[submix8c]

1 - On Reboot let it do WHATEVER and do NOT say "no" to anything!
2 - YES, I said ALL sound-related (your card has all of that)
3 - YES, it's always best to install Official FIRST and then Unofficial if you're doing individuals.

[LoneCrusader]

I think he got the "Safe Mode" point from one of my posts in another thread. I told him to remove all instances of his USB HDD in Safe Mode (because installed devices not currently connected don't show up in Normal Mode, but do in Safe Mode.)

This is the order that I use when setting up a new system; it may be no better or worse than anyone else's here.

REMOVE ALL add in cards (except Video of course) and DISABLE ALL onboard Audio, LAN, Modem, etc in the BIOS.
Install Windows 98SE.
Install DirectX 9.0C.
Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers.
Install Video Card Drivers.
Install IE6SP1.
Install WMP7.1 (or WMP9 if you prefer, or ignore this step if you don't use WMP).
Install NUSB.
Install any other Official or "Unofficial" Updates you plan to use at this point. In my case RLoew's RAM Limitation Patch for example.
(As you can see I prefer to update various pieces of the OS BEFORE introducing 3rd party software/drivers as much as possible)
Install Sound Card (insert add on card or re-enable onboard in the BIOS, whichever you're going to use).
Install Sound Card Drivers.
Install/enable LAN card..... and continue the process.

Installing/Enabling new devices one at a time decreases the chances for conflicts and allows you to pinpoint where & when issues arise.

This post has been edited by LoneCrusader: 06 January 2013 - 03:46 AM

[Zapeth]

LoneCrusader, on 06 January 2013 - 03:45 AM, said:

I think he got the "Safe Mode" point from one of my posts in another thread. I told him to remove all instances of his USB HDD in Safe Mode (because installed devices not currently connected don't show up in Normal Mode, but do in Safe Mode.)

Yes indeed

Anyway, this time I did exactly what I described before (with the difference that I did install the ie6sp1 after installing the chipset and the NUSB installation according to the intructions which means I did not go into safe mode at all and did the device removal and installation in one session) and here's how it went:
Up to the NUSB install everything went fine (no surprise). When I finally did install NUSB and rebooted he actually managed to boot up (maybe because the drivers were not yet installed?).
So I logged in and he installed all the devices as I described earlier, this time I wrote down the files he asked me for (I said yes each time which means he kept those (newer) files):
uhcd.sys
usbd.sys
usbhub.sys

Then he wanted me to point him to these files which I found in the according folders:
hotplug.dll - windows/temp/ixp000.tmp (this has to be the nusb temp install folder right?)
usbui.dll - win98 cd (found that one nowhere else)

Shortly after that that file process happened again (because there are two devices which are the same, namely VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller?) and I did everything as before.
Alright that went fine too, then he found a (yet) uninstalled device (network adapter) and went into explorer. So I rebooted the system (according to NUSB instructions) and was greeted with yet another bluescreen. This one was a little different but a bluescreen nonetheless and at the same point of booting up:


I believe it actually is some conflict with the NUSB drivers and the sound card drivers. Perhaps someone with the same sound card can try it out to confirm this issue?
And no I won't try installing different drivers (at least for the sound card) nor will I try to install the drivers in different ways since I strongly doubt that it has to do anything with that (sure it won't hurt if one does everything according to instructions but it doesn't mean that it's the one and only way to do it).
I actually tried to swap back to the old explorer.exe after this whole installation (since it wouldn't matter, the bluescreen is already there and won't go away and I'm going to reinstall everything anyway) but that also made no difference.

So unless someone comes up with a whole new suggestion other than "sticking directly to instructions" I'll just let this problem rest in peace and accept that NUSB has no place in my system. As I said before, I can still help myself with linux (for copying data), it might be a little bit laborious but does work.

Thanks to all people here anyway who tried to help, I really appreciate it

This post has been edited by Zapeth: 06 January 2013 - 05:06 AM

[submix8c]

Quote

Anyway, this time I did exactly what I described before (with the difference that I did install the ie6sp1 after installing the chipset and the NUSB installation according to the intructions which means I did not go into safe mode at all and did the device removal and installation in one session)

No, you did NOT! I specifically told you NUSB AFTER IE6, as did LoneCrusader!

Quote

Install Windows 98SE.
Install DirectX 9.0C.
Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers.
Install Video Card Drivers.
Install IE6SP1. <--see this?
Install WMP7.1 (or WMP9 if you prefer, or ignore this step if you don't use WMP).
Install NUSB. <--see this?

Maybe it IS best you "give up" since you refuse to follow instructions.

If it works, don't fix it. I gave links to where this all started from (post #18 pointing to YOUR Topics). If there is no issue without NUSB, don't bother...

note: NUSB doesn't cure everything in regards to USB-attached Devices. Read the NUSB Thread for more info.

This post has been edited by submix8c: 06 January 2013 - 10:51 AM

[LoneCrusader]

I SERIOUSLY doubt that NUSB is the root cause of your troubles.

For the record, NUSB extracts copies of all the "new" files it installs to C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS so if any files are requested during driver installation, the installer should be directed there.

The version of EXPLORER you are using is irrelevant.

If you had a "Network Adapter" show up during the installation of USB devices, then you must not have disabled it in the BIOS.

If you insist on claiming that NUSB is the cause and refuse to entertain the possibility that the Sound Card and/or its drivers may be the problem, then there's not much more we can do to help you.

If you want "no frills" external USB Drive support, you can check out RLoew's USB Storage Drivers. Scroll down to "USB" and download "USB.ZIP."

This post has been edited by LoneCrusader: 06 January 2013 - 01:51 PM

[submix8c]

Well, I DID suggest getting a DIFFERENT Sound Card Driver version, but the OP INSISTED theirs was "better".

[rloew]

LoneCrusader, on 06 January 2013 - 03:45 AM, said:

I think he got the "Safe Mode" point from one of my posts in another thread. I told him to remove all instances of his USB HDD in Safe Mode (because installed devices not currently connected don't show up in Normal Mode, but do in Safe Mode.)

This is the order that I use when setting up a new system; it may be no better or worse than anyone else's here.

REMOVE ALL add in cards (except Video of course) and DISABLE ALL onboard Audio, LAN, Modem, etc in the BIOS.
Install Windows 98SE.
Install DirectX 9.0C.
Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers.
Install Video Card Drivers.
Install IE6SP1.
Install WMP7.1 (or WMP9 if you prefer, or ignore this step if you don't use WMP).
Install NUSB.
Install any other Official or "Unofficial" Updates you plan to use at this point. In my case RLoew's RAM Limitation Patch for example.
(As you can see I prefer to update various pieces of the OS BEFORE introducing 3rd party software/drivers as much as possible)
Install Sound Card (insert add on card or re-enable onboard in the BIOS, whichever you're going to use).
Install Sound Card Drivers.
Install/enable LAN card..... and continue the process.

Installing/Enabling new devices one at a time decreases the chances for conflicts and allows you to pinpoint where & when issues arise.

Patches that are required during Boot, such as my RAM Limitation Patch, High Capacity Disk Patch, Bootman or Terabyte Plus, must be installed during or possibly before Installation of Windows. They can only be installed later, as you have indicated, if you can insure that they are not needed earlier, such as by removing RAM, not partitioning above 137GB, not using SATA, etc.

[LoneCrusader]

rloew, on 06 January 2013 - 02:47 PM, said:

Patches that are required during Boot, such as my RAM Limitation Patch, High Capacity Disk Patch, Bootman or Terabyte Plus, must be installed during or possibly before Installation of Windows. They can only be installed later, as you have indicated, if you can insure that they are not needed earlier, such as by removing RAM, not partitioning above 137GB, not using SATA, etc.

True, I should have clarified that. I usually do not install more than 512MB of RAM until I have reached that point.

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

submix8c, on 06 January 2013 - 10:49 AM, said:

note: NUSB doesn't cure everything in regards to USB-attached Devices. Read the NUSB Thread for more info.

Thank you soooo much for pointing this out. When will others realize that everyone hardware is different. To top it off, it is not so much the Unofficial packs but the files inside them. Microsoft updates of bugs. I even suggested patching files because a file that may work on my system may not work on yours. I hope the OP gets his system working.

[Zapeth]

submix8c, on 06 January 2013 - 10:49 AM, said:

No, you did NOT! I specifically told you NUSB AFTER IE6, as did LoneCrusader!

Quote

Install Windows 98SE.
Install DirectX 9.0C.
Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers.
Install Video Card Drivers.
Install IE6SP1. <--see this?
Install WMP7.1 (or WMP9 if you prefer, or ignore this step if you don't use WMP).
Install NUSB. <--see this?

Maybe it IS best you "give up" since you refuse to follow instructions.

I'm sorry, I was writing my post in a hurry and it seems that I posted it in an ambiguous way (sometimes I tend to forget some words that I wanted to write down ). What I actually meant to say was

Zapeth said:

(with the difference that I did install the ie6sp1 after installing the chipset and I did the NUSB installation according to the intructions which means I did not go into safe mode at all and did the device removal and installation in one session)

So I believe I actually did install it correctly.

submix8c, on 06 January 2013 - 10:49 AM, said:

If it works, don't fix it. I gave links to where this all started from (post #18 pointing to YOUR Topics). If there is no issue without NUSB, don't bother...
note: NUSB doesn't cure everything in regards to USB-attached Devices. Read the NUSB Thread for more info.

Are you referring to the VIA USB drivers? The thing is that they don't work correctly (or at least not in a way that lets me use an USB device). Every USB device I connected was recognized by the system but no drivers were found for it so I'm unable to use the device.
And I was aware of the fact that NUSB doesn't give the guaranteed support for using USB devices like in NT based systems.

LoneCrusader said:

The version of EXPLORER you are using is irrelevant.

It was worth a try since I was reinstalling everything afterwards anyway.

LoneCrusade said:

If you insist on claiming that NUSB is the cause and refuse to entertain the possibility that the Sound Card and/or its drivers may be the problem, then there's not much more we can do to help you.

I did not say that NUSB was the cause of the trouble, I just have the suspicion that the sound card drivers and NUSB don't work well together for whatever reason.

submix8c said:

Well, I DID suggest getting a DIFFERENT Sound Card Driver version, but the OP INSISTED theirs was "better".

I actually did a lot of research for the soundcard and its chipset and in terms of functionality the reference drivers are in fact better.
In terms of stability and compatibility I can't exactly tell (since its hard to gather info on such old things nowadays) but I also read posts from some people that actually had trouble with the driver from the manufacturer.

Of course I could try those drivers but my priority for that PC is Sound Card functionality > USB support and thats why I don't want to switch to other drivers.

This post has been edited by Zapeth: 06 January 2013 - 03:37 PM

[LoneCrusader]

There's another misunderstanding/miscommunication going on here. The VIA drivers you are referring to are for the internal USB 2.0 Hardware (hubs & ports) ONLY. VIA (or any other USB2.0 manufacturer) does NOT provide external USB Device support.

NUSB provides BOTH USB2.0 hardware AND USB external device support.

You MIGHT try this, to rule out issues from other sources and issues with the Microsoft USB2.0 drivers on VIA systems that seem to affect some users. (See the NUSB and USP threads for more info).

Do a clean install of 98SE as previously described.
Remove all USB and Unknowns from the Device Manager.
Install NUSB 3.5.

Once that is done, go into Safe Mode and remove all the USB Devices again, and then manually replace these files in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS folders.

USBPORT.SYS
USBHUB20.SYS
USBEHCI.SYS

With the ones from this package:
VIA_USB2_V270p1-L-M

When you reboot, be sure to direct any file requests to C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS and NOT the 98SE CD.

If you get any "Keep newer file?" prompts on THOSE THREE FILES ONLY, say NO. (The VIA files have an older versioning scheme than the Microsoft ones so are treated as "older" by Windows.)

This post has been edited by LoneCrusader: 06 January 2013 - 04:02 PM

[Zapeth]

Okay I did the whole setup the same way as last time except that I overwrote those files as you instructed and pointed the directory of the 'hotplug.dll' to the "C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS" directory instead of the "C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\ixp000.tmp\" directory.

And this time it worked

After restarting it again he started up just fine and after plugging in some USB devices he recognized/installed them flawlessly and I could access them as I wanted to.
So far I also didn't encounter any crashes or errors so everything seems fine so far.

Thank you very much LoneCrusader for pointing me to the solution
And also thanks to all other guys involved in this thread for being so patient with me and trying to help me, I really appreciate it

Just as a sidenote here, when I got into safe mode there were no USB or unknown devices listed (since the system didn't search for any in the meantime) and when the USB devices got installed I didn't get any MessageBoxes regarding the files I overwrote earlier, just for the files that I mentioned earlier (so it was basically the same process).

This post has been edited by Zapeth: 07 January 2013 - 09:24 AM

[LoneCrusader]

Zapeth, on 07 January 2013 - 09:20 AM, said:

Okay I did the whole setup the same way as last time except that I overwrote those files as you instructed and pointed the directory of the 'hotplug.dll' to the "C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS" directory instead of the "C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\ixp000.tmp\" directory.

And this time it worked

After restarting it again he started up just fine and after plugging in some USB devices he recognized/installed them flawlessly and I could access them as I wanted to.
So far I also didn't encounter any crashes or errors so everything seems fine so far.

Thank you very much LoneCrusader for pointing me to the solution
And also thanks to all other guys involved in this thread for being so patient with me and trying to help me, I really appreciate it

Just as a sidenote here, when I got into safe mode there were no USB or unknown devices listed (since the system didn't search for any in the meantime) and when the USB devices got installed I didn't get any MessageBoxes regarding the files I overwrote earlier, just for the files that I mentioned earlier (so it was basically the same process).

Glad you got it straightened out.