Workstation 14.1 and Windows 98 - no removable media detected

[thewul]

I managed to installed Windows 98 within VMware Workstation 14.1

It is running alright.

I did this to try and play a (very) old game, just a try. Probably it won't run,

I have the old game on a -also- old USB thumbdrive (USB 1.1)

Also on my HDD of the host.

Normally I would copy the folder (with the game) and paste it onto the desktop of, in this case, Windows 98.

However... regretfully 'paste' is greyed out.

I have connected the usb to VM  (VMware Tools have been installed).

In the statusbar, right hand bottom, it says that the USB is 'connected'.

However, it does not show up within Windows 98 Explorer.

(also the drive does not show up after rebooting the entire pc)

Is there any other way?

Thanks.

[bluefirestorm]

I believe Windows 98 Second Edition introduced support for USB devices. So if your guest is the original Windows 98, it will not support USB devices. I never really used Windows 98 much but I remember even with Windows 2000/XP, the early support for USB devices was sometimes hit-or-miss (the one where the icon become outlined in black).

Since you managed to install VMware Tools, the alternative is just drag-and-drop the file(s) from host to the Windows 98 VM. Just make sure you enable the drag-and-drop at the VM settings. I think there is a limit of the file size in drag-and-drop so you might have to zip them or break them into multiple zip files if they are several MB in size.

EDIT: Another alternative is to create an ISO file out of the files/folders and mount it as virtual CD to the Windows 98 VM.

EDIT 2: I looked up the VMware documentation, looks like the file size limit is 4MB. Same restrictions apply for both copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop.

Drag-and-Drop Requirements and Restrictions

Of course, if the drag-and-drop and convert-to-ISO-mount-as-CD-in-VM does not work, there is a more roundabout of doing it. Create an IDE virtual disk in another VM that take the files (be it copy/paste, shared folders, etc) and then add the IDE virtual disk to the Windows 98 VM.

[thewul]

Will get back on this tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Have to close down now and tomorrow I will have very little time.

Meanwhile needed to re-install Windows 98.

Mouse did not work properly.

After the re-install I could not get the resolution higher than 640x480, etc. etc.

So probably I will need to re-install again and again.

It will take some time.

Maybe, by the end of the day, I give up.

I have 95, 95, NT, XP, 7, 8, 10 but not the 95 with SP.

Maybe the game will play on XP

Maybe there are other methods. It is 1990 game, 75KB only.

If it doesn't work, well, so be it then.

Anyway, getting back on this.

MANY Thanks for taking the time for your elaborate reply.

(drag and drop, settings, I am not sure where to find that. it did not work btw)

[continuum]

Most of the times one of the easiest way to copy files into one of the older guestOS-types is to copy your files from USB into an ISO with your preferred CD-burn-write tool.

[bluefirestorm]

You need to enable the copy/paste and drag-and-drop in the Options tab - Guest Isolation.

I used the drag-and-drop to copy the Creative Ensoniq audio drivers into a Windows 98 SE VM as I didn't want to connect the Win98 VM to the public internet.

In case you are interested in having audio in the Windows 98 VM, here is the link to the download

http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=259

[thewul]

Frankly, I wonder whether it is still possible to create a good working Windows 98 VM.

(Note: I have the official CD ROM and key)

I tried 4 times now.

Am facing 2-3 major issues:

1. the CD-ROM gets locked with an error:

"

The guest operating system has locked the CD-ROM door and is probably using the CD-ROM,

which can prevent the guest from recognizing media changes.  If possible, eject the CD-ROM

from inside the guest  before disconnecting.

Disconnect anyway and override the lock?

"

Regretfully the CD-ROM can not be ejected. Even not when removing from Windows 98, using Disconnect removal media.

It can not be ejected from the host either. Only at rebooting the pc, before the Windows logo shows up, I can quickly remove

the CD ROM.

2. Because of that (CD-ROM is taking drive D)  installing VMware Tools is cumbersome - it is running setup.exe from D:\ ..

Getting a higher resolution than 640x480 therefore is impossible - also I have an issue with the mousepointer: I can only

move it horizontally, at the top of the Windows 98 screen, i.e. I can not click anywhere else.

Probably VMware does not support Windows 98 - v5 being the 'oldest' version - hardware compatibility, supporting XP.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware_Workstation

VMware Workstation - Wikipedia

[bluefirestorm]

I take it that you are installing from a physical CDROM and maybe that's why there are troubles with the eject. Maybe what you could do is create a bootable ISO out of the Windows 98 CDROM and install from the ISO as a virtual CD.

Looking at the screenshot, you already have VMware Tools running (the "boxes" icon to the left of the Windows 98 clock). The VMware Tools would have installed the SVGA II video driver and you should be able to adjust to 32-bit colour with resolutions higher than 640x480. VMware Tools would also be needed for copy/paste and drag-and-drop to/from host from/to guest to work.

FWIW, the Windows 98 SE VM that I have is on Workstation 12.5.9 and on hardware compatibility version 12. I don't think the hardware compatibility matters so much as a higher version would just mean it has features that Windows 98 would not go looking for or take advantage of.

I don't have the mouse pointer problem that you described.

The size of your screenshot is 1279x1047, so I suspect maybe your host machine has display scaling turned on. Maybe that is the reason why the mouse is not moving vertically. Display scaling on the host sometimes messes up the mouse pointer on the guest as to where it is; making the mouse pointer not going to where you want it to go or not move the way you want it to move. So turn off display scaling (even temporarily) on the host if you have it turned on. Yes, the VM would become very tiny if you have a high resolution display such as 2560x1440 or 3840x2160. Don't think Windows 98 supports display scaling; even Windows 7/8 can't handle display scaling well but recent updates to Windows 10 have made improvements.

[thewul]

Friends, forget it. I give up.

Drag and drop: not working (though activated) - tried many many times, also after rebooting

USB device: not detected, although USB settings are correct, unable to install a driver, as it requires the original CD-ROM

Copy paste: does not work either

I tried with installing from .iso

I tried using an VM (downloaded from Internet)

Regretfully I dumbed all my 3,5"diskettes last year, assuming I would never be using one anymore.

Had a few boxes (probably some 30-40, including MS DOS 6.2x)

The 128MB FAT formatted USB thumbdrive is detected as solid state drive for which drivers are not available.

USB is present within Windows hardware device settings, but the USB is not detected as such.

Maybe 128MB is too big for Windows 98.

Bad luck.

[thewul]

Just for info...

Have tried to make a video of this all.

Installing Windows 98 SE within VMware Workstation 14.1 - Part 1 (USB issues)   https://youtu.be/tZa8Ss64rj0

Installing Windows 98 SE within VMware Workstation 14.1 - Part 2 (USB issues)   https://youtu.be/hZnv14xEW6M

Installing Windows 98 SE within VMware Workstation 14.1 - Part 3 (USB issues)   https://youtu.be/iVYCOaLXxTA

Part1 before changing the resolution, but after installing VMware Tools (VMware Tools only installs video and mouse driver stuff)

Part 2 after changing resolution

Part 3 trying two different USB thumbdrives

Note that the 128MB USB Thumbdrive is 'recognized' as solid state drive.

Copying (Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V) does not work

Drag and drop does not work

The USB thumbdrive is not recognized

Am using Windows 98 SE  .iso

With VMware Workstation 14.1

On Windows 10 x64 Host

The videos are uploaded as 'unlisted',  so, from what I understand they are accessible only by using the URLs,

but they will not show up in case of searches.

=

[bluefirestorm]

I didn't see from the videos you changing the USB controller to 1.1.

As for the virtual CDROM eject problems, I think it can be avoided simply by shutting down the VM first and then disconnect the virtual CDROM or removing the ISO so that it is not mounted.

As for the USB flash drive not finding an appropriate driver, I noticed that when it was looking for the drivers, the ISO that was mounted was the VMware Tools. I don't think VMware Tools comes with the USB drivers. I am not sure either if Windows 98 comes with the correct USB driver. Again, Windows 98 was early days of USB devices so device drivers may not be available. You could try to mount the Windows 98 ISO again and then plug in the USB sticks and search on the CDROM (after changing to USB 1.1 controller).

I noticed you set the monitor first before setting the resolution. I don't think it matters to set the monitor. I just leave it as "Default Monitor" and just use the slider control to set the resolution.

I didn't see you try the drag-and-drop from host desktop to VM desktop in the video.

Anyway, you could just create an ISO file of the files/folders and mount the ISO as a virtual CD to the Windows 98 VM to copy the files. Most CD/DVD burner software have that ISO creation capability. I have not used this in a long time, the free Alex Feinman ISO recorder did the job well when I had Windows XP/7 physical PCs/desktops. You could download the Creative Ensoniq audio drivers and then create an ISO file together with the game and other files that you want to copy into the Windows 98 VM. You can then mount the ISO to the Windows 98 VM to copy and then install.

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/#/

[thewul]

Hello again,

1. USB 1.1 : I tried that many times, of course also with Windows 98 SE and even after rebooting the VM:  it makes no difference the USB is not detected.

2. CD-ROM: even after ejecting the CD-ROM within VM and after disconnecting the CD-ROM in VM (disconnect removable) and even after closing VM and unloading VM services from Windows...  the tray could not be opened manually. There was / is no alternative but simply reboot the system and almost immediately after boot, remove the CD from the player.

Tried that many times.

3. Monitor settings: when using Default Monitor, the slider could not be changed. I had to install VMware Tools (including SVGA driver) then select SVGA and a higher solution + 'Apply'.

Only then I could change the resolution with the slider.

4. Drag and drop: is not possible (the Guest Isolation items are tagged by default), same as copy - paste, that does not work either.

5. .ISO file: apparently VMware considers that as a CD-ROM, with the same CD-ROM issues as under '2.'

I have been using 98SE .iso since I learned that default v98  (non-SE) did not support USB.

So I downloaded Windows 98 SE and have been using that all the time.

As for the virtual CD-ROM, actually, I think there is no real need to install software.

Windows Explorer includes a kind of Virtual CD player.

When selecting 'mount' it will load as (for instance) X:\ and within VMware you can then select 'X:\'

VMware of course detects that as WIndows.

BUT.. regretfully.. same issues

This is with VMware Workstation v.14.1

But all the above also counts for Workstation 5 - I tried that version as well, a few times, so as to be compatible

as much as possible with old Windows 98SE.

Guess what, in the end I also tried Windows NT, but VMware Tools would not install: I needed NT with Service Pack 6

which probably will be somewhere on Internet, but after spending so many hours on this ...

Windows 98 from CD-ROM 3x (with VMware Workstation 14.1 and v.5.x)

Windows 98SE from ISO 3x or 4x (from ISO, from Virtual CD-ROM, using 14.1 and 5.x)

Windows NT

I must come to the conclusion that it isn't worth spending more time on. The only thing I wanted is to see whether a (very) old game would work.

Anyway, many thanks for all your suggestions. It is truly appreciated!

=

-

[bluefirestorm]

I am not sure if you understood what I was trying to convey about the ISO.

I wasn't suggesting to install the ISO recorder on the Windows 98 VM. It would have to be installed where your files (the games, the sound drivers, etc) are located and create an ISO file out of it. Or if you already have an existing ISO file creator on your Windows 10 host, you don't need to install anything.

Since the copy/paste between host and VM does not work, drag-and-drop does not work, "Shared Folders" not supported in Windows 98 by VMware Tools, the one roundabout way to get files inside the VM is to create an ISO. The ISO file method is a virtual way of "burning a CDROM" for the Windows 98 VM.

The ISO file will consist of the files you want to copy into the Windows 98 VM.

You then put the ISO as a virtual CDROM for the Windows 98 VM (similar to what the Windows98.iso or VMware Tools.iso files are mounted through editing the VM configuration and browsing to the ISO file you created). Then you copy the files from the virtual CD to the VM. But given the EJECT CD problems you have, it is better to just shut down the Win98 VM first and then reconfigure the virtual CDROM to point to the ISO file you created.

[thewul]

Oh, btw, I tried again, twice, today and used the .iso from: WinWorld: Windows 98 Second Edition

I also used the 'Windows 98 Second Edition (VMWare)' version about 3 times.

Within W98SE System->Hardware->Device management the USB stuff is available.

USB is connected to VMware, but it is simply not detected by Windows98.

Tried various USB thumbdrives and USB ports of course also set to USB 1.1

Booting, disconnecting reconnecting, etc.

But doing a Google search on VMware, WIndows 98 and USB I see that this seems to be a regular occurrence.

Google for:  windows 98 vmware usb driver

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1011734

https://communities-gbot.vmware.com/thread/552288

The last thread offered a solution by downloading a driver. However, that does not work for me, because the driver can not be copied into W98.

-

[bluefirestorm]

At this point, I think it would be better to abandon the effort to get the USB to work inside the Windows 98 VM.

Instead of using ISO, since you are using Workstation Pro, you could also use the "Map Virtual Disk" function.

You map the virtual disk of the Windows 98 VM from the host machine.

You then copy the necessary files/folders from the host machine over. Disconnect when you are done. Power up the VM and the copied files should already be inside the VM.

[continuum]

Switching from one ISO to another ISO is not as straight forward as one would expect.
Please try this:
1. inside the guest - make sure you close everything that accesses the Win98-install.iso - including all explorer-windows and the Win98-installer.
2. disconnect the ISO from the Workstation-GUI.
3. inside the guest - open an explorer-windows for drive 😧 - (this should display an empty drive or complain about missing media)
4. inside the guest - close the explorer-windows again
5. now assign another ISO from the Workstation-GUI - and "connect" it
6. inside the guest - open another explorer window for 😧 - now the content should be displayed.

The important step is to make an attempt from inside the guestOS while no ISO is connected.
Changing directly from one ISO to another will fail.
If all of that does not work - what about assigning another CD-drive with your self created ISO-file ?

[thewul]

Thanks for the feedback sofar.

I have made 2 videos again.

Please would you check where I went wrong?

I think it is best to skip thru the install and head for around 04:30 (part 1)  where I start trying to do this CD-ROM connect/disconnect stuff.

Please note though that it isn't the CD ROM iso - I have been able to connect to that earlier

but rather is it an USB issue and specifically moving files from host to guest.

Remember, basically I wanted to play this small game.

I packed the game into an .iso and connected it, etc.

Where Windows 98 started out to display the menu of the Windows 98 CD-ROM (after ejecting and connecting, etc.)

the iso of the game, when trying to access with Windows 98 explorer, is empty.

Probably that is not the road I should follow, have tried that a couple of times already.

USB is set to 1.1

Windows98SE on VMware Part 1 2018 04 02 140912 - YouTube

Windows 98SE on VMware part 2 2018 04 02 141455 - YouTube

[continuum]

Video 1:
Step 6: when you assigned the other ISO-file you did NOT select "connected" - you only selected "connect at boot".

[continuum]

You seem to have at least on other VM - so I would suggest you use the workaround already suggested by bluefirestorm.
> Create an IDE virtual disk in another VM that take the files (be it copy/paste, shared folders, etc) and then add the IDE virtual disk to the Windows 98 VM.
When creating that other VMDK make sure to keep it small - not larger than 2GB and format it inside the other guest with FAT32.

[thewul]

Ehm . . . not sure what you mean then . . . sorry.

-

[continuum]

Yes