Intel Ethernet Connection Driver for Windows 98SE

[Dave-H]

And this is mine -

; OEMSETUP.INF for Intel(R) Gigabit Connection Driver 6.09[netcard]E1000$="Intel(R) Gigabit Network Connection",0,NDIS,Ethernet,REAL,E1000,E1000_ini[E1000]devdir=1:E1000.dosdevice=E1000.DOS,@devdir\E1000.DOS[E1000_ini]DriverName=E1000$

There is another [PCI] section detailing the supported card IDs.

Looks pretty similar!

[Sfor]

There is a significant difference here:

devdir=1:E1000.dos

devdir=?:l2.dos

The both INF files seem to have a different syntax. I see no meaning in the [PCI] section, as it was not defined earlier.

 

Are you sure it is a proper Ndis2 driver?

 

In my case the package contains 4 files:

ATHEROSL2.NIF

l2.dos

OEMSETUP.INF

PROTOCOL.INI

[Dave-H]

I did wonder about the question mark instead of the "1".

My PRO1000 driver has only three files, PROTOCOL.INI, OEMSETUP.INF, and E1000.DOS, which is the driver file, equivalent of your L2.DOS.

I don't have a .NIF file in the PRO1000 driver folder, but there is one in the PRO100 driver folder.

Maybe I'll try the PRO100 driver next time, although it is a PRO1000 adapter.

Also, what do you have loaded in your CONFIG.SYS?

[Sfor]

There is nothing network related in my Config.sys file.

 

Also. It should be possible to boot just to the DOS prompt, then to start the DOS drivers with net start command. By doing so it should be possible to see all DOS driver related error messages.

[Drugwash]

Dunno if it helps but I found this discussion on a similar topic. Syntax error prevented the driver from loading:

http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=121970.0

There may also be some useful links out there.

[submix8c]

I found this as well.

ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-marburg.de/pub/mirror/supermicro/driver/LAN/Intel/

There appears to be an "older" version of the same DOS drive and instructions on the use/installation in DOCS folders. There's even Win98 drivers (last one is in v10.4) but the INF doesn't have that DEV listed. Perhaps the driver(s) would work if the appropriate DEV entry was added?

 

Also note that (AFAICT) the best speed you get with the NDIS2 (DOS) is 100mbs.

 

Look in any of the (v10.x and up) folders for non-98 and find "e1e5132.inf" - inside is the specification for that VEN/DEV.

 

edit: FWIW, here's the DOS v15.5 (Newer of the ones found at SuperMicro, same instructions).

https://driverscollection.com/?file_cid=42412606929854d1614b5e788be

 

HTH (sheesh!)

Edited December 3, 2014 by submix8c

[Dave-H]

Thanks for sticking with this guys, I really appreciate it!

I tried the PRO100 driver, and had the same result as before, despite the presence of the .NIF file.

I will investigate Drugwash and submix8c's latest suggestions tomorrow.

Sfor, do you have IFSHLP.SYS loaded in your CONFIG.SYS file?

If not, I will assume it's not actually necessary and remove it, as I want to keep as much base memory free as possible.

Cheers, Dave.

[dencorso]

Have you found this post elsewhere, Dave? It's similar to what you're using, but maybe it can be of help.

Moreover, from what I've been reading around, IFSHLP.SYS seems to really be required.

[Sfor]

Sfor, do you have IFSHLP.SYS loaded in your CONFIG.SYS file?

If not, I will assume it's not actually necessary and remove it, as I want to keep as much base memory free as possible.

Cheers, Dave.

 

No, I do not. But Windows loads it by itself, anyways.

[submix8c]

Ummm... there's a parameter in the PROTOCOL.INI for "SLOT" when you have more than one NIC in the PCI slots. Yours is a Dual-Port, so one might wonder if that has anything to do with it? Again, all the info is in the DOCS folders, including PROTOCOL.INI parameters.

[Dave-H]

 

Sfor, do you have IFSHLP.SYS loaded in your CONFIG.SYS file?

If not, I will assume it's not actually necessary and remove it, as I want to keep as much base memory free as possible.

Cheers, Dave.

 

No, I do not. But Windows loads it by itself, anyways.

Thanks, yes of course it does, I had forgotten that.

Gosh some of this is like going back 20 years!

I re-checked the files, and couldn't see any syntax errors in them.

I then edited the oemsetup.inf file and put an absolute path in for the E1000.DOS file to be copied to.

No joy, it just did the same as before.

I really don't understand why it's making no attempt to copy the E1000.DOS file to a system folder anywhere.

Regardless of any settings in the protocol.ini file as regards slots, speed etc., fundamentally I would still expect it to copy the driver file across, and if it's not doing that it's got no hope of working!

[Drugwash]

Just a shot in the dark but have you actually tried to put all the driver files in a folder right in the root of the active partition (assumingly C:) and preferrably with a short name/path with no spaces (such as C:\NET or something)?

 

Also not sure if it would work but try to send any output from the NET command to a file, i.e. using NET START > C:\netlog.txt or similar in autoexec.bat. That may offer a clue regarding the driver loading process.

[dencorso]

Yet another Intel manual here. You've probably already found it, but just in case...

[Sfor]

I just remembered something. Windows 98 does driver file copying every time something is changed in the protocols or bindings in the network settings dialog. So, the drivers do not have to be copied during network adaprter adding, sice they will be copied after bindings with network protocols are made.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Sfor

[Dave-H]

@Drugwash

Thanks, I'd already thought about whether the problem was because the driver files were in a sub-folder.

I moved the three files to a folder directly on the C: drive, with a short name, but no difference i'm afraid.

I will try to set up a logging process and see what happens.

@dencorso

Thanks for that link den.

It refers to a NET.CFG file, which does not appear at all in the driver I downloaded.

I wonder if it's necessary, but you would think it would have been included if it was!

@Sfor

Yes. the file copying is initiated whenever any change is made to the network configuration.

In fact it happens if you press "OK" on the Network interface in the Windows Control Panel even if you haven't changed anything, which is quite annoying!

It re-copies existing files, asking for the Windows 98 CD even for files that are already present, and asks if I want to over-write files that are newer (I say no).

The one file it doesn't ever copy is the E1000.DOS file!