Does it work in XP?
If yes, then it's software.
If no, then it's hardware.

If it's software, it's probably drivers.
In which case it's probably time to play "find the right mobo/gpu driver combo that doesn't die"
This will help: https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/

What is the BSOD you get? 98 should be something like "blah blah has performed an illegal operation blah blah at 3f23 : 8894329 : 15114123234"
The numbers are the most useful bit.

myne wrote on 2024-04-04, 23:03:

Does it work in XP? If yes, then it's software. If no, then it's hardware. […]
Show full quote

Does it work in XP?
If yes, then it's software.
If no, then it's hardware.

If it's software, it's probably drivers.
In which case it's probably time to play "find the right mobo/gpu driver combo that doesn't die"
This will help: https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/

What is the BSOD you get? 98 should be something like "blah blah has performed an illegal operation blah blah at 3f23 : 8894329 : 15114123234"
The numbers are the most useful bit.

yes it works fine on windows xp ill check out the site still the bsod said a fatal exception has occurred at E0 in 032f:00000379 on the version 81.98 the system keeps hanging at the flashing _
version tested nvidia forceware 9x 61.76 45.23 77.72 81.85 (81.89 from this forum) from the setup and from the hardware manager

edit:for some reason the 81.89 can't be unistalled because i get the "illegal action" error when i try to unistall it

Hmm. That sounds like 98 is just generally unstable.

Things to try...
1 stick of ram
memtest86

myne wrote on 2024-04-05, 01:00:

Hmm. That sounds like 98 is just generally unstable. […]
Show full quote

Hmm. That sounds like 98 is just generally unstable.

Things to try...
1 stick of ram
memtest86

done nothing changed with 1 stick of ram and the mem test was clean

Try winME?

myne wrote on 2024-04-05, 02:15:

Try winME?

oh no i hate win ME/2000

the solution are 2 i use the intel extreme graphics 2 inside the mobo, or i find the right driver that at least give me 256 colors or 16bit (or 3 buy a new gpu compatible)

ME for testing.
If it works fine there, you know it should be possible to get 98 working.

myne wrote on 2024-04-05, 02:38:

ME for testing.
If it works fine there, you know it should be possible to get 98 working.

mhh you're right ill try it out soon i make a copy of the win 98 driver and ill test it

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 00:25:

yes it works fine on windows xp ill check out the site still the bsod said a fatal exception has occurred at E0 in 032f:00000379 on the version 81.98 the system keeps hanging at the flashing _
version tested nvidia forceware 9x 61.76 45.23 77.72 81.85 (81.89 from this forum) from the setup and from the hardware manager

edit:for some reason the 81.89 can't be unistalled because i get the "illegal action" error when i try to unistall it

Maybe try some older drivers, like 56.64 or 45.23, or heck, even 31.40? These are known to work fine under Win 98.

ok on windows ME everything works perfectly fine! even the chipset and usb drivers works perfectly fine, could it be just windows 98 SE? version used 81.89 nvidia official

revolstar wrote on 2024-04-05, 06:44:

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 00:25:

yes it works fine on windows xp ill check out the site still the bsod said a fatal exception has occurred at E0 in 032f:00000379 on the version 81.98 the system keeps hanging at the flashing _
version tested nvidia forceware 9x 61.76 45.23 77.72 81.85 (81.89 from this forum) from the setup and from the hardware manager

edit:for some reason the 81.89 can't be unistalled because i get the "illegal action" error when i try to unistall it

Maybe try some older drivers, like 56.64 or 45.23, or heck, even 31.40? These are known to work fine under Win 98.

already tested

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

could it be just windows 98 SE?

No. I have one of the the same motherboard and no issues with 98SE. The MX440 is usually also a non-problematic graphics card.

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

version used 81.89 nvidia official

That's way too modern driver for Windows 98 and causes a lot of issues. It's usually not recommended to go above 56.64 even with FX series cards.

I assume you did try a clean Windows install for the older drivers and not just uninstalled the modern one without cleaning up the system properly. If not, then leftovers from the drivers may be causing a conflict.

You could just stick with me and run one of those minimalist tools that strip out the annoying crap and make it more like 98

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-04-05, 20:02:

No. I have one of the the same motherboard and no issues with 98SE. The MX440 is usually also a non-problematic graphics card. […]
Show full quote

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

could it be just windows 98 SE?

No. I have one of the the same motherboard and no issues with 98SE. The MX440 is usually also a non-problematic graphics card.

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

version used 81.89 nvidia official

That's way too modern driver for Windows 98 and causes a lot of issues. It's usually not recommended to go above 56.64 even with FX series cards.

I assume you did try a clean Windows install for the older drivers and not just uninstalled the modern one without cleaning up the system properly. If not, then leftovers from the drivers may be causing a conflict.

i really don't know why the drivers works fine on windows me (even the 81.89) but i get problems on windows 98 even with older versions, the 56.64 do the same problem as the other ones, this time i get stuck at boot in a blank black screen with a flashing _

at this point i will probably delete this thread, since i am new you know how to delete threads? thanks

edit: the 56.64 are the only one that seems to work better but, still... after some reboot i get an error that say "the settings of the screen are wrong or not compatible with your graphics card" (16bit 640x480 and 16 bit 800x600) is strange because only if i choose "boot normaly" from the recovery menu i can use the pc otherwhise i get stuck at boot

still sorry for my bad english

No need to delete the thread. Someone might still figure it out, and it could also be of use to others.

Is the 98 install media you're using good? Maybe try another one? Are you installing any unofficial 98 updates?

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-08, 13:58:

i really don't know why the drivers works fine on windows me (even the 81.89) but i get problems on windows 98 even with older v […]
Show full quote

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-04-05, 20:02:

No. I have one of the the same motherboard and no issues with 98SE. The MX440 is usually also a non-problematic graphics card. […]
Show full quote

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

could it be just windows 98 SE?

No. I have one of the the same motherboard and no issues with 98SE. The MX440 is usually also a non-problematic graphics card.

joseph! wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:46:

version used 81.89 nvidia official

That's way too modern driver for Windows 98 and causes a lot of issues. It's usually not recommended to go above 56.64 even with FX series cards.

I assume you did try a clean Windows install for the older drivers and not just uninstalled the modern one without cleaning up the system properly. If not, then leftovers from the drivers may be causing a conflict.

i really don't know why the drivers works fine on windows me (even the 81.89) but i get problems on windows 98 even with older versions, the 56.64 do the same problem as the other ones, this time i get stuck at boot in a blank black screen with a flashing _

at this point i will probably delete this thread, since i am new you know how to delete threads? thanks

edit: the 56.64 are the only one that seems to work better but, still... after some reboot i get an error that say "the settings of the screen are wrong or not compatible with your graphics card" (16bit 640x480 and 16 bit 800x600) is strange because only if i choose "boot normaly" from the recovery menu i can use the pc otherwhise i get stuck at boot

still sorry for my bad english

tested others installs medias SE and first edition, same results, i am out of ideas honestly
the setup is easy and doesn't ask for any particualr setting or sorta, i usually only install the video drivers with the chipset driver after i have installed windows 98 (tested without the chipset drivers too) as i said on windows ME the drivers works perfectly fine

note:no i didn't install any unofficial updates even the drivers are from nvidia or from this forum (someone from philcomputerslab)

thanks everyone for helping me out

Windows 98SE - Driver Issues

GeForce 2 MX400 is not being initialized under Windows 98

https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/nee … win98se.133480/

Second one suggests directx might be the issue