CONFIG.SYS statements used by OS/2

This section contains some information about undocumented or poorly documented CONFIG.SYS statements used by OS/2.

AUTOFAIL=x

x maybe yes (no popup message for harderrors) or no (popup message for harderrors), default is no. Note that the DLL RXU contains a function to dynamically switch popup windows on and off.

Available: All versions
Source: various

AUTOREFRESHFOLDERS=NO
Suppress the automatic refresh of folder contents. If this feature is activated, you must manually refresh the view of a folder after each action

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: various

DLLBASING=OFF
Reduce the fragmentation of loaded DLLs (ON by default)

Available: WSeB or after applying FP13 to Warp4
Source: various

DUMPPROCESS=x
Activate the dump process. The dump goes to the file PDUMP.nnn in the root directory of drive specified in x (where nnn is an unique number).

Available: All versions
Source: various

EARLYMEMINIT=TRUE
Adding "EARLYMEMINIT=TRUE" to config.sys will allow device drivers, etc., access to the memory above 16mb early in boot. Previously, this was only available after DD and IFS init was completed. This has various implications when enabled:

• large VDISKs are possible. I tried DEVICE=\os2\vdisk.sys 16000
  
• AHA154X.ADD may do bad things to your system. Don't even ask.
  
• There may be some settings of HPFS386 cache that are incompatible. This feature is experimental.
Available: only available in the WARP kernels from testcase
Source: various

I13PAGES=1
SMP kernels could not be RIPL-booted. As part of this, there is a new config.sys parameter I13PAGES= available. Adding I13PAGES=1 to config.sys (note, no SET) reduces the memory usage of the mini VDM processes used by ibm1s506.add and the GRADD drivers. This becomes important in RIPL-boot situations.

Available: only available with Kernel 14.062 or higher
Source: various

MENUSTYLE=SHORT
Disable some entries from the object context menus

Available: All versions
Source: various

OBJECTSNOOZETIME=n
n is the snooze time for objects and DLLs in seconds (default is 90) (see Note)

Available: All versions
Source: various

PAUSEONERROR=x
Pause after each error in the CONFIG.SYS (x=YES) or not (x=NO). Default is YES.

Available: All versions
Source: various

REIPL=x
Save trap information into a file and reboot the workstation (x=ON) or display an error message (x=OFF). Default is OFF.

Available: All versions
Source: various

RESERVEDRIVELETTER=x
"The ability to reserve drive letters feature has been added at WARP FixPak level XRUW024. A modification has been made to the OS/2 kernel that will allow the user to specify, through a CONFIG.SYS parameter, specific drive letters that will not be allocated for local block mode devices during the processing of CONFIG.SYS.

SYNTAX: RESERVEDRIVELETTER=x

where x is letter D thru Z. Multiple RESERVEDRIVELETTER statements is be allowed."

Available: WARP 3 FixPack #24 and newer (e.g. Warp4, WSeB,etc)
Source: various

SHAPIEXCEPTIONHANDLER=OFF
Disable the WPS API exception handler (see Note)

Available: All versions
Source: various

SHELLEXCEPTIONHANDLER=OFF
Disable the WPS exception handler (see Note)

Available: All versions
Source: various

SET DEVICEFONTDISABLED=NO
Setting this to YES. will cause very large/slow print jobs, since no uploaded/internal printer fonts will be used.
You want it set to NO in most cases (NO is the default).

Available: WSeB and probably more recent WARP 3/4 fixpaks
Source: Peter Fitzsimmons (see EMail Addresses)

SET ENH_STRETCH=NO
The new feature "enhanced stretch-blitting" has one known ill side-effect, where some of the icons for folders and other items will appear "washed out" when running in 24bpp or 32bpp. To fix this, you can disable the new feature by adding this line.

Available: Warp 4 FP14 and newer (e.g. Warp4, WSeB,etc)
Source: ConfigTool

SET KILLFEATUREENABLED=on
Activate the list of all processes in the WarpCenter (hold down CTRL and click on the windows icon on the WarpCenter to open the list).
Note that you can also use SCKILLFEATUREENABLED.

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: c't 1/1997

SET LIBPATHSTRICT=x
(x maybe T (true) or F (false)
Allows creation of a local version of the BEGINLIBPATH statement that can include DLLs that have the same name as globally loaded DLLs. The local DLLs are checked before the globals. Thus if your program has a DLL that is the same name as another, you can create a command file with the SET LIBPATHSTRICT=T, a SET BEGINLIBPATH=my program's dll, and the path & name of my program, and run your program.

Available: New kernel instruction in WARP kernels from testcase since September 1, 2000
Source: ConfigTool

SET MENUSFOLLOWPOINTER=ON
This makes the WarpCenter menus behave like the Start menu of Windows 95: The menus follow the mouse pointer.

Available: WARP 4 with Fixpack #5 or later
Source: various

SET NOLARGENTEXEICON=n
Limit the number of megabytes (=n) the WPS should scan through Windows EXE files for the program icon before assigning a default icon

Available: New kernels from testcase (APAR PJ27886)
Source: XWorkplace Mailinglist

SET NEWNOTEBOOKS=ON
Enables the new notebooks for applications written prior to WARP 4

Available: This setting worked in the MERLIN Beta, but seems to be disabled in WARP 4 GA.
Source: various

SET PM_ASYNC_FOCUS_CHANGE=x {time}
Enable the SIQFix (Single Input Queue Fix) and set the custom time-out to time ms (default: 2000). Set x to OFF or remove the statement to disable the SIQFix

Available: WARP 3 FixPack #17 and newer (e.g. Warp4, WSeB,etc)
Source: various

SET PM_DYNAMIC_DRAG=x
Activate (x=ON) or deactivate (x=OFF, default) the full window drag for PM windows

Available: WARP 3 FixPack #17 and newer (e.g. Warp4, WSeB,etc)
Source: various

SET PM_ROLLUP_BUTTON=YES
Adds a new button to the window titlebars that you can use to "Roll up your PM windows to just a titlebar".

Available: This setting worked in the MERLIN Beta, but seems to be disabled in WARP 4 GA.
Source: Team OS/2 WEB pages

SET PM_PRINTSCREEN_ACTIVE_WINDOW=x
(x can be ON or OFF) If x is ON the window with the focus will print when a Print Screen operation is initiated. If x is OFF, the default Print Screen operation takes place.

Available: Warp 4 FP13
Source: ConfigTool

SET QUEUE_SIZE_THRESHOLD=X
Change the size of the message queue. Default is 100 for version prior to the WARP 3 Fixpack #17 and 3000 for the WARP 3 Fixpack #17.

Available: WARP 3 FixPack #17 and newer (e.g. Warp4, WSeB,etc)
Source: various

SET RESTARTOBJECTS=x
Control the restart behaviour of the WPS, x may be YES (default), NO, STARTUPFOLDERSONLY or REBOOTONLY.

Available: All versions
Source: various

SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
This statements points to the shell program to use - normally that's the program C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE. But you can change this to any other program if you want to restrict the PC to only run that program (e.g. SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS\PROGMAN.EXE).

Available: All versions
Source: various

SET SCCANBENUKED=ON
This makes the WARPCenter object "nukeable" i.e. you can right click and choose "Delete" which is not possible normally.
If SCCANBENUKED does not work, try CANBENUKED.

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: Team OS/2 WEB pages

SET SCFINDUTILITY={anyprogram_or_anyObjectID}
This allows you to define any external program (OS/2, DOS, Windows, or even an object ID like <WP_OS2SYS>!) for the flashlight icon on the WARPCenter. Click the little flashlight icon (WARPCenter) and you get whatever you specified.
If SCFINDUTILITY does not work, try FINDUTILITY.

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: Team OS/2 WEB pages

SET SCKILLCONFIRMDISABLED=ON
Avoid the "Are you sure dialog" if using the kill feature of the WARPCenter activated with SET KILLFEATUREENABLED=on. Note that you must also add the entry SET KILLCONFIRMDISABLED=1 to make this work.

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: Team OS/2 WEB pages

SET SCUSEPRETTYCLOCK=1
Change the color of the clock from the WARPCenter to green on black
If SCUSEPRETTYCLOCK does not work, try USEPRETTYCLOCK.

Available: WARP 4 only!
Source: Team OS/2 WEB pages

SET SHELLHANDLESINC=n
Increment the number of file handles available to a shell process (e.g. a REXX program started by the CMD.EXE) by the amount of n. (see also Maximum files per session; tested only in WARP 4 with Fixpack #6)

Available: WARP 4 with Fixpack #6
Source: various

SUPPRESSPOPUPS=x
Save error information into the file POPUPLOG.OS2 in the root directory of the drive x and suppress the dialogs (On WARP 4 with Fixpack #3 x may be 0 to simulate the behaviour of OS/2 versions prior to this version).

Available: All versions
Source: various

SXFAKEHWFPU=1
Activate a fix for a "math rounding error" in WARP 4

Available: WARP 4 only! Fixpack #1
Source: WARP 4 Fixpack 1 documentation

VIRTUALADRESSLIMIT=n
(n is the limit in kb)

The default value for VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT in OS/2 Warp Server for e-business is 1 GB (n=1024). The VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT parameter is also available for OS/2 Warp Server SMP Feature and Warp 4.0 Fixpak 13. Areas of memory below 512 MB have been remapped for higher availability in that region.

2048 allows max. memory allocated 2 Gigs of shared RAM. Only useful for developers.

You must have a hard disk that can accommodate the swap file. UW2SCSIs are recommended for the swap disk unless you wish to see your computer behave like a washing machine in spin dry mode.

The OS/2 Warp Server Advanced SMP addendum states that this number can go to 3 Gigs. Memory support has also been enhanced since now an application can access a virtual memory address space of up to 3 GB by use of the VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT = 3072 parameter in CONFIG.SYS. Areas of memory below 512 MB have been remapped for higher availability in that region.

Available: WSeB, Warp Server SMP, and Warp 4.0 Fixpak 13
Source: ConfigTool

VME=NO
Turn "Virtual mode extension (VME)" off (see Note about VME)

Available: All versions
Source: various

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