> If anyone can personally vouch for links
Not gonna happen on these forums. You're supposed to use what's in the box that you legally bought; if necessary build your own bootable disc from it (pretty easy to do using mkisofs's '-eltorito-boot' option). If you want to pirate stuff then you better not mention it here or the mods will close the thread.
most CD Authoring software will let you provide a floppy diskette image file for DIY El-torito as well.
wierd_w wrote on 2023-09-28, 04:55:As for 'I need media!' […]
As for 'I need media!'
One can still get 3.5" diskettes.
https://www.amazon.com/Office-Diskettes-Forma … _df_B000NKHIS4/
It's the 5.25" diskette that's hard to obtain.
One can get 3.5" disks, sure, but when were they manufactured? I had gotten the impression from media coverage that production of floppy disks had stopped and the floppy disks still available, including from one guy who had a big media article about him, were all new old stock at this point...
VivienM wrote on 2023-09-28, 22:12:wierd_w wrote on 2023-09-28, 04:55:As for 'I need media!' One can still get 3.5" diskettes. https://www.amazon.com/Office-Diskettes-Forma … _df_B000NKHIS4/ It's th […]
As for 'I need media!'
One can still get 3.5" diskettes.
https://www.amazon.com/Office-Diskettes-Forma … _df_B000NKHIS4/
It's the 5.25" diskette that's hard to obtain.One can get 3.5" disks, sure, but when were they manufactured? I had gotten the impression from media coverage that production of floppy disks had stopped and the floppy disks still available, including from one guy who had a big media article about him, were all new old stock at this point...
Yes VivienM that is my understanding too. Luckily I have bought up a bunch of various 1.44Mb NOS stock and about 95% so far have been 100% good, the others have had one bad sector somewhere (still keep em just for file copy purposes unless track 0). A few years ago stumbled on some 5.25" 1.2MB and bought all the boxes (just a few) they had at the time.....
OK wutang61 so Back to the beginning (Re: Unable to Boot 98Se floppy disc.) looking at the picture of the Winimage error, you have an issue with something odd. The Winimage error of "(track 30) floppies do not match" while writing the image makes me think you are trying to write a 1.44Mb image to a 720k floppy disk...there is no other way I can think of that during a Write you would get that particular error.
I took same Winworld boot disk and wrote to my USB floppy on newer (2019) computer on generic Office Depot 1.44MB floppy and got no error, and surprise it booted on not one but two computers just fine.
Pictures of a Winimage "verify" to disk after written, disk booted, and the test floppy disk.....
So i think you need to post a picture of those floppy disks you were trying to use....
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Mistaken identity bruh. I'm not the OP. 😁
soory, fixed 🙁
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Horun wrote on 2023-09-29, 00:53:Yes VivienM that is my understanding too. Luckily I have bought up a bunch of various 1.44Mb NOS stock and about 95% so far have […]
VivienM wrote on 2023-09-28, 22:12:wierd_w wrote on 2023-09-28, 04:55:As for 'I need media!' One can still get 3.5" diskettes. https://www.amazon.com/Office-Diskettes-Forma … _df_B000NKHIS4/ It's th […]
As for 'I need media!'
One can still get 3.5" diskettes.
https://www.amazon.com/Office-Diskettes-Forma … _df_B000NKHIS4/
It's the 5.25" diskette that's hard to obtain.One can get 3.5" disks, sure, but when were they manufactured? I had gotten the impression from media coverage that production of floppy disks had stopped and the floppy disks still available, including from one guy who had a big media article about him, were all new old stock at this point...
Yes VivienM that is my understanding too. Luckily I have bought up a bunch of various 1.44Mb NOS stock and about 95% so far have been 100% good, the others have had one bad sector somewhere (still keep em just for file copy purposes unless track 0). A few years ago stumbled on some 5.25" 1.2MB and bought all the boxes (just a few) they had at the time.....
OK wutang61 so Back to the beginning (Re: Unable to Boot 98Se floppy disc.) looking at the picture of the Win image error, you have an issue with something odd. The Win image error of "(track 30) floppies do not match" while writing the image makes me think you are trying to write a 1.44Mb image to a 720k floppy disk...there is no other way I can think of that during a Write you would get that particular error.
I took same Winworld boot disk and wrote to my USB floppy on newer (2019) computer on generic Office Depot 1.44MB floppy and got no error, and surprise it booted on not one but two computers just fine.
Pictures of a Win image "verify" to disk after written, disk booted, and the test floppy disk.....
So i think you need to post a picture of those floppy disks you were trying to use....
I appreciate the long response. So this is the situation, I've purchased a 10 Pack of NOS Sony 2HD 1.44 floppies. (picture attached) i also have a few Imation (3M?) floppies that held old data. I formatted them Via windows, CMD, and win image. No errors during the format process and the floppies can be Written to with simple drag and drop operations in W10. Reading the Data "normally" also has no issues. Everything goes to shit once Win image tries to Write.
The track errors are random and not consistent. Starting almost out of the gate. Retry attempts fail instantly on the error and the only way to move forward is to ignore them. I would guess that i have 20-30 errors I have to force skip during the write process. In doing so, the disc is invalid according to the BIOS of the D875PBZ.
This is using WIn Image 11. Ive tried win image 10 and had similar if objectively less track errors. Also tried it on my desktop PC. Also windows 10 but using an older chipset (X79) side note, I'm do for an upgrade there i know.
I'm beginning to think this is an error because of windows 10 itself. I see that you are using 7 to perform the operations. I unfortunately, do not have a 7 PC to rule this out.
Able to format, soon as it goes to "verify" it fails constantly. track 1 head 0 head 1 track 2 head 0 , head 1.
Wow ! weird that if you can format the floppy thru Winimage but cannot then write the image, there is something funny going on. I never use anything newer then XP to do an actual format from OS or CMD, on the Win7 and Win10 boxes I use Winimage and
YES primarily use the Win7 box as it has all my software and manuals archives on it....
I will take the same ext USB floppy I used and try it on the Win10 box to see what happens later today after I get my chores done.
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
OK found the issue: Windows 10 writes a "System Volume Information" folder with a index file if a removable drive, including a floppy disk, like it was a fixed disk. Does not do this to a hardwired real floppy.
This folder/file (typically is a Index file) and when Winimage tries to write the sector by sector image it gets an error due to the Folder/file in use. You can format the floppy but the folder/file is auto re-written instantly after. You can check by launching command prompt and doing a dir a: /a:hs and see the folder...
Looking at some works arounds but none have fixed it on my test computer. Will keep you informed if I find one that actually works...
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Horun wrote on 2023-10-01, 02:35:OK found the issue: Windows 10 writes a "System Volume Information" folder with a index file if a removable drive, including a floppy disk, like it was a fixed disk. Does not do this to a hardwired real floppy.
This folder/file (typically is a Index file) and when Winimage tries to write the sector by sector image it gets an error due to the Folder/file in use. You can format the floppy but the folder/file is auto re-written instantly after. You can check by launching command prompt and doing a dir a: /a:hs and see the folder...
Looking at some works arounds but none have fixed it on my test computer. Will keep you informed if I find one that actually works...
Ive noticed this as well. you can see the folder in win image if you read a freshly formatted disk. Deleting it doesn't matter. as soon as you save changes to the floppy it auto rewrites like you have said. It shockingly seems that proper floppy support wasn't coded into 10 well. who would have thought? Floppies are treated as flash drives!
Id assume you would have to modify the driver to change the behavior.
Still no luck, all the methods do not work proper on a WIn10 Home build (they might on Pro). Windows 7.0 and 8.1 do not seem to write SVI to the floppy (fired up the Win8.1 box and works fine),
so maybe a Win8.1 PE with winimage portable app might be easiest way...reading about it and requires about 4GB of memory which is not a problem. Somewhere I have the MS AIK/PE kit....
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Dumb question - are these image files in a format such that you could just boot up Linux and write them using dd?
Yes you could, they are mostly .IMA or .IMG raw images, some are .IMZ gzipped raw but not the particular one OP needs, it is a 1440k .IMG So an Unbuntu or other Linux Live CD/USB would work too.
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Dell Optiplex GX260.
I would boot the computer using the Windows 98 floppy but then I couldnt partition or format the disk.
I could put the floppy into another PC and it worked fine, I booted up with another floppy drive and the same floppy disk worked fine, installed Windows 98 with it. Once installed I put the original floppy drive back in.
It would read some of the files but not all of them. There was nothing wrong with the disk itself, it was the floppy drive, it could read some but not all of the sectors on the disk...
Took it apart and gave it a clean but it didnt seem to make any difference.
Spent a tenner on a new drive and put it all down to experience.
Well, solved one problem, found another. Due to my inability to create a boot floppy, I bought a retail copy of 98 with the boot disc. Problem solved right? Yea not my luck.
System loads DOS from the disc now no issue. Boot with CD rom support. No problems. Made it to ScanDisk, tons of errors found on drive C. Attempted to repair via scandisk. No success errors detected wouldn’t install. (Compact flash 64gb). Figured no big deal. I’ll format it with fdisk. Never prompted for “large disk support”, created primary DOS partition all available space. 32mb? Once formatted, now the boot disc will not detect drive E. Get an error message of CDR101 not ready drive E. System makes zero attempt to read the disc. Instant failure.
Got much farther along the first time around before running fdisk. Now it seems the setup program can’t see the disc drive at all. (Everything shows up in the bios) CF is set as master and the CD drive as cable select via jumpers on the secondary 40 pin.
Obviously I am doing something wrong here. Need some guidance guys.
Sorry for the distortion. The Curve of my monitor does not make it photogenic.
wutang61 wrote on 2023-10-03, 01:53:Well, solved one problem, found another. Due to my inability to create a boot floppy, I bought a retail copy of 98 with the boot […]
Well, solved one problem, found another. Due to my inability to create a boot floppy, I bought a retail copy of 98 with the boot disc. Problem solved right? Yea not my luck.
System loads DOS from the disc now no issue. Boot with CD rom support. No problems. Made it to ScanDisk, tons of errors found on drive C. Attempted to repair via scandisk. No success errors detected wouldn’t install. (Compact flash 64gb). Figured no big deal. I’ll format it with fdisk. Never prompted for “large disk support”, created primary DOS partition all available space. 32mb? Once formatted, now the boot disc will not detect drive E. Get an error message of CDR101 not ready drive E. System makes zero attempt to read the disc. Instant failure.
Got much farther along the first time around before running fdisk. Now it seems the setup program can’t see the disc drive at all. (Everything shows up in the bios) CF is set as master and the CD drive as cable select via jumpers on the secondary 40 pin.
Obviously I am doing something wrong here. Need some guidance guys.
Sorry for the distortion. The Curve of my monitor does not make it photogenic.
Remind me - is there a reason you don't want to cheat? Put the CF card in another system, create a FAT32 partition, copy all the Win98 install files to \WIN98 on the CF card. Put CF card back in, boot up your shiny new Win98 floppy, do a sys c:, reboot from the CF card, cd \win98, setup, watch and see what happens. (In all honestly, I expect something other than success, but hey, even failure can help you troubleshoot)
Also, remind me, what optical drive are you using? PATA or SATA?
And do you have any old-fashioned hard drives floating around?
VivienM wrote on 2023-10-03, 02:27:Remind me - is there a reason you don't want to cheat? Put the CF card in another system, create a FAT32 partition, copy all the […]
wutang61 wrote on 2023-10-03, 01:53:Well, solved one problem, found another. Due to my inability to create a boot floppy, I bought a retail copy of 98 with the boot […]
Well, solved one problem, found another. Due to my inability to create a boot floppy, I bought a retail copy of 98 with the boot disc. Problem solved right? Yea not my luck.
System loads DOS from the disc now no issue. Boot with CD rom support. No problems. Made it to ScanDisk, tons of errors found on drive C. Attempted to repair via scandisk. No success errors detected wouldn’t install. (Compact flash 64gb). Figured no big deal. I’ll format it with fdisk. Never prompted for “large disk support”, created primary DOS partition all available space. 32mb? Once formatted, now the boot disc will not detect drive E. Get an error message of CDR101 not ready drive E. System makes zero attempt to read the disc. Instant failure.
Got much farther along the first time around before running fdisk. Now it seems the setup program can’t see the disc drive at all. (Everything shows up in the bios) CF is set as master and the CD drive as cable select via jumpers on the secondary 40 pin.
Obviously I am doing something wrong here. Need some guidance guys.
Sorry for the distortion. The Curve of my monitor does not make it photogenic.
Remind me - is there a reason you don't want to cheat? Put the CF card in another system, create a FAT32 partition, copy all the Win98 install files to \WIN98 on the CF card. Put CF card back in, boot up your shiny new Win98 floppy, do a sys c:, reboot from the CF card, cd \win98, setup, watch and see what happens. (In all honestly, I expect something other than success, but hey, even failure can help you troubleshoot)
Also, remind me, what optical drive are you using? PATA or SATA?
And do you have any old-fashioned hard drives floating around?
Biggest reason I don’t do that is windows 10 will not format the drive in fat32. The drive is too large.
The CD drive is pata. Set as the slave and the CF as the master. I know this is less then ideal for I/O between the two but for this use case it’s irrelevant.
I’m guessing that the error for the CD drive from the setup is because the drive is assigned to the incorrect letter. It’s looking at E: I don’t think it’s assigned to that.
It did work before fdisk. I ran into errors on the C drive annd scandisk and figured a format would solve them. Never was prompted for “large format support” which I should have been. Since then, the setup program is looking at E: for the drive and it’s been moved somehow to another letter.
wutang61 wrote on 2023-10-03, 03:25:Biggest reason I don’t do that is windows 10 will not format the drive in fat32. The drive is too large.
The CD drive is pata. Set as the slave and the CF as the master. I know this is less then ideal for I/O between the two but for this use case it’s irrelevant.
I’m guessing that the error for the CD drive from the setup is because the drive is assigned to the incorrect letter. It’s looking at E: I don’t think it’s assigned to that.
According to the mscdex.exe output you provided, the CD drive is E:...
Do you have a spare IDE cable to put the CD drive on a separate channel from the CF adapter?
Also, there should be other tools that will format a large drive in FAT32 on Windows 10. Not sure what they are, but that should be out there...
VivienM wrote on 2023-10-03, 03:28:According to the mscdex.exe output you provided, the CD drive is E:... […]
wutang61 wrote on 2023-10-03, 03:25:Biggest reason I don’t do that is windows 10 will not format the drive in fat32. The drive is too large.
The CD drive is pata. Set as the slave and the CF as the master. I know this is less then ideal for I/O between the two but for this use case it’s irrelevant.
I’m guessing that the error for the CD drive from the setup is because the drive is assigned to the incorrect letter. It’s looking at E: I don’t think it’s assigned to that.
According to the mscdex.exe output you provided, the CD drive is E:...
Do you have a spare IDE cable to put the CD drive on a separate channel from the CF adapter?
Also, there should be other tools that will format a large drive in FAT32 on Windows 10. Not sure what they are, but that should be out there...
I do not have a separate cable unfortunately. I guess I could set the jumpers on the drive itself to slave instead of cable select? Or I can buy yet another cable and hook the drive up to the secondary. But I can’t understand why this would break the install. Surely computers were configured pri/sec like this in the time period.
I have tried the bios in both legacy and enhanced as well. No luck.
Horun wrote on 2023-10-01, 02:35:OK found the issue: Windows 10 writes a "System Volume Information" folder with a index file if a removable drive, including a floppy disk, like it was a fixed disk. Does not do this to a hardwired real floppy.
This folder/file (typically is a Index file) and when Winimage tries to write the sector by sector image it gets an error due to the Folder/file in use. You can format the floppy but the folder/file is auto re-written instantly after. You can check by launching command prompt and doing a dir a: /a:hs and see the folder...
Looking at some works arounds but none have fixed it on my test computer. Will keep you informed if I find one that actually works...
You can stop Windows writing the System Volume Information folder to removable media via the registry. This is what I did on my Windows 10 machine that I use with a USB Floppy Drive to write images to real floppies (I don't have a floppy emulator). It only fails if the disk is bad.
https://winaero.com/how-to-disable-system-vol … movable-drives/
