Sorry for grave digging, but this is important!

No one reads this topic...but if anyone finds this via google search, keep in mind that Windows 98SE will require all official updates before installing the audio driver! I haven't had the best luck with the official driver, so keep in mind that the modded driver maybe necessary in order to get Windows 98SE properly working! Windows 95 and Windows 98 (First edition) are NOT TESTED

Dropping by to let you guys know that someone managed to get 9x working on a Inspiron 9300 with everything except for the SD card reader. I am searching for drivers to try this out for myself but this could very easily be one of the fastest Win9x laptop projects that one can do.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-9300-2- … =p2047675.l2557

"Dell Inspiron 9300 in very good condition. Fan and cooling vents were cleaned. Battery was new in 10/2015 (genuine Dell made in Japan) lasts over an hour. My focus was to have a fast Windows 98 Second Edition pc although WIndows XP professional is installed too with all drivers. Pics show Windows 98 SE software. This is the last Inspiron to have the most WIndows 98 drivers (sound, video ect). The only driver that is not installed is the SD card reader, since there isn't a Windows 98 driver for it. Should make a good gamer pc. The front volume controls work in Windows 98 with Windows Media Player. Has Dell 355 bluetooth with Widcomm 5.1.0.2800 software- capable of stereo bluetooth. Has wireless N card (connects up to 130Mbs) WPA/WPA2 capable with Airlink101 software utility. Has Microsoft Office XP installed in Win 98 and XP. Has nusb36e.exe installed for USB devices. Has KernelEx Installed so some Windows XP, 2000 software can run in Win 98. Has 1GB RAM.Feel free to ask any questions. Does not come with charger.No international shipping, shipping only to within the USA"

nforce4max wrote:

Has wireless N card (connects up to 130Mbs) WPA/WPA2 capable with Airlink101 software utility.

Wait... WPA/WPA2? Does he really have that working in Windows 98, or is this guy just reading the specs off from the Dell site [seems unlikely, you have to know what you're doing to install 98 on a machine like this... 😕 ]?

keenmaster486 wrote:

nforce4max wrote:

Has wireless N card (connects up to 130Mbs) WPA/WPA2 capable with Airlink101 software utility.

Wait... WPA/WPA2? Does he really have that working in Windows 98, or is this guy just reading the specs off from the Dell site [seems unlikely, you have to know what you're doing to install 98 on a machine like this... 😕 ]?

That is what I am looking into besides other things.

EDIT:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/65914-intel-9 … t-based-boards/

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/95164-help-me … se-on-a-new-pc/

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/l … 3518/t/17539238

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/162360-window … -a-2006-laptop/

Slight update! Thanks to stupendousyappi for the Cardbus driver!!!

I got the cardbus reader to work from this link http://support.ts.fujitsu.com/IndexDownload.a … 24-8148E4E84361

"The setup.exe routine is sensitive; if you expand the zip files on a Win2k/xp/etc machine, it expands with such a long directory name that the file copy fails. I copied the install files into c:\card\ and ran setup.exe, and it went right in. The only thing left now is the "PCI Card", which as far as the Conexant Listmdm.exe app can tell, is a Conexant HSF modem from Actiontec, but I can't find the driver just yet."
- stupendousyappi

Make sure to follow these instructions! I didn't listen at first and extracted them into their own folder in a usb flash drive and it seems to corrupt it! Only extract it inside of your Windows 9x computer!

Hello all.

I wish I read this thread before buying a D600!

So I have been struggling to install win98 through the standard methods of install but when I get to the point to select what drive to use, only the USB stick is available to install. Hard drive is not detected at that point. Is there any way of just getting Dos to install via USB stick? Do I really need to get a diskette drive? I tried installing freedos but it does not recognise my hard drive. The C Drive is always the USB stick! I have tried sticking to whats in the posts here, but because of my lack of knowledge I am just getting more frustrated.

When I boot from my USB key to install Win98 I get a command prompt where I have to type Setup, rather then the usual CD options. Any ideas why>?

Is there any guide where someone can really hold my hand step by step through this at all?

Cheers!

You probably have to run FDISK first and create an active, primary DOS partition, which you can then format as FAT after restarting, in order to install anything on your hard drive.

keenmaster486 wrote:

You probably have to run FDISK first and create an active, primary DOS partition, which you can then format as FAT after restarting, in order to install anything on your hard drive.

I tried that. The USB stick was disk 1, I selected the main hard drive disk 2, partitioned it and then it restarts. On restart I am still not able to install to it. I can see people online who dont seem to have the problem where the USB stick is seen as the main drive above all others.

Asomodai wrote:

Hello all. […]
Show full quote

Hello all.

I wish I read this thread before buying a D600!

So I have been struggling to install win98 through the standard methods of install but when I get to the point to select what drive to use, only the USB stick is available to install. Hard drive is not detected at that point. Is there any way of just getting Dos to install via USB stick? Do I really need to get a diskette drive? I tried installing freedos but it does not recognise my hard drive. The C Drive is always the USB stick! I have tried sticking to whats in the posts here, but because of my lack of knowledge I am just getting more frustrated.

When I boot from my USB key to install Win98 I get a command prompt where I have to type Setup, rather then the usual CD options. Any ideas why>?

Is there any guide where someone can really hold my hand step by step through this at all?

Cheers!

What are the settings of the hard drive in DOS? I've never done it myself so I'm unsure, but is it put on SATA mode? If so, make it IDE! I've never tried installing from a usb...

JiaoTongNan wrote:

Asomodai wrote:

Hello all. […]
Show full quote

Hello all.

I wish I read this thread before buying a D600!

So I have been struggling to install win98 through the standard methods of install but when I get to the point to select what drive to use, only the USB stick is available to install. Hard drive is not detected at that point. Is there any way of just getting Dos to install via USB stick? Do I really need to get a diskette drive? I tried installing freedos but it does not recognise my hard drive. The C Drive is always the USB stick! I have tried sticking to whats in the posts here, but because of my lack of knowledge I am just getting more frustrated.

When I boot from my USB key to install Win98 I get a command prompt where I have to type Setup, rather then the usual CD options. Any ideas why>?

Is there any guide where someone can really hold my hand step by step through this at all?

Cheers!

What are the settings of the hard drive in DOS? I've never done it myself so I'm unsure, but is it put on SATA mode? If so, make it IDE! I've never tried installing from a usb...

It's IDE as the system only has IDE connections.

Asomodai wrote:

JiaoTongNan wrote:

Asomodai wrote:

Hello all. […]
Show full quote

Hello all.

I wish I read this thread before buying a D600!

So I have been struggling to install win98 through the standard methods of install but when I get to the point to select what drive to use, only the USB stick is available to install. Hard drive is not detected at that point. Is there any way of just getting Dos to install via USB stick? Do I really need to get a diskette drive? I tried installing freedos but it does not recognise my hard drive. The C Drive is always the USB stick! I have tried sticking to whats in the posts here, but because of my lack of knowledge I am just getting more frustrated.

When I boot from my USB key to install Win98 I get a command prompt where I have to type Setup, rather then the usual CD options. Any ideas why>?

Is there any guide where someone can really hold my hand step by step through this at all?

Cheers!

What are the settings of the hard drive in DOS? I've never done it myself so I'm unsure, but is it put on SATA mode? If so, make it IDE! I've never tried installing from a usb...

It's IDE as the system only has IDE connections.

I'm pretty confident you do not need to get a diskette drive at all, I considered getting an external DVD drive at some point because of issues with the OS.

This does sound rather frustrating 😦
Hm...have you tried any other OSes to recognize the hard drive? Sorry I sound a bit stupid, but does the BIOS recognize it? If you have an older version of the BIOS, I would recommend updating it. I'm very unsure on this issue as I've never experienced it. Maybe run tests on the hard drive to check its not having issues.

Another thing about 9x and the D Latitude series in general...
I checked specifications of the D family to find that 9x support (despite being non existent because Dell wanted to avoid 9x) is hit and miss depending on which model you obtain! Unless someone's a genius and knows how to hack Intel GMA 900 to run on 9x, that's probably the biggest bane of 98/ME working on those certain models.
I'm hoping this will help anyone who happens to find this topic as well, so they don't go through all the time consuming work I did when I originally wanted 9x on my D600

Compatible Latitude D Models (Anything unlisted here has a incompatibility with one or more of the following: Chipset, Video/Graphics, Audio)
D400 -Intel 855PM Chipset, Intel UMA integrated (Intel(R) Extreme Graphics 2 driver), Broadcom 5705M Gigabit Integrated Controller, Dell 1450 miniPCI Wireless Card (Broadcom BCM4306 802.11 a/b/g Wireless Card), AC'97 (Soft Audio)
D410 - Intel 915GM Chipset
D500 - Intel 855GM Chipset
D505 - Intel 855GME Chipset
D600 -
*D610 - Intel 915PM Chipset model only! ATI Mobility Radeon X300! Broadcom 57xx Gigabit Controller, Intel PRO 2200 (802.11b/g) or Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG or Dell 1370, SigmaTel C-Major STAC 9751 (AC97) (Same audio as the Dell 600 I believe!)
D800 - Intel 855PM, nVidia GeForce4 440 Go, SIGMATEL STAC 9750 (The driver used on the D600 and D610 may or may not work!)
D810 - Intel 915PM, Nvidia FX1400 Models require the unofficial video card, other models come with ATI discrete X300 video card (supported on 98!), Sigmatel STAC 975X (The same audio driver for the D600 probably works), wireless can be a Dell Wireless Card 1350/1450/1370/1470 (A.K.A Broadcom) or Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG, same ethernet as D600!

Do your own research if you plan on installing 9x on any of these models as well! 9x will be difficult to install for the novice! Many instructions of the D600 apply to these models! (Making DOS work before modifying the resources, Resource Conflicts which prevent the CD/DVD drive from being seen!)

Okay, now I must figure out how to setup audio in DOS. This is gonna be fun 😀
EDIT: Rediscovered the long dead VDMSound, 9x edition!

I had to obtain the VCREDIST.EXE from this link since the two on the post were dead; https://web-beta.archive.org/web/200301210247 … nd/vcredist.exe
Instructions to install are here: Win9x + VDMSound **ALPHA**

JiaoTongNan wrote:

This does sound rather frustrating 😦
Hm...have you tried any other OSes to recognize the hard drive? Sorry I sound a bit stupid, but does the BIOS recognize it? If you have an older version of the BIOS, I would recommend updating it. I'm very unsure on this issue as I've never experienced it. Maybe run tests on the hard drive to check its not having issues.

Looks like I am getting somewhere, managed to boot to Win98. But having troubles installing the wireless.

The Sound also doesn't work it comes up with an error and that it needs to grab a file off of the Windows 98 Disk. Any ideas?

Also installing the ethernet PRO98M has caused a blue screen error on startup which I have to press Y to skip. Furthermore when I try to install the Ethernet Driver it keeps asking for the location of the Broadcom installation software.

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98
That folder contains the needed cab files

Install the service pack for all updates! (I've noticed the audio doesn't work without it!)
Boot to DOS first before modifying any resources, otherwise DOS won't work!
Then make sure you install the chipset first before installing any drivers!!

JiaoTongNan wrote:

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98 That folder contains the needed cab files […]
Show full quote

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98
That folder contains the needed cab files

Install the service pack for all updates! (I've noticed the audio doesn't work without it!)
Boot to DOS first before modifying any resources, otherwise DOS won't work!
Then make sure you install the chipset first before installing any drivers!!

Presumably you mean the unofficial SP3?

What driver are you referring to the cab files and what screen? Cheers.

I keep being asked to insert the Win98 disk when I try to install any of the network drivers. Which does no good...

Asomodai wrote:

Presumably you mean the unofficial SP3? […]
Show full quote

JiaoTongNan wrote:

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98 That folder contains the needed cab files […]
Show full quote

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98
That folder contains the needed cab files

Install the service pack for all updates! (I've noticed the audio doesn't work without it!)
Boot to DOS first before modifying any resources, otherwise DOS won't work!
Then make sure you install the chipset first before installing any drivers!!

Presumably you mean the unofficial SP3?

What driver are you referring to the cab files and what screen? Cheers.

I keep being asked to insert the Win98 disk when I try to install any of the network drivers. Which does no good...

Yes, the SP3 for Windows 9x
*Face Palm* I'm not specific enough, after you install drivers for the audio, Ethernet, and maybe a few others Windows will ask you for cab files on pretty much all of them. Some drivers will restart windows then ask for the .cab file, others will ask for the .cab without restarting. Windows will say it cannot find the correct .sys, .cab, .dll, or whatever file it is, in order to find it you need to direct windows to C:/Win98 because that's the dictionary of windows which contains the required installation of the driver. Despite Windows asking for the Windows 98SE disk, you actually don't need it.

JiaoTongNan wrote:

Asomodai wrote:

Presumably you mean the unofficial SP3? […]
Show full quote

JiaoTongNan wrote:

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98 That folder contains the needed cab files […]
Show full quote

While on that screen, go to C:/Win98
That folder contains the needed cab files

Install the service pack for all updates! (I've noticed the audio doesn't work without it!)
Boot to DOS first before modifying any resources, otherwise DOS won't work!
Then make sure you install the chipset first before installing any drivers!!

Presumably you mean the unofficial SP3?

What driver are you referring to the cab files and what screen? Cheers.

I keep being asked to insert the Win98 disk when I try to install any of the network drivers. Which does no good...

Yes, the SP3 for Windows 9x
*Face Palm* I'm not specific enough, after you install drivers for the audio, Ethernet, and maybe a few others Windows will ask you for cab files on pretty much all of them. Some drivers will restart windows then ask for the .cab file, others will ask for the .cab without restarting. Windows will say it cannot find the correct .sys, .cab, .dll, or whatever file it is, in order to find it you need to direct windows to C:/Win98 because that's the dictionary of windows which contains the required installation of the driver. Despite Windows asking for the Windows 98SE disk, you actually don't need it.

Ah. Well in that case the problem is that my Win98 Folder is missing 😀

Any ideas why?

Ok after copying the WIN98 folder in, things seem much better!

However the Boingo wireless program fails with a C+++ Runtime error on startup and trying to reopen seems to do nothing. Anyone come across it? I am using the Broadcom Wireless chip.

However wired does work!

Asomodai wrote:

Ok after copying the WIN98 folder in, things seem much better! […]
Show full quote

Ok after copying the WIN98 folder in, things seem much better!

However the Boingo wireless program fails with a C+++ Runtime error on startup and trying to reopen seems to do nothing. Anyone come across it? I am using the Broadcom Wireless chip.

However wired does work!

If Boingo Wireless fails, McAfee wireless security 4.1 (Doesn't support WPA2 though) try McAfee Wireless Security 4.1
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/mcafee-wire … ss-security-4-1

Odyssey client will give you WPA2 (If you have a Dell/Broadcom card)

I have a few questions to make sure everything is properly setup:
Did you fix resources (Does Windows recognize your cd/dvd drive?) if you didn't, make sure you boot to dos at least once and do everything in the directions before modifying any resources!

JiaoTongNan wrote:

I have a few questions to make sure everything is properly setup:
Did you fix resources (Does Windows recognize your cd/dvd drive?) if you didn't, make sure you boot to dos at least once and do everything in the directions before modifying any resources!

Yes. My windows recognises my CD DVD Drive without having to go through DOS installing drivers. I just made sure I installed the correct Chipset drivers and modified the resources.

I'll be giving that client a go asap.

The Synaptics driver that was provided within the thread causes VXD error on startup which has borked my installation. This is the third time it has happened so will probably not install it next time!