[mx98]

Hi there... today I had to install Windows 98 on some old PC and would very much like to have it run Firefox 3. I was very pleased to read that this is possible now with KernelEx!

Only problem: it doesn't seem to work for me. But maybe I'm just doing something wrong... hope someone can help!

What I did:

- installed a clean Windows 98 SE (German version)
- installed the inofficial service pack from http://www.nandlstadt.com/win98sp.htm (2.1d)
- installed KernelEx 4.0 RC2
- installed Firefox 3.0.10

The installation went smoothly but on start, Firefox tells me that it crashed and that tabs will be restored on the next run if possible. I never even see the Firefox main window.

Any idea? Is the service pack not supported with KernelEx? I uninstalled it but that didn't make a difference...

UPDATE: just did a full re-installation and this time used the 3.x beta of the service pack, same result

This post has been edited by mx98: 10 June 2009 - 03:08 AM

[robertbaer]

1. Operating system version: is it Windows 98 Gold (aka First
Edition), Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows Millennium?
-->Win98SE

2. KernelEx version - as displayed at the bottom of the
Compatibility tab or in Add/Remove Programs tab
-->Unknown; "compatibility tab"? what is that? first i heard about that.

3. Program vendor, program name and program version.
-->KernelEx homepage by Xeno, 4.0 RC2 released on 2009-03-21

4. Description of the problem.
-->No clue that it can work

5. Exact steps required to reproduce the problem - what to click and
what to press after the program starts
-->Starts? Are you kidding?
What i did:
Replaced [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
* I had: Win98SE Win2K:
Version "Windows 98" <nil>
VersionNumber "4.10.2222" <nil>
ProductName Microsoft Windows 98 <nil>
* Now is:
Version "Windows XP"
VersionNumber "5.10.2600"
ProductName "Microsoft Windows XP"

Replaced [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
* I had: Win98SE Win2K:
(Default) (value not set) CurrentVersion 5.0
ProductName Microsoft Windows 2000
* I now have:
(Default) ""
CurrentVersion "5.1"
ProductName "Microsoft Windows XP"
Version "Windows XP"

Installed Unicows.DLL and registered it
Installed KernelEX
Modified \Bootsec.DOS (to read MSWIN 5.1 and WIN XP)
Modified \MSDOS.SYS (to read MSWIN 5.1)
Modified \Windows\Winver.exe (to read 5.10.6200 and Windows XP in 2 places)
Modified \Windows\W98setup.bin (to read 5.10.6200 in 2 places)
Modified \Windows\Command.com
*Negative effect: MSDOS shell doesn't work

Even after all of that, sysinfo gives:
Microsoft Windows XP 4.10.2222 A
So do not know what else to fudge to fix the 4.10.2222...

Still..the ASUS M2N-MX SE Plus CD bitches saying it dislikes WIN_4.11
as an OS; cannot find that string *anywhere*.

So, what do i do to make it work?
Is there a way to test the above patch?

6. Did the program work prior to installing KernelEx? Does disabling
KernelEx in compatibility tab fix the problem? - important to classify
the category of the bug.
-->See above

[Drugwash]

You didn't have to make all those registry changes in the first place - KernelEx takes care of the version reporting itself. But thanks for the detailed report, I might have fixed my issue with wrong version detection posted previously that nobody endeavoured to reply to.

Best thing to do is revert the registry settings to the Windows 98SE default, uninstall KernelEx, reboot, reinstall KernelEx, go to the offending application's executable or desktop shortcut, right-click it and find the Compatibility tab that you couldn't find previously and select Windows XP (or Windows 2000, by trial and error) from the dropdown list. Then try running that application.

Please note that in case of an installer that unpacks further executables, you may have to navigate to the unpacked folder (usually some weird name in the temporary directory - default is C:\Windows\Temp) and set compatibility to Windows XP for the unpacked exe too.

Good luck!

[RetroOS]

Feature Request:

Product: GIMP 2.6.6 (based on GTK+ 2.16)
GTK+ support for Windows 9x was phased out after 2.6.10-20050823.
GIMP support for Windows 9x was dropped after 2.2.17.
Description: GNU Image Manipulation Program
Download: http://www.gimp.org/

Apparent missing exports:

KERNEL32.DLL
GlobalMemoryStatusEx
GetVolumePathNameW
VerSetConditionMask
VerifyVersionInfoA

GDI32.DLL
GetFontUnicodeRanges
GetGlyphIndicesW

WINSPOOL.DRV
GetDefaultPrinterW

[luluthefirst]

RetroOS, on Jun 14 2009, 05:05 AM, said:

Feature Request:

Product: GIMP 2.6.6 (based on GTK+ 2.16)
GTK+ support for Windows 9x was phased out after 2.6.10-20050823.
GIMP support for Windows 9x was dropped after 2.2.17.
Description: GNU Image Manipulation Program
Download: http://www.gimp.org/

Apparent missing exports:

KERNEL32.DLL
GlobalMemoryStatusEx
GetVolumePathNameW
VerSetConditionMask
VerifyVersionInfoA

GDI32.DLL
GetFontUnicodeRanges
GetGlyphIndicesW

WINSPOOL.DRV
GetDefaultPrinterW

and the suspend function for process explorer

[jds]

Update on KernelEx/ODFConverter compatibility :

I had previously been forced to uninstall KernelEx 0.3.6a due to compatibility problems with the ODFConverter command line utility, per :
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&...st&p=824699

With KernelEx 4.0RC2 now available, it was time to try again!

Well, although the previously reported exception problem still occurs, now I find that disabling KernelEx extensions for OdfConverter.exe (via the Compatibility tab in Explorer properties) is all that's required to fix the problem. (With KernelEx 0.3.6a, adding 'odfconverter.exe' to the [Skip Modules] section of 'kexver.ini' was unsuccessful.)

Congratulations, the new KernelEx is a great step forward! :-)

Joe.

[M()zart]

Can somebody tell me why GetSystemWindowsDirectoryW function was removed from KernelEx 4?
It is now the only function, that is missing for MS Visual C++ 2008 runtime. And it is included in unicows.dll, so there should be no problems with including it to KernelEx. It was present in KernelEx 3.3 - 3.6.
Please if possible return it to KernelEx 4.

Update
Sorry, that was my mistake, this function is present in KernelEx. I just disabled KernelEx for Total Commander, and tried to run the command line app, which require the function from Total Commander. Somehow KernelEx was disabled for that application too. It seems that when KernelEx is disabled for some process, it is disabled for its childe processes, I didn't know about it. It should be written somewhere, I think. Thanks, KernelEx is perfect.

This post has been edited by M()zart: 20 June 2009 - 01:20 PM

[eidenk]

I am experiencing that problem as well but not always. I experience it in about 25% of the boots. The boot process always locks when the wallpaper has been displayed and using Ctrl-alt-del will show nothing or cmdninst or mprexe.

I am not 100% sure it is KernelEx but as a few people have reported a similar issue I thought I'd mention it as well.

And I am not sure when KernelEx loads with respect to cmdninst or mprexe being used so I don't know if it does make sense or not.

[luluthefirst]

eidenk, on Jun 22 2009, 05:16 PM, said:

I am experiencing that problem as well but not always. I experience it in about 25% of the boots. The boot process always locks when the wallpaper has been displayed and using Ctrl-alt-del will show nothing or cmdninst or mprexe.

I am not 100% sure it is KernelEx but as a few people have reported a similar issue I thought I'd mention it as well.

And I am not sure when KernelEx loads with respect to cmdninst or mprexe being used so I don't know if it does make sense or not.

when mprexe.exe is killed, you got a WSoD (White Screen of Death) that you can't continue the system, you must to reboot your machine

[RetroOS]

According to the KernelEx 4.0 RC2 release notes:

- change: KernelEx will first load any other MPRServices before initializing

I expect this change has something to do with the start-up problems some people are getting.
It would appear that it fixes some things, but introduces new problems.

[Xeno86]

RetroOS, on Jun 24 2009, 07:24 AM, said:

According to the KernelEx 4.0 RC2 release notes:

- change: KernelEx will first load any other MPRServices before initializing

I expect this change has something to do with the start-up problems some people are getting.
It would appear that it fixes some things, but introduces new problems.

I'd like a list of entries under MPRServices of those of you who have problems with booting. To obtain the list follow these steps:
1. Start->Run, type regedit.exe
2. In registry editor browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\MPRServices
3. Select (highlight) MPRServices key.
4. From menu select Registry->Export registry file...
5. Select some file name (make sure you don't export everything but only the MPRServices sub-tree)
6. Paste here the contents of the file.

Also did RC1 work fine in this respect (system without RP9) ?
Indeed there has been a change in RC2 to make sure that Tihiy's Revolutions Pack 9 always loads before KernelEx.
In RC1 all entries were loaded by MPR.EXE itself. Now KernelEx pre-loads all entries before doing initialization. Theoretically it shouldn't affect the system in any way...

[Drugwash]

I've only got the mpr hang once or twice. Here's the two subkeys under MPRServices (no keys under the main MPRServices key):

KernelEx:
DLLName: C:\Windows\KernelEx\KernelEx.dll
EntryPoint: _MprStart@4
Stack size: 0x00001000

RP8:
DLLName: rp8.dll
EntryPoint: InitAsync
StackSize: 0x00002000

RP 9.1.0 and KernelEx 4.0 RC2.

This post has been edited by Drugwash: 24 June 2009 - 08:34 AM

[eidenk]

Xeno86, on Jun 24 2009, 05:36 AM, said:

I'd like a list of entries under MPRServices of those of you who have problems with booting.

Nothing apart from KernelEx here.

KernelEx:
DLLName: C:\Windows\KernelEx\KernelEx.dll
EntryPoint: _MprStart@4
Stack size: 0x00001000

Quote

Also did RC1 work fine in this respect (system without RP9) ?

I can't recall unfortunately.

Quote

Now KernelEx pre-loads all entries before doing initialization. Theoretically it shouldn't affect the system in any way...

Well I hope I am not blaming KernelEx because of another problem I have.

[thydreamwalker]

Gdiplus.dll 5.1.3102.5512(from my xpprosp3 version) may help with Firefox3 install, as i installed this after RP9+KEX4.0RC;,but also copied another Firefox3 install from PuppyLinux-Lighthouse4.12rc2 and this version of Firefox3.0.8 has yet to "Crash"

[RetroOS]

Drugwash, on Jun 25 2009, 02:33 AM, said:

I've only got the mpr hang once or twice. Here's the two subkeys under MPRServices (no keys under the main MPRServices key):

KernelEx:
DLLName: C:\Windows\KernelEx\KernelEx.dll
EntryPoint: _MprStart@4
Stack size: 0x00001000

RP8:
DLLName: rp8.dll
EntryPoint: InitAsync
StackSize: 0x00002000

RP 9.1.0 and KernelEx 4.0 RC2.

I've only got these two entries too.
It did not happen in RC1 and installing RP9 fixes the problem in RC2...

[Rock in stereo]

Chozo4, on Apr 5 2009, 11:55 PM, said:

ken2400, on Apr 5 2009, 07:59 PM, said:

1st GREAT job. I now can run Firefox 3.0.8 on a PII running ME
I am having trouble getting Flash 10.0.22.87 to install. It says unsupported OS and the Flash install log show ME.
I did the reg update and tried the campat tap too.

Are you running KEx4 RC2? Also, do note that only the firefox / netscape version will work. The ActiveX version will not (flashplayer_10_ax.exe or something to that effect).

WHat I find also worked (might be in this case) was changing the OS version in the other reg path too. The one on the second post indicates:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

Instead, using regedit, navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]

.. and change the key 'VersionNumber' to something like 5.10.2222, making sure to keep note what your version said before changes so as to set it back to the correct one after install.

Many many thanks, I can now listen to on-line streaming of a DAB Plus station which (regrettably) required the newest version of Flash. This worked perfectly. We owe you guys a huge debt! I was unaware Kernel Ex or even this forum existed.

Adobe Flash 10 Plug in (for browsers other than IE)
Opera 9.64
Windows 98 SE 4.10.2222A

[luluthefirst]

it's possible add the pause button for process explorer 11.13? On Windows 98 SE, i click right on a process, i haven't the pause button, but on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 i have the pause button

Adding "SuspendThread" to Kernel32.dll may be good
Declare Function SuspendThread Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
ByVal hThread As Long) As Long

This post has been edited by luluthefirst: 28 June 2009 - 06:48 AM

[eidenk]

You could use Another Task Manager if you want to suspend threads.

ftp://ftp.elf.stuba....ltask/atm22.zip

[halohalo]

I installed Firefox Portable 3.0 and updated to 3.5 without problem

[Philco]

halohalo, on Jun 30 2009, 12:13 PM, said:

I installed Firefox Portable 3.0 and updated to 3.5 without problem

Run FF 3.5 with KernelEx properly?