Intel Ethernet Connection Driver for Windows 98SE

[Dave-H]

My motherboard (Supermicro X7DAL-E) has two on-board Intel Ethernet connections.

The hardware ID is PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1096.

 

I was wondering if anyone knew of a driver for this that would work under 98SE.

I have tried the last Windows 98 Intel ProSet drivers, and even if the necessary data is manually added to the INF file, the driver installs but doesn't actually work.

 

Any suggestions for possible alternatives i could try would be gratefully received.

I am using a PCI card for internet access under 98SE at the moment, but I would really like to free the slot for something else!

[sdfox7]

I am thinking that you probably installed the driver but didn't install TCP/IP.

If Windows 98 doesn't automatically detect and install a network adapter during Windows Setup, it won't install TCP/IP.

To install TCP/IP, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network > Add > Network Protocol > Microsoft > TCP/IP.

You will need your Windows 98 CD available when you do this as the system will need to copy files.

[Dave-H]

Wow, thanks for the quick response!

Unfortunately I think it's a bit more fundamental than that.

When the driver supposedly installed, Device Manager said that the device couldn't start and to update the driver, and the ProSet Windows Control Panel Applet said that the driver was there but no card was detected!

[farfigs11]

what's the name and ver. of the sys file it's trying to load? 

[submix8c]

Just to keep this connected to the original Topic:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/172203-advice-on-a-64bit-system-upgrade/#entry1088564

Glad you got that part sorted.

 

From SuperMicro:

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/CDR-SIMIPMI_1.13_for_SIM_IPMI/LAN/Intel/v10.4/

Intel® PRO Network Connections Software Version 10.4 Release Notes ==================================================================== March 30, 2006 This release includes software and drivers for Intel® PRO/100, Intel® PRO/1000, and Intel® PRO/10GbE adapters and integrated network connections. Contents ======== - What's New in This Release - Microsoft* Windows 98, Windows NT* 4.0, Windows 95, Windows Me, IBM* OS/2* Support

HTH

Edited November 24, 2014 by submix8c

[Dave-H]

what's the name and ver. of the sys file it's trying to load? 

I assume it would have been e1000w9x.sys.

There are e100bnt.sys and e100bnt5.sys files too, but I assume they are for Windows NT 4.0 and 2000/XP respectively.

 

@submix8c

Thanks!

I think I have actually already tried that PRO1000 driver, and it didn't work, but I will have another go.

I have never tried the "ProXGB" driver, whatever that is, so I will give that a try too.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Dave-H

[Drugwash]

By looking closely at the readme file in the v10.4 folder one can clearly see that the line mentioning Win9x/ME/NT support is just a section name, which is located below and says:

This CD does not contain software for Microsoft Windows 98.  
This CD does not contain software or drivers for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 95, Windows Me, or IBM OS/2.

Therefore my understanding is that there is no specific Win9x/ME/NT driver in that package, unless the omission of "and drivers" in the first statement regarding Windows 98 can be considered as a slight possibility. Which I highly doubt. But my Internet connection is crawling as always so I won't be able to check the contents of that folder anytime soon anyway.

 

EDIT :

OK,I managed to download the entire v10.4 folder. There are indeed Win98SE drivers for Pro100 and Pro1000 (which matches the statement "does not contain software for Microsoft Windows 98" if we look at 'Windows 98' strictly as Gold/First Edition), however there are no such drivers for the ProxGB.

 

The DOCS folder contains the same file called drivers.htm for all Pro cards, which does not mention ProxGB as supported in Windows 98SE, but only Pro100 and Pro1000.

 

The drivers for Windows 2000 and above mention NDIS 5 or NDIS 5.1 în their VersionInfo sections.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Drugwash

[Dave-H]

Thanks Drugwash!

That tallies with what I found when I tried to install those drivers.

The INF files contained no information about my hardware, and if I manually added it the driver appeared to install but didn't work.

I don't think there are any official Intel drivers that will work on Windows 98SE with that hardware, I was just clutching at straws a bit in the hope that maybe there was a generic or modified driver somewhere out there that would do the job, even if only at a basic level to get internet access on 98SE through that connection.

[Drugwash]

There is still something fishy about this. According to my own detection tool (based on manufacturer/device database info available on the web), your card is Intel Pro/1000 EB. The last bit (EB) is most important because Intel does not even list such card model on their site and does not come up on a search in their driver database. They say (somewhere) that driver must be obtained from motherboard producer so we're back to the Supermicro site. The CD contents pointed to by submix8c above might just not be the right one for your particular model so I've searched based on mobo model and they came up with this direct link. (81201kB !!!)

 

While searching the web I've found at Softpedia a driver apparently for that particular model but this one is also huge for my 14kB/s connection (61.2MB) so I can't vouch it does at least contain the desired VEN/DEV information in its inf, let alone the slim chance of having Win9x-compatible driver.

 

EDIT:

Checked the one at Softpedia, doesn't have the desired VEN/DEV.

 

EDIT2:

Well, good news is I found it. In the large 81MB package on manufacturer's site, mentioned above. Listed as:

"Intel® PRO/1000 EB Network Connection with I/O Acceleration"

Bad news is there's no driver even for Win2000/XP/2003. Only Win7 and above. Or DOS, Linux, WinCE...

There is a cNet download here that lists an older version 9.3.28.0 but it leads back to Intel's site and doesn't appear to retrieve anything (useful). Or maybe it's just my connection. Maybe if anyone had that older version archived somewhere, it may work. Emphasis on may. :/

Edited November 25, 2014 by Drugwash

[buyerninety]

I tend to start looking at such things, more from the hardware (silicon) POV...

The motherboard Super Micro X7DAL-E (link probably mentioned in other thread);

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5000X/X7DAL-E.cfm

So the onboard motherboard hardware is;

"Intel (ESB2/Gilgal) 82563EB Dual-Port Gigabit Ethernet Controller"

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ethernet-controllers/82563eb-82564eb-gbe-ethernet-controllers-brief.html

Ouch. I don't think I've ever seen anything 'PHY' that had Win98(xx) drivers.

Intel built it, so for completeness, from the horses mouth...

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProdId=2776

 

98-wise, looks like we're all the Crying Indian on this one.

 

Did click the (1st listed) DOS driver link... says "The DOS drivers are

provided solely for the purpose of loading other OSes -

- for example, during RIS or unattended installations. They are not

intended as high-performance drivers."

(Don't know what that means for DOS... didn't go any further down

the rabbit hole....)

Edited November 25, 2014 by buyerninety

[Dave-H]

Thanks all, yes I looked at all that and it does seem that I'm onto a loser here.

I did look at the DOS driver, and it's good that they made that available for system setup purposes, but it's wouldn't be any use under Windows of course.

Oh well, it's always worth asking.

If there was any solution at all, you can be sure that someone here would know it!

Cheers, Dave.

[rloew]

A DOS Driver might work if it can be run in compatability mode. I have never tested this so there are no guarantees.

[submix8c]

Mmmm... could the DOS one be loaded at Startup via AUTOEXEC.BAT/CONFIG.SYS?

 

As rloew said, never tried a DOS NIC driver under Win9x, but they (others) work fine for (e.g.) DOS Symantec Ghost purposes interfacing to another Ghost PC or Ghostcast Server.

 

Worth a shot...

[Dave-H]

OK, I'll try anything once!

I'll let you know if I get any joy.

[dencorso]

Sfor did manage to get his Eee PC to run on DOS drivers on 98SE, and reported it in this post...