support these cards.

Things that are not a bug

(but candidates for the FAQ...)

None known yet, but actually, look at the FAQ.

Mistakes in the documentation

None known yet.

Inaccuracies or omissions from the XFree86 docs

X333*.zip not found.
XFree86 has decided to rename the formerly called X"versionnumber"xxx.zip (e.g. X333bin.zip) files to Xxxx.zip, no longer containing the version number. Some documentation may still incorrectly refer to the old names.
FILES and SUMS.md5 defective.
If you got your distribution from XFree86 or an official XFree86 mirror, you will get the files FILES and SUMS.md5 which do not belong to XFree86/OS2, but to the Unix versions. If you haven't downloaded them yet, don't bother to download them. The official file list is here.

Useful hints and tricks

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

None reported yet. See also offical XFree86 FAQ.

This page was accessed since 4 June 97 (2418 times since 1 Nov 96, 645 times since 1 Sep 96, 1159 times since 22 May 96, 1749 times since 11 Mar 96).
Send reports to: Holger.Veit@gmd.de