Win98SE on Qemu

My experience with using Qemu to run Windows 98. Please read all notes below before trying any of this.

The result is a working installation of Windows 98, including sound and network. The graphics is more than 1024x768@24bits. No 3D acceleration. The performance is good enough for desktop use and simple games, may not be good enough for gamers. Doom95 and Quake95 works at default settings.

Host used:

Xubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
QEMU emulator version 6.2.0 (Debian 1:6.2+dfsg-2ubuntu6.8)
Host CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-11900F
Host mainboard: Asus PRIME Z590-A
Host graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

Command to create disks:

  qemu-img create -f qcow2 win98.img 1G
  qemu-img create -f qcow2 data.qcow2 1G

Command to run qemu:

  qemu-system-i386 -hda win98.img -drive file=../windows98se.iso,if=ide,index=1,media=cdrom -boot c -cpu coreduo -m 256 -vga cirrus -net nic,model=pcnet  -net user,smb=/tmp -rtc base=localtime -accel tcg -no-hpet -device AC97 -drive file=data.qcow2 -serial none -parallel none

Command to mount disk in Linux, to transfer files and data in/out:

  sudo modprobe nbd max_part=8
  sudo qemu-nbd --connect=/dev/nbd0 ./data.qcow2 
  sudo fdisk /dev/nbd0 -l
  sudo mount /dev/nbd0p1 /mnt/foo
  -- do stuff
  sudo umount /mnt/foo
  sudo qemu-nbd --disconnect /dev/nbd0
  sudo rmmod nbd

Others use a FTP-client in Windows 98 and a FTP-server somewhere.

Notes

Assumes the Windows CD is bootable.
Reboot will not work. One has to shutdown Qemu and restart it manually. Somewhat annoying when installing...
During first steps of install change -boot c to -boot d and remove -drive file=data.qcow2 for convenience.
For first use of the extra disk (data.qcow2) the disk needs to be formatted. In cmd do:
```
    fdisk (select disk 2 and create dos-partition)
    format d:
  
```
After installation of Windows 98 there will be a couple of warnings in Control panel/Devices. Update driver for Plug-and-play-bios by doing a manual install of PCI_BUS to resolve and add the missing network adapter. Let it install any drivers requested. Be sure to NOT let it reboot until finished or forced. During install there are phases were a CD-driver is not available and thus not possible to continue if doing reboot at all steps. When finished do a reboot or two to make sure it is finished. Check for duplicate PCI_BUS and possibly remove the extra one.
Most pages about this recommends SB16 as sound. But the SB16-emulation in Qemu seems to be broken for now. Use AC97 instead. Driver can be found at https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-ac-97-audio-codecs-software. Use the version for Windows 95, unpack on host, put on data disc and add hardware in control panel.
For network set DNS server to 10.0.2.3 in controlpanel/network. Run Internet tools/Internet Connection Wizard, select LAN, no mail account and connect now. Most web sites won't allow connecting in Internet Explorer since modern https is not supported. Qemu won't allow incoming connections.
The cirrus card may have a duplicate in Device manager. Disable the one with a !-sign in device manager, reboot, enable, reboot (possibly twice) to resolve. After resolving this, a resolution of 1024x768 with true colour (24-bits) works for example.
The -drive file=... for the cdrom should be the same as a simple -cdrom file.iso. But I kept it for reference.
So far I have not been able to access the smb-server started by Qemu. Possibly because of old (SMB1) version in Windows 98, or maybe samba server is disabled in host?
Doom95 can be run in full screen mode. Start the game, wait for it to load and then press Ctrl + Alt + F. If wrong size in Windows desktop after quit, try full screen and back again. But Chocolate Doom in a modern OS is probably better.

WinBench 96 report

Software found in internet archive.

WEIGHTED SUITE	Current Results	UNITS

CD-ROM WinMark 96	8380 [1] 	Thousand Bytes/Sec
CPUmark16	123 [1] 	 
CPUmark32	2370 [1] 	 
Disk WinMark 96	4140 [1,2] 	Thousand Bytes/Sec
Graphics WinMark 96	52.9 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec

TEST	Current Results	UNITS

CD-ROM/Mix	8380 [1] 	Thousand Bytes/Sec
Combined GWM 1	92.9 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 2	30.6 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 3	16.8 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 4	44.5 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 5	16.2 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 6	65.4 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 7	8.41 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 8	124 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM 9	14.9 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM10	12.2 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM11	3.01 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM12	2.99 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Combined GWM13	11.1 [1] 	Million Pixels/Sec
Disk/Mix	4140 [1,2] 	Thousand Bytes/Sec
Processor/16-Bit	123 [1] 	 
Processor/32-Bit	2370 [1] 	 

NOTES

 [1]  The following Windows tasks were running during this test and could affect the test results: EXPLORER.EXE, KRNL386.EXE, MPREXE.EXE, MSGSRV32.EXE, MSTASK.EXE, SYSTRAY.EXE, TASKMON.EXE
 [2]  You moved the mouse during the test, possibly affecting the results.

References

lysweb3@jonass.user.lysator.liu.se

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This page was last modified May 2023.