VOGONS


First post, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hello all you lovely people, this is my first post on this forum so glad to meet you all. I am going to list off all my hardware specs and didn't know if there would be anyone willing to help me with the best up-to-date drivers for most of the hardware/software I have.

Also I am not mentioning the obvious pieces of hardware that clearly don't need drivers such as the PSU and RAM.

Hardware:

Motherboard: ECS P6BXT-A+ REV 1.3B - Socket 370 (I know ECS isn't that great for OC, but if we are working in the MHz range then it doesn't really matter much to me and could be even dangerous to do so).
Chipset: Intel 440BX (Love this chipset, comes with ISA, AGP, and PCI so that's nice).

CPU: Pentium III 600MHz - Socket 370 (max for this board I am pretty sure, did some research).

GPU: GeForce 2 MX 400 (64MB)

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 1.5 - CT4760

5.25" DVD Drive Bay: TOSHIBA SD-M1202

Monitor: CTX VL-510

Mouse: Genica GN-115 (PS/2)

Keyboard: Unicomp Ultra Classic - 103 Key (USB)

Speakers: Roland MA-12C

Software:

MS-DOS 7.1 (Installing this unofficial version as it supports FAT32 for bigger CF cards so I will be installing this over 6.22)

Windows 98 SE (full retail, preferred for me over OEM).

Anyways guys if I could have a little help in a list of the drivers I will be needing such as the best ones even if they have to be unofficial that would be awesome. Thank you all, take care in the meantime!

Reply 2 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:37:

If you site search you will probably find threads titled "best drivers for X". Also check out vogonsdrivers.com to download them. And welcome!

Hey man just checked out the website and I appreciate it but it seems very limited in relation to my hardware specs, any other helpful sources?

Reply 3 of 32, by kolderman

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:42:
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:37:

If you site search you will probably find threads titled "best drivers for X". Also check out vogonsdrivers.com to download them. And welcome!

Hey man just checked out the website and I appreciate it but it seems very limited in relation to my hardware specs, any other helpful sources?

It's usually suggested to use VXD drivers for SB Live! sound cards, and to use the earliest possible graphics drivers.

Reply 4 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:51:
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:42:
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:37:

If you site search you will probably find threads titled "best drivers for X". Also check out vogonsdrivers.com to download them. And welcome!

Hey man just checked out the website and I appreciate it but it seems very limited in relation to my hardware specs, any other helpful sources?

It's usually suggested to use VXD drivers for SB Live! sound cards, and to use the earliest possible graphics drivers.

Thank you, will check out!

Reply 5 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:51:
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:42:
kolderman wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:37:

If you site search you will probably find threads titled "best drivers for X". Also check out vogonsdrivers.com to download them. And welcome!

Hey man just checked out the website and I appreciate it but it seems very limited in relation to my hardware specs, any other helpful sources?

It's usually suggested to use VXD drivers for SB Live! sound cards, and to use the earliest possible graphics drivers.

Ok so I have recently found most drivers I need, modem, chipset, sound card, GPU, and audio for MB. All I need lastly is the latest BIOS for the motherboard, it is so hard for me to find, all I see are different revisions besides the one listed above. If I cannot find these then I will just put it down as I probably do not need the latest bios, haven't gotten the MB yet so maybe it might be updated to the newest version but once again, there is no way or log to check/view.

Modem/System Sound/Chipset: I looked at different revisions and compared with others because I am pretty sure it's the same across all revisions besides BIOS (maybe, not fully confident though): https://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Pro … 70-LL-Intel-RR-

Live 1.5: Downloaded the "Sound Blaster (Live! Series) Drivers Update" (Latest) on the Windows 98 SE section (scroll down and select the OS and all that to view): https://support.creative.com/Downloads/welcome.aspx

GeForce 2 MX 400: Got off this website for Windows 98: http://www.siliconguide.com/drivers/device/370/

Reply 6 of 32, by Joseph_Joestar

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 07:33:

Live 1.5: Downloaded the "Sound Blaster (Live! Series) Drivers Update" (Latest) on the Windows 98 SE section (scroll down and select the OS and all that to view): https://support.creative.com/Downloads/welcome.aspx

If you plan on using the SBLive for DOS gaming, you might want to check out my guide.

GeForce 2 MX 400: Got off this website for Windows 98: http://www.siliconguide.com/drivers/device/370/

Those drivers are too new for Win98SE. A bunch of older versions can be found here. Generally speaking, you want drivers that are about a year newer than the latest games that you want to play.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 7 of 32, by chinny22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers.

Nvidia can be found here. As Joseph_Joestar said earlier versions are known to have better compatibility/speed but I'm lazy and just go with the latest and don't have any issues with the games I play on my P3 600
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=uk

Intel's website is a mess, but know 3.20.1008 is the last version to support BX motherboards, Usually I grab this of Phil's page
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/intel-chipset-drivers.html

Creative is one of the few acceptations to hitting up the manufacture's page. It's been a while but think the website only gives you basic sound support.
The original CD's with EAX3 are on vogonsdrivers, It's just a matter of finding the correct one that works with your card as creative liked to mix things up to keep us guessing back then.

Re BIOS I'd assume the update works across multiple revisions. At the very least it'll probably complain of a mismatch if it's not suited.
NO guarantees about that though!!!

Onboard sound sometimes works with generic drivers sometimes only with the ones from the motherboard manufacture.
Quick google of CMI8738 PCI brings up Phils site as the 2nd hit with a review and drivers, I'd try his first and if no luck go with the ones you already found.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/c-media-cmi8738.html

Modem just use the ones you linked, only reason you care is to make device manager look tidy.

For dos ctmouse is preferred over mouse.com as it will free up a bit more memory

DVD, Monitor, Keyboard the basic drivers windows installs are fine for both windows and dos

Reply 8 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
chinny22 wrote on 2020-11-10, 10:13:
First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers. […]
Show full quote

First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers.

Nvidia can be found here. As Joseph_Joestar said earlier versions are known to have better compatibility/speed but I'm lazy and just go with the latest and don't have any issues with the games I play on my P3 600
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=uk

Intel's website is a mess, but know 3.20.1008 is the last version to support BX motherboards, Usually I grab this of Phil's page
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/intel-chipset-drivers.html

Creative is one of the few acceptations to hitting up the manufacture's page. It's been a while but think the website only gives you basic sound support.
The original CD's with EAX3 are on vogonsdrivers, It's just a matter of finding the correct one that works with your card as creative liked to mix things up to keep us guessing back then.

Re BIOS I'd assume the update works across multiple revisions. At the very least it'll probably complain of a mismatch if it's not suited.
NO guarantees about that though!!!

Onboard sound sometimes works with generic drivers sometimes only with the ones from the motherboard manufacture.
Quick google of CMI8738 PCI brings up Phils site as the 2nd hit with a review and drivers, I'd try his first and if no luck go with the ones you already found.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/c-media-cmi8738.html

Modem just use the ones you linked, only reason you care is to make device manager look tidy.

For dos ctmouse is preferred over mouse.com as it will free up a bit more memory

DVD, Monitor, Keyboard the basic drivers windows installs are fine for both windows and dos

Thank you so much! I will check this out when I get home 🙂

Reply 9 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
chinny22 wrote on 2020-11-10, 10:13:
First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers. […]
Show full quote

First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers.

Nvidia can be found here. As Joseph_Joestar said earlier versions are known to have better compatibility/speed but I'm lazy and just go with the latest and don't have any issues with the games I play on my P3 600
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=uk

Intel's website is a mess, but know 3.20.1008 is the last version to support BX motherboards, Usually I grab this of Phil's page
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/intel-chipset-drivers.html

Creative is one of the few acceptations to hitting up the manufacture's page. It's been a while but think the website only gives you basic sound support.
The original CD's with EAX3 are on vogonsdrivers, It's just a matter of finding the correct one that works with your card as creative liked to mix things up to keep us guessing back then.

Re BIOS I'd assume the update works across multiple revisions. At the very least it'll probably complain of a mismatch if it's not suited.
NO guarantees about that though!!!

Onboard sound sometimes works with generic drivers sometimes only with the ones from the motherboard manufacture.
Quick google of CMI8738 PCI brings up Phils site as the 2nd hit with a review and drivers, I'd try his first and if no luck go with the ones you already found.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/c-media-cmi8738.html

Modem just use the ones you linked, only reason you care is to make device manager look tidy.

For dos ctmouse is preferred over mouse.com as it will free up a bit more memory

DVD, Monitor, Keyboard the basic drivers windows installs are fine for both windows and dos

Oh also do I need to install the DOS variant for the onboard sound chip or does the Windows 98 one already come bundled with support for it?

Reply 10 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
chinny22 wrote on 2020-11-10, 10:13:
First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers. […]
Show full quote

First place to look is always the chip manufacture, 9 times out of 10 your better off with generic drivers.

Nvidia can be found here. As Joseph_Joestar said earlier versions are known to have better compatibility/speed but I'm lazy and just go with the latest and don't have any issues with the games I play on my P3 600
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=uk

Intel's website is a mess, but know 3.20.1008 is the last version to support BX motherboards, Usually I grab this of Phil's page
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/intel-chipset-drivers.html

Creative is one of the few acceptations to hitting up the manufacture's page. It's been a while but think the website only gives you basic sound support.
The original CD's with EAX3 are on vogonsdrivers, It's just a matter of finding the correct one that works with your card as creative liked to mix things up to keep us guessing back then.

Re BIOS I'd assume the update works across multiple revisions. At the very least it'll probably complain of a mismatch if it's not suited.
NO guarantees about that though!!!

Onboard sound sometimes works with generic drivers sometimes only with the ones from the motherboard manufacture.
Quick google of CMI8738 PCI brings up Phils site as the 2nd hit with a review and drivers, I'd try his first and if no luck go with the ones you already found.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/c-media-cmi8738.html

Modem just use the ones you linked, only reason you care is to make device manager look tidy.

For dos ctmouse is preferred over mouse.com as it will free up a bit more memory

DVD, Monitor, Keyboard the basic drivers windows installs are fine for both windows and dos

Oh and one last question, what do you think would be better, viewing that person's guide on using Audigy drivers over Live instead or just using one of the drivers of my make/model off of VOGON drivers (VXD)? Thanks.

Reply 11 of 32, by debs3759

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Motherboard v1.3A is the closest I could find with a simple Google search - still on the ECS website. https://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Pro … 70-LL-Intel-RR-

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 12 of 32, by Jorpho

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:34:

the best up-to-date drivers for most of the hardware/software I have.

The software that might be "the best" for some games might not be "the best" for others. VXD Sound Blaster Drivers may provide better performance and compatibility but at the expense of stability, for instance.

I really wouldn't worry about a BIOS update unless there's some feature in a more recent update that you're certain you need.

For a 440BX board, you'll probably want the Intel Application Accelerator for UltraATA support, assuming your drives support UltraATA (and you have the 80-pin IDE cables).
https://download.cnet.com/Intel-Application-A … 4-10163577.html

Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:34:

Software:

MS-DOS 7.1 (Installing this unofficial version as it supports FAT32 for bigger CF cards so I will be installing this over 6.22)

Windows 98 SE (full retail, preferred for me over OEM).

There is no reason to separately install some unofficial version of MS-DOS 7.1 alongside Windows 98 SE. And there's really no difference between Windows 98 SE retail and OEM.

Reply 13 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Jorpho wrote on 2020-11-10, 20:39:
The software that might be "the best" for some games might not be "the best" for others. VXD Sound Blaster Drivers may provide […]
Show full quote
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:34:

the best up-to-date drivers for most of the hardware/software I have.

The software that might be "the best" for some games might not be "the best" for others. VXD Sound Blaster Drivers may provide better performance and compatibility but at the expense of stability, for instance.

I really wouldn't worry about a BIOS update unless there's some feature in a more recent update that you're certain you need.

For a 440BX board, you'll probably want the Intel Application Accelerator for UltraATA support, assuming your drives support UltraATA (and you have the 80-pin IDE cables).
https://download.cnet.com/Intel-Application-A … 4-10163577.html

Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-10, 06:34:

Software:

MS-DOS 7.1 (Installing this unofficial version as it supports FAT32 for bigger CF cards so I will be installing this over 6.22)

Windows 98 SE (full retail, preferred for me over OEM).

There is no reason to separately install some unofficial version of MS-DOS 7.1 alongside Windows 98 SE. And there's really no difference between Windows 98 SE retail and OEM.

I am not sure if my Toshiba drive has Ultra support but I know my CF does. They are both 40 pin for the card and the MB but I have to check when I get home if I have 80 wire ide cables. Also I don't think the DVD drive matters too much to me for ultra support but definently the CF card

Reply 14 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Oh and also I am not sure if my MB supports ATA/133 (80 wire) as I recently bought some for my build instead of the standard 40 wire: https://assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews/ … p6bxtap-13b.htm

On this site can anyone tell what it supports, I know I could just look at it but because of the way it is typed/formatted, I may need a little bit of clarification. Thanks.

Reply 15 of 32, by Jorpho

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-11, 04:44:

On this site can anyone tell what it supports, I know I could just look at it but because of the way it is typed/formatted, I may need a little bit of clarification.

Eh?

2 X PCI Bus Master UDMA/33 IDE ports (up to 4 ATAPI Devices) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDMA does indeed suggest that UDMA/33 does not require 80-pin cables.

Reply 16 of 32, by Grayshazzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Jorpho wrote on 2020-11-11, 16:53:
Eh? […]
Show full quote
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-11, 04:44:

On this site can anyone tell what it supports, I know I could just look at it but because of the way it is typed/formatted, I may need a little bit of clarification.

Eh?

2 X PCI Bus Master UDMA/33 IDE ports (up to 4 ATAPI Devices) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDMA does indeed suggest that UDMA/33 does not require 80-pin cables.

Oh darn, so it isn't compatible or could I still use 80 wire but the MB won't let it reach the speeds it needs other than only going around ATA/33? Means I probably cannot use the Intel Program Accelerator.

Reply 17 of 32, by Jorpho

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-11-11, 17:18:

Oh darn, so it isn't compatible or could I still use 80 wire but the MB won't let it reach the speeds it needs other than only going around ATA/33?

Yes, 80-pin cables are backwards-compatible.

Means I probably cannot use the Intel Program Accelerator.

You still might need it for UDMA/33. (As per the link, "Intel Application Accelerator has replaced the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver.")

Reply 18 of 32, by BushLin

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

For your graphics card, the 45.23 drivers are regarded as the best for Windows 98.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/win9x-4523/

Screw period correct; I wanted a faster system back then. I choose no dropped frames, super fast loading, fully compatible and quiet operation.