Win98 + 2GB RAM problem

petteyg359 · Feb 21, 2006

First computer in sig. I have WinXP and Gentoo dual-booting. I have a partition already for win98 (I have some games that won't run in XP or wine). I tried installing 98, and install went fine, but when it boots, it gives an error saying not enough free memory, check autoexec.bat and config.sys and free conventional memory. I'm pretty sure it's because of the fact that I'm running 2GB and Win9x only handles up to 512MB well. but I only have 2x1GB sticks. Any idea how to get past this?

redduc900 · Feb 21, 2006

"Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=253912

... you'll just need to edit the [VCache] section of the System.ini by adding the line MaxFileCache=524288, which is 512MB in kilobytes.

Captain Newbie · Feb 21, 2006

Yes. Windows 98 needs to have the above hack performed to start up with >= 512MB of RAM.

petteyg359 · Feb 21, 2006

It doesn't work. I'm about to try making it 384MB then 256MB.

El<(')>Maxi · Feb 21, 2006

I remember an old thread where someone who was pretty good with OS/registry configs tried to do this, he never got it working after alot of effort.

AngelfireUk83 · Feb 21, 2006

Could you imagine what Windows 98se would be like with 2gb of memory it'll be the happiest OP system ever if it could be done.

petteyg359 · Feb 21, 2006

Tried all the way down to 64MB MaxFileCache, and still get the error. And for some reason, every time I install 98 it screws with the boot record on my NTFS partition and NTLDR gets fubar, and recovery console fixmbr and fixboot won't fix it. So I've just done my sixth reinstall of XP in the past two days. :bang head

I'm probably going to have to go out and buy a 512MB DDR stick to put in... I need my Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries!!!

(and it doesn't run in XP with any/all of compatibility options or wine or cedega and it won't run under VMware or Qemu because they can't do 3D acceleration)

TollhouseFrank · Feb 22, 2006

hmm... it should work fine if you go this route: install 98 first, then XP, then Gentoo/Linux of choice

That should fix the MBR problems at least..

redduc900 · Feb 22, 2006

Try setting MaxFileCache to 512000 (500MB).

Bios24 · Feb 22, 2006

AngelfireUk83 said:
Could you imagine what Windows 98se would be like with 2gb of memory it'll be the happiest OP system ever if it could be done.

You could install and run windows 98 on 2gb of ram! I feel bad for building a machine with 512mb of ram for it. Hopefully I'll be putting XP on it soon.

Actually that gives me an idea. Are you familiar with vmware? It will allow you to run an operating system in a virtual environment under XP. This might actually work a little better than dual-booting because of such small requirements for windows 98. vmware has a free player you can use, you might check it out.

=ACID RAIN= · Feb 22, 2006

petteyg359 said:
Any idea how to get past this?

Ditch 98, or get a small dedicated box for it

FlailBoy · Feb 22, 2006

El<(')>Maxi said:
I remember an old thread where someone who was pretty good with OS/registry configs tried to do this, he never got it working after alot of effort.

FYI-As 'someones who are pretty good with OS/registry configs' go, it's tough to beat the bluestar up there with the flaming motorcycle avatar...

However, you may be referring to this thread.

Adding maxfilecache=524288 to the vcache portion of your system.ini file *does* work for win98, allowing you to run up to a gig of RAM. I absolutely could NOT get 1.5 going, despite the micro$oft fix that was supposed to solve the problem.

petteyg359 · Feb 22, 2006

Tollhousefrank: Only problem with installing 98 first is that 98 FDISK only sees about 60GB of my 120GB drive, and I'm afraid that after I install XP, 98 won't be able to read it partition table or something anymore, but I'll try that.

I'm trying to install 98 for some games that refuse to run under any other OS and won't run under VMware or Qemu because they require 3D acceleration (which VMware/Qemu can't do)

FlailBoy · Feb 23, 2006

petteyg359 said:
Tollhousefrank: Only problem with installing 98 first is that 98 FDISK only sees about 60GB of my 120GB drive...

This was a known issue w/ Fdisk w/ drives over 60gb. It would under-report the size of the drive by 60gb. IIRC, this was specific to Western Digital drives (although it's been a while so I'm not really sure). If it's a WD drive, you can probably safely ignore it though.

El<(')>Maxi · Feb 23, 2006

@Flail,

No thats not the thread and I'm well aware of redduc's experience. Just reporting what I know take it or leave it.

Hey petty, I wonder if this game could be run on XP using Compatability Mode for Win98? As far a multiple OS'es go you need to install the oldest one first as tollhouse mentioned.

petteyg359 · Feb 23, 2006

Well, I took out a stick of memory, so there was only 1GB in the computer, and 98 booted fine. But as soon as I installed nForce drivers from the CD that came with my motherboard (and I did use the ones in the win98 folder) I would get a garbled image as soon as I clicked "okay" on the login dialog unless I was in safe mode.
Somebody explain to me, though, how in the heck 98 can write to an NTFS partition if it can't read/write NTFS. After rebooting with XP recovery CD, deleting the 98 partition, I got an error at boot saying "cannot find NTLDR". Thought maybe it wasn't pointing at the XP partition (which is the only partition on the drive now), so I ran fixmbr from recovery console. Still said it couldn't find NTLDR. Seems like 98 deleted NTLDR and the boot record off of the XP partition, not just the MBR :bang head

=ACID RAIN= · Feb 26, 2006

What you got going on is more F'd up than a soup sandwich.

Linux has to be the last OS installed, period. If you're installing 98, you just rewrote your MBR. Do this:

Partition the drive under DOS. Leave a blank region for your linux partitions.

Install 98 on the second partition, then install XP on the first. Then install gentoo on the last blank area, and use lilo or grub (I use lilo) to handle the boot options for all three OSes. Keep the ram at 1GB if you want to use 98.

As you have found however, 98 has lost hardware support. Get a dedicated box for 98, and use a KVM to switch between the two on the same monitor. Problem solved.

What you're trying to do is have your cake and eat it too. Aint gonna happen. Get yourself a second cake.

petteyg359 · Feb 26, 2006

Acid, I know all that already. And Linux does NOT have to be installed last, I can boot the livecd to restore grub into MBR. I'm still trying to figure out why it won't take 2GB, because the M$ support page for the MaxFileCache thing says it supports up to 2GB...

Elif Tymes · Feb 26, 2006

Since when has MS been right about anything?

=ACID RAIN= · Feb 26, 2006

That's kinda what I'm thinking. What if it's a combination of things? Hardware designs don't take 98 into consideration anymore, so it could very well be a combination of drivers activating advanced chipset functions and thereby screwing with the OS.

And I know about restoring the MBR with linux, but I typically don't think about that because I like less headaches, not more. I prefer to just get it done the first time. I'll work all day on hardware, but I get bored of OS issues quickly.

What I'm getting at is I'll be surprised if this works without alot of " :bang head

". That's work I personally wouldn't be willing to take on, screw a legacy game. However if you want to continue, good luck

. I'll watch this and see if you ever get it going, because I'm curious.

Win98 + 2GB RAM problem

Likes Popcorn

Inactive Moderator

Senior Django-loving Member

Likes Popcorn

Blank Senior Member

Member

Likes Popcorn

Senior Headphone Guru

Inactive Moderator

Member

Member

Member

Likes Popcorn

Member

Blank Senior Member

Likes Popcorn

Member

Likes Popcorn

Member

Member

Similar threads