Hi, I think there's a compatibility tab in Control Panel -> System were you can see performance/stability things.
The troubleshooting thing should allow for 16-Bit (DOS) floppy access or something.
Speaking under correction.

Thank you, but I want to disable the 32-bit driver for the floppy.

I would have assumed that if you simply installed the driver from CONFIG.SYS, Windows would see that the interrupt (number 13h I assume) was hooked and disable 32-bit disk access, but I don't recall if that's actually how it works.

IIRC, 2M's docs say that the program won't work with Win98SE but gave a way to get it to work with Win95 by disabling the 32-bit driver for the floppy drive. It doesn't give the method for Win98SE. Also, IIRC, the last time I tried your approach, Windows tried to reinstall the 32-bit driver.

Harry Potter wrote on 2024-03-11, 12:37:

IIRC, 2M's docs say that the program won't work with Win98SE but gave a way to get it to work with Win95 by disabling the 32-bit driver for the floppy drive. It doesn't give the method for Win98SE. Also, IIRC, the last time I tried your approach, Windows tried to reinstall the 32-bit driver.

Oh, sorry! I can't recall what I suggested previously. Apologies if I've suggested any of the following things before:

Windows 98 Resource Kit Chapter 10 says:

Tip Windows 98 scans for floppy drives on each boot, which is helpful for laptops and other computers from which the floppy ca […]
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Tip Windows 98 scans for floppy drives on each boot, which is helpful for laptops and other computers from which the floppy can be removed. If you are on a desktop with a floppy drive that is stationary, you can turn this option off to speed up boot time.
1. From Control Panel, click System, and then click the Performance tab.
2. Click File System, and then click the Floppy Disk tab.
3. Uncheck the box next to Search for new floppy disk drives each time your computer starts.
4. Click OK.

I wonder if that would prevent it from re-installing the 32-bit driver?

Also, Windows 98 Resource Kit Chapter 24 includes a "Real-Mode Drivers and the Ios.ini Safe Driver List" section which mentions:

Real-mode drivers that can safely be used are identified in the list of safe drivers, which identifies drivers and terminate-and […]
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Real-mode drivers that can safely be used are identified in the list of safe drivers, which identifies drivers and terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs that Windows 98 can replace with corresponding protected-mode drivers. The list of safe drivers (Ios.ini in the Windows directory) can include the following information:
· Name of the driver or TSR, using the same name as used in Config.sys or Autoexec.bat.
· Driver requirements.
· Whether the driver hooks INT13.
· Whether the driver monitors INT13 (regardless of whether I/O is controlled by a protected-mode driver).
· Whether the driver accesses hardware directly.

Perhaps 2M appears in the list either intentionally or unintentionally due to its filename matching something that does belong on the list? I guess you can check that ios.ini file.

It also says:

If you believe that a protected-mode driver should be controlling a device, but the device appears with a real-mode driver in the System option in Control Panel, you can check entries in Ios.log. The Ios.log file in the Windows directory is created when a protected-mode driver is not available or the operating system detects that an unknown device driver is controlling a device.

Maybe you can get some more information from that log file.

I think you misunderstand again: I want to use a real-mode driver for the floppy drive so I can get 2M to work, as 2M is a real-mode driver that greatly increases the capacity of a floppy.

That's what I thought, or maybe there's a gap in my understanding: I assumed that 2M was the real-mode driver, but I guess what you say could be interpreted as meaning that you're trying to get Windows to provide its own real-mode driver for 2M to use. Is that the case?

I imagined that since you could access a floppy drive when you boot into the command prompt, then you can load 2M from CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, it would be able to access the drive, and then with some trickery Windows will use 2M to access the disk because it's hooked interrupt 13h. Therefore I thought that perhaps telling Windows to not scan for floppy drives on startup, or making sure IOS.INI doesn't tell Windows that 2M is something that is "safe" for it to replace, would mean you could use 2M after Windows had started.

I think I explained it wrong this time: 2M is the real-mode driver, and I want Windows to use it instead of its native floppy driver upon startup. What setting can I give in the ios.ini file to stop Windows from replacing the floppy driver with its own?

Is there anything in IOS.INI that looks like 2M's file name and/or the name that shows up in the MEM command when 2M is running (in the unlikely case that's different)? If not, that's probably not the issue, but I'd also see if IOS.LOG mentions anything about 2M if you have it running.

I don't actually have it installed right now. I'm working from memory. BTW, I'm not at my mother's house right now, and my Win98SE system is there, so I can't work on it right now. 🙁