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Running Windows 98 in 2020 and beyond...


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Posted

ACPI often messes up with the device enumeration. A 9x PC with ACPI can have yellow marks in Device Manager whereas the same system without it, is perfectly fine.

I do not see any benefits to use ACPI on 9x, even on period correct hardware...maybe hibernation? But hibernation on FAT32 is not a good idea anyways...

It is not a coincidence that IBM specifically tells the user to install 98SE without ACPI as can be seen here in one of their files for their T4x series of ThinkPads, see here: 

https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/tpisos98.txt

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/tpisos98.exe


Posted
16 hours ago, MrMateczko said:

IBM specifically tells the user to install 98SE without ACPI

Ok, may be in some cases (not my case, NForce2 PCs work with ACPI flawlessly). But in any case "without ACPI" and "setup /i" are NOT the same things.

Posted
21 hours ago, SweetLow said:

Ok, may be in some cases (not my case, NForce2 PCs work with ACPI flawlessly). But in any case "without ACPI" and "setup /i" are NOT the same things.

How they are different?

And yes, I know regular setup works well for majority of appropriate machines (having official 9x support) but for those that are newer or have Device Manager problems with ACPI, switching to APM using "setup /p i" fixes all issues without any drawbacks, or at least I do not know of any major ones.

Posted

But you wrote:

Quote

P.S. This registry key is exactly what "setup /p i" does.

The IBM file I mentioned earlier does this:

Quote

; The following line will allow the system dated after 12/02/99 BIOS 
; install APM 
HKLM,Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Detect,"ACPIOption",1,2

Which matches what you wrote in that post.

Is IgnorePnPBIOS even a valid option? I can't find it mentioned anywhere besides your posts, hard to believe no-one found it before you... :huh:

Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, MrMateczko said:

Is IgnorePnPBIOS even a valid option? I can't find it mentioned anywhere besides your posts, hard to believe no-one found it before you...

The best expirience is test it youself if you doubt. But i didn't believe in this fact too:

http://forum.ru-board.com/topic.cgi?forum=62&topic=28114&start=5240#17 (translate the P.S. from this post)

P.S. And i can demonstrate few other (registry) options which i found when i really need them ;)

Edited by SweetLow
p.s. addded
Posted

I know the following is hardly a contribution to the current subject. It would be better if I provided a detailed description, of what the things being discussed actually do, beyond the vague definitions I offer inside a link.

The Internet does know about "/i". I should say, the Internet knew about "/i"; but the Internet is forgetful. If you bug it to remember, you can coax the info into surfacing.

Here is a link to Windows 9x setup switches.

  • 11 months later...
Posted (edited)

  

On 1/18/2020 at 4:38 PM, DosFreak said:

I last tested those Qemu versions before Kernelex was a thing so it's possible kernelex will work for those.

Bochs 

It's possible for those versions I tested with Kernelex. If you don't want to use Kernelex you can try Bochs 2.3.7.

Bochs 2.0 (Windows 95)

Bochs 2.3.7 (Windows 95B)

Bochs 2.6.6 (Windows 98+) Kernelex

Bochs 2.6.9 (Windows 98+) Kernelex

QEMU 14

1. Download Qemu v15 http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/?p=1214
2. Extract contents of .zip.
3. Download Hexedit.
4. Open up all executables with hexedit
5. Replace all instances of "freeaddrinfo", "getaddrinfo", and "getnameinfo" with "gethostname". (Zero out any extra characters).
6. Done!

Qemu Manager v7.0 (QEMU 0.11.1 (Accelerated)

1. Must have at least IE5 installed!
2. Install Qemu Manager.
2. Execute Qemu Manager.
   If you receive an error about wininet.dll then you do not have IE5+ installed.

3. Open Qemu.exe with the Hexedit program.

4. Replace "freeaddrinfo", "getaddrinfo", and "getnameinfo" with "gethostname".

5. Start Qemu Manager!

6. When you create a VM in the VM options change "Main Display" to "QEMU Windows", otherwise your VM will not load.

Unknown if the above changes break network functionality so try kernelex first.

 

Qemu 0.15.0 - Use Kernelex (No acceleration)

Greetings. Please tell me how to make sure that the "KQEMU" module has actually started and is functioning correctly? I try the standard WINDOWS command "net start kqemu" under Windows 98 and it returns that " Error 2185: The service name is invalid. Make sure you are specifying a valid service name, and then try again.". In the QemuManager menu, the "Uninstall KQEMU Accelerator" item remains INACTIVE after installing this module (In XP, it becomes active). I also selected "KQEMU-Full Acceleration" in the settings. But I still don't feel any difference in the speed of the guest OS. It feels like it's not working... Maybe I didn't take something into account or do something wrong? Do you have this module running on Windows 98?

kqemu.PNG.a34c9436959fd29c15a3781291f2c8ab.PNG

Edited by defuser
Posted

Everything would be fine, but for some reason it constantly loads the processor and periodically accesses the disk:

w_8.thumb.PNG.16d921bf658efdd6d20899796fc5663a.PNG

This is rather questionable behavior. Is it possible to use the MultiCore9x SDK to allow the guest OS to manage all CPU cores except the first one (and at the same time redirect all 64-bit memory above 4GB there)? And are there any guest add-ons for this VM at all (Seamless transition, shared folders, dragging files back and forth)? But this module "KQEMU" seems to still not work for me here. I can't even imagine what he still lacks for a full-fledged job.

Posted
6 hours ago, defuser said:

But this module "KQEMU" seems to still not work for me here.

It has been awhile, since I have worked with KQemu. I believe that the Win9x kernels lack something that KQemu needs to access user space, for processing. Not to mention that the .inf installation file isn't written in "CHICAGO" format (service installation).

I'm pretty sure I ran into this same thing, when looking to see if I could get ArOS (Amiga clone Co-Kernel) or CoLinux (Co-Kernel) to run on Win9x.

All three required Win2k+ (KQemu maybe WinNT4+). But I did find that it might be possible to get it somewhat working. It has been awhile, but I think the easiest solution wasn't as clean, compared to the NT kernel method. A little less sand-boxed (one reason no one bothered), because Win9x is a single user system. Also, around that time, KVM became king; no one cared about KQemu anymore (except users with older CPUs). 

  • 3 months later...
Posted
FYI Debian-based still prepares and compiles 32-bit Firefox for CPUs that don't even support SSE, let alone SSE2.

Here running latest Firefox ESR 128.6 stable on 26 year old dual boot Windows 98 hardware (800 MHz single core Athlon, BIOS date 1999, 384 MB RAM). Mozilla stopped supporting non-SSE2 at something like FF 52. Last official FF support for Windows 98 was something like v2. Some here are running FF 52 in Windows ME (maybe 98) with KernelEX but most modern sites are broken on this old release.

FF configured here with modified prefs.js, Vulpes and NoScript. Other than slow, no issues accessing modern sites like email and banking. Reasonably new Linux kernel, system uses 29 MB RAM for text boot, 64 MB for graphic boot (OpenBox). The rest is left for FF. Of course runs much faster on a newer 1.8 GHz (query 2004 era) single core Athlon (without SSE2), my quad-boot system (Win98, Win2000, POSReady2009, Devuan) but it's fun to push older hardware.

In 2024 my almost 20 year old Windows XP Pro install needed re-activation following hardware change, Microsoft's automated phoneline re-activation still works.

Using homemade thermal paste from pencil graphite and petroleum jelly. Tested for one year on old hardware with temperature monitoring, works great, cooler than old paste before hardware refurbish. Use steel nail file to grind down pencil graphite (no sandpaper or pencil wood contamination). Mix with petroleum jelly using toothpick or cotton swab, heavy on the graphite, to spreadable consistency. Apply evenly to hardware before mating. Ensure temperature monitoring. Use at own risk.
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
Good to see you KernelEx @jumper and @deomsh aka DOS and driver guru, hope you are preserving well.

PSU explosion 350 Watt quad-boot system (Win98, Win2000, POSReady2009, Devuan). No not the system with homemade thermal paste, that one runs like a champ.

These 'faster' Athlon boards (1.8 GHz) had the same capacitor plague me thinks as the Pentium 4s, very capacitor dependent. My older 200 Watt Windows 98 hardware has less capacitors and seems to run forever.

Once had a Pentium 4 motherboard go bad, though visibly good. It killed 3 PSUs before giving up, won't do that again. The days of endless old part supply is gone. No PSU parts in the cabinet for a fix. Won't re-use the motherboard but will keep for parts.

Of course will never know for sure cause of the failure. The PSU and motherboard was old but clean. It blew on the primary (AC current) side of the PSU circuit board. Maybe power spike (using surge protection), drawing too much current (old capacitors), high usage, old age, electrostatic. Happened right when powering on the system.
Posted
=== Dell Power Supply Conversion ===

I successfully converted a Dell 200 Watt ATX power supply. These Dells were proprietary. They provide the same voltage outputs (3, 5, 12 volts) and 20-pin plastic connector but a different wiring configuration. They used some different colour markings too. Check Wikipedia or similar for wiring schematics to convert the Dell to a mainstream PSU. Draw out a cheat sheet, lots of wires and it gets confusing.

So if you ever come across a Dell power supply and it doesn't work on a non-Dell board that's probably why. Use a multi-meter to check voltages before recycling. Without plugging into a board, short the go pin with a bent paperclip and check output voltages. Some PSUs need a load to fire up even with hotwiring, so attach an old CD-ROM or hard drive to draw current.

Swapping the wire pins in the 20-pin connector isn't easy, there will be blood loss. Using a sewing needle with a head to push on (hemming needle not machine needle), push the needle into the plastic connector between the plastic and wire pin. You need to release the 'catch' so the wire can be pulled freely back out through the top of the connector. Pushing it into the new pin location is easy, just getting them out is tough.

You'll also need to amalgamate some wires, seems Dell's version of a P-4 or accessory connector, and do some soldering. Of course double-check and voltage test before attaching precious hardware.

Perform at own risk.
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Wunderbar98 said:

It blew on the primary (AC current) side of the PSU circuit board. Maybe power spike (using surge protection), drawing too much current (old capacitors), high usage, old age, electrostatic. Happened right when powering on the system.

Hi, welcome back. It's usually the case with all of them. They started to add a resistor in an attempt to prevent this. In any case, a good UPS is always a must.

EDIT. I don't remember the exact value, but you can look it up easily.

Edited by D.Draker

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