To run MIFE (v1) on morden hardware, Win98 VM setup requires a few special configs when create the VM in Ubuntu 18.04.5.
Machine Type
When creating the VM, check the option to custom the config before install OS.
The IDE option is missing from the dropdown menu because your virtual machine is currently set to use a modern Q35 Chipset (Machine Type). The Q35 architecture does not natively support the legacy IDE bus.To fix this and make the IDE option appear, you must switch your virtual machine to the older i440FX chipset template, which supports legacy hardware.
- Open Virtual Machine Manager and click New Virtual Machine.
- Go through the steps until you reach the final window (Step 5 of 5).
- Check the box for “Customize configuration before install” and click Finish.
- In the configuration window that opens, select Overview from the left panel.Look at the Chipset or Machine Type dropdown box on the right. Change it from Q35 to i440FX (or simply select “pc”).
- Click Apply.Now.
- The IDE option will be fully unlocked and visible under the Bus type dropdown menu.
After changed the machine type to i440FX, by default it will set to be pc-i440fx-4.2. Ubuntu 18.04 only support up to pc-i440fx-2.11. Manually update it in the XML config file if KVM complains unsupported machine type.
CPU
For the CPU, uncheck the box that says “Copy host CPU configuration” and select a safe x86 architecture that works with Win98, such as pentium, pentium2, pentium3 or 486.
Memory
For memory, don’t exceed 512MB as anything above 512MB might trigger a black screen freeze.
Black screen
If Win98 black out at normal start up but works fine when go through step-by-step start, try to disable the Win98 boot logo. You can tell Windows to skip drawing the startup logo entirely by changing a hidden configuration file:
-
Boot the VM and choose the
Step-by-Step confirmationoption. -
Accept the prompts until you reach the command line or the Windows desktop.
-
Open MS-DOS Prompt (or if you are stuck at a terminal, you are already there).
-
Run the following commands to unlock the hidden Windows system configuration file:
cmd attrib -r -s -h C:\MSDOS.SYS edit C:\MSDOS.SYS -
Look for the section labeled [Options].
-
Use your arrow keys to scroll down and find the line that says Logo=1. Change it to:
Logo=0
(If the Logo= line does not exist, simply type Logo=0 on a new line directly underneath [Options].)
-
Save and exit the text editor by pressing
Alt + F, choosing Save, and thenAlt + Fto Exit. -
Lock the file permissions back down by typing:
cmd attrib +r +s +h C:\MSDOS.SYS -
Restart your virtual machine.
Without the graphic engine trying to initialize the animated logo, the VM will pass straight through to the desktop in Normal Boot mode.