WPS resets when accessing file system objects

[guest]

Hi

Installed WPSWizard0.6.1a3

No error messages during the install.

After completion of phase2 I rebooted.

When the Desktop loaded I noticed immediately that the Desktop Text had been changed from RED to BLACK.

However, when I open the Properties for the Desktop I find that the text set is RED; I had to change the setting to another colour before I could reset the Desktop text back to Red.

As no other software is involved I can only conclude that the installation of WPSWzard is somehow responsible for this Desktop text colour change. I have to add that this colour change was present in both previous releases tested, 061a1 and 061a2.

I had been surfing and emailing using Seamonkey for a little while - around 30 -40 minutes when I decided I would install 1 of the Icon Theme packs available.

I created a subdirectory \wpswizard\Themes and unzipped the theme to that subdirectory; that created some additional subdirectories.

When I opened the H:\WPSWizard\Themes\KDE_Crystal_Diamond\blue subdirectory the WPS reset and system sound no longer worked, all WPSWizard folder enhancements were missing. It was necessary to reboot to restore folder enhancements and system sound.

Following the reboot I again tried to open the H:\WPSWizard\Themes\KDE_Crystal_Diamond\blue subdirectory using the WPS with exactly the same results as above.

A lot of reboots later and I can confirm this is not limited to any particular directory, the WPS resets for no obvious reason on any directory - but not every time. The system can be working happily for a while - maybe 15 to 30 minutes - without any problems, directory access using the WPS working fine and then when opening a directory the WPS resets for no obvious reason. It does not seem to matter if the directory has been accessed successfully previously or not.

This was also my experience with the previous versions of WPSWizard tested, 061a1 and 061a2. Since trying those versions I have updated some hardware - mainboard, 2Gb RAM, cpu, graphics card - and acpi drivers.

Operating system is eCS1.2R, current driver levels, SMP14.104a kernel, ACPI v3.08, Cairo v1.4.14, SNAP3.1.8, Innotek Font Engine beta2.60, libc061/2/3, uniaud114RC6 + uniaud192 (HDA version of uniaud32.sys)

The system does not have e(x)Workplace or eSchemes installed.

pmshell.exe has been added to the Innotek Font Engine Applications Registry key

I had a look for the wpswiz.log mentioned in the readme.1st file and could not find it in the root of my boot drive or anywhere on my system.

Thinking it may be locked and hidden while in use I booted to a command line and still failed to find it. I know previous versions did create a [BootDrive:\]wpswiz.log but this version does not seem to...

Previous logs tended to look like this:-

cwthememgr_wizReleasePaintCtxt: no PaintCtxt given. cwthememgr_wizReleasePaintCtxt: no PaintCtxt given. cwthememgr_wizReleasePaintCtxt: no PaintCtxt given. cwthememgr_wizReleasePaintCtxt: no PaintCtxt given.

There are no entries in popuplog.os2 for the above system resets.

Of even further interest: The above text was prepared late yesterday evening.

Today I opened the folder containing the text file with the above text. As I scrolled that folder looking for the text file to open to perform some copy'n'pasting the system gave a series of beeps and now I do not have system sounds. At least the WPS did not reset while I was preparing this - that did happen the previous time that I felt inclined to enter a report.

I must admit that after a reboot I just could not be bothered: I reformatted the hard drive and restored a system backup just to get rid of the WPS instability induced by WPSWizard...

AS these WPS Resets and loss of system sound do not occur when WPSizard is Not installed I can only presume either there is a problem with WPSWizard or there is a "hidden" problem on this system that is exposed by installing WPSWizard.

As I am unable to get much done with these persistent WPS resets causing disruption I will Backup this system and Restore a working non-WPSWizard system.

Should you need any testing done on this WPSWizard installation then I will Restore this installation from Backup for that purpose.

Feel free to email me with regard to this report losepete@…

Regards

Pete

[guest]

Having finished the above report I closed Seamonkey and PostArmor which were the only apps running on the Desktop.

I tried to open Drive H: from my eComCenter Drive Tray: the icon depressed but the drive did not appear on screen.

I tried to open the Local System folder on the Desktop and was rewarded with this error message, Titled "Desktop":-

"The folder, H:\Desktop\Local System, cannot be opened. There might not be enough memory in the system."

Any attempt to open any Desktop folder or Drive object results in a similar message.

My guess is that this is a "knock on" effect of the beeps and loss of system sound when scrolling a folder - mentioned in the previous report.

I must emphasize that the WPS problems reported do Not occur when WPSWizard is not installed.

[guest]

Pete,

One thing I notice in your description: "pmshell.exe has been added to the Innotek Font Engine Applications Registry key". You might want to try removing that and see what happens. I have had all kinds of weird problems when that key was added - maybe it is the root of yours too?

Dave McKenna

[guest]

Hi Dave

I disabled pmshell.exe from the Innotek Font Engine Applications Registry key (set Enabled to 0)

I restarted the WPS using ResetWPS from PTools. The Innotek Font Engine is no longer enhancing Desktop text - and the WPS reset has removed all the KDE_Crystal_Diamond Blue icons from the Desktop. It did not kill system sound though...

My 1st attempt at opening a file system directory resulted in the WPS reset displayed previously with the Font Engine Enabled.

My 2nd attempt resulted in a hung system requiring a press of the Reset button on the system box.

No "wpswiz.log" in evidence anywhere to add anything to this report. no entries in popuplog.os2 that are dated/timed for these events.

Thanks for the suggestion but it looks like the problem lies elsewhere.

Pete

[guest]

I have now had a chance to perform a basic eCS20RC4 install with minimum options.

I then installed cairo1414 followed by installing WPSWizard0.6.1a3 without problems.

During the reboot I realised that I did not have any version of the Innotek Font Engine installed...

I did install that (v2.60) and reboot (again) before playing with WPSWizard though.

No real problems with WPSWizard, no problems at all accessing any directories, no WPS resets, hangs or crashes as reported when WPSWzard is installed to my eCS1.2R system - with 1 exception, a WPS reset, detailed further below.

I did have 1 minor repeatable problem:-

1] Sometimes when opening a folder I get double images of items in the folder placed 1 on but slightly to 1 side of the other. These are not 2 separate objects they are the 1 object duplicated.

No other complaint about the basic WPSWizard installation; just a suggestion that I think could be useful - well, I would find it useful :-)

The Command Lines option would be better, in my view, if it had a "Default" action of opening an OS/2 Command Window. Any other choice would require the same action as current.

Also with the "Command Lines" why is it not possible to open the Root of a drive? I would appreciate that capability - I am a bit surprised it is missing.

As it is I guess I can always disable the Command Lines option and use cmdrun.dll to provide the Command Lines options with the above desired capabilities already built in but it would be handy if WPSWizard provided the capability - 1 less thing to remember to install next time an eCs install is called for :-)

The "1 exception" WPS reset bit:-

I did have another try at using the previous mentioned theme - very nice. It does not quite go with the standard eCS2.0RC4 Desktop background image but that can be changed.

Yes, WPSWizard certainly adds a better look to a Desktop.

I'm not sure whether this is theme or WPSWizard related but I have noticed that every now and again some of the desktop folders and directory folders "lose" the theme icon and revert to the standard eCS1.0 Classic icons that were in use prior to installing the theme.

Also some very standard directory icons do not get changed at all ie the icon for J:\temp directory has never, and cannot be persuaded to, use the theme icon. The only WPS reset I had with this installation was when I tried to drag'n'drop the icon from the theme directory onto the Properties, Icon page, Icon of the directory.

As I said earlier that could be theme or WPSWizard related; let me know how to attach the wpswiz.log file if it is required.

Anyhow, the above WPSWizard installation on a new, minimal eCS2.0RC4 system basically worked. That means there is something that WPSizard does not get on with already installed in my eCS1.2R system... that could become a bit of a "needle in a haystack" hunt.

Regards

Pete