Ah, okay. Was just asking because WFW 3.11 had it's own VFAT filesystem driver which could cause trouble with DOS 7.1 FAT16+long filenames or FAT32.
The update for Windows 3.1 wasn't really advertised and I think both 3.10 and 3.11 had the same splash screen.
You can check the version in program manager in the about dialog. Anyway, it's not WFW so VFAT shouldn't be the issue.
And since standard mode is also affected, this error isn't caused by the Fastdisk driver.
I'm really curious what's the issue here! Haven't seen that error back in the day.
Perhaps you're running any of those DMA drivers from FreeDOS ?
Or any kind of disk overlay drivers ?

If not, maybe this issue is somehow related to the A20 gate (because doom2 "fixed" this error).
Please try himem.sys with a different machine type, like himem.sys /machine:at2
You can also add the /cpuclock:on parameter when your computer reacts somehow jerky.
Oh, and please also try this with the old himem.sys in your Windows directory if it doesn't work with newer one.
If that still doesn't help, change the setting "A20 Gate=FAST" to "A20 Gate=Normal" in your CMOS setup utility (can be found in the advanced menu).

Edit: I forgot the most obvious thing! It's also possible to create a bootlog file during start up.
Run Windows with Win /B and you will get a bootlog.txt. Would be interessting to see at which point the error occurs..

whats the content of the CONFIG.SYS?

Jo22 wrote:

Edit: I forgot the most obvious thing! It's also possible to create a bootlog file during start up.
Run Windows with Win /B and you will get a bootlog.txt. Would be interessting to see at which point the error occurs..

I have no idea where it saves that bootlog, though... I get the same error even if I just DIR /W/P in the Windows folder, I was thinking about trying to start fresh...

Joey_sw wrote:

whats the content of the CONFIG.SYS?

1DEVICE=C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE
2DEVICE=C:\DOS71\ECHO.SYS W/e/l/c/o/m/e /t/o MS-DOS 7.10...
3DEVICE=C:\DOS71\ECHO.SYS C/o/p/y/r/i/g/h/t M/i/c/r/o/s/o/f/t C/o/r/p. A/l/l /r/i/g/h/t/s /r/e/s/e/r/v/e/d.
4DEVICE=C:\DOS71\HIMEM.SYS
5DEVICE=C:\DOS71\EMM386.EXE RAM
6DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS71\SETVER.EXE
7REM DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS71\POWER.EXE
8DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS71\VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:IDE-CD
9DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS71\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(,,1)
10COUNTRY=044,850,C:\DOS71\COUNTRY.SYS
11SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:640
12DOS=HIGH,UMB,AUTO
13FCBS=4,0
14REM ** FILES=30
15BUFFERS=20,0
16LASTDRIVE=26
17STACKS=9,256
18SET PATH=C:\DOS71;..;.
19DEVICE=C:\SB16\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5
20DEVICE=C:\SB16\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS
21FILES=40

EDIT: Any news, guys ???
I managed to take a peek into the bootlog.txt under the C:\WINDOWS\ folder, but I didn't copy it onto a floppy to paste it here, although I didn't see any error of any kind.
Now that folder is again "locked" with the table content error, it's weird how just this folder does that, it's like the Windows 3.1 installation got screwed up somehow...

Um, I guess it's an issue with DOS itself rather than Windows
Maybe you can run an diagnostics program, like Checkit! or similar.
If you can, start some mainboard and memory test.
Especially protected mode and DMA tests are interesting.
If they're okay, you can also do an hard disk test.

If this doesn't fix your problem, you can try to remove a little bit of memory.
Maybe your mainboard's cache can't handle the amount of memory you have installed (40MB?).
The machine should handle memory fine up to 16MB in any case.

Another idea is to change the location of the BIOS data area.
Some BIOSes, like the one from AMI, allow this to be changed.
If you can, set it to the "1K" setting (can't remember exactly).
Maybe this avoids some data corruption.

But that's just a guess. Such a problem isn't easy to solve from the distance..

It's clearly not a major hardware/software/installation problem, considering that it runs after running Doom 2.

Did you consider asking Google already? One of the first hits is https://winworldpc.com/winboards/viewtopic.php?t=613 , which suggests this problem is not unknown with DOS 7x and Windows 3.x. Too bad it's not too helpful otherwise.

Try making the first three lines of your config.sys

1DEVICE=C:\DOS71\HIMEM.SYS
2DOS=HIGH,UMB
3DEVICE=C:\DOS71\EMM386.EXE

And get rid of the other equivalent lines.

Also, change the SET PATH line to read

1SET PATH=C:\DOS71;C:\WINDOWS

Yup, I think you're right.

Also, that

1LASTDRIVE=26

line is strange.

Shouldn't this one be set to LASTDRIVE=Z or something else, dependig on how many partitions/drives are in use ?

Btw, I've never expected to see the path variable in config.sys ! 😮
I'm more used to the normal PATH= thing in autoexec.bat.

Does "SET PATH=" in config.sys also affect device drivers or is it processed afterwards ?
Pardon my ignorance, but I've never tried that. Always used full path for drivers if they weren't in root..

Meanwhile I'm just reinstalling Windows 3.1, let's see if something happens, then, if the issue goes on, I'll follow what you just suggested me.

First the easiest way (reinstall Windows 3.1 from scratch), then the more complex alternatives 😁

EDIT: for now, just reinstalling Windows 3.1 (I didn't lose any data, even the sound card still works in windows) seems to have fixed it, I just tried to run it, exit from windows, then going back into windows 3.1 and it's working... let's hope it fixed forever, but if the problem might pop up again, I'll try to diagnose the hardware with Checkit as you said.

EDIT 2: Damn, that PC is full of surprises, now it does that 😕

It happens if I try to use the external CD drive after I close Windows 3.1, I can't even reload the ASPI_CD driver because it says it's already mounted... 😒

And even Windows 3.1 refuses to read them after I shut it down the first time...

AWESOME, here's a new error when I try to boot Windows 3.1

😁

I'll start the diagnoses of the hardware with Checkit now, let's see what it finds...

/////////////////////////////////////

Ok, doing the tests with Check It now, I'll post a log below.
First test: Memory test failed with an "Out of memory" error, I'll try to run this one again after it finishes.
Hard Disk test didn't find any error.
The System Board (motherboard ???) Test skipped and passed everything on its own, I dunno why...

---------------------------------------------

Ok, here are all the results from Check It.

Hi, Thanks for the pictures!
Your computer looks fine so far. The mainboard is okay according to Checkit!.
The reason it didn't probe the math co-processor (NPU) and the proctected mode is simple:
Your 486SX2 doesn't have a math co-processor installed and the protected mode can't
be tested because EMM386 doesn't allow this (your PC is running in V86 mode, a sub mode of protected mode).

So it's probably just a hard disk issue (12 errors).
There are several utilities which can be used to mark bad sectors (if that's the issue).
Maybe formating the drive will also fix your problem (save your data first).

Btw, vide-cdd.sys doesn't like to be loaded with "devicehigh=".
Try the normal "device=" instead. Maybe this helps. You can also try oakcdrom.sys.

Or better, only use the three lines Jorpho mentioned.
You don't have to delete the rest, though. I think it would be okay to just add a REM before them.
Like REM SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:640 .

Oh, and make sure you do have enough buffers and files for Windows.
Don't use buffers=20,0 . Instead, use buffers=30 or remove that line with a REM.
Stacks are also important for Windows (9,256 is ok).

Edit: I'm currently browsing Vogons with an old computer (with Transmeta CPU) and a 1024x768 screen and it's quite difficult to see all pictures (they're cut on the right side).
@Jorpho Thanks for that link you showed us. It's quite interesting but I don't know what to make of it. The error message is said to be hard coded in command.com of DOS 7. But I wonder what it really means.
@Elia1995 I think it would be worth a try to use a different version of DOS, like DOS 5 or 6 to find out whether DOS 7 is the problem here or not.

Do FreeDOS and Dr. DOS have known issues aswell ?

Elia1995 wrote:

It happens if I try to use the external CD drive after I close Windows 3.1, I can't even reload the ASPI_CD driver because it says it's already mounted... 😒

Was it doing this before?

Jo22 wrote:

@Jorpho Thanks for that link you showed us. It's quite interesting but I don't know what to make of it. The error message is said to be hard coded in command.com of DOS 7. But I wonder what it really means.
@Elia1995 I think it would be worth a try to use a different version of DOS, like DOS 5 or 6 to find out whether DOS 7 is the problem here or not.

If I'm not mistaken, this "DOS 7.1" is a mysterious unknown version of highly questionable origins that has been floating around on the Internet for many years. (Hence the wacky use of ECHO.SYS in config.sys.) FreeDOS might be a much better idea; I think all of its weird Windows compatibility problems have been hammered out by now, though I haven't tried it myself.

Jorpho wrote:

Elia1995 wrote:

It happens if I try to use the external CD drive after I close Windows 3.1, I can't even reload the ASPI_CD driver because it says it's already mounted... 😒

Was it doing this before?

Actually I don't remember 😐 But I sorted it out, turned out to just be that CD half-dead 🤣

Elia1995 wrote:

Do FreeDOS and Dr. DOS have known issues aswell ?

Well, that's a good point! 😊

DR DOS had an issue with a Windows 3.1 beta or -more correctly- Windows 3.1 beta had an issue with DR DOS. 😉
There was once this story about a piece of code in Win 3.1 beta which caused an "error" on DR DOS.
It -uhm- magically disappeared from the final version of Windows 3.1. So there shouldn't be any issues between these two. 😀

As for FreeDOS..
There were indeed issues with the normal kernel of FreeDOS and Windows 3.1 enhanced mode. Standard mode was not affected, I think.
Anyway, the experimental kernel was said to have support for Windows 3.1 to a certain extend.

If you don't want to buy an extra DOS, you can also try Caldera DOS. I think some versions of it are still available for free.
Or try a demo version of Datalight ROM-DOS. In this case, anything is better than DOS 7. Even DCP. 😉

So which is actually the best DOS without any compatibility issues ?
"FreeDOS" is so beloved by people... it's even used in DOSBox.

Jorpho wrote:

Jo22 wrote:

@Jorpho Thanks for that link you showed us. It's quite interesting but I don't know what to make of it. The error message is said to be hard coded in command.com of DOS 7. But I wonder what it really means.
@Elia1995 I think it would be worth a try to use a different version of DOS, like DOS 5 or 6 to find out whether DOS 7 is the problem here or not.

If I'm not mistaken, this "DOS 7.1" is a mysterious unknown version of highly questionable origins that has been floating around on the Internet for many years. (Hence the wacky use of ECHO.SYS in config.sys.) FreeDOS might be a much better idea; I think all of its weird Windows compatibility problems have been hammered out by now, though I haven't tried it myself.

Absolutely. The origins of this variant of DOS are indeed a bit shady.
I always thought it was just a hex-edited version of Win98 DOS with a splash screen, but maybe there's more.
I hope it's not infected by a virus or something. Would be interesting to compare it with Win98 DOS, though.
And yes, FreeDOS is quite good now. And Windows 3.1 ran fine the last time I tried it (v1.0 or v1.1.). Just the installer is still a bit stressing..
It would be nice to be able to select everything in the beginning and then let the installation continue on it's own. 😀

Can I install FreeDOS over this DOS 7.10 installation without formatting (thus losing all my data) ? I made a lot of .bat files as "launchers" in various games root folders which would be annoying to remake from scratch 😢

Perhaps deleting the DOS71 folder afterwards and having freedos's installer making fresh autoexec.bat and config.sys files over the existing ones.

Maybe FreeDOS will fix this issue automagically...

Elia1995 wrote:

So which is actually the best DOS without any compatibility issues ?
"FreeDOS" is so beloved by people... it's even used in DOSBox.

Um, that's not easy to answer. Most people consider DOS 6.22 to be the most compatible, I think.
But it is limited to FAT16, so people can't use their 500GB hard disk properly (FAT16 only supports 2GB per partition or "drive letter").
And because of this, they use the newer version from Windows 98 (DOS 7.1) which has FAT32 support.
This stand-alone "DOS 7.1 was likely made and modified by people who wanted to have a modern DOS without Windows.
That might also the reason why that DOS 7.x patch doesn't work on your machine: the checksum doesn't fit and the program aboards.

For Windows 3.1 you can use any DOS which is compatible to MS-DOS 3.3 or later.
Even DOS 7, if the patch is applied.

Elia1995 wrote:

Can I install FreeDOS over this DOS 7.10 installation without formatting (thus losing all my data) ? I made a lot of .bat files as "launchers" in various games root folders which would be annoying to remake from scratch 😢

Perhaps deleting the DOS71 folder afterwards and having freedos's installer making fresh autoexec.bat and config.sys files over the existing ones.

Maybe FreeDOS will fix this issue automagically...

Yes, I think so. FreeDOS doesn't format your drive by default, so only the FreeDOS files are copied and the boot sector will be re-written.
But before you try it, please read the FAQ on the FreeDOS website.
It's been quite a while since I used FreeDOS on an actual machine (was using a VM for testing purposes only).
And please try to make a backup first. You can use several programs or devices for this. I've listed a few ideas here.

Edit: Don't worry. Things look more complicated than they are. And there are also good tutorial videos on the web (Phil made several good vids).

It seems I cannot install FreeDOS anyway for some reason.

Jo22 wrote:

DR DOS had an issue with a Windows 3.1 beta or -more correctly- Windows 3.1 beta had an issue with DR DOS. 😉
There was once this story about a piece of code in Win 3.1 beta which caused an "error" on DR DOS.
It -uhm- magically disappeared from the final version of Windows 3.1. So there shouldn't be any issues between these two. 😀

That would be the AARD code. It makes for an interesting story but it's really of no practical relevance to the end-user more than twenty years after the fact.

As for FreeDOS..
There were indeed issues with the normal kernel of FreeDOS and Windows 3.1 enhanced mode. Standard mode was not affected, I think.
Anyway, the experimental kernel was said to have support for Windows 3.1 to a certain extend.

The FreeDOS documentation is such a mess that a Google search for <does windows 3.1 run in freedos> brings up a technote from thirteen years ago. Documentation for FreeDOS is kind of lacking that way.

Elia1995 wrote:

Can I install FreeDOS over this DOS 7.10 installation without formatting (thus losing all my data) ?

In just about any case, "installing" DOS does nothing more than copy a bunch of files to some directory on your hard drive, and then rewrites the boot sector. So, no, you don't have to format. You can probably even test it out just by booting FreeDOS from a boot floppy, and then trying to run Windows.

"FreeDOS" is so beloved by people... it's even used in DOSBox.

I don't know what gave you that idea, but I'm pretty sure DOSBox does not use any part of FreeDOS. (You can boot FreeDOS in DOSBox, but that's a different matter.)

It seems I cannot install FreeDOS anyway for some reason.

Posting a screenshot of an error message without any context is really not helpful.

If you want to run Windows 3.1, just install MS-DOS 6.2 or MS-DOS 6.22, and chances are it will work just fine.

So far it seems you are wasting your own and everyone else's time trying to bend things in a way they were not intended to be bent, for seemingly no good reason.

This thread is amazing 😀

Never though there could be so many problems (errors) in DOS 🤣

As usually... take the minimalistic approach.

Just the bare necessary config.sys and autoexec.bat (no sound, cd-rom and other fancy drivers, path only to dos and windows dirs...).