Did you use the FDISK program that came with Windows 98SE CD? It has issues with FAT32 partition larger than 64GB. Search for 263044usa8.exe (or the localized version if the language isn't the English one) which has an updated version of FDISK that works properly with larger partitions.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-01-15, 20:40:

Did you use the FDISK program that came with Windows 98SE CD? It has issues with FAT32 partition larger than 64GB. Search for 263044usa8.exe (or the localized version if the language isn't the English one) which has an updated version of FDISK that works properly with larger partitions.

It was whatever version comes on the boot floppy, so its likely.

edit: so i looked it up, found it, and installed it. Does it install to the boot floppy?

Alistar1776 wrote on 2023-01-15, 20:41:

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-01-15, 20:40:

Did you use the FDISK program that came with Windows 98SE CD? It has issues with FAT32 partition larger than 64GB. Search for 263044usa8.exe (or the localized version if the language isn't the English one) which has an updated version of FDISK that works properly with larger partitions.

It was whatever version comes on the boot floppy, so its likely.

edit: so i looked it up, found it, and installed it. Does it install to the boot floppy?

No it copies the updated fdisk.exe into c:\windows\command.
You just need to copy it from that folder onto your boot disks and anywhere else that's convenient.

chinny22 wrote on 2023-01-16, 13:19:

No it copies the updated fdisk.exe into c:\windows\command.
You just need to copy it from that folder onto your boot disks and anywhere else that's convenient.

oh, gotcha. ok, i suppose ill see what happens with it

Update: Reinstalled OS using the updated Fdisk, and same error

Alistar1776 wrote on 2023-01-17, 07:34:

Update: Reinstalled OS using the updated Fdisk, and same error

Win9x starts to get a little rickety with partitions so large. I recommend you split the disk into multiple volumes (or partitions).
I would use free fdisk instead of Microsoft's to do the partitioning, and would probably break the disk into something like this:

|-- Primary MS-DOS-partition, C: 40 GB - FAT32
|-- Extended partition (rest of free space)
|---- D: 50% of remaining free space, so ~ 40 GB - FAT32
|---- E: 50% of remaining free space, so ~ 40 GB - FAT32

If I was doing this for Windows 95, I would break the disk into four partitions instead of three (to go under the safe maximum size of ~32 GB).

Windows/DOS also freak out about more than one primary partition on disk, so be sure to create the rest of the volumes under the 'extended partition'.

It's not just the partitioning tools from MS that have problems, it's all the other stuff as well that has surprising built-in limitations...

leonardo wrote on 2023-01-17, 10:43:

Win9x starts to get a little rickety with partitions so large. I recommend you split the disk into multiple volumes (or partitio […]
Show full quote

Alistar1776 wrote on 2023-01-17, 07:34:

Update: Reinstalled OS using the updated Fdisk, and same error

Win9x starts to get a little rickety with partitions so large. I recommend you split the disk into multiple volumes (or partitions).
I would use free fdisk instead of Microsoft's to do the partitioning, and would probably break the disk into something like this:

|-- Primary MS-DOS-partition, C: 40 GB - FAT32
|-- Extended partition (rest of free space)
|---- D: 50% of remaining free space, so ~ 40 GB - FAT32
|---- E: 50% of remaining free space, so ~ 40 GB - FAT32

If I was doing this for Windows 95, I would break the disk into four partitions instead of three (to go under the safe maximum size of ~32 GB).

Windows/DOS also freak out about more than one primary partition on disk, so be sure to create the rest of the volumes under the 'extended partition'.

It's not just the partitioning tools from MS that have problems, it's all the other stuff as well that has surprising built-in limitations...

ahh, ok. I have a 60gb drive that ive set this machine up with before and all worked well. Ill probably swap that back in

Update: swapped in the 60gb drive, did a fresh install, and same error. i dont get it. Same files ive used before, and its worked before. Driver install order is 7z, chipset, graphics, then work on sound.

any chance you can download the same files from the internet and compare if they are still identical to the files you already have ?
other possibilities I'm thinking of are either a memory error or failing capacitors, or maybe the files you already have have gotten infected by some virus.

just my 2cents.

weedeewee wrote on 2023-01-18, 16:36:

any chance you can download the same files from the internet and compare if they are still identical to the files you already have ?
other possibilities I'm thinking of are either a memory error or failing capacitors, or maybe the files you already have have gotten infected by some virus.

just my 2cents.

maybe... Ill install things in a different order and try that. last time i got sound drivers working, i didnt do chipset drivers first. thats all thats different between it last working, and not working now.

Update: That was the trick. get sound working before chipset drivers. Im definitely spoiled with modern systems where everything just works 🤣

Alistar1776 wrote on 2023-01-19, 07:12:

Update: That was the trick. get sound working before chipset drivers. Im definitely spoiled with modern systems where everything just works 🤣

I have an SiS 645 chipset Pentium 4 motherboard that I had an issue with after I installed a USB 2.0 card. When reinstalling Windows 98 I would install the USB mass storage driver (which I have on a CD) so I could use a USB thumbdrive to install the rest of the drivers. After I put the USB 2.0 card in, I tried installing both the standard and the 2.0 driver from the CD, then proceed with installing the rest of the drivers, but when I installed the SiS AGP driver the system would bluescreen. I discovered that I had to install the AGP driver before the USB 2.0 mass storage driver to prevent this.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-01-19, 16:53:

Alistar1776 wrote on 2023-01-19, 07:12:

Update: That was the trick. get sound working before chipset drivers. Im definitely spoiled with modern systems where everything just works 🤣

I have an SiS 645 chipset Pentium 4 motherboard that I had an issue with after I installed a USB 2.0 card. When reinstalling Windows 98 I would install the USB mass storage driver (which I have on a CD) so I could use a USB thumbdrive to install the rest of the drivers. After I put the USB 2.0 card in, I tried installing both the standard and the 2.0 driver from the CD, then proceed with installing the rest of the drivers, but when I installed the SiS AGP driver the system would bluescreen. I discovered that I had to install the AGP driver before the USB 2.0 mass storage driver to prevent this.

weird. Im having the issue now its no wanting to boot to OS, its throwing me windows protection errors and blue screens.. all i did was install doom, nobeer, and imd and try to go back into windows thru the dos commands. One thing after another, huh?

Edit: Solved.... Apparently leaving the USB stick in the machine and attempting to boot into windows causes all kinds of instability. Windows does not like 🤣.