Windows 98SE on Inspiron 1525

[dencorso]

The main problem with the RAM Limitation Patch (RLP), followed by uSP is that uSP *replaces* VMM.VxD, which is fine by itself, but it is one of the files (the main one) patched extensively by RMP. So applying the uSP cripples RLP. The only solution is to reapply the RLP to patch the newly added VMM.VxD 4.10.2226, but that's a situation for which RLoew's patcher was not intended, so that some manual tweaking is required, but it's possible and not too difficult to do (but one needs to know what one's doing, in detail). However, osiff's problem is even more complex because having a SATA boot drive with an Intel controller and very limitated options for tweaking at BIOS configuration leves, as is usual for laptops/notebooks/netbooks. Probably the best course (the least painful one) would be to patch the SATA driver outside the machine, instal with a custom installation disk, along the lines you did for Win 95, then aply the RLP in DOS, between reboots. That will get the system up and running. Then install uSP, let the system crash, and repatch everything from DOS. But *both* Rloew's patches seem to me to be really *fundamental* for this setup (and, of course, they come with RLoew's superb support, which will be of great help here). The considerations I posted here are also of interest to help make a good picture of how Win 9x/ME behave with lots of physical RAM. Once the machine is up and running 98SE, then the other driver issues can be dealt with, one at a time.

[LoneCrusader]

The main problem with the RAM Limitation Patch (RLP), followed by uSP is that uSP *replaces* VMM.VxD, which is fine by itself, but it is one of the files (the main one) patched extensively by RMP. So applying the uSP cripples RLP....

Agreed this is the case in the given scenario. However, in the setup I was referencing in my old post, I had installed the RAM Limitation Patch AFTER the USP, and the system was still unstable, and did not display the correct amount of RAM. These problems were not present in the test using only the RAM Limitation Patch. So some other setting or tweak must also be applied by the USP that is not compatible with the RAM Limitation Patch.

[dencorso]

The uSP adds many tweaks to SYSTEM.INI, and among them custom MaxPhysPage and MaxFileCache statements that are unnecessary for one using the RAM Limitation Patch. The former would account for the incorrect amount of RAM displayed by Windows. As for the instability you found, that would have to be looked into further. I consider it wise to save SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, CONTROL.INI, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT and MSDOS.SYS before applying the uSP, then comparing these files with the former versions to decide which, if any, of the configuration tweaks added by uSP should be kept. So, adding the uSP to anything that is not a plain vanilla system must be done with due care. Which is clearly the case here, for the machine osiff is seeting up. But over and above that, I wouldn't reccomend installing uSP blindly on such a system, at least not before one is quite sure it is working, reliable and stable, and then, only doing it after having a known-good backup.

[osiff]

OK... I believe this is the order that I used to get the system to boot before:

1. Reinstall

2. At first restart, set MaxPhysCache to 30000

3. After setup completes, when the system tries to boot for the first time, install the ram patch

Does this seem right? And this time I wont try the usp again...

[dencorso]

No. Begin installation up to the 1st reboot. Don't let it reboot from the HDD (easiest way is to put a DOS bootable floppy in the FDD, if you have it, or any bootable CD -- your Ubuntu will do all right -- in de optical drive, and set FDD or CD/DVD drive as 1st boot device in the BIOS, so that the reboot will boot from the floppy or CD, instead of the HDD).

Then, either:

1) set MaxPhysPage=40000 and MaxFileCache=16384 in SYSTEM.INI and rename C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR to ESDI_506.OFF

2) Now reboot to the HDD and let the installation finish.

or

Install the RAM Limitation Patch, from DOS, as per RLoew's intructions enclosed in the patch distribuition archive (part of which I quoted in a previous post), and rename C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR to ESDI_506.OFF.

[rloew]

No. Begin installation up to the 1st reboot. Don't let it reboot from the HDD (easiest way is to put a DOS bootable floppy in the FDD, if you have it, or any bootable CD -- your Ubuntu will do all right -- in de optical drive, and set FDD or CD/DVD drive as 1st boot device in the BIOS, so that the reboot will boot from the floppy or CD, instead of the HDD).

Then, either:

1) set MaxPhysPage=40000 and MaxFileCache=16384 in SYSTEM.INI and rename C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR to ESDI_506.OFF

2) Now reboot to the HDD and let the installation finish.

or

Install the RAM Limitation Patch, from DOS, as per RLoew's intructions enclosed in the patch distribuition archive (part of which I quoted in a previous post), and rename C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR to ESDI_506.OFF.

I think MaxFileCache=16384 is too low. Windows will ignore a MaxFileCache that is below it's internally generated MinFileCache. I would use at least 131072.

[dencorso]

I think Win9x/ME honors it. A very similar setting was the only one that worked for Andy Aronoff (Post #5 in this thread over in WindowsKB), who I suppose was the first to succeed with 2 GiB, way back when, about two years before v. 1.0 of the RAM Limitation Patch.

[rloew]

I think Win9x/ME honors it. A very similar setting was the only one that worked for Andy Aronoff (Post #5 in this thread over in WindowsKB), who I suppose was the first to succeed with 2 GiB, way back when, about two years before v. 1.0 of the RAM Limitation Patch.

I just tested it on one of my Computers and it did not work. If you use MaxPhysPage=40000 then MaxFileCache must be at least 43282, maybe slightly more.

131072 is enough unless you have more than 3GiB of RAM.

The Minimum File Cache can be found at HKEY_DYN_DATA\PerfStats\StatData VCACHE\cMinPages.

Multiply the Hex Value by 4 to get the number of KB.

[dencorso]

OK!

I think now it's a good time for a test...

@osiff: would you please try the settings below and report what happened?

1) set MaxPhysPage=40000 and MaxFileCache=131072 in SYSTEM.INI and rename C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR to ESDI_506.OFF

2) Now reboot to the HDD and let the installation finish.

If, and only if it crashes, then try changing MaxFileCache=65536, but keep MaxPhysPage=40000.

[osiff]

OK setup finished with me renaming the file and setting those values. Another problem has arose now though. An error came up that said something like An error occurred while setting up the control panel. C:/windows/system/timestamp or something like that.idk is missing. The message came up pretty quickly and I barley had time to read it before it disappeared. the system froze after that and now when I try to boot the system hangs again. WHAT?!? Does this have to do with the file i renamed?

[dencorso]

OK setup finished with me renaming the file and setting those values.

Did it go all the way and actually let you have a workable desktop once, and then the error occurred, or was the error further on, after the 1st reboot, so that you never reached a workable desktop before the appearance of the new error? Does ESDI_506.PDR remain renamed or did another version of it pop up from somewhere?

[osiff]

I never got to a workable desktop. It crashed before the last reboot before you get the desktop. Is there an updated windows 98 cd or something that I could use? Might I have more luck with windows ME? I remember trying it once and that actually made it to the desktop without much tweaking besides the maxphyspage but none of the drivers worked... but then again I might have used vista drivers... I got windows 2000 to run once though with all drivers installed successfully. Didn't ME and 2000 get released at about the same time?

Edited April 3, 2011 by osiff

[dencorso]

No. There's no ready-to-use updated installation CD for Win 98SE. And no Win ME is slightly better, in what regards memory management, but the SATA problem remains the same. Use Ubuntu to hunt around for the reappearance of ESDI_506.PDR. You might have copies of it in: (i) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS; (ii) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or (iii) C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP and rename them all. Then go to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PRECOPY and rename SP2.CAB to SP2.OLD.

Then find SYSTEM.CB in C:\WINDOWS, and edit it to contain the same MaxPhysPage=40000 and MaxFileCache=131072 statements (you'll probably have to create the [vcache] and [386Enh] sections there, as well, to do it) that exist in SYSTEM.INI. Then try to boot again, and report. We are getting there by slow steps.

As for Win 2k, it's a different beast altogether. Installing Win 2k SP4 in your machine would be much simpler, in fact.

[osiff]

IT BOOTS!! After all the frustration with windows 98 and the fact that I'm not sure I want to invest money (patch) into this, I gave windows me a try and I set the values in system.ini and it boots!! So... Before I screw something up, what should I do? Do you think I can install kernel x? I think when I tried it before the driver installs all gave errors and then the system blue screened the next time booted. I might have been using vista drivers though. Does kernel x even help with driver installations?

Edited April 5, 2011 by osiff

[loblo]

Since you've installed Windows ME and it boots OK, you can now set MaxPhysPage=7CB00 which will make 1995MB out of your 2GB available to Windows ME. And yes you can install KernelEx (which doesn't help with drivers).