Suntan Special version 0.69

Suntan Special Web edition

### ArcaOS 5.1

ArcaOS 5.1 is Arca Noae's release of their version of OS/2. ArcaOS 5.1, the long-awaited modern OS/2 distribution from Arca Noae, was released for general availability on August 26, 2023. ArcaOS 5.1.1 was released on February 16, 2023 in English, Spanish, German and Russian. This version of the installation has been created especially for use with Blonde Guy's Suntan Special.

My copy of ArcaOS 5.1 comes on a USB stick.

#### Installation Procedure

1. Boot the computer from the ArcaOS USB stick. The first screen to appear offers two boot choices, Boot from hard disk and Install / Maintain ArcaOS. Select Install / Maintain ArcaOS. If there are no bootable partitons on the hard drive, this screen will not appear.
2. On the second screen, choose Boot with default values unless you know that you need to do otherwise.
3. The boot program will process for about a minute, then the screen named ArcaOS Installer - Welcome will appear. If you wish to explore the system before installing, select System Management. Adjust the text size, keyboard or mouse if needed, then press Next.
4. When the screen named ArcaOS Installer - Terms appears, scroll to the bottom of the ArcaOS End User License Agreement, and check the box labelled I have read and agree to the above license, then press Next.
5. A screen named ArcaOS Installer - Installation Type will appear. If you have a response file, select Scripted (response file required), otherwise, select Custom (full control of all options), and press Next.
6. If you selected a scripted response file, you will be prompted for the response file. When you accept the response file, the installation will be completed automatically. The system will boot twice.
7. The system will get disk information, then check disk integrity for a minute, then a screen named ArcaOS Installer - Volumes will appear. Either select the installation volume from those provided, or press the Manage Volumes button to bring up the Maintenance and Installation Volume program. The new volume must be bootable to be a valid selection. On Blonde Guy systems, I usually install all the components to a single volume, which is the default setting. Make your selections and pressNext.
8. On the ArcaOS Installer - Location page, I set the timezone to Pacific, and check boxes for Observe Daylight Saving Time and Enable Internet time synchronization. Press Next when done.
9. On the ArcaOS Installer - select components page, I recommend a minimal installation. I deselect all of the Network Components except Remote Connections Manager. When done, press Next.
10. The system will detect hardware devices for a short time, then display the ArcaOS Installer - Devices page. For my machines, all of the choices made by the installer were correct. Examine all of the choices just to make sure, then press Next.
11. On the ArcaOS Installer - Network page, the installer has chosen all the correct network and protocols for me. I then select all Network options, including Samba Access File Client, IBM File and Print Client, and Samba Server. Press Next when choices are complete.
12. On the ArcaOS Installer - Network Settings page, I enter the computer name on the first line. I have named my network Beach2, leave the user named Warp30 and leave the Home directory at the default. Press Next.
13. On the ArcaOS Installer - Confirm Installation page, press Next to start the installation process.
14. The ArcaOS Installer - Copying Files page will appear for some time, then the computer will reboot.
15. When the computer reboots, allow it to boot from the hard drive, which is the default setting. Ensure that the boot manager selects the installation volume for booting. Note any errors during the boot process -- the exact message will be helpful in resolving any problems with the installation.
16. After copying more files, the computer will reboot again. Once again, allow it to boot from the hard drive. The ArcaOS desktop will appear. Installation is complete.
17. I clean up the desktop a little bit. I disable the e-pager. I set up ArcaMapper to automatically mount my server drive.
18. Shutdown and reboot the computer, and note any errors during the boot process. When the computer has rebooted, check the screen properties to make sure they are suitable. When the screen settings are OK, first make a desktop archive.
19. If I'm installing on VirtualBox, this is where I shutdown the virtual machine and take a snapshot labelled First Boot.
20. If I'm installing on real hardware, then I reboot from the USB stick. Choose the System Management console, and open a commandline. (Command Prompts->Command Line). Back up your new installation with the following command.

                  zip -qryS xdrive.zip X:\* -x WP?ROOT.?SF

    Replace X with the drive letter of your installation. Keep this zip file handy to restore your original installation.

#### Results

After performing the above steps, I had 20980 files, taking up 926,182,526 bytes with 6,621,864 bytes of extended attributes. The zip file took 501,800,676 bytes.

Last Modified: 11 Aug 2025
Graphics by Colorful Language
Copyright 2025 by Blonde Guy