Harry Potter wrote on 2024-03-11, 12:37:
IIRC, 2M's docs say that the program won't work with Win98SE but gave a way to get it to work with Win95 by disabling the 32-bit driver for the floppy drive. It doesn't give the method for Win98SE. Also, IIRC, the last time I tried your approach, Windows tried to reinstall the 32-bit driver.
Oh, sorry! I can't recall what I suggested previously. Apologies if I've suggested any of the following things before:
Windows 98 Resource Kit Chapter 10 says:
Tip Windows 98 scans for floppy drives on each boot, which is helpful for laptops and other computers from which the floppy ca […]
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Tip Windows 98 scans for floppy drives on each boot, which is helpful for laptops and other computers from which the floppy can be removed. If you are on a desktop with a floppy drive that is stationary, you can turn this option off to speed up boot time.
1. From Control Panel, click System, and then click the Performance tab.
2. Click File System, and then click the Floppy Disk tab.
3. Uncheck the box next to Search for new floppy disk drives each time your computer starts.
4. Click OK.
I wonder if that would prevent it from re-installing the 32-bit driver?
Also, Windows 98 Resource Kit Chapter 24 includes a "Real-Mode Drivers and the Ios.ini Safe Driver List" section which mentions:
Real-mode drivers that can safely be used are identified in the list of safe drivers, which identifies drivers and terminate-and […]
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Real-mode drivers that can safely be used are identified in the list of safe drivers, which identifies drivers and terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs that Windows 98 can replace with corresponding protected-mode drivers. The list of safe drivers (Ios.ini in the Windows directory) can include the following information:
· Name of the driver or TSR, using the same name as used in Config.sys or Autoexec.bat.
· Driver requirements.
· Whether the driver hooks INT13.
· Whether the driver monitors INT13 (regardless of whether I/O is controlled by a protected-mode driver).
· Whether the driver accesses hardware directly.
Perhaps 2M appears in the list either intentionally or unintentionally due to its filename matching something that does belong on the list? I guess you can check that ios.ini file.
It also says:
If you believe that a protected-mode driver should be controlling a device, but the device appears with a real-mode driver in the System option in Control Panel, you can check entries in Ios.log. The Ios.log file in the Windows directory is created when a protected-mode driver is not available or the operating system detects that an unknown device driver is controlling a device.
Maybe you can get some more information from that log file.