SolidSonicTH wrote on 2022-01-30, 12:28:

I couldn't even get my retro machine (an ASUS A7M266-M OEM HP board) that I was using with a CF reader to fully POST (it would just hang at the BIOS when a card was plugged in and when I took the card out and tried to boot the system it said there was a BIOS checksum error and reset some of my settings).

Eventually I just bailed and used a SATA to IDE adapter to use an SSD instead (which worked but installing Windows 98 was very slow; though that might have been the CD drive's fault, I can't tell).

I bet you could get it working if you toggled LBA on/off during Flash setup as I documented a few posts back (making adjustments for your particular BIOS configuration parameters). I've never had an issue getting CF working in any of my motherboards. The SE440BX-2 is the only board, however, I had to go through the LBA nonsense to get it working reliably.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 15:03:

No problem, I'm glad it worked out great. Looking at your errors, where did you get the boot disk? I used an "original" Windows 98 SE boot disk. Do you have this? It looks to me you booted the system with a different version of DOS.

You are correct, I use in fact a windows xp boot disk. It is the only one I have. I dont have a floppy drive on my windows 10 laptop, only on my retro pc on which I am trying to install Win98. Do you know a way to make a win98 boot disk? Maybe, I can put the necessary files on the CF from my windows pc and swap them on the retro pc (since, at this stage I can access C:). But I am afraid connecting the CF to windows 10 it will ruin the partition on it.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 15:03:

Now re-run setup, but use: SETUP.EXE /IS to skip running scandisk on setup. It's not necessary, anyway, since you just partitioned and unconditionally formatted the drive.

I did run the new command and I can finally get to the installation but I get this error right away.

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 15:54:

You are correct, I use in fact a windows xp boot disk. It is the only one I have. I dont have a floppy drive on my windows 10 la […]
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Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 15:03:

No problem, I'm glad it worked out great. Looking at your errors, where did you get the boot disk? I used an "original" Windows 98 SE boot disk. Do you have this? It looks to me you booted the system with a different version of DOS.

You are correct, I use in fact a windows xp boot disk. It is the only one I have. I dont have a floppy drive on my windows 10 laptop, only on my retro pc on which I am trying to install Win98. Do you know a way to make a win98 boot disk? Maybe, I can put the necessary files on the CF from my windows pc and swap them on the retro pc (since, at this stage I can access C:). But I am afraid connecting the CF to windows 10 it will ruin the partition on it.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 15:03:

Now re-run setup, but use: SETUP.EXE /IS to skip running scandisk on setup. It's not necessary, anyway, since you just partitioned and unconditionally formatted the drive.

I did run the new command and this is the error I get.

OK, I suspected as much. The problem is more the command.com and related files. It's very important to keep all versions of related files the same (or as close as humanly possible) no matter when working with an Operating System or device drivers. Also, it is a good idea to invest in a USB floppy drive. It will save you many headaches going forward as you go deeper in the retro world. I was going to send you the process for using WinImage, but instead I've attached "Extract.txt." Rename the extension to .zip. All of the files inside are for Windows 98 Boot disk. Get those files to the CF. You can move the CF to Windows 10, but DO NOT open any disk tools. Just copy the files over. It shouldn't mess with the disk if there are no problems.

But first:

Please FORMAT C: /V:Win98se (no /Q option, do the unconditional). You do not have to repartition the disk; just reformat.

Then after moving the CF disk back to your retro system with the W98 Boot files from Windows 10 system, which you copied to the CF, copy those to the floppy. Hopefully, we do not have to reformat the floppy disk first, but you should probably first delete all existing files on the floppy disk. Finally, recopy all of the setup files from CD as I detailed in the previously posted instructions.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Also, it is a good idea to invest in a USB floppy drive. It will save you many headaches going forward as you go deeper in the retro world.

I just ordered, it will come in the next few days but after today I'll need to wait until next week to resume this adventure.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Get those files to the CF. You can move the CF to Windows 10, but DO NOT open any disk tools. Just copy the files over. It shouldn't mess with the disk if there are no problems.

Unfortunately if I plug the CF in the adapter nothing comes up. If I try to manually access unit F: (where the CF resides) I get the "please insert a disk" message.
I have a working cd/dvd burner on this laptop, I am looking to burn your files to a cd and move them to the floppy with it, not sure if I will find any tho. Note to self: buy empty cds 🤣

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:10:

I just ordered, it will come in the next few days but after today I'll need to wait until next week to resume this adventure. […]
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Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Also, it is a good idea to invest in a USB floppy drive. It will save you many headaches going forward as you go deeper in the retro world.

I just ordered, it will come in the next few days but after today I'll need to wait until next week to resume this adventure.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Get those files to the CF. You can move the CF to Windows 10, but DO NOT open any disk tools. Just copy the files over. It shouldn't mess with the disk if there are no problems.

Unfortunately if I plug the CF in the adapter nothing comes up. If I try to manually access unit F: (where the CF resides) I get the "please insert a disk" message.
I have a working cd/dvd burner on this laptop, I am looking to burn your files to a cd and move them to the floppy with it, not sure if I will find any tho. Note to self: buy empty cds 🤣

Here's one rule you can take with you for the rest of your life:

"Nothing's easy!" haha...

Please find attached boot disk image. Use this to create a floppy disk with WinImage. Rename extension to .img.

WinImage download
http://www.winimage.com/download.htm (shareware).

See you in a week!

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:25:

"Nothing's easy!" haha...

I will be patient. Thank you for your time, I can't stress this enough.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Get those files to the CF. You can move the CF to Windows 10, but DO NOT open any disk tools. Just copy the files over. It shouldn't mess with the disk if there are no problems.

I managed to find an empty cd and unzipped your boot files there.
How do I copy these files from the cd (D:) to A: while overwriting the old windows xp files (or erasing them first).
I tried to copy all files to a different floppy and it seems it copies everything up to COMMAND.COM, returning an access denied error.

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:34:

I managed to find an empty cd and unzipped your boot files there. How do I copy these files from the cd (D:) to A: while overwri […]
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Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

Get those files to the CF. You can move the CF to Windows 10, but DO NOT open any disk tools. Just copy the files over. It shouldn't mess with the disk if there are no problems.

I managed to find an empty cd and unzipped your boot files there.
How do I copy these files from the cd (D:) to A: while overwriting the old windows xp files (or erasing them first).
I tried to copy all files to a different floppy and it seems it copies everything up to COMMAND.COM, returning an access denied error.

Can you rename command.com to command.old?

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:47:

Can you rename command.com to command.old?

I think I can't, that was my last empty cd. In order to make it work I need to close the cd session that makes the cd writable only the first time.

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:49:

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:47:

Can you rename command.com to command.old?

I think I can't, that was my last empty cd. In order to make it work I need to close the cd session that makes the cd writable only the first time.

I mean the floppy disk. Rename command.com -->command.old. Then copy newer command.com from the CD. Try rebooting with the floppy disk in and Ctrl+C right away so you go straight into the A: prompt, if necessary.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:52:

I mean the floppy disk. Rename command.com -->command.old. Then copy newer command.com from the CD. Try rebooting with the floppy disk in and Ctrl+C right away so you go straight into the A: prompt, if necessary.

Sorry I have some difficulty keeping up. I was copying all files to an empty floppy, that is where I got the access denied error. Now what I need to do is to insert the windows xp boot, rename command.com on the floppy to command.old and copy the command.com from the cd to the floppy. Correct?

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 18:00:

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:52:

I mean the floppy disk. Rename command.com -->command.old. Then copy newer command.com from the CD. Try rebooting with the floppy disk in and Ctrl+C right away so you go straight into the A: prompt, if necessary.

Sorry I have some difficulty keeping up. I was copying all files to an empty floppy, that is where I got the access denied error. Now what I need to do is to insert the windows xp boot, rename command.com on the floppy to command.old and copy the command.com from the cd to the floppy. Correct?

Correct. I'll try it myself, also. I have to do some other testing on faulty hardware anyway.

Not, no, that is not what you do.

Do not need one another or other to do installation of windows. Pick one and install OS.

If installing DOS, you need a image of boot disk or set of 6.22 installation images (three). First one disk is bootable and hit F3 to exit to prompt then use fdisk then reboot, then use format as directed in forum.
If 95, you need to create a bootable floppy disk to partition and format the hard drive prior to installing the 95.
If 98SE, same thing except make a 98se bootable floppy disk from a image seperately, the CD does not have one.

XP came on a bootable optical disc of 650MB. Not easy to find a clean ISO of this, must have a XP sp2 ISO.

Cheers,

pentiumspeed wrote on 2022-01-30, 18:28:

Not, no, that is not what you do. […]
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Not, no, that is not what you do.

Do not need one another or other to do installation of windows. Pick one and install OS.

If installing DOS, you need a image of boot disk or set of 6.22 installation images (three). First one disk is bootable and hit F3 to exit to prompt then use fdisk then reboot, then use format as directed in forum.
If 95, you need to create a bootable floppy disk to partition and format the hard drive prior to installing the 95.
If 98SE, same thing except make a 98se bootable floppy disk from a image seperately, the CD does not have one.

XP came on a bootable optical disc of 650MB. Not easy to find a clean ISO of this, must have a XP sp2 ISO.

Cheers,

All of your great points were discussed early in the thread. This person has limited (and there is nothing wrong with this since we all started somewhere) access to resources and limited experience using one of the more challenging boards to get CF working. Fortunately, I went through some of the hardships he is going through at some point long ago, but there are compounding issues involved. There is a lot of handholding going on. And it's very easy... very easy to find a bootable clean ISO of XP, by the way, and you don't need to go to Pirate Bay to get it. One just has to make sure they have a valid license key. I legally own several copies of XP 32bit and 64 bit, so I'm good.

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 18:00:

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 17:52:

I mean the floppy disk. Rename command.com -->command.old. Then copy newer command.com from the CD. Try rebooting with the floppy disk in and Ctrl+C right away so you go straight into the A: prompt, if necessary.

Sorry I have some difficulty keeping up. I was copying all files to an empty floppy, that is where I got the access denied error. Now what I need to do is to insert the windows xp boot, rename command.com on the floppy to command.old and copy the command.com from the cd to the floppy. Correct?

I was able to boot up with the Windows 98 Boot disk, rename command.com to command.old and copy over the Windows 98 version of command.com to match the rest of the files in the disk. Boot disk works fine afterward. Hopefully, this works for you. The easier way is to use SYS A: from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory, but you are far from being able to do this at this point; at least not without starting from a new direction.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:01:

I was able to boot up with the Windows 98 Boot disk, rename command.com to command.old and copy over the Windows 98 version of command.com to match the rest of the files in the disk. Boot disk works fine afterward. Hopefully, this works for you. The easier way is to use SYS A: from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory, but you are far from being able to do this at this point; at least not without starting from a new direction.

I finally managed to get the win 98 floppy working. I am sorry but I could not understand these instructions (my bad) so I did find an hard disk with an old installation of windows xp. From there I erased all files from the windows xp boot disk and replaced with your files. I did a try and it works flawlessly! Now, you might ask yourself why I am doing all this if I already have a win xp and a working hard drive. Reason is the hard drive in question is about to die. It does weird clicking noises and most time doesn't even get recognized. I am looking for a convenient and quiet solution to replace an hard drive and, of course, create my dream win 98 pc.

Anyway, now that I have a genuine win98 floppy I can resume the installation process.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

But first:

Please FORMAT C: /V:Win98se (no /Q option, do the unconditional). You do not have to repartition the disk; just reformat.

So, I removed the hard drive and replaced it with my CF. Set the IDE configuration to USER with LBA enabled.
Booted the pc with the new win98 floppy with cd support and run your command, this is what I get:

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:24:

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 16:30:

But first:

Please FORMAT C: /V:Win98se (no /Q option, do the unconditional). You do not have to repartition the disk; just reformat.

So, I removed the hard drive and replaced it with my CF. Set the IDE configuration to USER with LBA enabled.
Booted the pc with the new win98 floppy with cd support and run your command, this is what I get:

Change to the D:\WIN98 directory and run the command from there. It looks like the "format" command is not located on your A: drive. Since no path is defined, you need to be in the actual directory to run the command.

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:16:

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:01:

I was able to boot up with the Windows 98 Boot disk, rename command.com to command.old and copy over the Windows 98 version of command.com to match the rest of the files in the disk. Boot disk works fine afterward. Hopefully, this works for you. The easier way is to use SYS A: from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory, but you are far from being able to do this at this point; at least not without starting from a new direction.

I finally managed to get the win 98 floppy working. I am sorry but I could not understand these instructions (my bad) so I did find an hard disk with an old installation of windows xp. From there I erased all files from the windows xp boot disk and replaced with your files. I did a try and it works flawlessly! Now, you might ask yourself why I am doing all this if I already have a win xp and a working hard drive. Reason is the hard drive in question is about to die. It does weird clicking noises and most time doesn't even get recognized. I am looking for a convenient and quiet solution to replace an hard drive and, of course, create my dream win 98 pc.

Anyway, now that I have a genuine win98 floppy I can resume the installation process.

I don't ask what you're doing or why you're doing it. You wouldn't be posting if you didn't have your reasons. I'm sure the posts worldwide are legion of "Why are you doing that? Just do this instead." Some might find them useful. I find them to be white noise.

Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:28:

I don't ask what you're doing or why you're doing it. You wouldn't be posting if you didn't have your reasons.

Yeah, thank you. This way also I confront with all my limits in computer knowledge and learn something.

Btw, format went well by typing your most updated suggestion. In your guide, I will resume from here:

MD C:\WINDOWS
MD C:\WINDOWS\CABS
CD C:\WINDOWS\CABS
COPY D:\WIN98\*.*
Eject the CD and the floppy disk; they are no longer needed.
SETUP <---- (Make sure you are in the C:\WINDOWS\CABS directory)
Go through Windows setup and reboot.
(Machine reboots)
Setup should continue normally after reboot.

Correct?

pentotark wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:41:

Yeah, thank you. This way also I confront with all my limits in computer knowledge and learn something. […]
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Meatball wrote on 2022-01-30, 19:28:

I don't ask what you're doing or why you're doing it. You wouldn't be posting if you didn't have your reasons.

Yeah, thank you. This way also I confront with all my limits in computer knowledge and learn something.

Btw, format went well by typing your most updated suggestion. In your guide, I will resume from here:

MD C:\WINDOWS
MD C:\WINDOWS\CABS
CD C:\WINDOWS\CABS
COPY D:\WIN98\*.*
Eject the CD and the floppy disk; they are no longer needed.
SETUP <---- (Make sure you are in the C:\WINDOWS\CABS directory)
Go through Windows setup and reboot.
(Machine reboots)
Setup should continue normally after reboot.

Correct?

Looks good. I hope the oracle gives you some good news.