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Can't install Windows Me (freezes after 2nd reboot)


Mysterio

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Dear pro-users of 9x/Me! I need your help to install Windows Me.

 

My motherboard AsRock 775i65G r3.0 officially supports Windows 98SE and Me; AGP 256 MB video by NVidia (6800GT) is also officially supported. Only IDE devices for Millennium are used (HDDs and CD/DVD-Drive).

 

I've already tested Windows 2000 on this machine for a couple of months, and everything worked fine.

 

Now I'm trying to install full retail version of Windows Me on ~25 GB primary partition in the beginning of my 320 GB HDD (other partitions except another following primary ~ 50 GB partition for programs are hidden), but still have no luck.

 

First time I've tried it just to check if it's possible to install Millennium with 2 GB RAM. - No luck, just non-stop reboots.

 

Second time I've removed one 1 GB of 2, so only 1 GB left. Everything was fine until second reboot, then "updated system files, continuing to load" message and... Nothing except blinking cursor right after the words "continuing to load".

 

Now I've tried to install 256 Mb of RAM - everything was fine until second reboot again. Just right after the phrase "updated system files, continuing to load" everything stops. In the beginning white cursor blinks some seconds, then PC itself turns off. When I use 1 GB memory stick, PC just freezes with blinking cursor without shutting down.

 

What problem could it be? What processes are made during this stage of installation (second reboot just before the final part)? Can multi-core CPU affect this? Or installed SATA-drives, which are planning to be used by XP?

 

I want to make Millennium on my PC real! :-)

 

Thank you!

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Are you using an authentic install disc for Windows ME?

I've burned copies of my Windows ME cd and they always turned out error prone. I would install Windows with one of these burned copies, then before you know it, all sorts of kernel errors would pop up. Or else it would crash while updating system settings right after installation. In the end, the system was never stable. All that disappears when I use a real copy.

That's just a suggestion :-) Of course, you could already be using an authentic copy. In that case, I don't know.

Edited by LostInSpace2012
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Second time I've removed one 1 GB of 2, so only 1 GB left. Everything was fine until second reboot, then "updated system files, continuing to load" message and... Nothing except blinking cursor right after the words "continuing to load".

What you mean by "second reboot" is when it reboots during the Installation process, right? When Windows ME is installing, it copies all the files then it reboots itself, then it continues setting up the system. Is that where it crashes? That second reboot?

The finalized version of Windows doesn't actually load then, correct? If I understand you correctly you are just stuck on installation? The first "wave" of files is copied to your hard drive, then it reboots to continue intallation, but it hangs there?

....you might need a better/different CD-Rom.

I had this problem once where I couldn't finish installing Windows ME. Problem turned out to be a dying, defective, or messed up CD-Rom drive. Or else Windows ME didn't like that particular brand/model of CD-Rom. I put in a different model and it finished installing Windows. Otherwise it would just hang at the "second reboot" during installtion. Sorta like what you describe.

Again, this is only my opinion... maybe somebody else has a better idea. Good luck.

Edited by LostInSpace2012
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Now I'm trying to install full retail version of Windows Me on ~25 GB primary partition in the beginning of my 320 GB HDD (other partitions except another following primary ~ 50 GB partition for programs are hidden)

 

Sounds like he need the large hard drive patch http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/78592-enable48bitlba-break-the-137gb-barrier/ . It doesn't matter if you partition a big hard drive to useable sizes, you would still get memory errors.

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does Windows ME proceed beyond the initial scandisk test of hard drive.... if that patch isn't installed?

seems odd that he would get halfway through installtion without it.

Not saying that he doesn't need the patch, but still.... hmm.

Edited by LostInSpace2012
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does Windows ME proceed beyond the initial scandisk test of hard drive.... if that patch isn't installed?

seems odd that he would get halfway through installtion without it.

Not saying that he doesn't need the patch, but still.... hmm.

 

Scandisk does not have an issue with the 137 gig limit issue. If that was the case I would not have been able to install Me on my aspire one.

 

EDIT: Nor would I be able to run a scandisk check on it.

Edited by Flasche
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ME, fails me, after a couple of times. It was the go-to OS, but then I realized my 98 would never do such things. My ME install had a simular problem, when I would change the Boot logo, image. Afterwards it would not boot into the OS itself, just hang and start to have problems.

For awhile I did feel the same way, about installing 2000, and XP, as my computer would reject the installation of non NT OS. I was paranoid about installing an NT OS, for a very long time. Because I keep hearing strange sounds from the HD, that sounded odd, on the NT boot. I think I would try to back up your data, format the disk, via a Floppy boot disk in command-line, then try and do a fresh install, and see how long it will break on it's own.

Another thing, is the way hard drive was formatted even after the installation, something might go wrong. For me, ME just kept on failing me, time after time, after time. I switched back to Windows 98 SE. I think some unofficial copies have time-ware/Cron-ware ( I invented a new term ) inside of them, that self destructs.

ME is basically what OSX Leopard is to Mac users. The in between phase, of DOS-Windows and No-DOS-Windows. ME is basically an unfinished version of 98.

I really hate scandisk, with installs. I wish I could just install without scandisks ( which you can do, with a boot disk ). But your problem is about booting up, even after installing, and shutting down?

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Scandisk does not have an issue with the 137 gig limit issue. If that was the case I would not have been able to install Me on my aspire one.

EDIT: Nor would I be able to run a scandisk check on it.

Oh, okay :-) Wasn't sure.

@ ROTS

My experiences weren't much better. I long ago quit attempting to install Windows ME on anything besides what it was specifically designed for -- meaning, it came with ME originally installed from the factory. I can live with a pentium III processor and less than 512 MB Ram. It's no big deal to me. Never understood the appeal of partitioning up hard drives for more than one O.S. per disk.

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What you mean by "second reboot" is when it reboots during the Installation process, right?

Yes, this is what I'm talking about. I insert WinMe floppy, setup starts, I choose components, language, then it copies some files, then reboots (1). Then it detects devices, then reboots for the second time. And after that - freezes.

does Windows ME proceed beyond the initial scandisk test of hard drive.... if that patch isn't installed?

None of the patches are installed, I use fully original boxed version. Setup starts from floppy. Yes, everything was fine until second reboot stage during installation.

Are you using an authentic install disc for Windows ME? 

Yes, original retail copy.

I had this problem once where I couldn't finish installing Windows ME. Problem turned out to be a dying, defective, or messed up CD-Rom drive. Or else Windows ME didn't like that particular brand/model of CD-Rom. I put in a different model and it finished installing Windows. Otherwise it would just hang at the "second reboot" during installtion. Sorta like what you describe.

Hmm, interesting. My current model is Plextor PX-850A PATA, and it's almost new. I will try to copy Me files to HDD, using installation from this source without any connected DVD-drives.

It doesn't matter if you partition a big hard drive to useable sizes, you would still get memory errors.

Somewhere here was small FAQ with words like "Using partitions on big HDDs under 120GB is safe". Despite this, I will try your suggestion, thanx.

But your problem is about booting up, even after installing, and shutting down? 

No, installation just even not finishes.

ME, fails me, after a couple of times. It was the go-to OS, but then I realized my 98 would never do such things. <...> For me, ME just kept on failing me, time after time, after time. I switched back to Windows 98 SE. I think some unofficial copies have time-ware/Cron-ware ( I invented a new term ) inside of them, that self destructs. ME is basically what OSX Leopard is to Mac users. The in between phase, of DOS-Windows and No-DOS-Windows. ME is basically an unfinished version of 98. I really hate scandisk, with installs.

)))

To my mind, Windows 98's look doesn't produce such a great impression like tidy Millennium's desktop and explorer.

I think I would try to back up your data, format the disk, via a Floppy boot disk in command-line, then try and do a fresh install.

Hmmm, maybe preparing partition via fdisk will help, thanx. Don't know, why, but Win2K isn't installing too when I'm using Partition Magic 8.05 or Acronis Disc Director 2011 to make partitions. Everything was fine only via built-in partitioning stage.

Edited by Mysterio
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Having SATA drives can cause Windows to hang.

Enable logging and report the last line in BOOTLOG.TXT.

The last lines before setup freezes and PC shuts down (3rd install configuration using 256 Mb of memory; 1st is 2 Gb of RAM, 2nd - 1 Gb of RAM).

post-383368-0-64530500-1400908623_thumb.

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Rloew, it seems I've found something interesting!

The following problem cropped up on the 865PE chipset, but (quite unexpectedly) failed to crop up on the two newer chipsets.

With default BIOS settings, I got two reboots into the installation process and then it hung.  With BOOTLOG.TXT output enabled, the end of the log looked like this:
 
[0015B6D2] Initing hsflop.pdr
[0015B6F1] Init Success hsflop.pdr
[0015B6F1] Initing esdi_506.pdr
[0015B6F7] Init Success esdi_506.pdr
[0015B6F8] Initing esdi_506.pdr
[0015B703] Init Success esdi_506.pdr
[0015B703] Initing esdi_506.pdr
 
esdi_506 is identified as the Windows protected mode IDE disk driver.  The problem, apparently, was that the mixture of SATA and PATA interfaces didn't satisfy W98's outdated assumptions about ports and IRQs.
To avoid this problem, you have to configure the BIOS to use "Legacy Mode" or "Compatible Mode," rather than "Native Mode" or "Enhanced Mode," for its ATA channels.  This limits you to four devices, but they don't all have to be PATA.  The BIOS can map two SATA drives onto an emulated IDE channel.

http://www.flaterco.com/kb/W98.html

 

It seems to be the solution, but there is a problem.

This is what I see in 775i65G's BIOS.

post-383368-0-99743500-1400910075_thumb.

Currently, I have 4 IDE devices (2 HDD - IDE1 and 2 DVD - IDE2) and 2 SATA devices (both of them are HDD). Does that mean that the only way for the system to see DVD drive is to choose SATA + Sec IDE, which makes 2 Tb SATA HDD not only visible, but the only drive to install Me to?

Is it possible to do something else, not only changing BIOS settings every time I'm gonna load Windows Me?

P.S. Haven't tested this option yet, because it's too hard to decide to give for Millennium 2 Tb drive (even if it's just a partition on it: what if something'll go wrong in the future...).

Edited by Mysterio
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Hmm, what if it's possible to use sata DVD-drive via SIL3512 PCI controller in Me?

If I choose an option "1st IDE + SATA", which makes 2 x 320 GB IDE drives + 2 x 2 TB SATA visible (Me will use only a couple of 320s), is there any other way to add DVD to Millennium? If Me drivers for SIL3512 controller exist, it's probably the best solution (I already have this PCI controller).

Edited by Mysterio
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Personally, I would try dividing the issue in two.

Temporarily, disconnect the other drives and see if ME ends up the installation correctly and boots fully.

Then, if this succeeds, experiment with changing back the BIOS settings, adding the other devices, etc.

It is possible that the issue (whatever it is) is limited to second reboot after install and once this phase is over you have the possibility to change something "back".

 

jaclaz

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Your problem is definitely due to the SATA Drives.

If you limit yourself to 4 Devices you may be able to get it to work.

My SATA Patch would allow you to use Native Mode SATA and eliminate this restriction.

I also have a Patch that would allow you to use 2GiB or more of RAM.

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