Any tips to get Windows 98SE running on this AM3+ platform?

[AnX 22]

I've been trying to install Windows 98 SE on the M5A99FX PRO R2.0, socket AM3+. I have a secondary machine that I wish to use for Windows 9x and other older Operating systems. The specs are in my signature. Unfortunately, I run into a lot of issues when I go to install Windows 98. Windows 98 is being installed on the 60GB SSD, in this case.

I've tried the following approaches.

-> When I install using the setup /p i switch, the OS seems to be installing normally with very little to no problems. But then, out of nowhere, SCANREG starts and claims that the registry is corrupt, and it can't fix it. The entire install is trashed for no apparent reason.

-> When I install using the setup /p j switch, which forces ACPI, the OS starts detecting devices and hangs. I then reboot into Safe Mode, remove the ACPI stuff, reboot again, and this time setup can successfully install the OS (there is still a registry error, but it gets fixed this time). Windows 98 also re-enables ACPI, and it works, partially. Unfortunately, Windows 98 in this config proves to be quite unstable, where even a small change in the USB devices could hang the system. However, by far this is the setup I've had the most success with.

-> When installing using setup /p a;b for safe and selective detection, I tried to selectively disable detecting certain devices which may be problematic. Unfortunately, not only did it take much more to seemingly get running, but the SCANREG error creeped up and trashed the install.

In all cases, I've disabled the 32 bit file access drivers. I use the MaxPhysPage trick to limit RAM, and can confirm it works.

This is at 100% stock, factory CPU settings, no overclock, and SATA is on IDE mode. The platform runs Windows 2000 and XP fine (obviously newer than those, too)
What can I do to get Windows 98 to install correctly? In any non-ACPI case, it simply trashes the registry all by itself. In any ACPI case, it either haphazardly works or simply hard locks, and it takes so much effort and trial and error to get it to somewhat work, too.

Edited December 14, 2018 by AnX

[AnX 22]

UPDATE: I have been successfully able to get Windows Millennium Edition to install, using the setup /p i switch. I still don't have 32 bit file access, however I think if I can find an ATA driver, I should be able to fix it. Regardless, the OS is working perfectly (ironic, as it's supposed to be the other way around, lol). Anyway, I still want to get Windows 98 installed. Any solutions for the registry error that it keeps coming up with? The install media is 100% clean and legit, I've tested it multiples of times.

 

Edit: there are still some strange issues with Me. DOS prompts don't work at all, they freeze the system. Also, anything in general that is trying to directly access the hardware doesn't seem to run right (like the system information tool, cpuz, etc.). That might also be related to the disk access issue. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by AnX

[rloew 211]

You will need either my SATA Patch or AHCI Driver to support 32-Bit File Access.

[AnX 22]

24 minutes ago, rloew said:

You will need either my SATA Patch or AHCI Driver to support 32-Bit File Access.

I see. In that case I'll purchase it when I can, since it seems that is the only proper solution to this "madness". 

[MERCURY127 10]

Disable all devices, which can disable in bios. Then try clean install. 

[AnX 22]

46 minutes ago, MERCURY127 said:

Disable all devices, which can disable in bios. Then try clean install. 

Will do, thanks. I already had the majority of devices disabled, but left a few dormant. Those could be the culprits.

[jumper 112]

Check your IRQ Steering in Device Manager->System devices->PCI bus->Properties. First option is usually ACPI BIOS, but can be changed. Some other system devices also reference ACPI BIOS.
CPUZ and others often read the ACPI BIOS. That can usually also be changed.
If BIOS has "Plug and play OS" enabled, that can be disabled after installation--sometimes device resource setting become more flexible.

[AnX 22]

Okay, so I tried what you told me to do, and I found out that the system.ini file gets corrupted on its own, being replaced by a bunch of garbled junk. At this point, I'm pretty much at my wit's end with this system. Recently, two windows xp installs have failed for strange reasons, and I think this machine has some bigger issues with it that may be causing these problems. 

 

EDIT: was able to get XP on the SSD but only in AHCI mode. I think the IDE emulation on this platform might be broken. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by AnX

[MERCURY127 10]

i think, u need Ram Limitation Patch. try trial form rloew sites.

[AnX 22]

19 hours ago, MERCURY127 said:

i think, u need Ram Limitation Patch. try trial form rloew sites.

Probably. Windows 9x seems to act up on the system in all sorts of weird ways. Even though I can install ME, trying to open up an MS-DOS command prompt hard locks the system, and therefore anything that relies on the DOS prompt doesn't work. I'd also need the SATA/AHCI driver to get proper disk access. For now, I'm only going to be running XP on that box until I can purchase the needed software.

[MrMateczko 54]

Use HIMEMX.EXE with the /MAX=1048576 parameter to limit the RAM to 1GB, then install Windows with the /p i switch. MaxPhysPage trick will not be needed anymore. This might fix the file corruption.
Is the partition you're installing 98SE on on the front/beginning of the hard drive? (is it the first one?) Make sure that it is.
If you still have errors, try decreasing the partition size to be very small like 5GB, or even below 512MB in an extreme case
What GPU are you using? Try switching to on-board graphics if possible.
The AHCI patch is the proper way for 32-bit disk access. I use it myself and works fine on my H110 motherboard.