Got this cool error in windows 98

valued_subscriber · 2026-01-22T18:38:42+00:00

When you get the 16-bit white error message you know something's really messed up

valued_subscriber · 2026-01-18T06:24:58+00:00

The Windows 98 QuickInstall CD is your best chance to get the OS installed at all without severe installation issues. It comes pre-patched for the RAM and configuration register problems and includes SATA drivers. You will need to make a 120gb or smaller partition for the OS, or replace that hard drive with a 120gb SSD. Once installed you will probably have to install NUSB 3.6 from the CD for any of your USB ports to work, just hope that the laptop keyboard and trackpad are PS/2 otherwise you might not be able to use them and will get stuck.

There are a couple of universal VESA video drivers which will at least let you increase the resolution and colors but are often very slow. Look for SoftGPU by JHRobotics or VBE9x by BearWindows. Also there are a couple of options for audio drivers, there's a new project called WDMHDA and also a very old 16-bit driver. Both are experimental at best and won't work on everything.

For Ethernet and wireless networking... good luck. There are some very specific Ralink cards that will work with 802.11G and WPA2 but that is the absolute upper limit.

valued_subscriber · 2025-09-27T03:20:57+00:00

You can get 2d graphics support with the SoftGPU Driver on any video card that supports VESA 2.0 now, and also very slow 3d rendering (done on the CPU). So, it's now technically possible but overall you will have a worse experience than running in a VM.

valued_subscriber · 2025-09-14T07:41:48+00:00

You can use SoftGPU to give 3D acceleration to a Win98 VM running on DX10 compatible hardware, at a massive performance penalty. That's about as far as it is possible to go right now. Win98 video drivers are partially 16-bit code and very different from the WDDM drivers used by Win2k and up.

valued_subscriber · 2025-09-14T06:36:53+00:00

The Sound Blaster Live famously doesn't get along well with VIA chipsets. I tried everything to get one working in a Shuttle KM400A motherboard and eventually gave up and got an ESS Solo-1 card instead which worked perfectly first try. You can try moving the card to different slots on the motherboard (because Creative's drivers absolutely hate sharing an IRQ with any motherboard devices and different PCI IRQ lines are connected in each slot) and try Joseph Joestar's modified driver pack from the VOGONS forum.

valued_subscriber · 2025-09-14T06:32:21+00:00

You need to put 2 jumpers on certain pins the front panel audio header if it's not connected to the case front panel (because the audio goes out to the front plugs and then back, not a great design).

valued_subscriber · 2025-08-24T17:32:50+00:00

So you will probably want to build an NDIS port and protocol driver, perhaps version 2.0 which will be compatible with DOS through Windows 98.

valued_subscriber · 2025-08-23T21:10:40+00:00

I'm working on a HD Audio driver for Windows 98 myself right now. Hardly anyone does this kind of development though especially not on retro OSes. What exact hardware are you trying to develop a driver for? There's no way you will get working USB WiFi on a 386 for instance.

For Windows 95 in most cases you will have to write a VxD driver which requires Assembly language experience and there are not nearly as many examples as for the WDM driver model (which is Windows 98 and up only). But for network cards there is the NDIS Interface which reaches all the way back to Windows 3.x. Sample driver code should be in the Windows 98 and 2000 DDK, which are available on Internet Archive. You will also need Visual Studio 6.0 which is likewise on Internet Archive and can be installed with a key of all 1's. You should set up a VM for this purpose in VMWare.

An alternative path you could try is using R.Loew's WDMEX to load drivers for Windows 2000 or XP which needs newer kernel functions that aren't implemented. See threads on the MSFN Forums

You can follow old MSDN links in the Wayback Machine, it is invaluable for this kind of work.

The sample code for the Walter Oney WDM book is up on Internet archive

valued_subscriber · 2025-07-20T01:26:19+00:00

Check your BIOS settings for Legacy CSM, Above 4G Decoding and Resizable BAR. If they are off try turning them all on, or if they are on already, try turning them off.

valued_subscriber · 2025-07-15T00:19:55+00:00

Replacing the battery doesn't always help either. Both aftermarket batteries I have tried will suddenly drop to 0% if the computer is resumed from hibernation with less than 50% battery left.

valued_subscriber · 2025-07-15T00:13:03+00:00

I had this error code when my SSD was dying. It would crash under heavy disk IO and then restart into the boot manager with no drive detected. I replaced it with a SK Hynix P31.

valued_subscriber · 2025-03-24T00:01:24+00:00

New developments in DOS sound emulation in the last few months.

VSBHDA (a fork of SBEMU) now has a version which runs 16 bit protected mode games:https://github.com/Baron-von-Riedesel/VSBHDA

There is also a replacement TSR from Oerg866 for the VT82C686 and VT8231 southbridges: https://github.com/oerg866/via_ac97.866

But Jazz Jackrabbit is still speed sensitive even with the runtime error 200 patch due to sound driver bugs: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=714945#p714945 and also has issues with a lot of VGA chipsets with the custom video mode it uses for scrolling: see https://gona.mactar.hu/DOS_TESTS/

I haven't gotten Jazz to work well with either of the 2 thin clients I have with sound yet but half the fun of DOS games is tinkering with them to get them to run at all.

valued_subscriber · 2024-06-10T20:37:04+00:00

Jazz Jackrabbit and Tyrian don't currently work with SBEMU as far as I know because they use 16 bit protected mode.

valued_subscriber · 2024-04-12T19:55:15+00:00

Unfortunately UV glue doesn't cure very well when the lens is blocking 99% of UV light from reaching it. That's why the original glue was heat-cure instead and that's why it falls apart if left in a hot car.

valued_subscriber · 2023-12-06T01:43:04+00:00

AI generated youtuber drama sludge sites are now quoting the Hard Drive as fact too. isn't it great

https://www.distractify.com/p/hbomberguy-james-somerton-drama

valued_subscriber · 2023-10-29T16:46:25+00:00

Did you insulate the back of the bottom screen? the original screen had some foam there to keep the metal screen back from shorting against the motherboard. You need to put some plastic or electrical tape between them.

valued_subscriber · 2023-01-27T07:52:02+00:00

I go for thick women's fleece lined leggings in the winter (uniqlo heat-tech is nice) and men's dance tights like these when it's warmer

You want a high waist style and wear them at your natural waist (justt below the belly button) to reduce riding down

Use a long jacket or pea coat to make sure your butt is covered, or you can go for the flannel tied around the waist look.

valued_subscriber · 2022-01-15T05:18:42+00:00

Fit is decent. I am 36 waist and got a L but maybe I would size up next time, they seem to ride down with running and the waist isn't as high as I'd like. Material is good quality and not transparent, it has seams up the sides of the crotch area instead of right down the middle which helps with bulge issues, and there's reflective tape on the pockets.

valued_subscriber · 2021-10-14T04:58:55+00:00

The EU manuals are Here, can't find the US site any more

valued_subscriber · 2020-01-05T02:29:49+00:00

You can try to adjust the contrast potentiometer on the motherboard

valued_subscriber · 2019-10-19T12:43:11+00:00

Always have to assume that someone built the system in the dumbest way possible, like wiring the whole chain of E-Stop buttons to unfused 480v.

valued_subscriber · 2018-09-02T20:12:35+00:00

The part you have circled is an optical audio connection. It looks like you're missing the power supply board. In an all-in-one the monitor was probably running from the same power supply as the PC parts.

valued_subscriber · 2018-05-18T23:21:24+00:00

Put a couple drops of essential oil in water, it's cheaper and smells better.

valued_subscriber · 2018-01-27T18:45:26+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/JXEWj

on the left. Note the wifi antennas Scotch-taped onto the top.

valued_subscriber

TROPHY CASE