DougB

Have not had a lot of time to explore its capabilities, but recently-released freeware audio editor OcenAudio version 2.0.1 build 5882 (2014-Mar-07) installed ok and loads/plays/saves sound files on my W98SE+USP3x+KEx system. http://www.ocenaudio.com.br/ Needed to set "Windows XP SP2" compatability on installer, but "Default" seems ok on actual editor. (Site says "Windows XP SP2 or higher".) Haven't seen it mentioned here on MSFN. Looks impressive. An alternative to Audacity? (Which is also running ok on my system.) - Doug B.

> VideoLAN Forums: A solution for Windows 9x/ME users Thanks for that link. Interesting to read thru the history. Here's what the developer said there: > Re: A solution for Windows 9x/ME users > Postby Jean-Baptiste Kempf Thu Feb 13, 2014 12:55 pm > > Newer gcc in 2.1.3 Hey now... that wasn't a solution! So i guess VLC is done for under Win9x? Unless somebody knows of a general fix for new gcc-compiled executables. - Doug B.

Ok then -- verified. So how open is the VLC development team to feedback from the Win9x community? (I know they don't officially support it, but iirc, back when an older version stopped working under KEx, someone contacted them, and lo and behold, they fixed it!) Just wondering.... - Doug B.

Yikes -- more bad news. New VLC media player 2.1.3 (2014-Feb-05) crashes in my Win98SE + KEx: VLC caused an invalid page fault in module LIBVLCCORE.DLL This was the executable from the .zip version. Running the .exe installer gave: VLC-CACHE-GEN caused an invalid page fault in module LIBVLCCORE.DLL The installer continued after this error, but whern the VLC executable ran, it produced the first error message above. http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/2.1.3/ - Doug B.

>>> resource conflict with "Motherboard Resources". >> Have you tried disabling ACPI in BIOS? >> Disabling Plus-and-Play in BIOS? > I have none of those BIOS options I first encountered similar problems when trying to install a video card on a Dell system where PnP/ACPI could not be disabled -- it gave me resource conflicts. Try to reinstall Windows with the following command line: SETUP /p i It's worked like a charm for me and others on this forum... maybe it will work for you. Let us know. - Doug B.

When i excise IE6 from my Win98SE, i use IEradicator: http://www.litepc.com/ieradicator.html and my WMP9 is always ok (altho i hardly ever use it -- better media players around). It did delete a couple of .DLLs that other programs have needed, but they were easily re-installed. VLC contains its own codecs, so that's why it can play your file. To play .WMA and .WMV files, try installing this pack of MS codecs (be sure to get the Win98 version): http://www.codecguide.com/windows_media_codecs.htm I don't think it will help with the interface problems though. (I'm assuming you already tried to re-install WMP.) - Doug B.

Apologize if i'm hijacking this topic (and i liked Notepad as well, for it's clean, simple, fast interface/behavior). But to me, the whole 64k/Wordpad issue just felt awfully kludgy, even with fixes. (After all, Wordpad isn't Notepad -- it's a primitive MS Word!) And i began to feel restircted in what i could do with Notepad -- i began wishing for a bit more functionality. So looking for a small, fast, general-purpose, increased-capability but not-overwhelming alternative, i found Win32pad: http://www.gena01.com/win32pad/ - Executable size: 55k (not that it matters all that much). - All Notepad menu items & shortcut keys (a few in different places). - Additional features/functions (including "Redo"). - Appearance very similar to Notepad (can be customized). - No 64k filesize limit (filesize limit is available memory). - Freeware. - Download as .exe installer or .zip archive. Note: Requires a few dependency .dlls (available on download page) if not already on your system. If desired, rename "Win32pad.exe" to "Notepad.exe" and copy to Windows\ folder like i did. Edit: Also copy "win32pad.hlp" and "win32pad.cnt" to the Windows\Help\ folder -- no need to rename these files. I've never looked back.... - Doug B.

Well, it seems my post (above) was short lived.... It looks like the last version of Redxii's "MPlayer-for-Windows" that works under Win9x was svn-r36563 (2014-Jan-01). The next build, svn-r36568 (2014-Jan-05), crashes with an invalid page fault (as does the next). So now i don't know of any current-ongoing builds of *raw* MPlayer (mplayer.exe) that work under 9x. Here's redxii's archive: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mplayerwin/files/MPlayer-MEncoder/ - Doug B.

VLC v2.1.2 runs on my 98SE+KernelEx system (with default compatability) as well. My MSVCRT.dll is v7.10.7031.4 from U98SESP3. You don't have to bother with the VLC .exe installer if you get the .ZIP download: http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/ - Doug B.

For general reference, here is a diagram of AGP cards and slots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGP_slot#Compatibility The article addresses some "gotcha's". - Doug B.

Also, version 0.98 has been released: http://www.clamwin.com/ - Doug B.

Ok, i'll join in with some feedback too! I'm typing this with Pale Moon v3.6.32 (a Win-optimized FF fork). To reply, i have to "Temporarily allow all this page" with NoScript (a FF add-on), which makes this site significantly-more sluggish, but still do-able. (With NoScript fully engaged, *reading* this site is just a bit sluggish.) It does seem, however, that each time this site's software changes (upgraded?), it becomes more sluggish and harder to use for us Win9x folks. Just something i've noticed.... - Doug B.

FLAC, MP3, WAV, WV, WMA all playing ok for me. I'm using the portable/zip version of VLC 2.1.0. For MSVCRT.DLL, i have v7.10.7031.4 copied over to MSVCRT.DLL in the Windows\System\ folder. Here's the VLC on-site URL for the portable (.zip) download: http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/ Have you tried setting VLC to run at a higher priority in Tools > Preferences? - Doug B.

I don't know anything about that m/b, but you might give a try to Pale Moon 3.6.32: http://www.palemoon.org/archived.shtml It's a fork of Firefox optimized for Windows (he also trims some stuff out), plus it's a bit newer than the last 3.x FF. See if it acts the same way. If it does work ok, then you might also want to check out IEradicator (from the good folks at LitePC): http://www.litepc.com/ieradicator.html Your system may smile! - Doug B. P.S. I assume you're also using the latest KernelEx (4.5.2): http://kernelex.sourceforge.net/ If you're not using KernelEx, i doubt that FF 3.x would even start.

Sherpya's MPlayer build has crashed since version svn-r36443 (2013-Sep-14) on my Win98SE + KEx system with the following error: MPLAYER caused an invalid page fault in module MPLAYER.EXEThe last sherpya version to work was r36349 (2013-Jun-14). However, i just discovered Redxii's compilations, which continue to work! The 'original' MPlayer (version at the time of my original post svn-36496-4.6.3, 2013-Oct-28): http://code.google.com/p/mplayer-for-windows/and the 'new, improved' MPlayer2 (version at the time of my original post git-6ce3c2a, 2013-Feb-22): http://code.google.com/p/mplayer2-for-windows/- Doug B.

Kallon, TmEE, and CharlesF - Thanks for the links! CharlesF - Special thanks for the work of putting them all together in one package and for the mods. TmEE - Yeh, looks like lots of good stuff there on your server! As you said in another post, I agree that it's becoming increasingly important to mirror 9x files, as the "traditional" sites seem to be entropy-ing. Any chance you could whip up some kind of index page with (short) descriptions of the files? Some of them, i can't tell from the filenames what they're for or their version numbers. Thanks again to all! - Doug B.

Could someone please post a working link? Thanks! SpeedySharenot found: RP9-Skin-collection-v2.rarFile not found. It has been deleted or it never existed at all.

Yes, informative article. If anyone's interested, Matthias Paul has created a registry patch that will prevent Windows from engaging in this "naughty" behavior. For documentation and zip-file download: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/win9x/ This is the latest version that i'm aware of (v1.37, 2004-08-25). Does anyone know of a more-recent version? Reading thru the .REG-file entries is interesting in itself.... - Doug B.

Agreed. I mostly use the Pale Moon browser, a Firefox branch that is optimized specifically for Windows. To get started quickly and with good functionality, i would suggest v3.6.32, the final in the PM 3.x line (slightly more recent than the final FF 3.x v3.6.28). To use it, you must also install KernelEx (which allows *some* Win2k/XT-type programs to run under Win9x) beforehand. The major FF/PM 3.x issues seem to be printing and newer Java-version support. In my experience, i'm able to access about 98% of the sites i visit without issue, 1% with minor rendering issues, and 1% with major issues (i.e., non-functional). But i don't visit a lot of Java sites, and every individual has their own unique needs. Pale Moon archive: http://www.palemoon.org/archived.shtml KernelEx: http://kernelex.sourceforge.net/ You might also need to install the Shockwave Flash plugin if you want to view FLV movie clips. But that's a whole 'nuther story as they say.... The main KEx browser alternative seems to be Opera 12.02, which i haven't spent a lot of time with, but which some folks speak highly of -- i'm sure they'll chime in! Others have spoken favorably of K-Meleon which uses the same rendering engine as FF and PM and is highly configurable. There also seem to be some newer upstarts in development, but at this point, they don't have the functionality of the major players. A final thought might be to consider screen size. Could your current browser be choking when trying to fit a complex high-density page on a smallish screen? (I know theoretically it shouldn't make a difference, but....) I've gotten better results moving from a 15" -> 17" -> 18" 4:3 display. (I personally/aesthetically/perceptually don't care for widescreens.) Good luck.... - Doug B.

Then do me this one favor. C'mon... hit me. Before i lose my nerve. Let 'er rip.... Ok, so i can't also mention that although SHCDX33F can be used standalone, it's also integrated and synergistic with that author's CD/DVD driver UDVD2.SYS and his XMS manager XMGR.SYS, all of which take up less memory while having more options than their equivalents and are all in an active state of development? Darn.... To be serious for a moment, i really hope that there hasn't been... and won't be... any kind of war over this issue (i haven't followed this or any similar thread). My feeling is that we're all free to make our own choices, be they data-based, emotion-based, sentimental, aesthetic, political/economic, nihilistic... whatever. After all, on this forum, aren't we all using Win9x, an arguably "outdated" operating system in many opinions, that we struggle to make as useful as possible? Sure, we have our reasons, but in the end, isn't it our choice? On the other hand, my belief is also that *everything* is always open for debate. Not necessarily to convince any of the posters active in a given thread, but just for the wider dissemination of information and opinion in general. That's one of the ways we learn. And maybe some other person who will read it will get some good info to make a decision on. - Doug B.

Not to mention the memory footprint. On my system: 8,848k SHCDX33F 32,384k MSCDEX v2.25 (from MS-DOS v7.1) - Doug B.

I've run into similar problems when installing W98SE, the first time on an old Dell desktop, but others as well. Everything seemed to go fine until installing the video driver -- it would not load (can't remember the exact error messages). I checked around the web and found some info about ACPI/USB/resource conflicts. What they recommended (and it "worked" for me) was to install Windows with the following command line: setup /p i This tells setup to ignore the existence of a plug & play BIOS (and therefore ACPI). I say "worked" (in quotes) because some power-management functions were lost -- not too big a deal on a desktop... and it did allow me to get the video installed. One site that discusses these issues is: http://www.usbman.com/win98seusbguide.htm which says: ACPI active can be the source of problems in Win98SE. Windows 98SE automatically installs in ACPI mode if an ACPI BIOS is detected. Unfortunately, Win98SE does NOT handle ACPI very well and IRQ sharing with this OS is problematic. If USB is sharing its IRQ with IRQ Holder for ACPI Steering and several other devices you will need to install the OS in APM mode ... All i can say is try it, and see if it works for you.... - Doug B.

Within the next couple of weeks, i plan on wiping my main system (P4, 845, USB 2.0) and doing a clean Win98SE install with uSP 3.1. But first, before i do that -- as a just-to-see-what-happens experiment -- i'm going to try uSP 3.1 over the pre-existing Win98SE installation... with all my apps, utilities, drivers, updates (e.g,, uSP 3.0b4, 98SE2ME, etc), extensions (e.g., KernelEx, RP9, etc) already in place. However, i have a few lingering USB-related questions... so i don't screw it up, and hopefully my feedback will be more meaningful. I know you have to unplug all external USB devices, then install Main Updates, then go into Safe Mode on reboot and remove "all current USB/EHCI drivers + controllers" (as it says). Question 1: Does this mean only USB 2.0/EHCI? (Or all USB, including EHCI (1.0, 1,1, 2.0)?) On my system, when no USB devices are plugged in, the following list is the only Device Manager category which appears to be USB related. I assume all of them are "system" devices (i.e., not plug-in devices). Note that i have Intel Chipset Driver and NUSB 3.3 already installed (my notation "(x3)" means there are 3 of these listed -- the system unit has 6 physical USB sockets): Universal Serial Bus controllers Intel(R) 82891DB/DBM (ICH4 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD Standard Universal PCI to USB Controller (x3) USB 2.0 Root Hub USB Root Hub (x3) Question 2: Which of the above need to be removed? (I assume "USB 2.0 Root Hub" does, but any of the others?) Question 3: In Safe Mode, do i need to remove non-mass-storage plug-in USB devices? (For example, things like a cable modem or scanner)? Thanks, and i'll report back how it goes.... - Doug B.

Ok, here are the results from installing two different USB modems, on a semi-clean Win98SE install (see my previous posts), with uSP 3.0 final 2012-Apr-23, on a USB 1.1 system. It's turning out more complicated than i anticipated -- i'm getting the sense that the modems might be incompatible with each other when installed on the same system... even when not plugged in at the same time! But it could also be a quirk in the laptop hardware -- i need to investigate further. At any rate, i hope this is useful, as i'm not exactly sure what issues to address: 1) Actiontec EX560LKU USB/Serial 56K External Modem: I installed this one first, and it seemed to install without problems. I followed manufacturer instructions (do not plug in modem; run Setup.exe; plug in modem; Windows detects hardware and installs drivers). The message boxes flew by pretty quickly, but it looked like a bunch of auxiliary stuff was installed (USB-to-serial bridge, etc). Afterwards, Device Manager indicated the device was working properly, and Control Panel > Modem Properties > Diagnostics > More Info displayed reasonable results for the ATIx commands. There were no BSODs when disconnecting or reconnecting the USB cable. Surprisingly, under Device Manager > Modem > Driver > Driver File Details, the only file listed was: vmcomm.vxd 2) Dynex DX-M300 56K Data/Fax (USB-only) Modem: Might not be able to co-exist with the other USB modem! I installed this one after the above. Installation was quirky -- it did not proceed according to manufacturer's documentation. One component, "Wave Device for Voice Modem", resulted in a Code 28 (device not installed) error message in Device Manager (yellow exclamation icon). Reinstall Driver did not fix it. Nevertheless, DM indicated device was working properly. Unfortunately, Control Panel > Modem Properties > Diagnostics > More Info could not connect to the modem for ATIx-command results. The system *insisted* on putting this modem on COM4 (other USB/serial modem was COM3), even though the other modem was not plugged in, and i could find no provision for changing it (no Resources tab in DM)! When i uninstalled both modems and reinstalled the Dynex by itself, it did go on COM3, and the ATIx commands then showed reasonable results. But when i then reinstalled the Actiontec modem, that went to COM3, the Dynex was changed to COM4, and Dynex ATIx diagnostics again failed. Like i said, perhaps a laptop hardware issue... i'll see what i can find out. When i get some time, i'll do a clean re-install of Windows and install the Dynex modem by itself to see how it goes. A problem in testing performance further is that i don't have any current dial-up numbers to connect to! Maybe i'll try to dig up the old number that i used to connect to work -- i wonder if it might still be active.... - Doug B.

Thanks for this great piece of advice -- it's definitely a keeper for my future installation procedure on my main systems! In this case though, it's an older laptop. From the driver docs, it seems that DirectX 6 is the max supported in video and DX 5 is the max in audio, so raw 98SE covers 'em both. But the future, i guess i'll just havta deal with VGA resolution while installing core OS stuff.... Speaking of which, is there a more-recent *Unofficial* DirectX version for 98SE than the Unofficial DX 9.0c Aug 2007 from MDGX's site? (He describes it as: "OLD Unofficial DX 9.0c Redist Full + Managed DirectX (MDX) 32-bit for Windows 98 SE/ME [38.6 MB]".) - Doug B.