Craigwd_2000

Q: I'm trying to install OEM SR 2.1: Windows 95B in Qemu...  How do I figure out which brand of CD-ROM drive Qemu emulates since I have three different drive specific boot disks...?

I'm trying to install OEM SR 2.1: Windows 95B in Qemu...  How do I figure out which brand of CD-ROM drive Qemu emulates since I have three different drive specific boot disks...?

1.42 GHz eMac w/ 2 GBs of RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 160 GB HD w/ DL SuperDrive

Posted on Nov 8, 2011 9:29 AM

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Q: I'm trying to install OEM SR 2.1: Windows 95B in Qemu...  How do I figure out which brand of CD-ROM drive Qemu emulates since ... more

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  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 8, 2011 1:48 PM in response to Craigwd_2000
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Nov 8, 2011 1:48 PM in response to Craigwd_2000

    Hi Craig,

     

    Can you make an ISO of the Windows Install Disc?

     

    Here's mine pointing CD Rom to a file...

     

    /Data232/Windows XP Pro SP 2 CD.iso

    QemuPrefs.jpg

  • by Craigwd_2000,

    Craigwd_2000 Craigwd_2000 Nov 10, 2011 4:36 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 4 (1,300 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 4:36 PM in response to BDAqua

    I already made a ISO Image of the OEM SR 2.1 CD-ROM.  Here's the issue: OEM SR 2.1/Windows 95B is weird in that unlike Windows 98 SE there's not a bootable install CD-ROM...  When MS first shipped it with PCs there were three different bootable install floppies for it that you'd boot from to a MS-DOS prompt...

     

    The crux of the matter is the fact that there were three different major PC CD-ROM drive manufacturers back then...; the OEMs who shipped PCs with OEM SR 2.1/Windows 95B chose the brand of CD-ROM drive when they were designed/built the PCs... Matshita, Teac & Toshiba made most of the CD-ROM drives back then...

     

    Due to the inherent limitations of the MSCDEX driver that came as a MS-DOS driver install floppy for use with Windows 3.1X MS decided to license the CD-ROM drivers of the three big brands that wrote MS-DOS CD-ROM drivers for the big three brands of drives or any drive make/model that was for any reason what-so-ever that was deemed to be incompatible with MS's own proprietary MSCDEX driver...

     

    The three big drive manufacturers that I just mentioned earlier used different laser mechanisms/assemblies in their drives.  Thus MS saw/deemed fit the need for three separate unique OEM SR 2.1 MS-DOS install floppies (you boot whichever floppy disk your drive corresponds to...).  The purpose of this question/thread is to determine which of the three CD-ROM drives Qemu/Project Q emulates by Default so I can determine which boot floppy I need to make an image of for use in the chain-loading install process...

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 10, 2011 4:47 PM in response to Craigwd_2000
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 4:47 PM in response to Craigwd_2000

    Ah, I see, whew! So the formats of the CDs are different???

     

    I have Windows 95 on about 90 Floppies, came with a Toshiba Laptop Pentium 90.

  • by Craigwd_2000,

    Craigwd_2000 Craigwd_2000 Nov 10, 2011 6:33 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 4 (1,300 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 6:33 PM in response to BDAqua

    Not exactly...; all MS produced Win9X/ME install CDs are ISO-9660 & maybe even Joliet too...  The really confusing part is that not all Windows 98 SE full install CDs are even bootable in the first place (they tend to only ship one if the PC is capable of booting directly from its optical drive...; the vast majority of PCs have to use the chain loading method due to buggy, poorly written, outdated BIOSes...; etc.).  OEM SR 2.1/Windows 95B is really quite special & innovative for its time in that it was the first Service Release of Windows 95 to support larger HDs via FAT32 which back then was still brand new: i.e.: exciting technology & it still has proven to be quite useful & versatile since most flash memory storage devices come pre-formatted FAT32.

     

    There's also a hidden X:\Usbsupp folder on the CD that contains the MS USB 1.1 supplement patches/upgrader: a common mis-nomer is that you don't need to install it unless your PC has USB 1.1 ports.  Even without USB 1.1 ports the upgrades to C:\Windows\system make it a lot less buggy, more secure & stable.  For anyone else that enjoys emulating OEM SR 2.1 there's also a great unofficial SP 1 for it which has so many useful patches in it I'm considering integrating it into all of my install CDs... 

     

    Unfortunately I've found that getting it to run decently requires tracking down a bevy of essential but according to MS's not releasing them in patch form optional DLL upgrades...  I guess not all machines are that unreliable but better to have them...; just in case you encounter a PC with a buggy BIOS that has hardware coniptions and/or ACPI/APM bugs.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 10, 2011 6:36 PM in response to Craigwd_2000
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 6:36 PM in response to Craigwd_2000

    Do you have a disk image of the boot floppy for that? Q/Qemu has a boot from Floppy image option.

  • by Craigwd_2000,

    Craigwd_2000 Craigwd_2000 Nov 10, 2011 7:02 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 4 (1,300 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 7:02 PM in response to BDAqua

    See: I'm ready to do that but I can't find complete Specs. for the emulated PC online anywhere...  Until I figure out which of the three drive brands they emulate I won't know which floppy disk to image...

  • by BDAqua,Solvedanswer

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 10, 2011 7:29 PM in response to Craigwd_2000
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 7:29 PM in response to Craigwd_2000

    I kinda think that info will be tough to find, I'd make an image of all 3 & try them one at a time.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 10, 2011 9:46 PM in response to Craigwd_2000
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Nov 10, 2011 9:46 PM in response to Craigwd_2000

    Great news, thanks!

     

    Please keep us posted as to the outcome.