VOGONS


First post, by Agathosdaimon

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sorry another question, i thought better to make a new post - hopefully someone can reply.

I have made a hdd image using BXimage.exe for 2gb in size. i can see how to add it in the config panel for pcem, but how do i get win98 to recognise it? Fdisk has been mentioned to me but i dont know what that is or how i use it, would anyone be able to help me? 😀

Reply 1 of 13, by superfury

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You run the fdisk program from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder. Choose the option for selecting the disk(where you should select the disk that's newly added). After that you need to create an extended partition and logical drive.

That's explained in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=satl8PNW_DI . Go to 4:50 for the extended/logical partition on the second drive(don't forget to change the selected drive to the added hard drive(#2 probably) first!).

Then, after rebooting(reboot windows if done from within windows 9x. If from MS-DOS, Ctrl-Alt-Del will do the same). If done correctly, the BIOS should start booting Windows again(don't forget to remove any floppy drives if it's set as a bootable drive in the BIOS settings).

Then in Windows 98, you can simply select the drive and if you try to open it it'll as to format it. Confirm and simply format it using the tool(if it doesn't appear, right click the drive and click on the Format option).
Enter the filesystem information etc. and click the button at the bottom to start formatting the drive.

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UniPCemu for Android, Windows, PSP, Vita and Switch on itch.io

Reply 2 of 13, by Agathosdaimon

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thanks for that reply, that should help me

though at same my enthusiasm for using PCEM has taken a hit in that i just installed FS2000pro and it runs terribly in PCEM Win98 SE, even though selected roms to make a pentium mobile mmx 300mhz, 512mb ram, voodoo 2. i dont know what i have missed in the process, but it just does not run well at all

do i need a better romset or is there something else i need to do in the install process when setting up the OS to get it running effectively for playing games

Reply 3 of 13, by SScorpio

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Agathosdaimon wrote on 2021-01-14, 13:38:

thanks for that reply, that should help me

though at same my enthusiasm for using PCEM has taken a hit in that i just installed FS2000pro and it runs terribly in PCEM Win98 SE, even though selected roms to make a pentium mobile mmx 300mhz, 512mb ram, voodoo 2. i dont know what i have missed in the process, but it just does not run well at all

do i need a better romset or is there something else i need to do in the install process when setting up the OS to get it running effectively for playing games

What are hardware specs are you running this on?

Reply 4 of 13, by Agathosdaimon

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My computer is an Asus ROG, 16gb ram i7 2.0ghz and 2gb NVIDIA 860m. It's not the newest gaming laptop, I am able to run games like GTA V and Kingdom come deliverance and F1 2020 all pretty nicely with high settings. Also I am using VMware for a winxp install and it runs games in it good too - I am running fs98 in that one
Sorry

Reply 5 of 13, by SScorpio

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Ya, that processor is likely just way too slow. Even the highest-end desktop processors can't run the highest-end PCem profiles at full speed.

VMWare passes the instructions through so it can run pretty fast. PCem emulates the hardware so it performs much slower.

Reply 7 of 13, by Agathosdaimon

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superfury wrote on 2021-01-14, 13:30:
You run the fdisk program from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder. Choose the option for selecting the disk(where you should select t […]
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You run the fdisk program from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder. Choose the option for selecting the disk(where you should select the disk that's newly added). After that you need to create an extended partition and logical drive.

That's explained in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=satl8PNW_DI . Go to 4:50 for the extended/logical partition on the second drive(don't forget to change the selected drive to the added hard drive(#2 probably) first!).

Then, after rebooting(reboot windows if done from within windows 9x. If from MS-DOS, Ctrl-Alt-Del will do the same). If done correctly, the BIOS should start booting Windows again(don't forget to remove any floppy drives if it's set as a bootable drive in the BIOS settings).

Then in Windows 98, you can simply select the drive and if you try to open it it'll as to format it. Confirm and simply format it using the tool(if it doesn't appear, right click the drive and click on the Format option).
Enter the filesystem information etc. and click the button at the bottom to start formatting the drive.

okay i decided PCEM is just not suitable in my circumstance, so am switching back to oracel Virtualbox - i have made a second hdd for that system in the settings and it shows up in the device manager , but not i my "computer"

i run FDISK but it doesnt list any other drive other than the existing C drive - what do i need to do to make FDISK recognise the other drive?

Reply 8 of 13, by superfury

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You need to have the secondary drive added on an IDE controller for Windows and FDISK to recognise it.

FDISK or other compatible partitioning software always needs to be run first. Only after that will Windows see and display the drives in My Computer(this is true for all Windows versions).

Does FDISK display the drive? Also, in Virtualbox, make sure that the drive is on an IDE controller.

Author of the UniPCemu emulator.
UniPCemu Git repository
UniPCemu for Android, Windows, PSP, Vita and Switch on itch.io

Reply 9 of 13, by Agathosdaimon

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the drive is on an IDE controller - the same one that the master falls under. the drive shows up in the device manager, but FDisk does not show it at all

Reply 10 of 13, by superfury

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Try and reboot in MS-DOS mode. Then execute FDISK again. Does that show the second hard disk? It should be the option below the bottom option(3 or 4? Depends on the FDISK version.) to switch to the second hard disk, then use option 1 and it's options to create a partition.

If FDISK in MS-DOS mode doesn't even show the hard disk being present(but does show the master hard disk), then there might be an issue with the interface itself somehow.
Although I suspect there's an issue with the MS-DOS mode inside Windows 98 in this case.
Edit: Quick google search: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97813
It should be option #5 to switch to the other hard disk.

Author of the UniPCemu emulator.
UniPCemu Git repository
UniPCemu for Android, Windows, PSP, Vita and Switch on itch.io

Reply 12 of 13, by Agathosdaimon

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oh another note though - i did free up space in my oracle virtualbox win98 version and install fs98 and although it runs great there, the damned things has no sound - urgh - why is there always something ruining everything
- pcem too slow
virtualbox - no sound

maybe i have to try a vmware version of win98, though that would be another whole day spent fiddling around with it which i dont have now

Reply 13 of 13, by superfury

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When it's started up in MS-DOS mode, usually just fdisk<enter>. Otherwise, first type "cd \windows\command<enter>" (assuming windows folder is named windows) first. After those, it's as mentioned.

Author of the UniPCemu emulator.
UniPCemu Git repository
UniPCemu for Android, Windows, PSP, Vita and Switch on itch.io