VOGONS


First post, by Vectra100

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Hello, I am relatively new to retro computing (just picked up some towers off a guy a few weeks ago) and the current rig I'm working on is having trouble connecting to the internet.
As it stands, I have a fresh install of Windows 98SE with a p4c800-e motherboard, Pentium 4 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a ASUS Radeon 9250 Video card.
The motherboard has a built in LAN adapter, but I can't seem to figure out how to get the drivers for it to work. I go to the ASUS website to get the drivers for said board, but they're split up into 4 sections (LAN, Audio, Software & Utility, and IDE) (https://www.asus.com/supportonly/P4C800-E%20D … pDesk_Download/)

I think I managed to properly install all the other categories fine, but when it came to the contents of the LAN section, windows didn't seem to recognize any drivers when trying to install via the device manager, and the only .exe I could find within the files is a program that uninstalls the drivers (???) so it seems like this category is a mere paperweight.

I instead decided to throw in a linksys LNE100TX LAN card I had on hand and got the drivers for that properly installed, but when connecting an ethernet cable from my router to this PC, it doesn't establish a connection as no web pages on Internet Explorer load.
I looked on the back of my router, and I noticed that the little orange light that's supposed to glow when plugged in isn't doing anything, so I went back to my PC and unplugged the other end from the linksys card and plugged it back into the motherboard port and the light on the router glowed (the lights on the motherboard or the card light up regardless if the cable is plugged in). So perhaps I'm in a predicament where if I'm plugged into the motherboard, my router recognizes the connection but there are no drivers, and if I'm plugged into the linksys card I have the drivers but my router doesn't see a connection? I'm greatly confused. Can anybody help me out with this?

Reply 1 of 8, by keenmaster486

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Maybe your Linksys card is bad. Otherwise, make sure Windows installed the TCP/IP protocol alongside the network drivers. Go to the network settings and make sure "TCP/IP for <card name>" is listed

World's foremost 486 enjoyer.

Reply 2 of 8, by Vectra100

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keenmaster486 wrote on 2022-04-08, 19:24:

Maybe your Linksys card is bad. Otherwise, make sure Windows installed the TCP/IP protocol alongside the network drivers. Go to the network settings and make sure "TCP/IP for <card name>" is listed

I'm in the network settings and I do not see that, no. I only see the "Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4), but not the "TCP/IP for <card name>". This thing did come installed with a dial-up adapter that I did not need to install drivers for and while I do see it listed alongside the "TCP/IP -> Dial-Up Adapter", I don't think that will be any use.

Reply 3 of 8, by ptr1ck

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I'd ditch the Linksys if possible and try to get the Intel gigabit fired up. Make sure to install the chipset INFs before any other drivers. After reboot it will be OK to apply others.

I have attached the driver I used for my Intel Pro 1000 GT (PCI not onboard) under 98se. It may work. It's version 1.19. It's driver only, no software.

You may want to try a different cable with the Linksys in the mean time. LAN cables can get pinched and break internally but look fine from the outside.

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Reply 4 of 8, by keenmaster486

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Vectra100 wrote on 2022-04-08, 19:41:

I'm in the network settings and I do not see that, no. I only see the "Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4), but not the "TCP/IP for <card name>". This thing did come installed with a dial-up adapter that I did not need to install drivers for and while I do see it listed alongside the "TCP/IP -> Dial-Up Adapter", I don't think that will be any use.

Alrighty then. You'll have to install it. I can't remember how to do this but somewhere there should be an option to "add new protocol" and bind it to the Linksys card.

ptr1ck wrote on 2022-04-08, 19:44:

You may want to try a different cable with the Linksys in the mean time. LAN cables can get pinched and break internally but look fine from the outside.

Yes, this as well.

World's foremost 486 enjoyer.

Reply 5 of 8, by Vectra100

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Sorry about the late response I needed to get out and do some things. But I just got through with your recommendations and this is what followed:

ptr1ck wrote on 2022-04-08, 19:44:
You may want to try a different cable with the Linksys in the mean time. LAN cables can get pinched and break internally but loo […]
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You may want to try a different cable with the Linksys in the mean time. LAN cables can get pinched and break internally but look fine from the outside.
I'd ditch the Linksys if possible and try to get the Intel gigabit fired up. Make sure to install the chipset INFs before any other drivers. After reboot it will be OK to apply others.
/
I have attached the driver I used for my Intel Pro 1000 GT (PCI not onboard) under 98se. It may work. It's version 1.19. It's driver only, no software.

I tested the LAN cable on another computer I had and it worked fine so its definitely not the cable itself. As for the driver you offered, I installed it and everything went well however it still did not provide me with internet access. Thank you though.

keenmaster486 wrote on 2022-04-08, 19:55:

Alrighty then. You'll have to install it. I can't remember how to do this but somewhere there should be an option to "add new protocol" and bind it to the Linksys card.

I followed your instructions and the setup went well, added the protocol and did a system restart. I booted up internet explorer and the webpage took a good while to load, much longer than it did before (before it would instantly show the "The page cannot be displayed" page), but I eventually wound up with that dreaded screen about a minute of loading later. I came here to type up this post but then I decided to plug the cable from the card back into the motherboard for the heck of it and... it worked? I have no idea what just happened but I can finally browse the internet on that thing. I guess maybe the drivers ptr1ck offered decided to kick in? Or maybe adding the protocol for the Linksys card somehow allowed my onboard LAN to do what it needed to do? Or maybe I'm just an idiot and forgot to plug the cable back into the motherboard after installing the drivers? Very strange, this isn't the first time something like this has happened involving this PC in particular.

Now for another question that's not really related to the topic but I don't think it should warrant a new thread. When I was making the protocol and clicked "ok" on the network panel window, another window popped up that said "Please insert the disk labeled "Windows 98 Second edition CD-ROM", and then click OK". I already had my Windows 98 Setup disk in my disc drive and clicked ok, then it said "The file 'services' on Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM cannot be found. Insert Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM in the selected drive, and click OK". Clicking okay does nothing, so I just clicked skip file.

Is this something to be concerned about? I honestly don't know what this is. This screen pops up occasionally whenever I'm installing a new driver.

Reply 6 of 8, by ptr1ck

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You're not going to get far on the net with 9x. Retrozilla is the best browser for it and that's not saying much. Modern web requires modern browsers which require modern processors. Don't be surprised if over 90% of websites don't load. Only the most basic, by today's standards, will load correctly.

A really good practice to setup a 9x box is to copy the CD contents to the C: drive, all in one folder off to itself. Run the install from that location instead of the CD drive and you shouldn't get any pesky pop ups about needing the CD. Sometimes Windows may look in the wrong location for a file and you have to know where to point it. That can happen even with the CD contents copied to the hard drive.

"ITXBOX" SFF-Win11
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Reply 7 of 8, by AlexZ

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You will need Windows XP to get meaningful internet experience. Network connection on Windows 98SE is only useful for connecting to NAS, FTP or very old HTTP (unsecured) websites. Late P4 should be able to handle web rendering on Windows XP. Prescott despite the hate it gets features SSE3. Another OS alternative is a dual boot Linux installation.

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Reply 8 of 8, by dormcat

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Vectra100 wrote on 2022-04-08, 23:37:

Now for another question that's not really related to the topic but I don't think it should warrant a new thread. When I was making the protocol and clicked "ok" on the network panel window, another window popped up that said "Please insert the disk labeled "Windows 98 Second edition CD-ROM", and then click OK". I already had my Windows 98 Setup disk in my disc drive and clicked ok, then it said "The file 'services' on Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM cannot be found. Insert Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM in the selected drive, and click OK". Clicking okay does nothing, so I just clicked skip file.

Is this something to be concerned about? I honestly don't know what this is. This screen pops up occasionally whenever I'm installing a new driver.

It's not uncommon for Win9x installation wizards unable to find a driver file that's already in your \Windows\System or within a .cab file on the CD. Just use "Find" > "Files and Folders" > "All Files" to locate the specific driver file in your HDD or CD, then manually direct the installation wizard to specific file(s).

IMHO browsing modern websites with any browser (the last mainstream browser with official Win98 support was Opera 9.64 released in March 2009) is not recommended due to page encoding and security reasons, unless you only browse on milk.com etc. They are useful for intranet and HTML-based documents, though.