Weird issue, S7 resets on startup but not in safe mode, even with different HDD. \ VOGONS

Weird issue, S7 resets on startup but not in safe mode, even with different HDD.

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First post, by relo999

Posted on 2018-01-15, 00:02

relo999 Offline

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Location: Netherlands

Hey, maybe someone can help me with this. At any rate I broke my head over it already.

So I'm building a Super7 PC with a GA-5aa, K6-III+ 400 (@550), voodoo3, 512 mb, Soundblaster Live 5.1 Value and ESS 1868F audiodrive with windows 98SE.

Everything goes fine, everything installs fine, drivers work great after I installed them up until I tried to install the 1868F drivers, PC resets like normal after installation but once it goes back into windows it resets a a few seconds after it's been on the desktop. I vaguely remember it asking to change some ES1868.386 file in C:\Windows\system so I thought maybe it was a driver issue that caused it, so go in safe mode and uninstall the drivers. But issue still there on a normal boot.

Reinstall windows 98. Still on normal boot same issue.
format and reinstall. Same issue.
Try installing 98SE on different drive and remove the old drive. Same issue. (so drive seems to be not the issue, nor software)

Remove all but HDD, RAM, CPU and GPU. Same issue.
Change CPU to a K6-2 500. Same issue.
Change GPU to RAGE II. Same issue.
Change RAM to 128MB with completely different stick. Same issue.

Meanwhile safe mode still works completely fine always.

I can't imagine what else I can try to fix this...

Reply 1 of 4, by Jo22

Posted on 2018-01-15, 01:34

Jo22 Offline

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Hi, I also have got a GA-mainboard (GA-586S) which does not like Win98 so much.
If it is not a hardware bug, maybe it helps to update the BIOS. Or to reset the CMOS settings to default.
Or maybe it is just related to the PCI/Legacy ISA settings in the CMOS setup (Sound Blaster needs IRQ5/7, DMA1, DMA5 to be ISA Legacy mabye)
Sorry, that is all I say so far. Maybe another user has another idea. Perhaps someone who also has an ES1868, even.

Good luck! 😀

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 2 of 4, by relo999

Posted on 2018-01-15, 13:43

relo999 Offline

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Location: Netherlands

Doubt it is win98 compatibility, considering this was a high end socket 7 98 board and it's ATX variant quite common in 98 builds.

Although I have found a way to boot 98 consistently now (although certainly not a fix yet), as I found that is the CPU is too cold it resets and if it's too hot it resets; instead of normally just too hot. I'm going to try a worse cooler soon, maybe that will at least make the PC run 98 properly until I find a more ideal solution.

Edit: worse cooler didn't even get to the desktop. also tried a different AT psu and an ATX one with a good 5V line and still no luck...

Reply 3 of 4, by .legaCy

Posted on 2018-01-15, 17:45

.legaCy Offline

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Joined: 2016-04-08, 23:11
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relo999 wrote:
Doubt it is win98 compatibility, considering this was a high end socket 7 98 board and it's ATX variant quite common in 98 builds.

Although I have found a way to boot 98 consistently now (although certainly not a fix yet), as I found that is the CPU is too cold it resets and if it's too hot it resets; instead of normally just too hot. I'm going to try a worse cooler soon, maybe that will at least make the PC run 98 properly until I find a more ideal solution.

Edit: worse cooler didn't even get to the desktop. also tried a different AT psu and an ATX one with a good 5V line and still no luck...

it may be the board telling you that need replacement caps.

Reply 4 of 4, by relo999

Posted on 2018-01-15, 18:40

relo999 Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 33
Joined: 2017-06-24, 22:46
Location: Netherlands

.legaCy wrote:
it may be the board telling you that need replacement caps.

That's my next step I think. Currently the only seemingly reliable way of booting windows 98se without it needing to do some fan trickery is installing XP than installing 98se over it. (tried reinstalling on a 4th drive that had XP on it before) After which it complains that it looks for a newer windows on boot but runs fine afterwards. Although that is just waiting for driver issues to pop up.

Edit: Toke a closer look at the caps, probably the caps. https://imgur.com/gallery/4vhus

Edit2: For future people reading this, it was the caps. Now boots fine and giving it extensive tests.

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