Windows 95, all editions, does not support drives larger than 32GB by design :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246818/EN-US

While Windows 98, FE or SE, does not have a strict hard drive limitation, it will not partition disks larger than 64GB properly without the hotfix installed from here :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263044

Even with the hotfix installed, it is not supported for drives larger than 137GB, the 28-bit LBA limit. I would extract the format program from the disk and put it on a boot disk and partition a new drive from it. 7zip can open the exe, just rename the file with the extension 98g or 98s.

It will also not display the drive size correctly when the format command is run in DOS, but will format the disk properly even if it is larger than 64GB :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263045

Toasty Tech's Sick Windows Tricks shows Windows 95 running from a 500 GB FAT32 partition, using the updated Windows 98 FDISK linked to from this comprehensive page about hard drive size barriers.

In theory, the reason Windows XP and later restricts FAT32 partitions to 32 GB is simply because FAT32 does not perform well on very large drives.

elianda wrote:

I can not watch your video from work, but […]
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I can not watch your video from work, but

What is your PCI-Slot/Card to IRQ mapping list? (including onboard devices)
What is your latency setting? (cycles)
Did you run memtest to make sure it works reliably?

Yes I ran memtest to make sure!

I will try again with and take shot of the BIOS settings.

What PnP options do you suggest? So far I used "PnP OS installed". I'll try the other options and see if it makes a difference.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Yes I ran memtest to make sure! […]
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elianda wrote:

I can not watch your video from work, but […]
Show full quote

I can not watch your video from work, but

What is your PCI-Slot/Card to IRQ mapping list? (including onboard devices)
What is your latency setting? (cycles)
Did you run memtest to make sure it works reliably?

Yes I ran memtest to make sure!

I will try again with and take shot of the BIOS settings.

What PnP options do you suggest? So far I used "PnP OS installed". I'll try the other options and see if it makes a difference.

Sometimes RAM that passes memtest is still faulty. I had a set of 2x512mb in my Xeon rig that made it through 3 or 4 passes and still gave me issues until I got a replacement set.

Ok I'll try another stick, got plenty 😀 Also will try a Celeron 300A with a fan. I doubt it's a cooling issue though...

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

What PnP options do you suggest? So far I used "PnP OS installed". I'll try the other options and see if it makes a difference.

PnP OS installed = YES

I would try to set PCI Latency to 64 cycles to allow longer transfers.

Done!

Ok things are looking up.

I changed a few things:

- Only 1 stick of RAM
- BIOS option set to PnP OS = Yes and AUTO
- Changed GPU to TNT2
- Moved Audigy to another slot
- Used another W98SE installation CD
- Installed Unofficial service pack (I didn't do this before)
- Installed the latest DX9 for W98SE (I didn't do this before)
- Installed latest Nvidia driver for W98SE
- Installed latest Creative driver for W98SE
- Improved cooling (and a topic to add to the tutorial). When running 3DMark 2000 the machine would shut down once and the second time lock up and the end of the demo (credits). I used a (kitchen) thermal probe and inside the cooling fins it was well over 50c. Retro slapped a 80cm fan onto it which cools the CPU and the chipset.

Still I get system shutdowns / freezes during 3DMark2000, so I'm swapping parts to see if I can narrow it down...

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Done! […]
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Done!

Ok things are looking up.

I changed a few things:

- Only 1 stick of RAM
- BIOS option set to PnP OS = Yes and AUTO
- Changed GPU to TNT2
- Moved Audigy to another slot
- Used another W98SE installation CD
- Installed Unofficial service pack (I didn't do this before)
- Installed the latest DX9 for W98SE (I didn't do this before)
- Installed latest Nvidia driver for W98SE
- Installed latest Creative driver for W98SE
- Improved cooling (and a topic to add to the tutorial). When running 3DMark 2000 the machine would shut down once and the second time lock up and the end of the demo (credits). I used a (kitchen) thermal probe and inside the cooling fins it was well over 50c. Retro slapped a 80cm fan onto it which cools the CPU and the chipset.

Still I get system shutdowns / freezes during 3DMark2000, so I'm swapping parts to see if I can narrow it down...

Are you running drives on SATA > IDE converters? Maybe try running just a regular IDE drive?

m1919 wrote:

Are you running drives on SATA > IDE converters? Maybe try running just a regular IDE drive?

Unfortunately I don't have any IDE drives. I could use a CF card, but for W98SE I really would like a platter solution.

Some more progress:

Geforce MX440 and FX5200 both cause a shutdown / lockup in 3DMark2000 demo. Tried a Radeon 7000 and it's been looping several times already.

So I'll be putting in the Geforce again and will google a bit and try a few BIOS options to see if it makes a difference 😀

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

- Installed latest Nvidia driver for W98SE

The latest versions of Detonators and Catalysts aren't always the best. Maybe worth discussing?

SquallStrife wrote:

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

- Installed latest Nvidia driver for W98SE

The latest versions of Detonators and Catalysts aren't always the best. Maybe worth discussing?

Happy to try older versions! But my cut feeling is more that this is a conflict / BIOS setting.

Testing with an ISA Sound Card now to see if it still craps out.

A few thoughts:
I've encountered installation and performance problems formattind W9x HDDs with modern disk setup apps. Not as bad as with FAT16 Dos installations, but often the time I hoped to save setting up a disk in XP was lost troubleshooting a fresh W9x install, and ending up just using FDISK...

I like the Unnofficial SPs though I skip many of the non-essential install options.

Right after installing the OS I install Acronis [v8 plays nice with W9x] and immediately make an image and save it to another partition. If/when you need to start over, much faster, just a few minutes. I'll also make a few more images at critical junctures to facilitate partial fall-backs - audio and video drivers especially. Keeping just the OS and critical system apps on C: speeds things up too..

Just a thought but I think you would be fine with a smaller capacity HDD for what you want to do wouldn't 40-60gb be fine? Format C: 1 to 1.5gb [lean/mean], the rest D: for the games/apps...

Dx9.0c plays nice with W98SE. I also pop in Visual Basic v6 as some games will need it.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

SquallStrife wrote:

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

- Installed latest Nvidia driver for W98SE

The latest versions of Detonators and Catalysts aren't always the best. Maybe worth discussing?

Happy to try older versions! But my cut feeling is more that this is a conflict / BIOS setting.

Testing with an ISA Sound Card now to see if it still craps out.

I didn't mean to troubleshoot your crashing, I just meant in general, for the video.

Butnow that I think about it, maybe it will help with the crashing...

Well I tried lots of drivers, but no luck. Also tried all the BIOS options, but also no luck 🙁

This is really putting my video on hold as I'm not happy recommending something that doesn't even run 3DMark2000 😒

Is it possible for anyone here to test 3DMark2000 on their Windows 98SE / Nvidia setups?

Testing with a S370 board (Some Asus) with the same video card (FX5200) and Sound Card (Audigy LS) and seeing if I can replicate the issue...

Ditched the case because I'm constantly messing around with bits. Here my ghetto test bench.

To make things simpler I will create two partitions now, having drivers, games, patches and so on on the second partition. Should make things a lot easier and quicker...

Mau1wurf1977, I'm really looking forward to this video, good luck with it 😀 Don't have much to add, although I would be looking for IDE drive, since I've got a feeling that your sata controller brings the mess.

RacoonRider wrote:

Mau1wurf1977, I'm really looking forward to this video, good luck with it 😀 Don't have much to add, although I would be looking for IDE drive, since I've got a feeling that your sata controller brings the mess.

Yea not much I can do about the storage situation in the short term...

Now on the other mainboard 3DMark2000 seems to run fine. There is one part where the audio "falls apart" somewhat, but it just keeps going. So to me it's clearly some incompatibility between the BX440 chipset board (it's a Gigabyte GA-6BXC) and these Nvidia cards (MX440 and FX5200).

I am just curious, is there a reason why you operate the hdd top side down?

elianda wrote:

I am just curious, is there a reason why you operate the hdd top side down?

Makes it slightly easier to connect / disconnect cables. Because I do this often, disconnect it and drop it into a dock at my main desktop to load stuff onto it.

As far as the project is concerned, I think I will put it on ice for the short term. I'm waiting for more parts / gadgets anyway. But I learnt heaps, definitely know more than before about Windows 98 😀

Putas wrote:

sgt76 wrote:

3) Windos 98 is a virus and pain in the buttocks in itself, and WILL make you have suicidal tendencies upon prolonged exposure to it's shitty self.

Just don't connect to internet.

Uhm... why? Viruses? Instability? I have a feeling that viruses for Win98 are already extinct 😜

I'm always playing UT'99 online from a fixed IP, as well as diablo 2 on battle.net; I never had any real issue. Nor that I would exactly care if the retro system gets hacked by an off chance. I have a few snapshots in linux that get the system up and running in a minute or two 😜