ruthan
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Posts posted by ruthan
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If im not work there is no 3D driver Virtualbox \ Vmware driver for NT and no port of SoftGPU.. maybe you may try to make SwiftShader, somehow, but above solutions are proven, this is wildwest.. Bears Windows driver is buggy even for 2D.
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Depends on VM, if you have 86Box or KVM machine with working 3D - OpenGL, Direct3D, we are working om modern Direct3D and other DirectX functions and some kernel stuff etc and need some testers.
I will write some annoucemenet once i fix my main machine after some Windows 10 update crash.
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Windows 2000 with extended kernel and all new improvement are great user experience, well expect web browsing - we need Windows 2000 Superium port, i only missing a few other features.
Most Windows XP, restore point and system restore, it saved my skin countless times and it would be really nice feature to add to Extended kernel, im really sure how much work would be needed and it could be somehow backported from Windows XP..
Or if there is 3rd party software which could do the same - track files chances on selected volume.. and use for it max give disk space, be able to rollback changes / snapshots from some boot cd.
Im not sure if Microsoft was first company with this idea, probably not.0 -
I have Win10 18h03 installed on USB-NVME, its much faster than any USB3 flashdisk which i have tried, even speedy ones, but they still keep have quite slow small files operations and probably problem with parallel file access.. System responsiveness its and operations are much faster.
Problem is that, that i cant ugprade from 1803 version to 22h2.. by any ways, all checks seems ok, all logs setup longs no error, CBS.log ok, sfc fine.. and Windows update keep it pushing with every boot, redownloading and trying to install.
I have tried also Media creating tool, but at the end of blue full screen installing mode, i get install failed messege (Small white message box - Instalation failed in case of using ISO) before reboot after 99% or.. machine is rebooting to continue with upgrade initialize to blue or violet screen, but its never happening.. like upgrade is was not scheduled.. Even Windows update is keeping asking for restart to finish upgrade - but again no upgrade is inicialized..
I have tried Minitool Windows update tool, but it seems to be only some new Frontend over Windows update.. and i did not found any other alternative tool to do the same..
I suspect, that problem is USB- or USB-install.. im not sure how upgrad works, if something has to be added in BCD file, or some preboot mode is incialized by other way.. to check it or force manually.
I found that in Pather directory (C:\$WINDOWS.~BT) always full new full ~30 GB install ready to go, prepared.. no errors there, but its not applied.. I have tried to add "PatherDirectory"\ system32\winloadx.exe into BCD, its starting to boot, but after 21c error, so this probably not the right way how to start the ugprade..
I wonder if just rewrite all new install created by Windows update - files over original install would not be a solution, i have backups, im not exact process how upgrade is made, but its probably install to new directory and if install its successfull it rename old Windows directory to Windows.old and new one to Windows , os maybe i can do it manually.
This upgrading process at least on my machines is allways nightmare, some MS scripts seems really not clever, hardcoded parsers with poor exception handling and messeging.
I hope is not typical sniffing other disk problem.. because i have on machine physical M.2 - with Win10 + Linux - which is hassle to remove and could not be disabled in bios..and some data ntfs HDD.
I event log system i see this, im not sure if its related:
The WinRM service cannot migrate the listener with Address * and Transport HTTP. A listener that has the same Address and Transport configuration already exists.And this:
SearchIndexer (11816,D,23) Windows: The version store for this instance (0) has reached its maximum size of 128Mb. It is likely that a long-running transaction is preventing cleanup of the version store and causing it to build up in size. Updates will be rejected until the long-running transaction has been completely committed or rolled back.
Possible long-running transaction:
SessionId: 0x00000253293910C0:2b3968fffffffcUpdate:
I have tried Media creation method after while again and there is indeed some BCD hell error:
BCD: BcdCopyObjectEx: Failed to enumerate source elements. Target: {5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2} Flags: 0x4 Status: c0000034[gle=0x00000002]
2025-07-12 00:11:32, Error IBSLIB BCD: Failed to clone store. Status: c0000034[gle=0x00000002]
2025-07-12 00:11:32, Error IBSLIB BCD: BcdExportStore: Failed clone BCD to \??\C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Rollback\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD. Status: c0000034[gle=0x00000002]MSconfig cant edit BCD entry just 1 line, BootICE could. It wasnt easy forme make booting installation from normal flashdisk to NVME and start boot loader, so i used multiple tools to try to generate bootable EFI entry and BCD, there is probably something non standard.
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97I decide to give a shot GPT Loader with Windows 2000..- fully patched - Extended Kernel 3.1 but even without any GPT disk connected, reboot with and withou PAE always end with infamous 000*00x7B boot error.. Its on the Ivy Bridge machine with Intel 7x chipset in AHCI mode. Im using just Small 60 SSD with MBR, without loader its booting fine.
I can confirm that Paragon GPT Loader Worked fine with Marwell chip controller in XP as normal data drive for Dropbox, Developement, Work, Games etc, on drive bigger than 2 TB (because otherwise i had no any other reason to use it, im not big fan of EFI) - 3 TB or 4 TB one big NTFS.
Yeah i never worked with Intel chipsets im not sure about Asmedias.
I also can say that i used nore than 2 TB of data, because im usually out of disk scane.. I had 3TB+ unlock software from Gigabyte installed too, maybe it matters.. At the time there were such programs for reason, maybe some bug in Windows XP etc.
https://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/us/microsite/276/3tb.html on this list are only some chipsets, but when will search utilities for more modern MBs / chipset perphas you will find it too, i dont remember which chipset i had at the time maybe Z97 or some AMD Strange Triple core CPU supporting one..
It claims this: Enables 32bit Systems without Hybrid EFI Technology to Utilize Unallocated Space on New 3TB+ HDDs. maybe that that mumbo / jumbo that you need. im not sure what EFI hybrid technology - non EFI / MBR? If its MBR it will not help with GPT disks just with bigger MBR ones, but only reason why i needed GPT was bigger than 2 TB disks support..
Win10 / Linux are still fine with no EFI, im not sure about Hackinstosh, but Clover bootloader claims to be tool to run EFI on non EFI systems, seems to be still active (some file was yesterday updated) it should be also ok:
https://github.com/CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader
But a ew years ago Tonymac moved to different bootloader OpenCore..
Marwell controller where integrated on some mainboards, but also had PCI-E varaints, i was allways quite happy with them, that i can say about Asmedia, SIL and others, i only vaguely remember that there was some hassle with them and Linux.
I bought Paragon long time ago, im not sure if was using older version than probably -Paragon-197-PEE_WinInstallSNU_10.0.16.12944_000, its really shame that they integrated newer version in HDD Manager 15 and their support or online account not even anounced it
I paid small fortune for their products and contacted support about GPT loader issues, multiple times..
Version number seems really strange if.. 8 > 10.. is newer / better.Check this is seems to be alternative solution, its linked in links posted in this thread, but it seems that nobody dug into it:, its long and no pictures or video
https://article-pchome-net.translate.goog/content-1324506-all.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp0 -
Well now 12 years later, virtually every machine has more than 8 GB of Ram.. and to use it, you would need DataCenter OP version which has its own sort of the problems or increase hack to support memory.
There hack for WinXP to Win10 32 bit to use 128 GB, but it seems that nobody bother to port it for Win2000, when i tried 128 GB universal how its for WIndows XP/2003 and above.0 -
I wonder its possible to add project on GIthub more people be able to learn and contribute?
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It seems that im "winner"
Non only Data center specific bug.
There is even specific bug related to Intel 7 series of AHCI controllers, exactly one which i have:
https://win2k.org/blog/2015/03/25/1896177/
%PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E02.DeviceDesc%=Intel_msahci_Inst,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E02
%PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E03.DeviceDesc%=Intel_msahci_Inst,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E03
You have to remove 2 lines for from inf file, because there semo Vista and later resources requested and not removed from inf for some reason..
Otherwise i found that i dont need F5 - select Standard PC machine type, but only F7 - to bypass ACPI.
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Hmm, it seems that error with a met before:
LIne 53 of the INF file is invalid + Inaccessible boot device 007:
its something specific to Data Center (it make sense to use all cores for future migration) and nlite, or Data center itself, im not sure if problem was solved, install progressed fine with manually adding drivers - whatever it means and installed it on another machine.
I checked *.inf files, im not sure which *.inf file is mean to be broken, because its the same fine with multiple drivers.
Other error driver XX is corrupt regarding of Fernando:
https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/problem-integration-of-ahci-drivers-in-windows-2000-failed/32970/10
Its because you are trying to install 64 bit driver instead 32 bit, but im quite sure also that driver which im using is 32bit, as other user.Maybe clue could be that every edition has their own Driver.cab, cab for Data Server is much smaller than others.
So this thing is still a bit not fully discovered mumbo jumbo minefield.. I will continue with testing.. Did not yet tested NTsetup..Another thread with same problem:
Update: Finally some suckes with Advanced server iso, disk in AHCI mode is now found, when i press F7 - for no ACPI with the same BlackWingCat AHCI drivers (so driver are fine for Windows 2000 versions), with ACPI im stuck on setup loading, so problem is with ACPI.
I wonder beside ACPI.SYS (for some reason in tutorial is step to make filename upppercase, i did not do that previous) there is wmacpi.sys loaded in working installation and there are hal with acpi in filename too, all of these could be maybe sort of the problem.0 -
Quote
Basically that's all, you can even boot the VHD directly (just like a modern native VHD, which is a thing since W7) using grub 4 dos and firadisk or SVbus drivers, but that belongs to a different tutorial.
This is very interesting i have tried to boot from *.vhd from Grub 1/2 Grub4dos and always failed. I saw Firadisk used by some USB multiboot solution, once have different problem, it was embedded in installation cd and add problem to remove it from system and keep it bootable.
Otherwise i did more experiments, i managed to fix problem where fix_hdc failed, with older Paragon 2011, it does not display Microsoft VHD loopback as critical as more modern version, its asking for Windows 2000 cd to load files from drivers.cab and i have used already updated iso with new acpi.sys and BlackWingcat ahci drivers, so i cant say if it worked because of older Paragon or update iso.
But i quite sure that i did everything right with ISO AHCI and ACPI update, but it always ends up with bootscreen 007 error at the end Windows 2000 setup loading, older Paragon can specify, what exactly driver device from inf you use my device is : PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E02 i selected driver, but its still failing.
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1e02.DeviceDesc="Intel Panther Point SATA2 controller (SCSI)"
Also tried if acpi is working at least in ATA mode, but i get again loading Loading freeze, if not press F5/F7 and skip ACPI, but i can enable it later through machine type switch fine.So i would be fine, if would be able to install AHCI drivers after and boot in ATA mode and switch bios to AHCI boot.. i have tried to point system to AHCI driver and apply force it to apply on IDE controller, but it does not worked, im not sure i have to check if controller Hardware ID is the same as in case of ATA mode, with Blackwing cat AHCI drivers, but it not worked, so far.
Virtualbox, yes i can switch it to AHCI mode and install it with ACPI, but after i would try to boot with different disk controller so i expect that it will fail, im not sure if can emulate some chipset, which would be same driver as real machine - after only disk controller Hardware ID would be different and maybe it will work.
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Ok, i have tried another approach meanwhile, there some guide how to install Windows 2000 on Intel Sandy Bridge and later:
I have managed to install Windows 2000 with standard PC mode - without ACPI meanwhile by switching bios to ATA mode and press F5 and integrating UniATA driver.I have tried to create CD by this tutorial, but its still stuck on Windows 2000 setup loading, unless i press F5/F7 and select Standard pc mode, but tutorials has 12 steps (it would be really nice to make utility to make it more effortless ), to i could do something wrong.. I used BlackWingCat AHCI drivers too . There is also known problem with usbhub20.sys, which has to be manually delete to setup to progress, i did not found solution for it (i mean from install cd fix point of view).
Im not sure about point 12, its still needed to replace acpi.sys even when patched version it is integrated on install cd, or its mean as upgraded for already installed machine in not acpi mode.. In case of XP, changing from not ACPI to ACPI usually meant to mess with different hal.dll and kernel.dll files.
Question is if i can install Windows 2000 in ATA mode, install AHCI driver in advance, switch bios to AHCI mode and be able to boot in AHCI mode after.
I selected different version of Windows 2000 than original one, so i have now 2 versions able to boot on the same partitions and i can play with both installation. I wanted to test, if installation would be repair by reinstallings, its not.. not in case, when original install is using Windows folder and new one WinNT, it seem to be hardcoded in nlite mods.
What is good machine is now booting in ATA mode, to Windows 2000 bootloader, but i can fix it later..
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On 6/28/2025 at 1:23 PM, the solutor said:
Check if the actual driver (ahci.sys or whatever is needed) was actually copied in \system32\drivers eventually replace it with a driver that works for sure in Win2K (try older/newer version or even a different driver. Just rename it like the old one)
Ok, i will check it, but i guess that simply copy some file on system32 folder would not be enough, it probably needs also some registry or system file change.
What is really strange is that Paragon - 3 different versions (so its not just 1 version bug), considering Microsoft VHD controller driver as boot critical for this installation Windows 2000.. even its probably does not exist.. vhdm* i searched whole Windows 2000 registry / partition / archive inside for vhdmp* string, but got nothing..
If my memory serves its not first time when im using Paragon for Windows 2000, so it would be strange if its using Microsoft VHD controller to make machine bootable.. or its some Virtualbox, Vmware, Hyper-V migration left over..On 6/28/2025 at 1:23 PM, the solutor said:Aside adjusting some paths and providing the 7z package with actual drivers, you need also the file txtsetup.sif from the XP dir, then it will works, at least I'm sure it works from W7 x86)
txtsetup.sif , i never saw such file, im used to using txtsetup.oem
I also tried to reinstall Windows 2000 from cd with keeping data, but even when Disc controller hw was loaded from USB floppy.. it froze on Windows 2000 setup loading.. I have found that is probably because some ACPI incompatibility - and you shrould press F5 / F7 to disable it.. So far, if pressed these keys im got into some menu, when i could select machine type, but there was no any ACPI settings, but just Standard pc / Standard 486 and some OEM machines, this way i got through loading freeze, but it ended with Inaccessible boot device blue screen right after.When i tried to load Fernando 2000/PX AHCI drivers : https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/guide-integration-of-intels-ahci-raid-drivers-into-a-winxp-w2k3-w2k-cd/25310?page=1 from floppy, i could select driver on USB floppy it was found, but later i got file is corrupt error / multiple times - USB floppy could be a problem.
So i have tried newest nlite for Xp and slipstream AHCI drivers - Fernando ones or Universal Ata driver- https://alter.org.ua/en/soft/win/uni_ata/uni_ata.php (if im not wrong there is not some OS install floppy version, so i have created something with *.oem file ), but so far im getting for both drivers if my memory servers, some inf line 53 parsing error.
I will try some other Win2000 nlite image and double check if i removed Fernando drivers, before i added Universal Sata.. and use only need 1 Fernando intel AHCI device driver, not all Intel controllers.. There is also some certificate as part of Fernando drivers, im not used to drivers certificated for 2000 / XP, so its really needed, or has to be injected before driver is loaded, to make it working..
I hope that i will find some working combination of settings to be available to start Windows 2000 install refresh.
I have using real CD, in Sata drive, no USB flash disk install - there is not Pata.
Yeas, i can try old more refresh Windows 2000 image from backup or remove virtualbox / inject AHCI drivers before creating virtual image for migration..
There is also WinNTsetup utility - https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/winntsetup.html which claims to support Win 2000 too, so i can try to check, if only for clean installations or it could make refresh / reinstall.So i not out of options and maybe, maybe i will even learn something in the process.. There are i quite a lot of unknown variables.
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Thx, Ok i found it, problem is there are 2 menus, first dos, where is registry tools option too and second on the Live CD (right one).
I have tried 15.2 DVD, but Live Win7 refused to boot for both method, for some reason its trying to read something from the MBR.. and reporting no MBR magic fail error.
15.2 CD version with Live XP worked fine. I was a bit afraid how targeting would work, but you simply from XP, select target temporary path.
Luckily i found this tool standalone too on Github too:
https://gitlab.com/wiert.me/public/windows/xp-2003/fix_hdc.cmd/-/tree/main?ref_type=heads
Im only unsure from which OSes it could be run, if it needs to be executed from WIndows XP / 7, or its possible to run from older / newer versions too.
It fixed XP boot for me, even in AHCI mode - i not sure its influenced that i already had AHCI drivers added before through Paragon.
I did the same thing, include AHCI driver - Its intel c216 controller for Windows 2000, but this is not working, im still getting INCCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error in middle of loading bluescreen- classic - 0x000*7B (0xF5C1B84C,0xF5C1B84C,0xC0000034) error.
I repeated it twice, tried to add before or after AHCI drivers inject. Im not sure maybe it needs to boot in ATA mode, but now when i have 3 of 4 OSes running in AHCI mode, change all to ATA because of 1 of 4 is not prefered option. Im not sure, its not because for some reason its than VHD driver trying to load.. I found some strange thing - there was of this driver mentioned in autoexec file, in with REM.. why i dont know autoexec should be skipped for these old anyway and i dont have DOS or Win9x installed.0 -
Where exactly and in which version of Hirens is this tool, did not found it Dos menus its on the live cd?
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Thanks for info, interesting thing is not found vhdmp.sys for this dummy / virtual disk in virtualbox machine, before migration.
Its called Microsoft Virtual.., but it seems that such driver get from the Microsoft but i did not found it on Windows ISO or on Virtualbox Additioon CD ISO, i searched within archives too, but it still could be embedded within some *.exe installer, in some update, but not even found on *.vhd. Its mysteryHyper-V - i found some tutorial for it, but it did not helped for my machine. Please claiming that its working for some physical machines too, its some minimal default set of Registry keys to make machine to boot:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/michs/p2v-migration-issues-with-hyper-v-stop-0x0000007b#required-registry-critical-boot-entriesOther mystery is still why Windows 7 bootloader is not started after switch from ATA to AHCI, im not sure, there are some variants of it, except EFI / MBR version, or there is some additional configuration / drivers settings possible..
Thanks for tip about Hirens Boot cd, did not know about such tool on it, i will check it.0 -
I have also tried boot other boot loaders like Plop 5 or Paragon WIndows OS detection fallback from its live cds, but it seem that they really dislike Dell CSM->ATA mode and with combination of this partition scheme.
1) Boot partition - FA32 with Windows 7 BCD; primary active
2) Windows 2000 - NTFS; primary
3) Windows XP - NFTS; primary
4) Extended volume:
4a) Windows Vista 32
4b) Windows 7 32bit
4c) NTFS - Data partition
I was inspired by quad boot project - with Windows 2000 / XP/ Windows Vista / Windows 7 project floating around on archive.org etc, i created my own Virtualbox vhd with same settings, before i was not using separate boot partitions, but used standalone install per partition loaded through - Grub2 on Linux partition (there is not problem with extended partition - as far you have to force grub2 install through some warning and boot repair live cd, does not like sometimes).. or Grub2Dos.. or Plop5.
Everytime when i feel that i understander booting and bootloaders, i met some new situation, when something is not working as supposed too.. Im getting better, but still i can spend days to make something working, or have to use multiple bootloader and use specific boot managers chainload to boot specific OS as i want, for example Grub seems to skip for some use boot.ini where is PAE switch and im unable to force /pae other way that through boot.ini - if someone know solution for it for 2000 let me know..
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I have Dell Optiflex in CSM mode - MBR disk, whith the same error.. Im migrating Virtualbox machine, problem is there i WIn7 bootloader which refuse to start after AHCI to ATA Bios change and in AHCI mode, WIndows 2000 and XP, ending with this error. Windows 7 and Vista are booting fine in AHCI mode.
To make it more complicated when im trying to use P2P dissimilar HW adjust tools from Paragon, its asking for Microsoft VHD Loopback Controller 32bit and im unable to find it for Win XP / Win2000. I searched Windows XP registry but i dont see there request for this driver, maybe its some virtualbox drivers left over.
I have found - vhdmp.inf as part of lots of XP drivers, its requesting, ServiceBinary=%12%\vhdmp.sys and vhdmp.sys,,,0x100 ;COPYFLG_PROTECTED_WINDOWS_DRIVER_FILE , but so far i have found vhdmp.sys only for Windows 64 bit or Vista+ 32 bit. I searched Windows *.iso disks for it but found nothing, also on Win 2000 / XP booted partition already.I suspect that problem count be too, that Windows 7 is starting from the extended volume.. the is small first active partition with Windows 7 bootloader, but maybe in ATA mode it is not able to boot from extended partition as in case of AHCI mode, its strange.
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Well, is there some test, can test performance without and which vcache used? If yes we can test with its size make a difference impact, if it has even some reasonable effect.
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Hello,
does some know some proven utility for NT4?
There is in build Disk utility, but for some reason it reports even some not system drivers as locked, there is not even swap on them so i dont understand how to unlock them. There is option to change letter after reboot, but its not working at least in some cases (on my system it worked, sometimes i needed a few trie, but now it stopped to work for some reason.. - im not sure if preboot partition mapping tools are actually executed.. - maybe bootmanager (Grub4Dos->Plop->EasyBCD) make difference and some sequence is skipped.. ) - letters are still the same after reboot, when i remove letter not assign them, after reboot are still drive letters mapped.
I have tried Acronis partition tools, again they require reboot and nothing is changed, my guess is they simply count on Windows 2000+ solution.
I have tried some old Paragon tools which i own, but it seems the same.. On more modern version there is something like force disk disconnection and force drive letter change without reboot, but in case of old tools still compatible with NT4 this is missing.
More modern Windows are using these registry path for it:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
Its not available in Windows NT4.
I have found, something there: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\DISK
- there some Information key, which are probably related to some partitions, but there is not some letter to which they are mapped.. Maybe its some binary / hex part of this value..
Other problem is there are just 2 values, i have like 7 partitions, just order these Informantion keys are used to map it for first entry to first free drive letter, second to second etc.. These keys are 920 character in size - its byte. Samples attached.
I found driver letter character inside, so i have tried little switcheroo by replacing letters for intended, D for Z etc, but did not worked, good news its machine is still booting... What is interesting changes are lost.. So it looks like these values are somehow generated during the boot, or simply click on ok, after letter change in the right column is not enough.. I have tried to change both Info* keys.
Maybe its possible to some trick like force cd driver letter to free some drive letter and use remove it and assign it after.. Or maybe disable physical disk device, if its not primary boot device.
For Windows 98 there is drive letter assigner, but so far i did not found something for Windows NT4.I doubt that some boot cd could to do the same, because it would imply that NT4 hive would be loaded to write there changes.
Because one disk is SCSI array i cant simply disable it - on bios level to make changes step by step.. Or not easily SCSI array settings are pretty limited and i can maybe do it, through special RAID manager boot cd menu.. Still, i would prefer some working Windows utility to do it..
I looked for some key in the registry, but i have found only keys for optical drives.0 -
There was other method, patch for io.sys to support more than 512 MB, look here and use some Translate plugin:
https://rayer.g6.cz/os/os.htm ; its in the block containing these:
[vcache]
MaxFileCache=261120
MinFileCache=32768
ChunkSize=4096
Rloew has partition patch IO.sys to support bigger disk too, maybe it also include mem patch.. Or its mem patching is patching other files, which are actually avoiding safe mode to crash by some other way.
Method above was in age of max 1124 MB ram for Win9x, Rloew made even 2 GB working, or maybe even.. im not sure, i maybe saw 2.75 GB free ram.. and of course he has ramdisk to use the rest of ram, there are other Ramdisk to do some too.0 -
1) Its simple unattended install file is using its own syntax, different that System.ini or System.cb.. its has hints where to place these values.)
If you want make these changes later / manually after install is finished and edit System.ini and System.cb . You can copy these value to them - but they have their own sections hinted in the unattended strings.., so you cant just copy them at the end of the file as they are, but have to place them to section hinted + remove the start of string for unattended file, remove "" and end of the string.. and adjust to be compatible with System.ini and System.cb format..Unattended file syntax:
%10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"MinSPs=8" ;
vs [WindowsDir]\System.ini syntax:
// find [386Enh] section
place there this value:
MinSPs=8
It make sense to limit Ram size to 512 MB as in you unattended script values above, to finish installation which crashes, but later it make sense to install HimemX or Rloew memory patches to enable more than 512 MB.
Im also not sure, if System support description after ";" at the same line as actual value, or it would end by parsing error and have to make comments on its own lines.. or not use space " " character in front of ; .. I got some blue screens, it could be some other typo / or wrong value.. or not compatible comment on the same line of contain space before ";"
I mean:
; Comment MinSPs is very nice parameter
MinSPs=8
vs
MinSPs=8 ; Comment MinSPs is very nice parameter
2) There is most interesting thing vcache max size, above is this value:
%10%\system.ini,vcache,,"MaxFileCache=56320" ; Q108079
If im not wrong its decimal - 56 MB, i had 256 MB and IO.sys patch also is hinting to use 256 MB if you have more than 512 MB ram. If understand bigger cache is better, as far as you not hit to max limit. If you have 2GB of RAM, sacrifice 256 MB for cache does not seems more.
Im not entirely sure that this cache is for.. because more WIndows does not have such cache options and manage caches automatically regarding of info which task manager is printing. If seems that WIndows 7/10 are trying to use cache quite aggressively and free some of it if needed for some program - example i have now 19 GB of ram used - 17.7 GB cache and i Run just chrome - 6 GB ram and some resident programs like Email client, MS Antivirus, Dropbox, Afterburner etc.
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8 hours ago, SweetLow said:
Thanks, summary of this article if i understand it correctly is this:
- if you uncheck PCI steering checkboxes in device manager, Bios resource settings is used without any adjustment on the Windows side
- Checkboxes simply means tries to adjust device settings on Windows side (so it seems that enabled all checkboxes in the case - if you have some resource problem could solve them), order / priority of different tables is "hardcoded" you can change it - you can only disable some tables tries, priority is:
1) ACPI BIOS > 2) MS specification table 3) Protected Mode PCIBIOS 4)) Real Mode PCIBIOS // 3 -Protected mode is disabled by default
- PCI standard supports more devices to use the same IRQ and it is different from the ISA, which afaik new unique IRQ per deviceOther i tried to find / read ACPI data - but best what i have found is in SIV utility - System - ACPI + Pnp (ACI Dev button is showing the same data)- but there is only a few device and at least on my machine is IRQ collumn empty and only useful column is really DMA channel info.
Still unclear:If im not wrong, it make sense to fiddle with this settings only in case of IRQ problems, but it will not fix memory range ares problem? Unless changing IRQ could influence address range which is device using?
DeepSeek AI - tells that in general IRQ and memory ranges are independent, but in other hand it claim that IRQ change does not force memory address change, but it may to do it.. - So response is something like, it may sometimes change memory area and help especially for ISA bus devices. Windows 98 does not change / adjusting ISA values at least by default.
Why memory areas options are not available - it seems that in depends on the device design, if its design define 1 or more possible memory areas which device could use. Originally i though that there is some machine memory address pool, like IRQ pool (limited number of "free" IRQS) and that pool is full - in case that is not possible select different address area for the device.. - but its simply "laziness" of device developers which often does not offer alternative address ranges which could be used by the device and we as users cant override / change it..
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On 5/31/2025 at 12:05 PM, deomsh said:
[Edit.Sysini] %10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"MaxPhysPage=40000" %10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"DMABufferSize=64" ; optional %10%\system.ini,vcache,,"MinFileCache=51200" ; Q108079 %10%\system.ini,vcache,,"MaxFileCache=56320" ; Q108079 %10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"MinSPs=8" ; optional %10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"MinTimeSlice=40" ; optional, multitasking slower but more stability ;;%10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"SystemROMBreakPoint=0" ;;%10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"EMMExclude=A000-FFFF" ;;%10%\system.ini,386Enh,,"MaxDMAPGAddress=1000" [Edit.Syscb] %10%\system.cb,Boot,,"*DisplayFallback=0" %10%\system.cb,386Enh,,"MaxPhysPage=20000" ; Usher's-method ;;Inf,Reg and BAT files need always a carriage Return on the end!
Thx i tried all of these, system is still booting, so i hope that it would be more stable.
Otherwise its is for unattended install, here 512 / 1024 MB limits have sense, to already installed system have sense to change/remove memory limits..
- Of couse, you have to remove "" + ; + the start of string (I.E - %10%\system.ini,386Enh,, ) - just to point you to right section of system.ini where you can place them, i placed the all for [386Enh] at the start of this section.
I found description of most of them here:
https://www.mdgx.com/lastweek.htm // Yeah links generated by this sites are strangeOn 6/8/2025 at 9:52 AM, awkduck said:You could do it "before" shutting down Windows, on the VM. The setting are already active on the booted VM; so you will be able to shutdown normally, after deleting the key(s).
Yeah that i was suggesting still you can forget and you should make some snapshot / backup (another catch) if you want to use Virtual machine after.
On 6/8/2025 at 9:52 AM, awkduck said:es, in Dos mode "I believe" you still use regedit.exe. It just works differently, in Dos. I'm sure "regedit /? or -h" should give some hints. Basically you need to provide the key location to delete or location and key to add. But, I've lost the exact syntax, to time.
Yeah i already looked into it, i would still prefer some GUI tool to do it, its faster and less error prone.. for example i dont remember right *.reg header from top of my head, so would have google it on other machine / phone.. or create file together.
What seems strange i have tried to regedit with the same parameters on the live Windows 98 to make some automatic Erunt like registry backup *.bat, but it seems that all parameters, include /? are ignored.. so is not possible to use regedit in command line mode, or syntax is diferrent than it the Dos.
On 6/8/2025 at 9:52 AM, awkduck said:Looking forward to hearing that your machine is 100% configured, how you like it. That's always a good feeling, except for that the fun is over and then its time to tweak with something else.
We, i have still 2 major problems, others are details and i have tried everything what i was able.
1) Windows 98 - no working DMA on Pata and Sata controllers, because of exclamation marks on the Primary and Secondary channels components, controller itself has not errors.
Server RAID Dell Perf 5/i also have only Windows 2000+ drivers. Windows 9x is only major older OS unsupported by nice Universal PATA /Sata driver - https://alter.org.ua/en/soft/win/uni_ata/
2) Windows NT4 - not working driver for Network card - Broadcom NetXtreme II 5708, i dont have enough skills to modify oemsetup.inf for NetXtreme I cards, to at least to try a luck.. Windows NT4 inf for NetXtreme I card is quite huge and syntax is complicated - i tried, but im getting Card is not present error, because added Hardware ID is not working.
I have tried Windows 2000 driver, but im getting Oemsetup is found in its direct and there is one, so its probably problem with dirent *.inf header / structure.
Problem is that NT4 USB stack will probably not robust enough to use even USB Lan adapter.
These details are in other my threads, so im almost there.. I learned this quite a lot of things, out of necessity, but its not enough
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Thx for info. I have tried fix above good it that it booted after installation and its compatible with other Rloew patches which are already editing this file.. other good thing is that it be installed on the fly.
My machine above seems to affected by other bugs, but this not helped to solve any conflict or enable some address ranges.
The last thing which is still open is IRQ Steering settings on the PCI bus component.. So far i did not find some good info which settings are better for which scenario - its default setting. If IRQ for Realmode or Protected more better for Win9x.. i never even know that there to seperate data sources for it.. It make some Bios IRQ settings maybe even invalid.. because logic imply that at least one data source is different.
I understand correctly - Windows 9x are running in protected mode.. i not so sure how its possible that i can use Network card driver which are reporting Real mode how to it works together but ok.
And ok if Windows 9x are running in protected mode, why PCI BUS IRQ Streering default value is Get IRQ Table from Real mode ACPI.
I there so SW which can print out.. All ACPI tables - for old and new OSes? Or how too new versions of them are crippled by OS Windows 9x?0
Windows 2000 how to install AMD / ATI catalyst control panel, its possible to install it somehow standalone?
in Windows 2000/2003/NT4
Posted
I made BlackWIngCat ATI/AMD drivers working for 3D in Windows 2000 with extended kernel, but they are only barebone drivers.. i would like to set some image quality settings.
Here are details, you have to autotranslate it:
https://win2k.org/blog/2009/09/30/571484/
BlackWingCat description mentioning Catalyst, but there are not details, im not sure if its possible get only standalone installer, or extract it from XP drivers etc, i have tried some wild kernel of his driver and XP package, but installer crashed, even installer with original driver crashed.
Have tried ATI tool, its running but developement ended in 2006 and ATI try tools generate blue screen, right after install.