The more common issue with VIA AGP K8 chipsets in combination ATI cards is running out of video memory in 3dmark05 and 06 even though you shouldn't.

The solution for that one if I remember correctly is to reinstall first the video driver then 3dmark... or was it the other way around... This doesn't help you much but bumping the thread might.

I'm experiencing another (but perhaps related to the out of memory issue above) issue with my MSI K8T Master2 FAR dual s940 board (VIA K8T800) and a Radeon 9800 Pro at the moment. The issue is that 3dmark05 and 06 will freeze within seconds in Windows XP SP3 while every other 3D bench and game seems to run perfectly. I now remember that I had the same issue with the same board and ATI cards when SP3 first came out 15 years ago and the solution was to reinstall Windows XP SP2 and fully upgrade that but never install SP3... nothing else I tried worked.

I had forgotten about this quirk and wiped the disk to do a fresh install of XP SP3...

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-04, 07:32:

Strangest error I've ever seen and can't find anyone with a similiar message online. Appeared after installing Catalyst 6.2 for my X800 XT AGP after the VIA 4-in-1 drivers 4.56. Maybe some BIOS ordeal is causing this?

Have you tried different chipset drivers?

psybyrd wrote on 2023-05-04, 18:41:

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-04, 07:32:

Strangest error I've ever seen and can't find anyone with a similiar message online. Appeared after installing Catalyst 6.2 for my X800 XT AGP after the VIA 4-in-1 drivers 4.56. Maybe some BIOS ordeal is causing this?

Have you tried different chipset drivers?

Would you possibly know a way to remove all traces of the current chipset drivers?

Skyscraper wrote on 2023-05-04, 17:33:

The more common issue with VIA AGP K8 chipsets in combination ATI cards is running out of video memory in 3dmark05 and 06 even t […]
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The more common issue with VIA AGP K8 chipsets in combination ATI cards is running out of video memory in 3dmark05 and 06 even though you shouldn't.

The solution for that one if I remember correctly is to reinstall first the video driver then 3dmark... or was it the other way around... This doesn't help you much but bumping the thread might.

I'm experiencing another (but perhaps related to the out of memory issue above) issue with my MSI K8T Master2 FAR dual s940 board (VIA K8T800) and a Radeon 9800 Pro at the moment. The issue is that 3dmark05 and 06 will freeze within seconds in Windows XP SP3 while every other 3D bench and game seems to run perfectly. I now remember that I had the same issue with the same board and ATI cards when SP3 first came out 15 years ago and the solution was to reinstall Windows XP SP2 and fully upgrade that but never install SP3... nothing else I tried worked.

I had forgotten about this quirk and wiped the disk to do a fresh install of XP SP3...

Come to think of it, I do have a gigabyte of RAM, this might be the issue here, I'll try LIMITMEM and see if it changes anything.

After reinstalling the chipset drivers by doing a registry restore and deleting the INF files of the previous installation, THEN installing the Catalyst 6.2 drivers, it got pretty far until it starting setting up the drivers for "Unknown Device", finished then froze with the hourglass cursor on the desktop and a solid HDD light. Is there a way I can get a log or see what it's getting stuck on here at least?

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-04, 23:07:

After reinstalling the chipset drivers by doing a registry restore and deleting the INF files of the previous installation, THEN installing the Catalyst 6.2 drivers, it got pretty far until it starting setting up the drivers for "Unknown Device", finished then froze with the hourglass cursor on the desktop and a solid HDD light. Is there a way I can get a log or see what it's getting stuck on here at least?

What motherboard is it exactly? VIA 4.55's gave me the least troubles in my past experience with KT400/KT880 chipsets. Also, make sure you are not sharing any IRQ's.

psybyrd wrote on 2023-05-04, 23:46:

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-04, 23:07:

After reinstalling the chipset drivers by doing a registry restore and deleting the INF files of the previous installation, THEN installing the Catalyst 6.2 drivers, it got pretty far until it starting setting up the drivers for "Unknown Device", finished then froze with the hourglass cursor on the desktop and a solid HDD light. Is there a way I can get a log or see what it's getting stuck on here at least?

What motherboard is it exactly? VIA 4.55's gave me the least troubles in my past experience with KT400/KT880 chipsets. Also, make sure you are not sharing any IRQ's.

MSI K8T Neo2. How can I make sure nothing is on the video card's IRQ?

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-04, 21:24:

Come to think of it, I do have a gigabyte of RAM, this might be the issue here, I'll try LIMITMEM and see if it changes anything.

This is most likely your problem. Try Rudolph R. Loew's patch which works exceptionally well, and see if it fixes the issue.
If you get it working, you should check the performance, because there is a BIOS bug that can affect the performance of these chipsets in Win98.

bloodem wrote on 2023-05-05, 05:29:

This is most likely your problem. Try Rudolph R. Loew's patch which works exceptionally well, and see if it fixes the issue.
If you get it working, you should check the performance, because there is a BIOS bug that can affect the performance of these chipsets in Win98.

Something really weird happened, DirectX acceleration previously didn't show up at all in DXDIAG, but now does after installing this patch. Trying to test it swaps it my resolution to 640x480, opens a giant blank window and freezes Windows.

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-05, 22:10:

bloodem wrote on 2023-05-05, 05:29:

This is most likely your problem. Try Rudolph R. Loew's patch which works exceptionally well, and see if it fixes the issue.
If you get it working, you should check the performance, because there is a BIOS bug that can affect the performance of these chipsets in Win98.

Something really weird happened, DirectX acceleration previously didn't show up at all in DXDIAG, but now does after installing this patch. Trying to test it swaps it my resolution to 640x480, opens a giant blank window and freezes Windows.

I'd remove all cards but the graphics card, disable everything you don't need in the BIOS for testing like USB etc. (PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse will be required) Reinstall drivers and try again.

bobsmith wrote on 2023-05-05, 22:10:

Something really weird happened, DirectX acceleration previously didn't show up at all in DXDIAG, but now does after installing this patch. Trying to test it swaps it my resolution to 640x480, opens a giant blank window and freezes Windows.

If you look at the thread I sent you (the one with the K8T800 BIOS bug), you can see that the OP said that he tested "two ATI cards (Radeon 9600 Pro and Radeon 9600 XT), with drivers Catalyst 4.2, 4.3, 6.2 - these are practically unusable in Windows 98 on this board, there are constant freezes and instability. In WinXP they work fine, performance is great."

So, you are most likely running into the same issue. Looking on the MSI support page, it seems that this board only has BIOS versions from 2005 or newer. Based on my research on this subject, this bug was introduced sometime in early 2005 (not all BIOS versions from 2005 are affected though, it depends on the board and manufacturer).
If you have an nVIDIA card, you should test that one (nVIDIA cards tend to work, but the performance is half what it should be).

This issue isn't just limited to the K8T880. My older Gigabyte 7VAX (KT400) had the same stuff going on and it turned out to be a combination of chipset drivers, IRQ conflicts.
XP really is the way to go with this hardware.

psybyrd wrote on 2023-05-06, 19:34:

This issue isn't just limited to the K8T880. My older Gigabyte 7VAX (KT400) had the same stuff going on and it turned out to be a combination of chipset drivers, IRQ conflicts.
XP really is the way to go with this hardware.

The BIOS issue in question is limited to K8T800. KT400 boards typically work just fine in Win98 with a variety of GPUs.
Your case was probably very specific, but it’s not the norm.

Now I'm really curious, BIOS version on this machine is v2.58 which isn't even on MSI's website. The latest 9.3 BIOS mentions some bugs being fixed for Windows 9x, possibly updating the BIOS would be useful? Is downgrading the BIOS with this mobo possible?

I also see in the BIOS upgrade guide you need a DOS boot floppy. I don't have a floppy drive in this machine so will a bootable FreeDOS USB work?

Just to note, this board is a MS-6702E, which is notable because MSI made a handful of boards called the under the K8T Neo name

Found a floppy disk drive, did the steps the DOC file included with the BIOS told me to do, andddddddd solid HDD light with no display or power to components except fans. Probably screwed this board up pretty bad which is a curse and blessing. I have officially given up on this platform and am going to just sell all the things I have minus the case, PSU and sound card. Even though it works fine for XP I already have the most monstrous XP build imaginable as my main PC (i7-4790k with HD7950, Q87 chipset) and XP-era games usually work fine on modern hardware except for some oddities like EAX or DX8.

I think that I will attempt to get a Pentium 3 build put together, and do heavy amounts of research before buying anything at all next time.

Not my proudest moment but we all make mistakes, I am only 15 after all and have much to learn ¯\_(ツ)_/¯