Queen K Juul wrote on 2024-09-16, 00:55:

DudeFace wrote on 2024-09-16, 00:24:

looks like that fix is for newer recent cpus, also the speed patch for 98 only applies to early builds/betas

I don't think so, it specifically says it works on 98SE and Me, which both still have a 2Ghz+ bug.

yes thats 98+Me on newer cpu's and virtual machines it says it at the top of the github page,
heres the original thread.
Patch for Windows 95/98/98 SE/Me to run on newest CPUs

the betaarchive thread relates to win95, early 98 builds (98FE) and betas,

i've run 98SE and M.e on many 478/775 sockets well over 2ghz, and never had to patch, pretty sure others have run on 1155 sockets and later without patching.

realGoldenRod wrote on 2024-09-16, 12:09:

I solved the issue finally!!! Been working on this all weekend. […]
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I solved the issue finally!!! Been working on this all weekend.

The issue was my SATA > IDE bridge. Now I shall regale you all with the tale of how I figured that out:

I created a new boot CD and got the same error. I then followed philscomputerlab's guide on booting from a USB. I had a lot of difficulty with the boot USB, so I burned another disc with the custom boot98sc.ima file on it and followed through his guide on formatting my drive and copying the boot files over to boot from my SSD. After all that I booted the 98SE OEM through freedos and I still got the same "error loading vga.dvr". I thought that was kind of weird because I only copied the base win98 setup folder onto the freedos boot, and not the drivers folder. I started swapping my SSD through all the IDE ports and got inconsistent connections. Disk I/O errors and sometimes it wouldn't even read the SSD was there. I disconnected and finally tried SATA and it booted through the setup menu, no "error loading vga.dvr" this time. However, I encountered more errors during the setup as it would hang up during the hardware search and if I let it time out I would get a blue screen write error. Restarting allowed the setup to continue, however after all was said and done, it would freeze on the Win 98 splash screen. I could only boot into safe mode. I decided to start all over from scratch, redid my partition, SSD still connected via SATA and my CD drive is hooked back up via IDE, and booting my original Win 98 SE boot/install CD. I removed my Radeon X800XL and my sound card and I'm connected via VGA on the mobo. Went through the setup, just did the full typical install, no changes to anything, still got hung up on the hardware search looking for the floppy drive, restarted before a blue screen timeout, and the rest of the install proceeded as normal with no more errors.

Everything appears to be okay, it's even booting fine with 512mb of RAM at 400mhz, however, the machine won't shutdown. It gets hung up on the shutdown splash screen and then I have to hard restart and go through scandisk on startup. I tried run > msconfig > advanced > unticked "disable fast shutdown" and tried again and now it restarts on shutdown, sooooooo progress right?

I have a Win 98 SE update ISO I'm gonna try, so hopefully that will resolve the issue. Still need to install my SB Audigy ZS, ATI Catalyst and USB drivers.

since you're using a sata and ide drive did you remember to disable one of your ide headers,

SATA 1+2
IDE 1(master/slave)
IDE 2 (master/slave)

if you haven't and all six are enabled windows 98 wont like it, should only have a total of four
eg:
SATA1+2
IDE 1(master/slave)

if you're still having trouble with your floppy drive after this, remove it and use a boot cd instead of boot floppy, connect the floppy after windows 98 is installed without any issues (bluescreens)

I did not do that, but I will on the next boot.

As far as this topic is concerned, the "error loading vga.dvr" is resolved. In my setup, it was the IDE > SATA bridge that was causing issues. Once I ditched that and connected via SATA the install progressed. Setup files copied as they should from the boot/install CD in my CD drive via IDE. If anyone has the same issue in the future check all your ribbon cables and maybe refrain from using those IDE > SATA adapters from Amazon.

Big thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions. I will be posting new topics regarding the current issues: Boot up freezes with Radeon X800XL slotted in and the system won't shutdown or restarts on shutdown, so keep an eye out for those.

realGoldenRod wrote on 2024-09-16, 18:24:

I did not do that, but I will on the next boot.

As far as this topic is concerned, the "error loading vga.dvr" is resolved. In my setup, it was the IDE > SATA bridge that was causing issues. Once I ditched that and connected via SATA the install progressed. Setup files copied as they should from the boot/install CD in my CD drive via IDE. If anyone has the same issue in the future check all your ribbon cables and maybe refrain from using those IDE > SATA adapters from Amazon.

Big thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions. I will be posting new topics regarding the current issues: Boot up freezes with Radeon X800XL slotted in and the system won't shutdown or restarts on shutdown, so keep an eye out for those.

i thought that could be one of the issues, i mentioned plugging in through sata in my first post as those ide>sata adapters can be problematic, you should only bother with them if you only have sata drives and no onboard sata, also i mentioned disabling the IDE header for a maximum of 4 devices (thats two sata headers and 1 IDE header for master and slave for a total of 4), for windows 9x this is an absolute must, if you dont do it you will have nothing but problems, your computer freezing when detecting devices on install or BSOD, is an indication of this, also if you manage to install windows 98, after your computer POST's 98 just wont start.

on my other 98 pc which is a Gigabyte G31m-ES2L, it has 4 sata and 1 IDE for master and slave, thats 6 devices,
theres 3 options for the IDE/SATA configuration, it has to be set to "Combined" which only enables 4 devices
(it enables 2 sata and the 1 IDE header for master and slave, disabling the other 2 sata) ,

one time i changed it and forgot, and after the computers POST win98 wouldnt boot, i was pulling my hair out trying to figure out wtf had gone wrong with my working install, after realising i'd changed the setting, i changed it back and win98 started straight up, i guarantee this is one of your problems .

Yes I remembered that about the SATA in your initial advice. I didn't trust SATA to work out of the box with Win 98, but I was wrong. I've disabled all unused resources and I remembered to disable my other IDE header. As it stands now only the Primary IDE is active (Master/Slave), the two SATA inputs and my floppy, so that's 5 total. You'll have to forgive me for not giving proper acknowledgement to your advice DudeFace. You have been extremely helpful during this process, so thank-you.

At the present moment I'm starting from scratch with a new SSD (I have some concerns that my other SSD has problems) and my floppy connected so the install doesn't hang up during the hardware discovery. I found in my motherboard manual that the max memory bus speed is 200mhz, so running at 400mhz is out of the question. I had been swapping back and forth between 256 and 512 running at 200 and then back to 400. It's been difficult drilling down my instability issues, but I'm pretty sure 512 at 400mhz was causing issues. I also have "new" memory on order as the Micron sticks that I have weren't proofed for my board. My goal right now is getting a stable install. And then if I still end up with a buggy install I think I'm just gonna try Win 2000.

Best to run memtest on ram this old.
I had a bunch of SDRAM and a fair chunk of it had errors.