Java JRE 6 and win-98? (Problem with windows installer)

[98Guy]

Does JRE 6 (update 10) work on Win-98?

I'm trying to install it, but I'm getting "Error 1721. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package".

I've installed "Windows Installer 2.0 Redistributable for Windows 95, 98, and Me" but that doesn't help.

Is there a newer Installer that runs under 98?

[user0one]

Not totally sure, but I stopped updating Java after version 5 update 14. None of the Java 6 version would install on the old PC.

[ShadeTreeLee]

Version 2.0.2600.2 (msi.dll) Windows Installer was the highest versioned package for 9x ever released. Version 3 and higher are only for NT5 and beyond. "Error 1721" seems ripe for a google search...

JRE 6 is still beta IIRC with only JRE 5 actually being supported by Sun. I've never understood the rush to install version 6 when they aren't yet done with version 5 - I guess it has something to with counting. It has been a while since I re-visited the Sun Java issue, grudgingly I'm off to do that, thanks for the reminder.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Does JRE 6 (update 10) work on Win-98?

I'm trying to install it, but I'm getting "Error 1721. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package".

I've installed "Windows Installer 2.0 Redistributable for Windows 95, 98, and Me" but that doesn't help.

Is there a newer Installer that runs under 98?

Well I just happened to be there at the Sun website grabbing the latest JRE file, but for WinXP. The file was labelled: Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003 Offline. I did not notice any reference to Win9x. The file I winded up with worked fine on WinXP and Opera is cool with it. Control Panel addin works correctly. If you have this same file I doubt it is going to work on Win9x. It does not appear to be manually extractable (at least by anything I have). The details of that file are listed below as File-A:

I looked at my archives and found the file I used on Win9x. I have it stored as J2re-1_6_0_jre-6-windows-i586.exe but I cannot tell if that is the original filename or not. It was likely jre-6-windows-i586.exe. This file also does not appear to be manually extractable. The details of that file are listed as File-B:

[color="#008000"][b][size=3]File-A[/size] ... verified working on WinXP(SP3) + Opera960 + MSIE7[/b][/color]
       File name                Size       Date    Time            MD5 Hash                CRC
Jre-6u10-windows-i586-p.exe  16,156,056  10-22-08 11:44p cfda28a6c4890e82944d267fc7440d5f 589DC848

[color="#008000"][b][size=3]File-B[/size] ... verified working on Win9x + Opera960[/b][/color]
       File name                Size       Date    Time            MD5 Hash                CRC
Jre-6-windows-i586.exe       13,170,312  07-22-07  2:24a d5ce41326e6d3676951a9401f8321123 028E38B0

What I believe needs to be determined now is at what point in the JRE 1_6 series did Win9x get dropped for sure? This I do not yet know.

They have a page at Sun for older versions right here. After you have a look at that page that little wacko face will seem appropriate. Holy Alphabet Soup Batman! I swear, they are making this JRE stuff as difficult as Microsoft did! What a mess! Hopefully there is a straightforward older-file archive of the end-user JRE files somewhere else.

[98Guy]

I had a look at the sticky thread here (last software versions for win-98) and it was mentioned that JRE 5 (update 16?) is the last "official version" but that JRE 6 update 7 does install.

I went and tried and sure enough, JRE 6up7 does install on win 98se.

First time I used it, it updated all the cached java applets (took a few minutes). Seems to work.

There appears to be no 6up8 or 6up9.

Note this (from Sun):

-------------

J2SE 5.0 is in its Java Technology End of Life (EOL) transition period. The EOL transition period began April 8th, 2008 and will complete October 30th, 2009, when J2SE 5.0 will have reached its End of Service Life (EOSL).

-------------

I can't find a list of release or build-dates for the various JRE 5 and 6 versions, but 6up7 has files dated June 10/08. Anyone know when 5up16 was released?

So at this point either 6up7 or 5up16 is the last, "best" version for win-98, until someone can figure out why 6up10 doesn't like the win-98 installer (or recompile them for win-98).

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Sun Java JRE Distributions and Supplemental Information ...

• Nice informative page here from Canadian Mind Products (by Roedy Green, remember all his great DOS apps?). Includes download links and helpful explanations: JRE : Java Glossary.
  
• Several archived versions are available thru OldVersion.com: JavaPlatform.
  
• The official Sun Java Archive page (same as listed in my previous post): Archive: Java[tm] Technology Products Download. It has links for JRE 5 (0 to update 15) and JRE 6 (0 to update 7); and many older ones as well.
  
• The offical Sun page for the latest Java JRE (same as listed in my previous post): Java Downloads for All Operating Systems. . The latest version at this time is JRE 6 update 10.
  

{This space reserved for future additions!}

[Drugwash]

When installed under XP, JRE 6u10 is now different: it unpacks an 1,598,464 bytes msi (jre1.6.0_10.msi) and a 12,815,376 bytes cab (Data1.cab) as opposed to a previously unique .msi. The small .msi is the one responsible with unpacking the .cab deploying each file where it belongs and it's precisely this file that is incompatible with 9x. The .cab can be easily unpacked and looked into, only to get a severe headache and bless we-know-whom with a random mix of colorful words.

To me this is enough to realize they broke 9x compatibility on purpose. Hail to the "progress"...

[Joseph_sw]

in my case, for some weird reason, i can't get installer to works on my win98SE.

even if i download it from: http://java.com/en/download/windows98me_manual.jsp

the only works for me was from oldversion site.

[RodgerOver]

If you use the French language option in Google, you can find a version 5 update 16,

if you use the English langauge option in Google, the last version 5 you can find is update 15.

I have no clue why this is the case

Rodger