[jaclaz]

Sorry, LLXX, I have overlooked your previous reply, and have to correct it:

LLXX said:

The abbreviation is DMF168.

No, the 1.68 DMF format is explained here:
http://www.winimage....lp/wini1a1y.htm

There are actually three 1.68 formats, all have geometry 2x21x80 and thus have a total of 1,720,320 bytes:
1) "normal" has 1 sector (512 bytes) cluster and 1 sector for boot, 2x10 sectors for FAT and 14 sectors for dirs, which allows for max 224 files in root, usable size is 1,702,400

2) DMF 1.68 "1024" has 2 sectors (1024 bytes) cluster and 1 sector for boot, 2x5 sectors for FAT and 1 sectors for dirs, which allows for max 16 files in root, usable size is 1,714,176

2) DMF 1.68 "2048" has 4 sectors (2048 bytes) cluster and 1 sector for boot, 2x3 sectors for FAT and 1 sectors for dirs, which allows for max 16 files in root, usable size is 1,716,224


Then there is the 1.72 format:
geometry 2x21x82, total size 1,763,328 bytes, 1 sector (512 bytes) cluster and and 1 sector for boot, 2x10 sectors for FAT and 14 sectors for dirs, which allows for max 224 files in root, usable size is 1,745,408



I suppose we can call the format you mentioned a "1.76 DMF", just like:
1,474,560/1024/1000=1.44
1,720,320/1024/1000=1.68
1,763,328/1024/1000=1.72
we have:
1,806,336/1024/1000=1.76

I think this is the biggest format that does not use some "trick" like the 2m formats or the IBM XDF 1.84 format.

RJARRRPCGP said:

It appears that most floppy disk drives are fine with it.

Actually, strange as it might seem, the opposite of "normality" is true.
Going beyond the 80th or in some cases 81th track appears to be a major problem with "brand name" drives, whilst "no name" ones behave better.
However these formats do push the drive to (and beyond) design limits, so they are not dependable.
Moreover, due to the drop in price of floppies (the media I mean), they appear to be of lesser quality than they used to be.
I have used for a certain period the Naslite software that uses a 1.72 floppy and I was able to get about one working floppy out of three using new "brand name" media, whilst I had about 90% success with a few years old "recovered from gargage bin" used floppies.

jaclaz

[os2fan2]

I played around with the diamond package some time ago. It seems to be heavily driven by setup-like files.

I know that i did a fair bit of modifications to the Windows 95B package, largely to remove the ISP packages and a few other things. There was plan to integrate M!nus (ie a pruned P!us 95) into the package, but it only got so far.

One of the files you have to pull out is SETUPP.INF, as well as LAYOUT.INF. It's a horrible mess, none the same.

More later when i find the bones of the project...

[LLXX]

'M!nus'... good idea for a name

Indeed, the AOL etc. crap are useless and very much obsolete. In the standard 98se distro even if I uncheck 'online services' in custom install it still installs it and I have to manually delete afterwards. Also themes etc. are pure useless IMHO, you can get better skin/theme enhancements if you want.

[Eck]

Noooooo!!!

Not my Themes! I like those old things. Install the one's in Plus!98 too. Then I just add others I like.

Then I wind up being boring and just using default. But I like the choices. Big hard drives. Don't mind some bloat.

I even sometimes use the old AfterDark Screensavers, but now on XP. I found a couple of sites that have installers updated for XP. I only haven't tried them on 98 yet because of the resources they probably use. Talk about old stuff though! I never used them in the past. I didn't even know about them.

BadDog! Flying Toasters! Star Trek! Heh, heh. The neatest time waister's.

[MDGx]

Eck, on Aug 27 2006, 05:23 PM, said:

I even sometimes use the old AfterDark Screensavers, but now on XP. I found a couple of sites that have installers updated for XP. I only haven't tried them on 98 yet because of the resources they probably use. Talk about old stuff though! I never used them in the past. I didn't even know about them.

BadDog! Flying Toasters! Star Trek! Heh, heh. The neatest time waister's.

I own all versions of After Dark Screen Savers + Games ever sold for Windows 3.x/9x. Big fan, can you tell?

Could you post [or email if not appropriate for this forum] the links to updated XP installers for AD?
Many thanks in advance.
Please click the blue E-mail link:
http://www.mdgx.com/form.htm

Thanks.

[Eck]

There were 3 sites I got my info and downloads from. One of them had a hacking method that was later superceded by the

http://www.geocities.com/thypentacle/

website. He created a 3.2 version for all the Afterdark 3 screensavers and can be used on 9x or XP.

He also created a 4.1 version that also works on 9x and XP. The nice thing about it is he doesn't include the screensavers in 4.1 as the 3.0 screensavers originally included in AfterDark 4 do not run within version 4 when using Windows XP. You need to use 3.2 for those, so you install both versions and keep the 3 version screensavers in C:\AFTERDRK and the 4 versions in C:\After Dark.

The other main place for info and downloads is

http://www.andy.clark.dial.pipex.com/hobbi...n/screen_ad.htm

and between the 2 sites nearly all the screensavers can be downloaded. The andy clark site had moved from some tigarheli site and I needed to search around to find it again.

Most of the screensavers have XP adjusted versions within the packs from thypenticle. These all install without reinstalling old versions of the program so his packs are the best way to install them. Only the Disney pack (that's on the andyclark site) is weird in that it needs to be installed by its original installer, then you delete the entire AFTERDRK directory, end process on the After Dark tray application and install the whole 3.2 package again along with re running the 3.2XP update. Then just install the pre-zipped up disneyXP pack. After playing around with this, I discovered that's the best way. So I install the Disney Pack as the 1st pack of screensavers after installing AfterDark 3.2 and 4.1 then after I'm done fooling with reinstalling 3.2 I'm free to just unzip all the other packs to the appropriate folders.

Both sites have servers that severly limit downloading. I think it took me several days to get everything as after downloading a couple of things the servers cut off access to all downloads for a period.

Since you are good at this stuff it's probably easier for you to download just a couple of XP packs, examine what he did to the files and just do the same to your existing files. It'll probably be a lot less hastle for you as I had to download everything.

So, get the 3.2XP and 4.1 and a couple of packs and print out all the FAQ's and stuff and you'll be all set.

The older info about hacking the original AfterDark 4 was

http://www.uneasysilence.com/?p=4694

but this only runs the 4 screensavers and you wind up with all the useless non-working 3 versions that do work with 3.2XP.


Edit - Uh oh. I just examined the Andy Clark site. He just lists the older instructions for hacking 4.0. That's not the way to do it. ThyPentacle has the new 4.1 version. The old TigerHeli site that had the rest of the 4 packs and some great FAQ's is gone!

This post has been edited by Eck: 29 August 2006 - 01:45 PM

[MDGx]

Many thanks for taking the time to do this.
Guides + files saved.

Best wishes.

[Acheron]

MDGx, on Aug 29 2006, 10:29 PM, said:

Many thanks for taking the time to do this.
Guides + files saved.

Best wishes.

MDGX, you are the service bin of the net, collecting tons of legacy stuff

[Eck]

MDGx,

Did you actually get my huge attachment? I'm asking because Outlook Express is still showing that it's sending the thing.

This is the 2nd attempt after the 1st one got somehow stopped by McAfee. It's 115MB. The blinking McAfee systray icon is still showing Items 1 Sent 0 and offers no other information.

For the 2nd attempt I went into McAfee and shut off outbound scanning. Task Manager is showing some network usage but I really have no idea if this is just the normal activity from being connected to the internet. There is no progress bar in Outlook Express running.

I'm about to go ahead and deleat (or attempt to) the message in the Outlook Express Outbound folder.

You'd think I'd have at least a progress bar if it was actually doing anything. I guess huge attachments are not what email is designed for?

You said you saved what you needed and I assume that means you've got what you need.

Edit - Well I managed to clear out and fix things. McAfee just needed a Windows restart to clear up the email systray icon. I had tried to send you all the files but you probably don't need the packs you already have anyway.

This post has been edited by Eck: 29 August 2006 - 03:52 PM

[LLXX]

You should've just used an upload site, e-mail is not good for sending huge files.

[Eck]

Yep. And I even have about a week left on a RapidShare premium account I bought when I wasn't patient enough to wait for somebody's huge file split into a bunch of 100MB parts. I could have just uploaded it.

Still, all's well since I don't think he needed all that stuff.

[reno7]

Hello ,
to use W98_slip , on my XP'computer ,I delete 2 lines:
if not exist %windir%\system32\extract.exe goto instructions
if not exist %windir%\system32\xcopy.exe goto instructions

and I copy extract.exe and xcopy.exe in the same folder as W98_slip.bat
and IT RUNs

PS: sorry for my english , ...

[iWindoze]

Have there been any updates on this? Version .002? Or have any such projects ever actually completed?

--iWindoze

PS: I managed to slip the unoffcial SP for Win98SE using the method posted by reno7, but still saw some errors in the actual install, though they mostly seemed to revolve around the ISPs (like AOL and MSN, etc) and did not seem to cause any actual issues while installing except redundent error messages like the one about missing amsn.dll or some such.... Has anyone made any progress since?

This post has been edited by iWindoze: 29 July 2007 - 06:35 PM

[iWindoze]

/BUMP

Is glaurung still around?

--iWindoze

[Jaymo]

hmmm... i feel the need to bump this.

i really like the idea of a fairly updated 98; and although soporific (which i do feel gratitude for all your hard work) has come up with the Unattended Boot CD, i like throwing my stuff on cd... i also copy my win9x files on for se2me & revolution.... and there's not a whole lot of room left. i generally use sesp for simplicity's sake, & tack on some Maximum-Decim stuff. i've tried Auto-Patcher some & have the Unattended Boot CD (haven't used it yet).

i used to use bart's old isolinux multiboot (which doesn't work on xp) to give me the option of booting up with a home brewed presizer\savepart floppy image or 98 install image; yet defaulting to harddrive. created the iso... burned the disk... yeah... it was nice; but now outdated.

i also have an issue with redundancy, and keeping multiple versions of files where the old ones will almost surely NEVER be used (with programs that can be different).
i've dabbled with inf files some, and more or less stopped when i realized there was se2me & revolution. finding the cabs were linked and wouldn't work unlinked... bummer. i have info somewhere on what ones were linked and what each generally contained but i've let things collect i guess. need to sort.

i have no intention to take over, i just can't see this fade away so easily.
hopefully i will be able to talk with a like minded individual. maybe we can figure out somethin'.
i have seen several update packs, and like ideas i see, although i have to admit that it has been a while since i've tried some of the different update packs out there or tried to figure out their workings (life happens), so i readily admit ignorance.

i don't feel there will ever be a magical "coming together for the sake of 98" that would really benefit.
i'm not all knowing... or any other such nonsense. i just know some guys here have killer scripts; batches; infs; and whatnots. they all have their knowledge (and modesty ). i've used some of it here and there in my own installations. (don't even ask; mine is far from good enough to share.)
but i believe i still have my resources of which there were a few different sources. perhaps i'll start organizing them so i can either add them to this post or bump as need be. at least throw some ideas on the table. i even had W98_Slip once... just didn't find the time to dabble with it. -jaymo

[galahs]

I agree this project has great promise.


I am looking for a method to Slipstream gapes unofficial service pack + 98SE2ME + NUSB + LLXX's 137GB + patch


this might just be the tool for it.

makecab.exe can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310618


I also found this information that might come in handy

Quote

Infinst.exe

What Infinst.Exe does:
It adds an inf file and the associated drivers to a Windows 98 setup share.
When Windows 98 is installed on other machines from the share, the added drivers will be
installed as if they were part of the original Windows 98 setup. These drivers may be for
any type of hardware or for additional network clients, protocols or services.
To automatically install network clients, protocols or services you will need to add them
to your msbatch.inf. This can be done using Microsoft Batch 98.

How to use Infinst:
Note: the tool requires a Windows 98 setup share with write permissions.
It will not add files to a CD-ROM.
1. Start the tool by double clicking it.
2. Enter the path and filename of the inf you wish to add to Windows 98 setup.
3. Enter the path and filename for Setup.exe on the Windows 98 setup share you wish
to add the inf to.
4. Click Add Inf.

Infinst does the following when adding an inf:
* It copies the inf and the driver files needed (listed in the CopyFiles= sections of
the inf) to the Windows 98 setup share. If a catalog (.cat) file or
layout (.inf) file is specified in the inf, Infinst also adds it.
* It adds the appropriate entries to the following files: all previous inf files with
matching PnP IDs, the Custom.inf, and the Infinst.log. The files are changed as
outlined below.
Note: Infinst copies all files listed in the inf's CopyFiles= section to
the setup share; however Infinst does not automatically process any infs listed in
the CopyFiles= section. These infs may need to be added manually for setup to
complete successfully.

How Infinst.Exe works:
1. It creates two directories in the Windows 98 setup share. One (Oldinf) is for infs
that are replaced by new infs of the same name, and one (Wininf) is for storing
the infs included with Windows 98.
2. It checks the versioning of the infs to be added (only infs with version $CHICAGO$
should be added, although Infinst.Exe will correct certain versions to $CHICAGO$
automatically).
3. It searches the inf to be added for its PnP IDs (Plug and Play IDs).
4. It compares the found PnP IDs of the new inf with the PnP IDs contained in all the
infs that are in the Wininf directory.
5. If an inf with a matching PnP ID is found, Infinst.Exe copies it to the directory
containing the Windows 98 setup files, as long as there is not an inf file of the
same name there already.
6. It compares the found PnP IDs of the new inf with the PnP IDs contained in all the
infs that are contained in the Windows 98 setup share.
7. If an inf with a matching PnP ID is found, the matching PnP IDs are commented out.
8. It copies the new inf and all necessary driver files to the directory where the
Windows 98 setup files reside.
9. It edits the Custom.inf file. Note: Infs and drivers of install media classes
(such as net) are added to more sections of the Custom.inf than those of other
classes, because they may be needed earlier in setup.
10. It appends to the Infinst.log.

Infinst.Exe can add infs for single or multiple PnP device(s), whether or not they are
supported by Windows 98. Drivers added by Infinst.Exe should install properly whether
Windows 98 is setup locally or across a network, regardless of whether it is a clean
install or an upgrade. In other words, you can install all the infs you want and run
setup any way you want.

Design Limitations:
1. Adding an inf with the same name as one included with Windows 98 or one previously
added will eliminate all functionality of the previous inf, regardless of PnP IDs.
2. You must have write permission to the location of the Windows 98 setup files for
Infinst.Exe to work. (I.E. it will not work on a CD-ROM).
3. Adding an inf containing the same PnP IDs as an inf already included in the setup
share will result in eliminating those PnP IDs from the already included inf.

Trouble Shooting:
1. When adding an inf to a Novell server, Maximum File Locks per Connection must be
greater than 600 or infinst will be unable to add the inf correctly.
2. All infs and drivers being added must not be marked as read only.

This post has been edited by galahs: 08 December 2007 - 05:10 AM

[galahs]

I am on the quest to build a slipstreamed version of the best Windows 98 Second Edition I possibly can.


I am thinking of one that has all the official MS hotfixes, all critical Unofficial hotfixes, + compatible WinMe files + adding Native USB support + copy2GB patch + 48bit LBA for larger disk drives over 137GB


Being an industrial designer, I love to make things simpler and easier to use. I find having to apply a series of updates to get Win98SE back in shape after a reinstall frustrating to say the least.

I know there are other unattended installations around (but they all add 3rd party apps) but I want one that just installs the most up-to-date Win9x Operating System possible. Nothing more, nothing less. No IE6, DX9 or WMP9. These should be left to the user to decide on.

Now my problem is I need to work out how to slipstream additional files not originally included in Win98 CD (ie. adding new files, not replacing existing ones). Do you know how this would be possible?

[galahs]

These threads have some more interesting ideas.

http://www.msfn.org/...-CD-t33815.html

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/w...8.mspx?mfr=true

http://www.hermit.cc...win/hobat98.htm


Even more reading...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/w...d.mspx?mfr=true

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214727

This post has been edited by galahs: 08 December 2007 - 08:31 AM

[computerwizkid]

How can I modify this for slipstreaming files into Windows ME since I need to because of my Win2k8 Project at WPC?

[glaurung]

galahs, on Dec 8 2007, 07:49 AM, said:

Now my problem is I need to work out how to slipstream additional files not originally included in Win98 CD (ie. adding new files, not replacing existing ones). Do you know how this would be possible?

(I answered your PM, but figured I should reply on the forum as well)

I haven't had time to do any further work on the w98_slip project for quite a while.

Adding extra files is complicated because the install process depends on the file being referenced in at least three different places: layout*.inf, copy*.inf, and the individual inf file that actually covers the components you're adding. Plus, of course, you have to include any necessary registry keys (especially instructions for self-registering files) for the new files.

Layout* and copy* appear to need to be parallel (so a file referenced in layout1 needs to appear in copy1, it can't be in copy2 or the initial file copy phase of setup will fail).

You could in theory avoid the requirement that the new files appear in both layout* and copy* by forcing the file copy process to happen after setup reboots (using a runonce command), and creating your own additional layout file that points to a cab where all the new files are stored. But making everything go through runonce adds a layer of complexity.

Alternately, you could use custom.inf. There is basically no documentation on this online that I can find, but if a file named "custom.inf" appears in the setup directory, setup will perform any file copy commands contained in it automatically, expecting to find the files whereever custom.inf tells it to look. (Custom.inf was originally intended for OEMs to allow them to automatically install drivers and driver infs). So just put the new files in a new cabinet, create a custom.inf that grabs those files and puts them where they belong. I'm not sure if custom.inf supports adding registry entries, I'd suspect it doesn't. You can find a model custom.inf in the intel motherboard drivers for win9x; the main wrinkle to using it is that for at least some files (including disk driver files and all infs, IIRC), you have to specify them being copied twice, once to setup's temp directory where precopy is expanded to (there's a special section for that in Custom.inf), and again to where they are supposed to ultimately go.

Either way, my thinking on this, before I set it aside, was to create a few new files in the setup directory: a newstuff.cab (containing all the binaries we're adding), newfiles.inf (layout file), and newstuff.inf (containing either just the registry information, or registry information and file copy directives), plus custom.inf if I decided to use that. Doing it that way rather than trying to shoehorn things into the existing layout* and copy* system would, I thought, be more flexible and also easier to script automatically, since we'd be building the inf files from scratch rather than trying to amend existing ones.