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Can't install Win98SE: "fault in MS-DOS extender"

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First post, by stamasd

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I am trying to install Win98SE on a Thinkpad 755CE, using the same configuration that I used successfully to install on a 755CX. The 755CE and 755CX are almost identical in terms of hardware, the main differences being the CPU (486DX4/100 on CE, P75 on CX) and screen (640x480 on CE, 800x600 on CX). The CE also has somewhat smaller RAM (24MB vs. 40MB).

FWIW the setup that I use is: built-in FDD booting a custom made floppy with drivers for all I need for the install; 1GB flash drive connected to the IDE interface (recognized and formatted without issues under DOS); PCMCIA SCSI/audio card connected to external SCSI CD-ROM unit (Panasonic KXL-D745) because neither the 755CX nor the 755CE have a built-in CD-ROM. The floppy disk used has PCMCIA drivers for the Thinkpad 7xx series, as well as DOS ASPI manager and driver for the CD-ROM unit. It is the same disk that I posted an image of in What retro activity did you get up to today?

On the 755CX I was successful. On the 755CE however, I am able to start the Win98 installer, it checks for free disk space, then goes on and crashes very reproducibly at a specific point during the install. The point wiere it crashes is right where it asks for the type of install you want, with "typical" autoselected. At that point I select "custom" and click next, and it crashes.

The error message I get on screen (not GUI anymore, but back to DOS) is"

Standard mode: fault in MS-DOS extender

Standard mode: bad fault in MS-DOS extender
fault: 000D stack dump: 02C4 0000 0070
raw fault frame: EC=0004 IP=2401 CS=0053 FL=3006 SP=00F2 SS=004B

after which it returns me to the DOS prompt.

It's always the same error, at the same point during the installation progress. I tried both installing directly from CD, and from a copy of the installation files from the HDD, always crashes exactly the same.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 1 of 3, by Brickpad

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The only thing I can think of is bad RAM? I was having registry corruption issues on one of my desktop machines that I traced to a bad RAM module. Before I found the source of the problem, I tried reinstalling Windows 95 a number of times, and at the same point during the installation process a registry error message would pop up.

Reply 2 of 3, by stamasd

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FWIW I found some old posts on the net from around 2002 dealing with this problem. I used some of the suggestions from those and managed to get past this error. The installation is still ongoing (48 minutes left) but I thought while it's still chugging that I'd post here the solution to this particular error.

The first suggestion was to disable UMBs during install. I did that, and also commented out all the PCMCIA drivers, ASPI manager and CD driver since I wasn't using that anymore having copied the install files to HDD.

Still got the same error.

The next suggestion was to also remove emm386.exe. I did that. The installer worked past that point and as I said, is still working.

So there you go. Disable support for upper memory/UMBs and emm386.exe if you come across that error.

FWIW, that same thread mentioned that bad RAM would cause an error "fault outside MS-DOS extender" rather than "in MS-DOS extender"

(edit) The setup completed successfully, and the laptop works as intended.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 3 of 3, by User5518

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stamasd wrote on 2016-12-25, 00:46:

Disable support for upper memory/UMBs and emm386.exe if you come across that error.

I'm sorry replying to such an old post, but have currently the same "fault in MS-DOS extender" error and was happy to find this thread.

Now, I have the question: How do I disable support for upper memory/UMBs and emm386.exe?

I have copied the Windows 98 Setup-Files to "C:\WIN98" and can run "setup.exe". But I have no idea on how to disable support for upper memory/UMBs and emm386.exe.

(If it matters: I want to install Windows 98 SE on a Pentium MMX 200MHz, 32MB RAM, Voodoo 1, Elsa Millennium, Sound blaster AWE64, MPU-401 ISA-Card, PCI-Network-Card)

Edit: Issue solved by replacing the CPU: I swaped the Pentium MMX 200MHz (P54) with a Pentium MMX 233MHz (P55) and everything works fine. (I'm using an Acer V55-2 Motherboard: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/acer-v55-2)
But maybe someone knows, how to disable support for upper memory/UMBs and emm386.exe for the Windows 98 SE installation, if for someone swapping the CPU isn't an option or not working).

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