Wunderbar98

Hi RamonUn. Unfortunately MPlayer Ringo 2021-02-27 also fails to launch. The work-around of running one of the three alternative executables first then the MPlayer Ringo 2021-02-27 executable still works. Thanks for trying to help, maybe a hardware or driver incompatability on my system. For now i will stick with my ancient MPlayer. Thanks for the performance tips. MPlayer always outputs slow hardware for me, even in GNU/Linux, it is slow. I already use 'really-quiet' and sometimes 'framedrop' and 'hardframedrop'. Not fond of priority high as i'm usually multi-tasking and Windows 98 already struggles with this. Ran benchmarks with -nosound after using the work-around to launch your MPlayer Ringo build (2021-02-27). Video out null is listed first with other relevant tests alphabetical. Looks like SDL does very well, assume 'VO: 7.777s' is the most important output generated, as the video races like a son-of-a-gun. For comparison my old 'MPlayer Sherpya-SVN-r28311-4.2.5 (C) 2000-2009' was also benchmarked. This release does not support SDL or gl_tiled video out and for whatever reason, neither MPlayer works with direct3d. Results are listed below, those pertaining to my old MPlayer Sherpya are prepended with ***. Basic summary, only direct comparison is directx video out, where my old build is slightly faster, but your SDL is significantly faster which is not supported in old MPlayer releases. So yeah, if the new builds work on others Windows 98 systems they should try it. For me MPlayer is the best video player, especially for old hardware. -- VO: [null] 480x360 => 480x360 Planar YV12 BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.354s VO: 0.017s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.604s = 7.975s BENCHMARK%: VC: 92.2132% VO: 0.2132% A: 0.0000% Sys: 7.5737% = 100.0000% *** VO: [null] 480x360 => 480x360 Planar YV12 *** BENCHMARKs: VC: 9.038s VO: 0.047s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.409s = 9.494s *** BENCHMARK%: VC: 95.1970% VO: 0.4950% A: 0.0000% Sys: 4.3080% = 100.0000% -- VO: [directx] 480x360 => 480x360 Planar YV12 BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.232s VO: 11.660s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.575s = 19.467s BENCHMARK%: VC: 37.1500% VO: 59.8962% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.9537% = 100.0000% *** VO: [directx] 480x360 => 480x360 Planar YV12 *** BENCHMARKs: VC: 8.799s VO: 10.468s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.442s = 19.709s *** BENCHMARK%: VC: 44.6446% VO: 53.1128% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.2426% = 100.0000% -- [vo_direct3d] Allocating OSD texture in system RAM failed. FATAL: Cannot initialize video driver. Too many buffered pts FATAL: Could not initialize video filters (-vf) or video output (-vo). BENCHMARKs: VC: 117.425s VO: 0.000s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.632s = 118.057s BENCHMARK%: VC: 99.4644% VO: 0.0000% A: 0.0000% Sys: 0.5356% = 100.0000% -- VO: [gl_nosw] 480x360 => 480x360 BGRA BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.624s VO: 14.162s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.624s = 22.410s BENCHMARK%: VC: 34.0205% VO: 63.1950% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.7845% = 100.0000% -- VO: [sdl] 480x360 => 480x360 Planar YV12 BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.621s VO: 7.777s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.805s = 16.203s BENCHMARK%: VC: 47.0345% VO: 47.9973% A: 0.0000% Sys: 4.9682% = 100.0000% -- VO: [gl] 480x360 => 480x360 BGRA BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.648s VO: 14.161s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.617s = 22.426s BENCHMARK%: VC: 34.1033% VO: 63.1455% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.7513% = 100.0000% *** VO: [gl] 480x360 => 480x360 BGRA *** BENCHMARKs: VC: 9.453s VO: 13.280s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.501s = 23.234s *** BENCHMARK%: VC: 40.6861% VO: 57.1576% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.1563% = 100.0000% -- [gl_tiled] bilinear linear BENCHMARKs: VC: 7.512s VO: 17.596s A: 0.000s Sys: 0.568s = 25.676s BENCHMARK%: VC: 29.2569% VO: 68.5309% A: 0.0000% Sys: 2.2122% = 100.0000%

Hi Joaquim. The 'Vanilla Windows 98 Web Browsing Summary' was updated, a web browser list for anyone wanting to run with TLS support in vanilla Windows 98. These browsers should connect you to almost all websites. https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/33/?tab=comments#comment-1189203

Thanks for your expert feedback MrMateczko. So the show was then using either Windows 95 or an earlier Windows 98 system - cool. It's probably been over 20 years since i installed Windows 95, viewing contents of the CD's CHL99.CAB or any of the CH*.CAB files reveals the channel icon. Upon closer inspection of the CD's win95 directory, most of the directory is bloat such as corporate partners, AOL, channels, Internet Explorer 4, MSN, Microsoft Wallet, Flash, etc. There are 25 Internet Explorer cab files amounting to 26 MB, which presumably have integrated system components. The 27 win95*.cab files amount to 42 MB, not including a separate extracted 'drivers' directory containing another 46 MB of data. It would be a fun experiment to one day install the most barebones Windows 95 system possible and then build it up with favourite software from there - never enough time for all this good stuff.

I'm old(er) and prefer old TV shows. Was watching Relic Hunter Season 3 'All Choked Up' with my better half the other day. Love seeing tech on the screen. Seems shows often use mock ups, presumably to avoid legal issues. Usually some 'custom' corporate software or generic window or terminal, spewing data that exceeds bitcoin mining. The computer in this Relic Hunter episode is clearly running Microsoft Word. It's uncertain whether the blurry areas (titlebar, Start menu) were intentional or just out of focus to better display the actual Word document. The quick launch screenshot could be Windows 98 but i think episode production was 2000-2001, so probably Windows 2000. I am not aficionado enough to know. Interestingly there is a wifi icon in quick launch, despite the scene taking place in a 2000 era college administration office running a desktop computer, which almost certainly would have been a hard wired connection back in the day. Flat panel monitors are already used on the show and in 2021 i'm still rocking out with my crippled 19" CRT. Interestingly, it appears the same ViewSonic flat monitor is used both in the adminstration office scene and again at the bad lady's remote volcanic island. Sydney (protagonist) also takes out a Dell Inspiron laptop showing off some cool, generic 3D modelling software. So generic can't even tell the operating system, window manager or 3D software utilized. 01_QuickLaunch.png https://i.postimg.cc/BQmp3ghy/01-Quick-Launch.png 02_MicrosoftWord.png https://i.postimg.cc/1XJG9mK6/02-Microsoft-Word.png 03_ViewSonicCollegeAdminOffice.png https://i.postimg.cc/gjkhB9P0/03-View-Sonic-College-Admin-Office.png 04_ScaryVolcanicIsland.png https://i.postimg.cc/L5Xq3zzY/04-Scary-Volcanic-Island.png 05_InspironCase.png https://i.postimg.cc/zfFVmd7H/05-Inspiron-Case.png 06_Inspiron_3D_Modelling.png https://i.postimg.cc/VvxY0M4c/06-Inspiron-3-D-Modelling.png 07_ViewSonicOnScaryLadysIsland.png https://i.postimg.cc/pVwhFnmT/07-View-Sonic-On-Scary-Ladys-Island.png

Still discontinued but with recent patches works fine if anyone wants project ideas. The screenshots on page two and in the vanilla Windows 98 project post were changed from image tags to links. The new forum software no longer displays embedded screenshots when running old browsers. If your old browser still doesn't show the screenshot from the 'postimg' link, select 'Download original image' to view, no JavaScript needed. Peace out :)

The 'Vanilla Windows 98 Web Browsing Summary' was updated, a web browser list for anyone wanting to run with TLS support in vanilla Windows 98. https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/33/?tab=comments#comment-1189203 Added Arachne and Lynx, both for DOS. Updated broken download link for RetroZilla based on Firefox. Marked Windows 9x Web Helper (9xweb) discontinued. I've minor patched 9xweb since last public release and it continues to work well, including most YouTube. It's old Wget still connects so the project link remains if anyone wants the helper software or project ideas. There are presently seven web browsers that provide TLS support. Three for a DOS boot and four for Windows. None work or work well with JavaScript. The only browser not recommended is Arachne, unless it eventually gets a built-in (not hacked) TLS upgrade. Two DOS ported browsers (Links and Lynx) may see periodic new compiles from nice people. If you want graphic and/or mouse support in DOS recommend Links, otherwise personal preference is Lynx (text-only). From the Windows end there has been recent activity from the RetroZilla developer, fingers crossed for more improvements. Another browser recently trialed was ELinks, ported to DOS, that was supposed to provide TLS support but it didn't work here. If anyone knows of any other browsers please notify. Aside from browsers, FreeDOS provides relatively recent Wget and cURL executables with TLS support. Finally, there are too many vanilla Windows 98 clients to mention for good old FTP and the Gopher protocol.

Finished reading an ~ 70 page PDF entitled 'Why I hate Microsoft - A personal, lengthy but highly articulate outburst' by F.W. van Wensveen. The document covers earlier Microsoft from Windows 9x to NT and Vista. The best summary word is 'scathing'. Of course readers make up their own minds and a rant is just someone's opinion. No document link posted for fear of being lynched :) Undoubtedly business prioritizes profit, M$FT included. As heard and mentioned before, all software sucks, some may suck less. My main systems run Debian-based stable, oldstable, oldoldstable and long forgotten. I'm glad to see them go oldstable, no more updates and easily get five more years of production. Updates rarely cause breakage in Debian, remember less than a handful of times in > 15 years, but a recent MuPDF update caused a floating point exception failure when attempting to launch any PDF file. At this point options include: - Install an alternative PDF viewer (undesirable) - Patiently wait for an update fix (passive, easy, fix may not happen) - Submit a bug report (proactive, hassle, hope it gets addressed) - Compile from source using appropriate options (proactive, hassle, may fix) - Restore a last known working version (hassle, now using old version) Since i use multiple systems and lately prefer tinkering with DOS, took the lazy route and thankfully two days later another MuPDF update showed, fixed. Regarding buggy software, open source or proprietary, most active GNU/Linux distributions have bug lists a mile long too, by no means just Microsoft's patch-Tuesday.

= Add cURL for TLS 1.3 = Since i can't kickstart Wget's --convert-links function, one of it's best features, may as well update cURL for TLS 1.3. Download and extract curl.zip (6.2M, no Javascript needed). http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.2/repos/pkg-html/curl.html At a DOS prompt running 'CURL.EXE --VERSION' shows 7.72.0 from August 2020. Create a directory in your Arachne install for cURL, my example path. MKDIR C:\DOS\ARACHNE\CURL From the extracted cURL download, only need to copy CURL.EXE into this directory. From the Wget update on the first post (this must be done first), modify C:\DOS\ARACHNE\WGETSSL.BAT by commenting out the entire Wget section and adding cURL configuration. Comment out the PAUSE command, as below, once it's observed to perform well. Updated WGETSSL.BAT file: CD C:\DOS\ARACHNE\CURL CURL.EXE "%1" -L --insecure --retry 3 --show-error -o "%2" CD .. REM PAUSE Similar to the Wget update, if connecting via DHCP add a simple WATTCP.CFG file into the CURL directory to speed up the initial connection process. New C:\DOS\ARACHNE\CURL\WTTCP.CFG file below, note an extra blank line is expected at the end of the document, don't substitute your IP address it's just 'my_ip'. my_ip=dhcp Restart Arachne and as usual press F2 (save or send document shortcut) when encountering an HTTPS page. Click 'Get SSL page or post data via SSL using Wget', you'll just be using cURL instead of Wget. Recommend keeping the upgraded Wget setup intact from post #1, as it will still be used by WGETGRAB.BAT if you decide to save a web page to Arachne's DOWNLOAD directory.

Screenshot link to Arachne with TLS 1.3 capability using cURL, will upload upgrade notes later. Arachne has at least four different toolbars that can be toggled, this screenshot is my favourite. https://i.postimg.cc/507csRgn/04-SSL3.jpg

Cool, just discovered. Right-click and select properties on a MIDI file (*.MID) from Windows Explorer for an extra 'Preview' tab. Play the MIDI from there if you desire. Probably easier to configure a MIDI player to play them with a single left-click, Windows Media Player v6.4 used here, but still. Windows 98 handles MIDI superbly. Just tested the original Need For Speed demo (NFS for DOS, 1995). The Dodge Viper is featured, boy do i feel old. Car control isn't realistic, just like my NFS II and NFS III Hot Pursuit games. You kind of get used to the quirky control, though, and then it's fun. First time using my cheap, old-school 8-button controller in DOS (plugs into sound card).

The WGETSSL.BAT file on the first post was updated for Wget's full pathway, modify for your installation.

The ns9-nss-update.7z (923 KB) link was updated for anyone wanting to run Netscape Navigator 9. Thanks for all your hard work @roytam1. https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/33/?tab=comments#comment-1189098

Updated hyperlinks for browser download on page one: https://msfn.org/board/topic/181726-k-meleon-tls-12-in-vanilla-windows-98-se/?tab=comments#comment-1185084 Updated hyperlink for screenshot on page one: https://msfn.org/board/topic/181726-k-meleon-tls-12-in-vanilla-windows-98-se/?tab=comments#comment-1185208

WGETGRAB.BAT on the first post was updated, not that many use the feature of downloading web pages. This fetches the web page and page images into Arachne's DOWNLOAD directory, which can be accessed by pressing F10 in the browser. It works okay only, limitations included failure with any links >80 characters, including the page URL and any image URLs.

== Gopherus == Gopherus is a client for the Gopher protocol, tested here in DOS. Last commented on the Gopher protocol here using RetroZilla as a client. https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/28/?tab=comments#comment-1181896 Recently read this article which got me curious again - Gopherspace in the Year 2020. The article mentions Lynx, which works well in DOS (see member project page). In vanilla Windows 98 other browsers, like RetroZilla v2.2 and K-Meleon v1.5.4, support the Gopher protocol too if you don't want to work from DOS. https://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/gopherspace.html Since my DOS packet driver is on fire, finally tested the dedicated client Gopherus v1.2.1, released in January 2020. It has been in development since about 2013 and comes with useful documentation (gopherus-1.2.1-dos16.zip, 98 KB, no JavaScript needed to download). http://gopherus.sourceforge.net/ Similar to most DOS software, installation is as easy as extracting the ZIP file into the desired directory. Boot into DOS, load packet driver and run GOPHERUS.EXE. No special DOS configuration, mouse or memory management needed. A GOPHERUS.BAT file was created to automate the launch: @ECHO OFF C:\DOS\LNE100\LNE100TX.COM 0x60 C:\DOS\GOPHERUS\GOPHERUS.EXE If you connect through DHCP then creating a simple WATTCP.CFG in the Gopherus directory provides a quicker connect. Note a blank line is expected at the end of this one line document. my_ip = dhcp The Gopherus interface is straightforward, text only. Keyboard shortcuts are intuitive. The F1 key provides help and the F2 key returns to the main screen, which links your bookmarks (Gopher holes), Gopherpedia (modified Wikipedia) and the Veronica-2 search engine (through floodgap.com), which apparently searches > 80% of Gopherspace. Files, such as software or images, can be downloaded. Downloads default to the Gopherus directory, then just use applicable tools to manage files (ie. DOS commands, PictView image viewer, PKUNZIP.EXE). For anyone who's interested, Gopherpedia and Veronica-2: gopher://gopherpedia.com gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2

Using Wget's -k switch (convert links) in WGETSSL.BAT does not work. Unsure if it's a problem with this Wget or an Arachne limitation. When loading an HTTPS page, like Wikipedia, trying to load a link from this HTTPS page may result in an incomplete link, usually missing the root URL. It does not fail on all sites, like this forum, but is very evident in Wikipedia. Example, load Wikipedia's page for Windows 98 then attempt to load the embedded 'Operating System' link. This provides the URL 'file:/wiki/Operating_system'. This will obviously fail as Arachne does not have a local copy of this file. After many testing failures the only solutions i've found are to either perform a new HTTP-only Google search specifically for that link (eg. search wikipedia + operating + system) or manually modify the URL in Arachne's URL bar, prepending the root URL then press Enter to load the page. So in this example 'file:/wiki/Operating_system' would become 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system'. Still the best solution is just use Arachne for fun, bookmark all your favourite HTTP-only sites, only access HTTPS sites in a pinch and use one of the other (better) DOS browsers for seemless HTTPS support (Links or Lynx).

Finally finished converting over 50 custom jukebox packs, up to 10 tracks per pack, for Theme Hospital (better half's favourite game). Jeopardy (game show) should add a category for MIDI music - guess original artist and song title - then incorporate the MIDI into that episode's closing credits :) Did my annual review of government approved tax software vendors (hard drive install not web based). Thankfully found a vendor that still provides updated tax software for Windows 98 - joking. Actually found two that still work with Windows XP (didn't official XP support end in 2014). One of them only requires .NET Framework v2 and i think Windows XP SP3 provides TLS v1.2. Most tax vendors indicated Windows 7 is being phased out and none even mentioned Windows Vista support. A footnote from one of the vendors provided a chuckle, quoted below. My household doesn't even have the computing horsepower for Vista. Regardless, upgrading to Windows 10 would not make me feel safe or secure. Quote: Microsoft ended support and no longer provides security updates for systems running Windows 7. Upgrade to Windows 10 is strongly recommended to help keep your PC and data safe.

Thanks for the feedback Deomsh. Running Lynx with the low memory and buffer switches work well, though didn't notice any appreciable change from just a plain SMARTDRV.EXE command. During this testing phase my browsing sessions are, however, usually brief with frequent browser exits and re-starts, so maybe i just haven't hit a memory wall or something. C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /L /B:57344 Took a bit to configure but enjoying this browser more with experience. On this system DOS boots to 80 columns x 25 lines, adding below early in LYNX.BAT (or wherever) effectively doubles the web page view. C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MODE.COM 80,50 DuckDuckGo Lite is a good search engine for this browser. https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite To force a page reload upon re-visit instead of using Enter or right-arrow keys to load a link from cache or bookmarks use the letter 'x' key for a fresh fetch. Lynx can be temporarily escaped to DOS during a browsing session via the exclamation (!) key, then enter 'exit' at the prompt when ready to resume browsing. On this system, unfortunately, Lynx resumes in monochrome instead of colour mode - haven't figured it out. If Lynx hangs on a page load or whatever, Alt-x forces the browser to exit.

Embedded screenshots in post above removed to reclaim real estate, as they can't be viewed from browsers not running JavaScript (ie. most Windows 9x users). Just click on the screenshot links provided. Press PrtScn key in Arachne for a screenshot (entire screen, not just web page). In the save dialogue ensure the full save pathway is specified or it fails (eg. C:\SCREEN.BMP not SCREEN.BMP). Most modern software (browsers, image viewers) can't view Arachne's BMPs. Fortunately PictView in DOS can display and convert these BMP files. Converted to JPGs they work well with all software.

Thanks for the information @RainyShadow. Fortunately for now my PDF printer works, provided K-Meleon is used with the StyleKILL script from @Siria. Correction to my earlier post, PDFCreator appears to work better than CutePDF Writer. A site viewed frequently here fails with CutePDF regarding margins and page alignment but works well with PDFCreator. Easy to install, configure via Start menu -> Settings -> Printers. Now set here as the default printer. For my needs, PDFCreator properties -> Graphics tab -> Resolution of 300 DPI maximum otherwise the system bogs down during conversion. Also Device Options tab -> Available printer memory was increased significantly to 32768 KB (32 MB) to allow for any larger PDF conversions. PDFCreator-0_8_0_GNUGhostscript.exe (7.6 MB). https://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/files/PDFCreator/PDFCreator%200.8/PDFCreator-0_8_0_GNUGhostscript.exe/download

Sometimes i print news stories from the web browser to PDF for offline viewing with my better half. This has been failing more frequently (missing parts of pages, text cut off, etc). After troubleshooting, it wasn't the PDF printer but the web browser. These old browsers are no longer capable of processing and displaying many web pages properly which also affects 'print' to PDF. For whatever reason, in RetroZilla changing View -> Use Style -> None does not usually help. However, in K-Meleon v1.5.4 using the StyleKILL script from @Siria does properly format the page for PDF printing! Can't have enough tools in the box, K-Meleon appears to technically be the best graphic browser for vanilla Windows 98 at this time. The StyleKILL script needs to be activated frequently and is easy to access from the browser's toolbar (requires manual configuration). https://msfn.org/board/topic/181726-k-meleon-tls-12-in-vanilla-windows-98-se/ On this system CutePDF Writer v2.7 is usually used to 'print' to PDF. PDFCreator v0.8.0 was also installed for trial. Can't say one is better than the other, i'm just used to CutePDF. An alternative is to copy/paste web page information to a text document but it's tedious. Wikipedia has a 'Computer rage' entry so it's official. Glad to see i'm not the only one frustrated with modern computing. Change for the sake of change, keep churning garbage, add more telemetry, make it more complicated (less reliable) and force the world to update. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_rage

The 'Create LYNX.BAT' section of the first post was updated to incorporate loading C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE prior to launching the browser, performance improvement noted here with less disk thrashing.

Three screenshots using Arachne's default (funky) toolbar layout and the Wget update from first post for TLS 1.2. Note this forum now requires allowing JavaScript for MSFN's domain to view these screenshots or just click the links below. 1. You'll see this whenever an HTTPS site is encountered. If you've updated Wget as per first post then press F2. https://i.postimg.cc/3xsBJvZq/01-UNKNOWN.jpg 2. Pressing F2 displays the Save or Send Document screen. Note the address in the URL bar you are trying to load. Click Get SSL page or post data via SSL using Wget (upper left). https://i.postimg.cc/g0GxDccJ/02-GETSSL.jpg 3. The browser will briefly exit, Wget fetch the desired page, restart Arachne and display page content. This screenshot shows TLS 1.2 capability with some of the cipher information. https://i.postimg.cc/vBk93RSN/03-SSL2.jpg

First post edited. Full default C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE pathway added, adjust for your system. The WGETSSL.BAT file was modified, this is the version that would be used with Wget for TLS 1.2. Note the WGET.EXE line is one looong line, just mentioning in case it wraps in your browser (four lines total: CD x 2, WGET, PAUSE).

Thanks again for your input @RainyShadow. Without realizing it i've used DOS extenders quite a bit lately for games and web browsers (CWSDPMI, DOS/4G). HX DOS is interesting too, read up on it and played around. If anyone's interested, some of the software it may support depending on your use case: https://www.japheth.de/HX/COMPAT.html Regarding distros, Devuan minimal installs with Openbox and Fluxbox have been used here on a couple systems since their first stable releases (Jessie, Ascii). They run well, no major issues. The PsychDOS stuff you linked is interesting, dug into the DOS links (theouterlinux). There's still a crazy amount of stuff available out there if you know how to dig. I don't, usually just use the first 20 DDG hits, so thank-you. DOS development tools, like Adventure Game Studio and AsciiQuest, look crazy interesting. There's never enough time to fully enjoy this good stuff. Good to hear from you @Bruninho, nice to see you're still a little active with Windows 98 :)