LoneCrusader

For the third time...

The errors have never really stopped. I've still been seeing them every day, to varying degrees of severity.

Hello everyone! This project is fairly straightforward. I have integrated the Device Data from the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility versions 6.3.0.1007 and 8.3.1.1009 (up to ICH9; all after ICH6 is UNOFFICIAL) (excluding server motherboard/Xeon CPU chipsets due to 64KB INF size limit) into the original MACHINE.INF, MACHINE2.INF, and MSHDC.INF files. At the moment, only files for 98SE English have been created. I may consider creating equivalent versions of these INF's for ME/98FE (MAYBE 95, it is more complicated) if there is sufficient interest. Updated info for USB Devices is not included in this initial version. The reason being that there would need to be multiple versions of USB.INF and USB2.INF, depending on if the original USB files are to be maintained; if manufacturer-issued USB2 drivers will be in use; or if NUSB 3.3, NUSB 3.6, or any other unofficial package is used in a target system. Hopefully some of you with Intel or Intel-based systems can test these in a new installation. Answers to a few initial questions: Do I NEED these INF's? No, but they can take a step out of setting up a new system. They are also only useful for new Windows 98SE installations on Intel or Intel-based motherboards. How do I use these INF's? Unzip them and place them in the same directory as your Windows 98SE CAB files prior to installation, and they will be used instead of the older versions inside the CABs. In order to use these, you will need to copy the \WIN98 folder of your 98SE CDROM to your Hard Drive and install from there, or be able to create a new Windows 98SE CD with these files added to the \WIN98 folder. What do these INF's do? These INF's provide all of the Device Information contained in the above listed versions of the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility. If you use these updated INFs during 98SE installation, you will no longer need to install the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility to provide drivers/identify devices on your Intel or Intel-based motherboard. EDIT 7/20/13 : I have split the project into two INF sets, one to be used with Intel Chipsets up to ICH6 (mostly 8xx chipsets) and one to be used with ICH7/ICH8/ICH9/ICH10. (ICH10 not included yet!) Please use the proper version for your system. I have tested the ICH6 and below INFs on some ICH6 and ICH5 systems, and I know these work. Based on the issues schwups reported below, I have reduced the size of MACHINE2.INF for the ICH7 and up INF set. This set is still experimental, and this reduced version is for testing ONLY! If anyone can test, especially on ICH7/ICH8/ICH9 systems please report your results. INTEL_INF_98SE.ZIP - 44.9 Kb EDIT 11/23/15 : I have updated the project to include all devices up to the Intel Chipset Identification Utility version 9.4.0.1017. The newer version requires slightly different handling, so the older version and links are left intact. See Post #31 for link and more info.

No problem. Good luck!

If a Linux or other "live CD" is used to boot the machine and load a "live OS," which holds the CD drive in use to run, then how is the OP supposed to insert the ME CDROM at this point and copy to the HDD? (Unless there are 2 CDROM drives...)

It can't hurt, but if you have removed everything in Safe Mode, there's no reason to load Safe Mode a second time. Just cancel the requests to load drivers and verify that none have returned to the Device Manager on the next (Normal Mode) boot. Yes, the driver files are not removed from your system, they should be redetected along with everything else when NUSB has installed. Be sure that you physically disconnect all USB peripheral devices (printers/scanners/MSD's/etc) from your machine while you do this, and don't reconnect them until AFTER NUSB has been installed successfully and you reboot again.

Only Mass Storage Devices are supported. Devices that do no operate as "MSD's" as you call them are not supported. No, "native" in this case simply means that a "generic/universal" driver is provided for MSD's, as opposed to 98SE without NUSB, which requires each USB Storage device to have it's own manufacturer-provided driver. Above answer also applies here. Correct. No. NUSB36E upgrades the USB 1.1 Controller/Hub Driver Stack. This does not change or add any external device support. No. A driver "Stack" is simply a set of driver files, usually including an .INF file with device data, plus .SYS/.VXD/.PDR etc files that actually interface with hardware. There is no existing "Universal Stack" under 98SE and Windows cannot "write" a "Stack. These drivers must be created by programmers. More on "Driver Stacks" below. The latter. Yes, but not necessarily in that order. Devices not currently connected to the machine do not show up in the Device Manager in Normal Mode. This is why Safe Mode is advised, because it shows ALL installed devices, whether they are currently connected or not. You should remove ALL entries for ALL USB connected devices (including entries under "Universal Serial Bus controllers," "Disk drives," "Storage devices," and any others, including Printers in your case) under Safe Mode, and then reboot into Normal Mode. Order of their removal is not important, just be sure you remove them all. Bypass/Cancel any driver installation requests on the next boot, and when the Desktop has loaded, check the Device Manager to see that none of the USB devices have returned. If they have, remove them, then install NUSB36E, and you will be prompted to reboot for the new drivers to be installed. No problem. Now, more on "Driver Stacks," which seems to be a point of confusion for many, not just yourself. NUSB333E contained two "Driver Stacks." One driver stack is for USB Mass Storage Devices. The other was for USB 2.0 hardware (controllers/ports/hubs) in your machine if it has USB 2.0 capability. Windows 98SE does not have a "Driver Stack" for either of these types of hardware "out of the box." USB Storage Drivers, USB2.0 Hardware Drivers, and the USB 1.1 Hardware drivers that do come with 98SE are three separate entities. Each of these does a different job. The difference with NUSB36E is that it also updates the USB 1.1 Hardware drivers to the Windows ME versions. The "USB Storage Drivers" and the USB 2.0 Hardware Drivers are all the same as before. Updating the USB 1.1 files allows for the use of more "USB Composite Devices" (which I don't have enough knowledge about to describe properly) on some machines and in certain configurations. This feature has really not been tested much in "applied" situations, because those situations seem to be uncommon, or they have not been reported/discussed here. So, NUSB36E contains THREE "Driver Stacks," each independent and for different hardware devices. Drivers for USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ONLY provide support for devices INSIDE your machine, not External devices. The only External Devices supported are USB Mass Storage Devices.

No, all you have to do is go under "Add New Hardware" and manually install "PCI bus." (If I remember correctly; this was done under Windows 95, so it may be slightly different under 98 & up. I will check it again.) EDIT: Yes, it's the same process under 98. "Add New Hardware", choose to manually select a device, then choose "System devices," then "PCI bus." 98 & up MAY? have other issues with ACPI on these systems. 95 does not support ACPI to begin with, so it's not an issue under 95, but I can't speak for the others.

It can probably be made to work. xRayer created a set of modified INF's for newer Intel systems, and I have been working on a similar project. I did encounter some problems getting 9x up and running on ICH7 and ICH10 Intel boards however. When installing Windows 9x, sometimes the PCI Bus Enumeration will fail (probably due to a later version of ACPI which doesn't play well with 9x), leaving the system with only a fraction of its actual devices installed. This can be fixed by manually installing the PCI Bus Enumerator. (Thanks to rloew for figuring this out! )

FIX95CPU has been updated to version 3.0. Get the new version here. See the first post of this topic for what's new in this version. If you have already successfully installed FIX95CPU on Windows 95 OSR2, there is no need to update. This new version mainly addresses issues specific to Windows 95 RTM. Special thanks to TmEE for hosting the new version.

Thanks for the update!

I actually got another one of those "There appears to be an error with the database" errors, where the page loads, but the default Font is changed, and the error shows up at the bottom of the page...

Oh no! It's doing it again!

+1

zShare seems to have deleted by original ZIP. Oh well. Here it is again. IE6SP1 Full Package No. You need the .MSI I already linked. Right click - Save As.

Have you tried using Vista drivers (if they exist) or XP drivers? Not me, I'll use Linux first!

If you can download drivers for Windows 9x for a board, that's really all you need. If you want something that is natively supported by Windows 9x without having to download drivers, youre going to have to go waaayy back... CPU speed is not an issue. Windows 95 and Windows 98FE were affected by a processor clock speed bug at 2.1GHz, but both of these issues have long been solved. Microsoft issued a HotFix for 98FE that fixes the problem, and 95 is solved by FIX95CPU. Windows 98SE and ME are not affected. The computer you refer to is/was terrible for two reasons - Celeron is garbage. Get rid of it and use a P4 chip. Also 512MB of RAM is just not enough for modern machines, especially if you use them for everyday computing tasks. I use Intel 845/865/875 boards + P4 processors for all of my 9x machines and have never had any issues. Also - last ATI AGP graphics cards supported under 9x are the x800/x850 series. Not sure about nVidia, but others here can help with that.

You know, if everyone follows this *flawed* logic, there will soon be none of these left to pick up either...

Hmm... I wonder if they are also "backwards compatible" to USB 1.1 ports?

i875. It's just that there seem to be very few boards actually using this chipset. But I can verify that the Intel D875PBZ (the REAL Intel version, NOT the "WASP" ones used by OEM's, they seem to be unpredictable) works 100% with 98SE. (Note that the D875PBZ does not have integrated sound, which I thought was very odd for a "modern" motherboard. ) Searching for i865 boards will give a much wider range of choices though.

Cross-posting here and in the NUSB thread. Due to the repeated problems some users with VIA Chipsets are having, I have created an automated installer for the VIA USB 2.0 Driver Stack. This can be used to replace the Microsoft Windows 2000 files installed by NUSB and the Unofficial Service Pack on systems that have VIA chipsets and have problems using the Microsoft files. This package supports the /Q:A and /R:N syntax for silent or scripted installations. It will overwrite the Microsoft files installed by NUSB in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS without prompting. This package is intended for use with NUSB and the USP ONLY. It does NOT provide an INF file, and can NOT be uninstalled. To restore the Microsoft files, you must re-add them manually, or reinstall NUSB/USP. ONLY USE THIS PACKAGE IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE MICROSOFT DRIVERS! VIAUSB2.ZIP - 180.7 Kb

Cross-posting here and in the U98SESP3 thread. Due to the repeated problems some users with VIA Chipsets are having, I have created an automated installer for the VIA USB 2.0 Driver Stack. This can be used to replace the Microsoft Windows 2000 files installed by NUSB and the Unofficial Service Pack on systems that have VIA chipsets and have problems using the Microsoft files. This package supports the /Q:A and /R:N syntax for silent or scripted installations. It will overwrite the Microsoft files installed by NUSB in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS without prompting. This package is intended for use with NUSB and the USP ONLY. It does NOT provide an INF file, and can NOT be uninstalled. To restore the Microsoft files, you must re-add them manually, or reinstall NUSB/USP. ONLY USE THIS PACKAGE IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE MICROSOFT DRIVERS! VIAUSB2.ZIP - 180.7 Kb

Now I feel like a fool but I never expected to find a 95 RTM HotFix on the 95C CD... Who knows, it's Microsoft after all. I figured you or jaclaz would turn it up about the time the rest of us had given up...

I found it. Turns out that particular version is actually buried in a folder on the 95 OSR 2.5 CDROM... in the same folder with a copy of the newer REMIDEUP.EXE. So it may actually have never been in REMIDEUP.EXE at all, even though the various KB articles linked with REMIDEUP.EXE refer to version 4.00.956. Thanks for the help!

It seems to be version 4.00.954 rather than 956 But it's definitely a big step in the right direction. At least it is in the RTM .95x codebase rather than the OSR2 .111x one.