[Sfor]

Have anyone tried to install a Windows 9x on an Asus Eee PC computer?

[glocK_94]

I'm actually thinking about buying one. But there are several issues with win98.

Here's what I found about the eeepc 701 (but 9xx hardware is quite similar).

Drivers:
Chipset + GPU : Intel 910 GML -> no win98 drivers !!! That's the main problem Bearwindows VESA drivers / SNAP graphics
Lan : Atheros L2 Fast Ethernet -> no drivers but generic NDIS drivers should do the trick
Audio : Realtek High definition -> no drivers avaible
Wifi : Atheros AR 5007EG -> drivers avaible but what about the connection program?
Touchpad : Synaptics Touchpad -> avaible

Another issue is the resolution (1024/600). It's 16/10. That's not a problem in windows but it is if (like me), you plain to play old dos/windows games that run in 4/3. I don't want to play with stretched resolutions...

That's why I thought about waiting for a via based notebook (like the everest MAX) but they won't be for sale until 2009...

EDIT : post corrected

This post has been edited by glocK_94: 20 November 2008 - 01:35 AM

[Sfor]

I've just bought a linux version of the Eee PC 900. So, I connected an external USB hard drive in hope of doing some experiments with Windows 98. I've switched the boot drive to the external HDD in the BIOS, leaving the linux intact on the SSD.

The first problem was the setup causes a strange effect on the pannel. It looks like it melts (or something) and the computer feezes. So, I used the SETUPCOR.EXE instead. This time the procedure froze on running scandisk. So, I used SETUPCOR /is. The setup started, the files were copied, the computer rebooted properly,.....

The licence agreement screen appeared. I'll see what will come as next.

---------------------------------------

The system froze after PnP devices detection. Both keyboard and touch pad are not working. It can have something to do with the USB controller PnP detection. I've started the system from an USB drive. I think I will have to move to the SSD and leave the USB unpopulated during the setup, in the next experiment.

---------------------------------------

But, perhaps not. The setup contiunes after a reboot, starting at the point the computer froze. Keyboard and touchpad are working correctly, this time. So, I had an additional unplanned reboot. I does not seem to be a big problem, after all.

----------------------------------------

It seems to be working. The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility was useful. But, still, just the standard VGA 640x480 16 colours graphics stretched to the full size of the LCD pannel. No LAN, no Wireless, no Sound.

This post has been edited by Sfor: 29 August 2008 - 02:47 PM

[Sfor]

I've managed to get network connection through an external USB network card.

An interesting feature of the Eee PC is the very good BIOS support for USB drives. Also, SD cards are supported in the BIOS, as the SD card reader is in fact an USB device. Every USB drive is treated as a separate HDD. It is possible to select any of them as a boot device.

So, since the BIOS does the USB storage support and Windows 98 functions are very limited because of the unavailable device drivers, the Windows 95 should do almost as fine as the Windows 98 does.

[jaclaz]

Just an idea, but maybe the 9x version of the Universal Video Driver:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=2325
http://www.geocities...ndows/vbe9x.htm

is worth a shot for a higher resolution.

jaclaz

[Sfor]

The universal VBE driver seems to be working fine. I was able co increase the screen resolution to 800x600. Also, I'm able to select any color depth from just 256 up to 32bit.

I made quite an interesting observation while copying data from an SD card to SSD drive. Apparently such an operation took just a few minutes in clean DOS, while the Windows 98 explorer did the same job many times longer.

[Mijzelf]

Quote

I made quite an interesting observation while copying data from an SD card to SSD drive. Apparently such an operation took just a few minutes in clean DOS, while the Windows 98 explorer did the same job many times longer.

Could be a visualizing problem. I observe the same with deleting large directories, especially on slow (network-)drives. Deltree does it fast, while explorer takes much longer, while it tries to tell which files are being deleted at each moment.

[Sfor]

I do not believe it is the case. The same happens with copying just a few large files.

[glocK_94]

Sfor, on Sep 2 2008, 09:47 PM, said:

I made quite an interesting observation while copying data from an SD card to SSD drive. Apparently such an operation took just a few minutes in clean DOS, while the Windows 98 explorer did the same job many times longer.

Funny, on many eeepc forums, people report regular slowdown caused by the ssd on winXP on Linux. However it could be a chipset problem linked to missing win98 drivers.

[Sfor]

I found a problem with the Universal Video Driver. Running a DOS application locks the computer with an interesting screen effects.

[Sfor]

I have moved the Windows 98 to internal SSD. The speed difference is huge. The system boots to desktop icons in less than 15 seconds. The hour glass is gone in less than another 15 seconds.

I've noticed the Windows 98 does not detect the new devices connected to the USB ports. It is necesary to reboot the system in order to to use them.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Another observation, the DOS application window problem is related only to the windowed DOS processes. If a DOS application is running the full screen mode, everything seems to be working correctly.

Perhaps there is a way to force every DOS process to use the full screen mode. But, I have to find it, still.

This post has been edited by Sfor: 05 September 2008 - 05:52 AM

[Sfor]

I've managed to bring the built in internal ethernet port to life with Atheros NDIS2 DOS driver.

In order to do so I had to:
- start the new hardware wizard
- skip the auto detection and to go for "find the driver from the list"
- find the NDIS2 driver related entry
And it went the usual automatic way from this point. The driver is started in the AUTOEXEC.BAT with the NET START command. It looks like the Internet and Microsoft Networking functions are working correctly.

It's a bit funny the DOS driver is provided, when the newer 9x systems are forgotten. And still, the 9x systems are able to use the DOS driver. It would not be possible with the NT based system.

This post has been edited by Sfor: 07 September 2008 - 05:25 AM

[jaclaz]

About the full-screen problem, I think you can use the shortcut properties to make a DOS app running full-scrren, or good ol' .pif files.

Would this work on Win9x/Me?

http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/...rent-state.html

or maybe there is a similar 9x/Me utility?

jaclaz

[Sfor]

The problem with the Universal VBE driver requires to force all DOS text mode applications to use the full mode. It is possible to do it with .PIF files. But, it would require to create a .PIF file for every DOS application.

The FSTOGGLE.EXE is designed to switch between full screen and the windowed modes. It is not the solution, as it does not allow to select the mode before running the command processor.

I'm wondering if there is a .PIF file with default DOS application settings, or something like that.

[jaclaz]

Sfor, on Sep 7 2008, 09:44 PM, said:

I'm wondering if there is a .PIF file with default DOS application settings, or something like that.

Maybe there is another way through APPS.INF.
http://support.micro...kb/138410/en-us


APPS.INF has an empty entry for COMMAND.COM:
http://support.micro...kb/130971/en-us

Would something like this work?:

[COMMAND.COM]
Disable=win

or

[COMMAND.COM]
Enable=dos
Disable=win

And maybe also playing with the "aen" and "lie" switches....

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 08 September 2008 - 06:12 AM

[Tihiy]

_default.pif, Google it!

[Sfor]

The _default.pif file does the job.

I've modified the command prompt in the Start menu and the /WINDOWS/PIF/COMMAND.PIF files. The COMMAND.PIF is the best template for the _DEFAULT.PIF, as it does not have the working directory set. The _DEFAULT.PIF should be placed in the WINDOWS directory.


I've noticed a side effect when doing a computer reboot from the Xandros Linux system. The DOS NDIS2 driver freezes when testing the network connection, in such a case. It is necesary to power the computer off, then to boot to Windows 98 with a cold start, after working with Xandros.

[glocK_94]

Sfor, on Sep 9 2008, 09:20 AM, said:

I've noticed a side effect when doing a computer reboot from the Xandros Linux system. The DOS NDIS2 driver freezes when testing the network connection, in such a case. It is necesary to power the computer off, then to boot to Windows 98 with a cold start, after working with Xandros.

Did you try using the default windows NDIS2 driver? I've seen someone claiming it works fine on his eee701. Besides, I've never seen a network card that wouldn't work with it.

[Sfor]

Erm... The Windows 98 does not appear to have a default NDIS driver. When installing a NDIS driver, Windows asks to provide a proper driver disk, or to show where it is located.

Besides, NDIS is the protocol used between driver and OS. So, the same driver can be used with any network software compatible with the NDIS specification.

[Sfor]

I've got a correction to the way the Windows 98 treats NDIS2 drivers.

(I do not have an English language version, so I can not provide the proper option names)
In order to install a NDIS2 driver it is necesary to skip the hardware auto detection procedure and to select the manual installation option. Then open the network adapters list, then to click the button letting to search the driver on the disk. When a NDIS2 driver location is provided Windows will go the usual network driver procedure with just one difference. Windows will not check the compatibility of the driver with the hardware. So Windows will install just any NDIS2 driver without complaining.

The Atheros NDIS2 driver han an ability to change the MAC address in the protocol.ini file. This gives an ability to use Eee PC 900 with Windows 9x as a quite useful network testing tool. Especialy, when the Internet services provider uses MAC restriction techniques.

I've been successfully using my Eee to do some test in the WAN. The Windows 98 seems to be unable to keep multiple network configuration sets. So, I had to change the services and protocols bindings every time I was changing the LAN and WAN connections. I tried to solve this problem in multiple ways:
- a second copy of the Windows easy switchable on the system start. - occupies a lot of disk space
- mutiple hardware profiles - displays an additional menu at the system start. Very inconvenient
- a second driver to the same network adapter with different bindings. - quite complicated to set up, but it works.

It is possible to modify the L2.DOS and corresponding .INF file to create a new driver. The Windows will install both drivers. Then it is necesary to make different protocol and services bindings to both drivers. Switching between drivers is possible through changes in the protocol.ini file, and making the unwanted driver .DOS file unavailable in the windows directory. I did it with two .BAT files. One is switching to the LAN adapter, the other to WAN. Running one of them disables one adapter, and enables the other. I'm still playing with the idea to exploit all the possibilities.

I'm curious if there are other ways to switch between the network enviroment settings easily.