Operating Systems:

All of the software on this page was developed to operate under the typical "DOS" operating environment.  While it has been known to function on a variety of operating systems, if you experience problems while running in an other than DOS environment, it is suggested that a pure DOS operating system be tried to determine if the problem is operating system related.

 

Windows 3.1, 95, & 98:

These  programs have run with very little problems under the listed environments including networked Window95 systems.  They run best in a "full" window under a "DOS" shell.  If problem arise, try re-booting the system in DOS to eliminate the Windows potential.  Occasional problems have been reported where the mouse shares the serial ports that might be used for downloading.  Note the discussion under "problems" below.

 

Windows NT:

There is very little experience running the programs on a WINDOWS NT system but discussions with those who should know would lead one to believe that the programs will likely run but there might be problems with peripheral hardware such as printers and serial ports.  Printing out documentation might be a problem.

UNIX:

    Most of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service offices across the nation use or have access to computers operating under the UNIX operating system. The current version of UNIX being run is UNIXWARE Version 2.03. This operating system is capable of running DOS or WINDOW applications under the umbrella of what is referred to as "DOS Merge".

    The Ohio Engineering Programs will run under this "DOS Merge" option on the system console. Unfortunately the graphics capability that is required by the programs will not allow them to run on terminals.


Known Problems / Solutions:

Problem When the program is initialized, a message appears indicating that a file can not be located in module Zertsub .......
Solution The program is searching two files named "autoexec.bat" or "config.sys" on the "C:" drive so that it can determine if a mouse is available on the system. Typically the engineering programs are happy with what they can find if the user in logged in as "root". If the user is logged is as a particular individual, sometimes the path or permissions will not allow the program to locate or read these files and the error condition is generated. The solution is to create or make certain that the two files mentioned are accessible to the user of the engineering programs.
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A Michigan Solution Following are the steps I used to install and run Ohio 96 on the Globalyst.
I installed ohio under each user's login. I found that it ran much better this way.

    - From user's main menu select "m" for dos.
    - At the C:\ prompt enter

      mkdir ohio96


  1. - Place the engineering program files into the ohio96 directory.
    - Copy the config.sys file from the root directory into C:\.

      copy d:\config.sys c:\


    - Make sure the contents of the config.sys file are as follows.

      device=j:\merge\lib\mouse.sys
      device=j:\merge\lib\emm.sys


    - In order to use the print screen option for graphics, edit the d:\autoexec.bat file and on a separate line put in the command "graphics". eg. autoexec.bat

      path j:\dos;j:\merge;
      @prompt $p$g
      @if not exist j:\share\novell\ipxtli.com goto :jdp
      j:\share\novell\ipxtli
      j:\share\novell\netx


    :jdp

      printer LPT1 UNIX "exec lp -dg3024p1" /t300 /x1
      graphics


    To setup the printers in the ohio program,
    - Change to the ohio96 directory and execute the program.

      cd ohio96
      engmenu


    - At the Engineering main menu, arrow down to Utiltiy Programs. There are two places to change the printers, one resides in the OH_ENG.CFG option, and the other is in the WHEREARE.YOU option. Both need to be changed, as different modules look for printer information out of these files.
    That's all I did to install and run. The print screen option I have only been able to run on a genicom. Good Luck.