Also, depending on your hardware, those IDE sockets may be different type of buses.

Hello!

Apologies for my absence, but work killed me this week. I was able to sort out my device issues, and managed to boot to Windows 98, (I think?) It brings me to a command screen and gives me the option to type "help". I don't think I've run into any errors yet, but I've got no idea how to proceed from this point.

That readme's language, and the fact that it mentions win98, makes me think you're reading the bootdisk's readme. Have you accessed the CD? If not, you need to the CD's setup program. I'm guessing MS called this file 'setup'. If your drive is D: then type D:\setup. The OEM disc may have the command printed on it

Dead_Christmas wrote:

Hello!

Apologies for my absence, but work killed me this week. I was able to sort out my device issues, and managed to boot to Windows 98, (I think?) It brings me to a command screen and gives me the option to type "help". I don't think I've run into any errors yet, but I've got no idea how to proceed from this point.

I'm not quite sure how familiar you are with the installation process of Windows 9x/ME, but there are plenty of online guides and tutorials.
Just at a high level:
Before you can install Windows 9x/ME on a hard drive, you have to "prepare" that hard drive first.
Basically, this involves creating a primary partition and formatting that partition with a file system that Windows will recognise (mainly FAT16 for hard drives below 2.1 GB & FAT32 for drives above 2.1 GB).
When you boot up with the Windows 98 boot disk, the first thing to do is to run FDISK (from the floppy disk) in order to "prepare" the hard disk as described above.

If your drive is larger than 512 MB, then FDISK will automatically ask you if you want to enable "large drive" support.
If the drive is below 2.1GB, I would choose NO - this will then only allow you to create a partition up to the maximum capacity of 2.1GB using the FAT16 file system. If your drive is larger than 2.1GB and you choose NO, then you will have to create multiple partitions of 2.1GB each.
If you choose YES, then it will use the FAT32 file system - but, since you are installing Windows 95, you must verify that you have a version that supports FAT32.

Once you have completed the above and you have "partitioned" your hard drive, then you reboot and format that hard drive (using the "FORMAT" command from the floppy disk).
What I normally do, after formatting my hard drives, is to copy the contents under the WIN95 folder (on the CD-ROM) to a folder that I've created on the hard drive (I just normally create a folder called WIN95 on the hard drive and just copy the contents over using the COPY command).
Once that is completed, go to the WIN95 folder (that you created on your hard drive) and type in SETUP.

I've run into a big problem, I believe. I'm getting a CDR-101 Error, not ready to read disc/drive etc. I'm thinking that my CD drive is dead because I can't even use the DIR command to at least view the files. I tried three different discs, Mechwarrior 2, Dark Forces, and the W95 disc. I can't even hear the discs spinning up when I put them in the drive. I tried different IDE cables, checked for broken or bent pins, and made sure the jumper was set to master. Nothing.

Dead_Christmas wrote:

I've run into a big problem, I believe. I'm getting a CDR-101 Error, not ready to read disc/drive etc. I'm thinking that my CD drive is dead because I can't even use the DIR command to at least view the files. I tried three different discs, Mechwarrior 2, Dark Forces, and the W95 disc. I can't even hear the discs spinning up when I put them in the drive. I tried different IDE cables, checked for broken or bent pins, and made sure the jumper was set to master. Nothing.

I presume that the Windows 98 boot disk is detecting the DVD Drive? If so, then it's most likely a hardware error.
Your best option would be to try out another drive and see whether you have the same problem.

Yes, everything points to the disk being there. BIOS says it's there, and the boot disk does too. I get no errors until I try to access it. I'll have to buy a new CD drive. Darn!

Meh... If your system is beige, you live in the states, and use ebay, then this should do and only costs 15 bucks...

http://m.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BULK-Compaq-179137- … c%257Ciid%253A1

Might I add that I never installed any of the win9x before. I'm didn't realize that the setup program didn't do fdisk and format.

Smevans, won't I need a CD drive of a slower speed? Maybe that's the issue with my drive?

That's the max speed. My APTIVA running PC-DOS has a 32x MITSUMI, but the driver operates it at 4x. I'm guessing windows (and the bootdisk) will use oakcdrom.sys, and that works with everything (but gobbles up an insane amount of conventional memory).

I guess I don't want to be solely responsible for your purchases, so someone can give a second opinion on this thread if you wait long enough.

Yes, everything points to the disk being there. BIOS says it's there, and the boot disk does too. I get no errors until I try to access it. I'll have to buy a new CD drive. Darn!

Hi everyone, sorry for invading this discussion.. I just want to add a comment to that read error :
Some time ago I had similar issue with a 586 machine. Turned out the cable was the culprit.
No idea why, but the notch/nose on the IDE cable's connectors was mounted upside down.
Maybe a production failure ? I don't know. Using that cable in reverse/upside-down or replacing it by another one helped.
Anyway, I just wanted to give a hint. No idea if that read error here is related to my former problems.

Oh yeah... good point. One side, the side with the subsequent connectors for the slave devices, is reserved for the drive, while the other is for the board (at least on my Aptiva it's like that).

Do you have another PC with IDE?
If you do just add the HDD in that PC as a slave and copy the Win95 folder off the CD onto the HDD.
Put the HDD back in the original PC, Boot from a Win9x boot disk and run setup form the HDD, bypass the CD drive all together