Blur2040 wrote on 2021-12-14, 05:11:

I'm stumped by a windows 98SE/new to me system issue. […]
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I'm stumped by a windows 98SE/new to me system issue.

I picked up a computer based upon this strange little motherboard (http://www.powerspec.com/support/archives/166 … 61r_p5gxlg.html) off of Craigslist. Cyrix MediaGX, 200mhz, chip soldered to board. I was hoping for a P2 or P3, but here we are.

Hard drive seemed bad, so I have swapped for compact flash and/or a SD to IDE. Both experience the same issue. Windows 98SE installs like a dream, but I have issues once installed. Nearly any time I go to "My Computer" to start poking at files, it locks up entirely. No BSOD, just freezes. When occasionally I am able to get that to load, it is a matter of time before it locks up. In the command prompt, no problems, it seems.

I have tried the following:
1) Another AT power supply
2) Removing all cards and the CDROM drive
3) Mucking with the HDD settings in the BIOS.

Some sort of hardware conflict? Maybe the motherboard is not compatible with 98SE (there seems to be no BIOS updates for it)? I'm stumped and I've put a whole lot of hours into this, so any help is appreciated.

my 1st guess is the mobo either hates the cf card or hates how its formated and partitioned. but ive seen it 100 times around here. try somthing else. so many people have had issues especially with sd cards cf cards are also not just cf cards some are for cameras and arnt the same .

I'll give an update on this, seeking help still, or perhaps helping someone in the future with a similar issue.

I'm still having drive issues. I gave up on Windows 98SE because, well, try everything. I have switch to Windows 95 OSR2. I thought that this fixed the issue. I can complete installation, install drivers, etc. I was truly happy for a few days. Then disk corruption crept back in. Have tried:

1. Multiple Compact Flashes in El-Cheapo Adapters (See: https://www.amazon.com/Ximimark-Compact-Boota … ps%2C134&sr=8-3) - A 1GB card worked, but eventually corrupts. A 4GB I purchased specifically for this does not detect at all.
2. Multiple SD Cards in SD to IDE Adapter (See: https://www.amazon.com/KOOBOOK-1Pcs-40Pin-Ada … aps%2C92&sr=8-3) Work swimmingly until they don't. 4GB cards seem to work (again, until they don't). Can't get an 8GB or higher card to work.
3. An Old Connor 8 hundred or so MB Hard Drive (Can't make it through Win 95 installation Completely -- when the computer restarts it gives me a boot error and invites me to boot from FDD)
4. A 9GB Western Digital Drive - Doesn't detect at all. BIOS times out.

I will note that the BIOS has some pre-set options for hard drives in the BIOS. They're all incredibly small. The autodetect function has no qualms about detecting my much bigger cards.

Have tried removing unnecessary hardware . I have used IDEDIAG to make sure that I have the right parameters on cards. (WhatIDE does not seem to work on this PC). The corruption seems to rear its head as I start installing software, once Windows is installed.

I can replicate it the same way each time right now. Install Win95 OSR2. Install Quake for DirectX 7. Install the game I want to play, Red Baron 2. Install the Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro Software. At the end of that, the PC freezes and scandisk starts singing of errors upon reboot. Can never get back to a desktop and I die a little inside.

Thoughts?

• Removing some RAM? It came with 32 MB. I added some more I had in a drawer, but does this sound like something bad RAM might do?
• Bad caps on Motherboard? I don't look forward to it, but I suppose I could recap it.
• Bad PSU? Again, could recap it, but I got the same sort of freezing with another PSU.

Any ideas are appreciated it. I've installed Windows about 10 times at this point. I'm really bummed as I purchased some new hardware. This Matrox Millennium really does have a great picture. Shame all I can get it to display is frozen screens.

Blur2040 wrote on 2021-12-28, 04:39:

An Old Connor 8 hundred or so MB Hard Drive (Can't make it through Win 95 installation Completely -- when the computer restarts it gives me a boot error and invites me to boot from FDD)

Sounds like a boot sector virus from the disk.

swap out the ram. its possible ram could do that

About to give up on this thing...

Tried:

• Ram swap
• Going back to to win98
• Removing all sorts of hardware.
• In win98, trying to turn off every item in the diagnostic startup
• It was a boot sector virus in that hdd, I think, fdisk /mbr seemed to fix

I'm going to go back to win95 and just choose not to install the sidewinder software. Maybe it just REALLY hates this hardware.