Attempting Windows 95 on an Asus Eee PC

[CamTron]

While cleaning out my closet recently, I found my old Windows 95 installation disk that came with my first computer (still in working order). So, I decided to test it out and see if it could run on modern (2008) hardware. I followed this YouTuber's tutorial on running Windows 3.1 from a flash drive, but copied the files from my Win95. The installation went successfully and it booted right up after editing the System.ini file to work around the memory bug. So, I've decided to challenge myself and see how useful I can make it run. I've installed BearWindows's VBEMP9x driver to get correct display resolution, and a mouse wheel driver to get two-finger scroll working. But I currently have no sound or ethernet. I could not find a Realtek HD Audio driver nor a Atheros AR81xx to get these working. Has anyone attempted this on similar hardware? Is it possible to use DOS drivers for some of these things?

This is an Asus Eee PC 1000HD and I'm running Windows 95 OSR1 "A".

[dencorso]

Sfor: Asus Eee PC and Windows 9x

[CamTron]

Sfor: Asus Eee PC and Windows 9x

I read that forum. Where do you obtain the Atheros ndis2 driver? I can't find such a thing. I assume wireless is out of the question for Win95, but I'd like to be able to plug in my ethernet cable and connect to my wired network.

I do get nice software shutdowns with Win95, even though it doesn't at all support ACPI, which must mean that the Eee PC's BIOS has some APM features. Win95 doesn't detect my AC adapter or battery, so the Eee PC must not be fully APM-compatible. I must also note that the BIOS can emulate a USB device, so USB keyboards and mice will work, although the USB mouse is a bit jerky.

Edited April 10, 2014 by CamTron

[dencorso]

Welcome to MSFN!

LoneCrusader, BenoitRen and Andrew T. are our resident authorities on 95. I'm sure LoneCrusader will interact with you soon, given the project you're pursuing. I'll see whether I can find the files you're looking for, and post back.

[CamTron]

I ran into a bit of a problem installing the SNAP graphics driver.

While running the inst9x.bat script, it throws an 'Unable to create directory' error when trying to create the 'C:\Windows\System\Snap' directory. I'm not sure, but I think this is because it creates an extensionless file called SNAP in the SYSTEM directory, and as we know, having two items with the same name is a no-no.

And hence, when the script tries to copy the config files, it says "Path not found". Under Linux, the SNAP file shows up as a DOS\Windows executable, so I just renamed it SNAP.EXE. I figured this was probably okay. Then I just manually made the directory and copied the files. It didn't say anything when I right-click>installed the .inf, but it showed up when I clicked Change Display Device. Only problem is I can't get 1024x600 resolution. Selecting 1024x768 cuts of the bottom. I want to try GAMODE.exe, but I don't know what to put as <device>. I still have bearwindows's VBIOS TSR installed at boot.

[dencorso]

There are two unofficial 9x versions, very slightly different one from the other: bearwindows' and Tihiy's.

Since you've gone this far, you should e-mail bearwindows (he almost never reads PMs) or PM Tihiy to figure how to get the results bearwindows has posted.

It should be a matter of detail. I'm sure they'll get back to you and help. And then you could write a how-to, because it isn't easy, and SNAP is bound to become more and more needed (same holds for SNAP audio).

[CamTron]

Alright, I'll see about that. By the way, I think SNAP is a very genius idea, having the ability to run the same driver on any operating system, but since it's now discontinued, OSes aren't going to support it.

[CamTron]

After a considerable amount of googling, I found out how to configure the SNAP driver. Although I can add a 1024x600 resolution, the driver seems to have some fundamental bug with my "card". Any resolution above 800 gets stretched off screen so that only 800x600 of the desktop is visible. So, I can set a 1024x600 resolution, and the desktop does become 1024x768, but only the top left 800x600 piece is visible, which basically defeats my purpose, so now I'm back to using VBEMP, even though it's got the command prompt window bug and no DirectX support. I've also noticed some graphical glitches with SNAP, mainly parts of file names not displaying on the desktop and file manager (screenshot). And if anyone knows where I can download the SNAP audio driver, it would be much appreciated. I've looked all over and could not find it, and that seems to be the only way to get sound on my computer.

I have no idea why the image shows like this when attached, but not when inserted as above... this is just sort of a fix.

[submix8c]

OK, but

After a considerable amount of googling, I found out how to configure the SNAP driver.

...how? (note that I also use 800x600 as a general rule)

[CamTron]

Well, if you mean adding another resolution, you can use GAMODE.EXE http://www.bearwindows.boot-land.net/myproj.htm. Just do: gamode add <width> <height> <bits> <display>

(without the <>, of course!)

So, I wanted 1024x600 with 32-bit color, so I cd'd to the directory containing gamode and ran: gamode add 1024 768 32 0

The display number can be found out by opening up the Scitech tool from the right-click>properties and viewing the log.

You do need to reboot in order to select the new resolution. However, I don't know if it will work correctly for you, depending on your graphics card.

Edited April 11, 2014 by CamTron

[submix8c]

OK, but... 1024x600 seems to be an "odd" (nonstandard) resolution.

edit - here is some info (apparently the EEE is of this type?) -

http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-Important-is-Screen-Resolution-when-Buying-A-Tablet-/10000000177629444/g.html

I google a lot, so this

resolution "1024x600"

yielded the above link. Edited April 11, 2014 by submix8c

[CamTron]

Well, today, it is a pretty common resolution for netbooks and tablets, but widescreen just wasn't popular at the time of Windows 95, so nobody really bothered with it. 1024x768 is and has always been very common for desktop monitors, so you're in luck with that res. Basically, no Windows 9x driver that I know of really supports 1024x600, or any widescreen for that matter, except for the VBE9x driver or Scitech's SNAP driver, which allows you to use a custom res. I don't know what the problem is with the SNAP driver on my netbook, though. Has anyone found a workaround for the Command Prompt window bug, besides just having it launch fullscreen?

[CamTron]

So, I found out that it's impossible to install the SNAP audio driver in Windows 9x, because it has limited support and only works with NT. Because I've essentially hit a brick wall with 95, I'm going with Windows 98 SE, which has much greater support for everything.

Since my Eee PC has no internal CD drive, only USB ports, the only way for me to install this is by USB flash drive. I don't have an external CD drive. So, I used the HP flash utility to format my flash drive as a Windows 98 boot disk and copied all of the files to it from the Win98 SE CD and installed it successfully using the flash drive. There's one problem, though. Win98 fails to boot if I don't have my flash drive plugged in. When I select Windows 98 from the GRUB boot menu, I get this message: This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key to continue ... and it only proceeds to boot if my flash drive is connected. I've noticed that in Win98, my flash drive shows up as (C:) and my OS partition shows up as (D:). Would this be causing the issue? If so, how do I set my OS partition as (C:)?

[dencorso]

[...] and installed it successfully using the flash drive. There's one problem, though. Win98 fails to boot if I don't have my flash drive plugged in. When I select Windows 98 from the GRUB boot menu, I get this message: This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key to continue ... and it only proceeds to boot if my flash drive is connected. I've noticed that in Win98, my flash drive shows up as (C:) and my OS partition shows up as (D:). Would this be causing the issue? If so, how do I set my OS partition as (C:)?

So... the above shows that, contrary to your belief, you did not install successfully at all, but instead, with all due respect, created a bootable mess...

Best solution is to wipe, reformat and make dos bootable the internal HDD, then copy the install folder from the Windows Install CD to an arbitrary subdirectory in the internal HDD. Then remove all removable media, boot to DOS and start the windows installation from the subdirectory where you put the windows installation. That's how you do it.

But... after all that work, you'll hit the exact same wall that made you give up 95. Therefore, were I you (whom clearly I'm not), I wouldn't even start.

There are two greaphics drivers for the EeePC: VBEMP and SNAP. There's no other option. Contumacy against the facts is futile.

[CamTron]

I'm not really serioulsy planning on using Windows 98 as my main OS, unless I get it working well enough. I just like testing things out and seing what works.

I got Windows 98 SE to install properly to my hard disk. It was about time to backup and reinstall XP anyway, so why not? The reason why it couldn't boot before is because I had not made the partition DOS-bootable, and Windows was using the flash drive's boot sector instead of the hard disk's. So now I've got full, working USB 2.0 support (shout out to maximus-decim for his Native USB driver!), and NTFS support through the unofficial SP3. I still have the same exact graphics bugs that I had with Windows 95. I haven't tried yet, but the Scitech problem might be fixable by adjusting the display timings in the registry. Does anyone know of a 802.11n miniport network driver or an Atheros 5xxx PCI driver for Windows 98 SE? or if any will work with KernelEx? Would DOS drivers work through compatibility mode?

Edited April 16, 2014 by CamTron