AST Ascentia M Series OS problem \ VOGONS

AST Ascentia M Series OS problem

Topic actions

First post, by EmberBlitz07

Posted on 2026-08-02, 13:50

EmberBlitz07 Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 56
Joined: 2023-12-07, 16:56
Location: Northern Ireland

Greetings!

I recently obtained an AST Ascentia M Series laptop for £28 with a power adapter, and I have managed to get FreeDOS installed, but the problems come when I try to install Windows 95/98SE on it. Every time it tries to boot into 95/98SE, it just hangs at a blinking cursor and doesn't even bother to boot into Windows. I'm trying to use a Toshiba MK3021GAS 30GB hard drive, which is only seen as 8.4GB in the BIOS which may be causing problems, but it doesn't explain why it boots perfectly fine from the 98SE CD-ROM with an NTFS-formatted HDD/no HDD inside, and also doesn't explain why FreeDOS works perfectly fine.

If any help can be given, that'd be great.

Peace out.

Intel Pentium II 400MHz ✅
S3 Trio 3D/2X 4MB ✅
128MB SDRAM ✅
Siemens Nixdorf D1064 ✅
AZTech AUDIO TELEPHONY 3500 ✅

Quantum Bigfoot TX 8GB with IDE connection and Molex power support

Reply 1 of 1, by EmberBlitz07

Posted on 2026-08-02, 17:45

EmberBlitz07 Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 56
Joined: 2023-12-07, 16:56
Location: Northern Ireland

Using a 4GB SD card in an SD -> 44 pin adapter, it appears to work just fine.

Intel Pentium II 400MHz ✅
S3 Trio 3D/2X 4MB ✅
128MB SDRAM ✅
Siemens Nixdorf D1064 ✅
AZTech AUDIO TELEPHONY 3500 ✅

Quantum Bigfoot TX 8GB with IDE connection and Molex power support

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to General Old Hardware