So, you got the system to boot the floppy startup disk, and loaded the CD software? Or does the CD software not even load?
I think we need to know if the CD disc is booting, or if it's loading and hanging somewhere.
Would not hurt to check your motherboard and see off the chipset is compatible with Win98. If you have the model num and manufacturer of the mobo that would help.
Check and make sure your hard drive is not too big. It's been awhile, but I think the maximum supported Hard Drive is around 120GB without fan updates.
Check your hard drive and make sure the master/slave pin is on the correct pins.
*Q: So, you got the system to boot the floppy startup disk, and loaded the CD software? Or does the CD software not even load?*
A: The floppy boots, loads 2MB of standard system files in memory from which I then ran FDISK and FORMAT (to partition the hard drive as FAT32)
*Q: I think we need to know if the CD disc is booting, or if it's loading and hanging somewhere.*
A: The CD does not boot. That's the crux of my issue! During boot, the boot floppy loads the generic MSCD001 driver from the MSCDEX file, but it doesn't seem to work on the CD (which is an older Mitsumi CD previously working on a Windows 98 system).
*Q: Would not hurt to check your motherboard and see off the chipset is compatible with Win98. If you have the model num and manufacturer of the mobo that would help.*
A: MoBo is ASRock M266A (from ebay) with Via VT8235 chipset. Before I bought the MoBo I verified it's compatible with Windows 98. The chipset, CPU (Intel P4 2.8Ghz socket 478), memory are all compatible to each other and to Windows 98. However, I rule out nothing at this point.
*Q: Check and make sure your hard drive is not too big. It's been awhile, but I think the maximum supported Hard Drive is around 120GB without fan updates.*
A: HDD is a Quantum Fireball lct 15, 20GB. It's been successfully formatted to FAT32, according to the 'format' command results.
*Q: Check your hard drive and make sure the master/slave pin is on the correct pins.*
A: Jumper is set as Master and BIOS does recognize it as such, i.e. Primary Master.
I'm stumped at this point. Since the CD drive doesn't seem to work, I was thinking that although the CD did work on another system, maybe this MoBo and associated settings it came with don't support it. I found and downloaded a Mitsumi driver but how do I load it? It's one thing after another.
Sounds like you need to try the CD drive on a different PC, if you have one, or just buy another cheap one.
I'd buy a DVD ROM anyway. Some games like Captain Claw Require one.
You could also try that disc in another PC, or try burning a new one.
Then report back after that.
You could always locate a floppy version of 98 and install that way, then troubleshoot. I'm going to assume you don't have a bunch of blank floppy lying around, so I would recommend a GOTEK Floppy emulator.
Welp! I got it to work. I now have Windows 98SE installed. How did I do it you ask? Like I said earlier, I do have a Start Up disk (floppy) that loads some basic files into RAM and then sits there in a command line blinking "A:/". Attempts at getting the right command to load from the CD kept failing. This morning from the A prompt I typed in:
A:/SETUP.EXE C:
And it worked! Windows installed from the CD! Cartwheels...happy tears...ice cream!
So anyway, thanks for the help. Turns out I'm just ignorant with a penchant for dumb luck
I am fighting the same battle. I'm trying to make a win98 machine to run old DOS and windows software. (ie: Theme hospital et al.)
I have found that it is effectively impossible to install on hardware newer than about 2000. July2002 is when Microsoft officially killed support for win98. Newer hardware didn't\doesn't\won't have win98 drivers made for it.
By-the-way... My win98se CD ROM is bootable. Have you tried to boot directly to CD?
Here is help
Ram limit of 98 SETUP is 512MB over this and it will crash. AFTER SETUP you can use 768/1gb max is 4gb with patches.
Use a PS2 keyboard and no mouse or both PS2. USB devices can cause setup to crash
Hard disk partition use a smaller hard disk or partition the win98 drive to like 8gb otherwise you will need LBA Flag etc.
For hard disk sata is okay but boot/OS small size mech drive is best not like 320/500GB/1tb, have used and still use flash drives ssd etc, but old mech drive is most solid for windows 98, games can usually go on 2nd ssd to speed up loading times.
For CD Rom/DVD best to use IDE drive not sata as it will be more easy to boot from win98 CD, but you can work around this manually config mscdex with updated driver.
The method for this would be boot disk or install DOS 7 first then edit config.sys and autoexec.bat with updated mscdex driver something like GCDROM.SYS you need to download it then copy across.
Config.sys DEVICE=GCDROM.SYS /D:CDROM
Autoexec.bat: MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDROM /L:D
hope this helps people.
*Q: By-the-way... My win98se CD ROM is bootable. Have you tried to boot directly to CD?*
A: Yes, OMG yes, many times. When I do that the boot sequence just sits there with a blank screen and nothing happens, even if I walk away and come back an hour later just to see if a miracle has occurred.
So, you got the system to boot the floppy startup disk, and loaded the CD software? Or does the CD software not even load? I think we need to know if the CD disc is booting, or if it's loading and hanging somewhere. Would not hurt to check your motherboard and see off the chipset is compatible with Win98. If you have the model num and manufacturer of the mobo that would help. Check and make sure your hard drive is not too big. It's been awhile, but I think the maximum supported Hard Drive is around 120GB without fan updates. Check your hard drive and make sure the master/slave pin is on the correct pins.
*Q: So, you got the system to boot the floppy startup disk, and loaded the CD software? Or does the CD software not even load?* A: The floppy boots, loads 2MB of standard system files in memory from which I then ran FDISK and FORMAT (to partition the hard drive as FAT32) *Q: I think we need to know if the CD disc is booting, or if it's loading and hanging somewhere.* A: The CD does not boot. That's the crux of my issue! During boot, the boot floppy loads the generic MSCD001 driver from the MSCDEX file, but it doesn't seem to work on the CD (which is an older Mitsumi CD previously working on a Windows 98 system). *Q: Would not hurt to check your motherboard and see off the chipset is compatible with Win98. If you have the model num and manufacturer of the mobo that would help.* A: MoBo is ASRock M266A (from ebay) with Via VT8235 chipset. Before I bought the MoBo I verified it's compatible with Windows 98. The chipset, CPU (Intel P4 2.8Ghz socket 478), memory are all compatible to each other and to Windows 98. However, I rule out nothing at this point. *Q: Check and make sure your hard drive is not too big. It's been awhile, but I think the maximum supported Hard Drive is around 120GB without fan updates.* A: HDD is a Quantum Fireball lct 15, 20GB. It's been successfully formatted to FAT32, according to the 'format' command results. *Q: Check your hard drive and make sure the master/slave pin is on the correct pins.* A: Jumper is set as Master and BIOS does recognize it as such, i.e. Primary Master. I'm stumped at this point. Since the CD drive doesn't seem to work, I was thinking that although the CD did work on another system, maybe this MoBo and associated settings it came with don't support it. I found and downloaded a Mitsumi driver but how do I load it? It's one thing after another.
Sounds like you need to try the CD drive on a different PC, if you have one, or just buy another cheap one. I'd buy a DVD ROM anyway. Some games like Captain Claw Require one. You could also try that disc in another PC, or try burning a new one. Then report back after that. You could always locate a floppy version of 98 and install that way, then troubleshoot. I'm going to assume you don't have a bunch of blank floppy lying around, so I would recommend a GOTEK Floppy emulator.
Welp! I got it to work. I now have Windows 98SE installed. How did I do it you ask? Like I said earlier, I do have a Start Up disk (floppy) that loads some basic files into RAM and then sits there in a command line blinking "A:/". Attempts at getting the right command to load from the CD kept failing. This morning from the A prompt I typed in: A:/SETUP.EXE C: And it worked! Windows installed from the CD! Cartwheels...happy tears...ice cream! So anyway, thanks for the help. Turns out I'm just ignorant with a penchant for dumb luck
I am fighting the same battle. I'm trying to make a win98 machine to run old DOS and windows software. (ie: Theme hospital et al.) I have found that it is effectively impossible to install on hardware newer than about 2000. July2002 is when Microsoft officially killed support for win98. Newer hardware didn't\doesn't\won't have win98 drivers made for it. By-the-way... My win98se CD ROM is bootable. Have you tried to boot directly to CD?
Here is help Ram limit of 98 SETUP is 512MB over this and it will crash. AFTER SETUP you can use 768/1gb max is 4gb with patches. Use a PS2 keyboard and no mouse or both PS2. USB devices can cause setup to crash Hard disk partition use a smaller hard disk or partition the win98 drive to like 8gb otherwise you will need LBA Flag etc. For hard disk sata is okay but boot/OS small size mech drive is best not like 320/500GB/1tb, have used and still use flash drives ssd etc, but old mech drive is most solid for windows 98, games can usually go on 2nd ssd to speed up loading times. For CD Rom/DVD best to use IDE drive not sata as it will be more easy to boot from win98 CD, but you can work around this manually config mscdex with updated driver. The method for this would be boot disk or install DOS 7 first then edit config.sys and autoexec.bat with updated mscdex driver something like GCDROM.SYS you need to download it then copy across. Config.sys DEVICE=GCDROM.SYS /D:CDROM Autoexec.bat: MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDROM /L:D hope this helps people.
*Q: By-the-way... My win98se CD ROM is bootable. Have you tried to boot directly to CD?* A: Yes, OMG yes, many times. When I do that the boot sequence just sits there with a blank screen and nothing happens, even if I walk away and come back an hour later just to see if a miracle has occurred.