Start Photo Album (20 pictures)! Starting in 1993, a "new" product soon became a synonym for a total nightmare and the equivalent of a today's childrens' toy.Everybody which had access to "real" computers and systems began to feel embarassed, and all parts of the body began to ache suddenly when a collegue asked for help with Windows for Workgroups...
Microsoft wanted to do a facelift to Windows 3.1 and felt the pressure of OS/2 just poking around. It had networking, something Microsoft could not offer! So Windows for Workgroups was born as a fast hack. There was Windows 3.1 for Workgroups (not sold very often) and then Windows 3.11.
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ! Ready to go! (Photoalbum, 20 images).
Enjoy!
The system was installed with Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.1.4, Settings:
Turn off ACPI, IO APIC, VT-x/AMD-V, Nested Paging, PAE/NX and 3D Acceleration.
Give your system 16 MB of RAM and 12 MB of graphics memory (to be able to switch to fullscreen).
Use a normal IDE primary master (no SATA! Windows 3.11 is from 1993...). Turn on Sound support via "SoundBlaster 16".
Use the PCInet-PC II network card emulation.
To install Windows for Workgroups 3.11, you will need a working DOS. You may use FreeDOS if you don't find your disks. I installed MS-DOS 6.22.
First, install CPUIdle, otherwise you will use up an entire CPU core for your emulation (no HLT loop in DOS).
Then, install CDROM support for your DOS, otherwise Windows will not "see" your CDROM or CDROM emulation from VirtualBox. I used CD1.SYS, available from many DOS boot disks with CDROM support...
Windows itselfs came on nine 1,44 MB-diskettes, the setup ran smoothly. For the network: Use the AMD network driver, still available from AMD:
http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/dynamicDetails.aspx?ListID=b7383048-1ac6-4dd5-9f0e-087bb719e48e&ItemID=508
Important: Only install NDIS3! Deselect NDIS2 otherwise it will ask for additional diskettes.
To transfer data/drivers from my host to the dos/windows box I just made ISO images and included this ISO image via CDROM emulation...
You have to change a setting of the network driver, otherwise it won't detect your network card and you'll get the famous network error messages "Device ... is not working properly"...
For "Bus Type to Scan" select "PCI1". Then you're ready to go!
Now, add a protocol for your network card: Microsoft TCP/IP 32b! You will find the needed file here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/99891
Run the exe, put the files on a diskette or ISO image, mount it. Then you can install the protocol "TCP/IP" from this "diskette".
At the end, install WQGHLT.386 into \windows\system to make the HLT loop working in windows, too. Otherwise your virtualbox will consume 100% CPU.
You'll get this little driver here:
http://www.weiqigao.com/blog/2006/02/20/qemu_the_open_source_processor_emulator.html
Add into \windows\system.ini under the section [386Enh]:
device=wqghlt.386
For Sound Blaster emulation: Go to "System Settings", "Driver" and add the driver for "Creative SoundBlaster 1.5". Select I/O Port 0x220 and IRQ 5. Then you'll have sound.
If you want to have stereo sound, use the Sound Blaster Pro 2 Driver for Windows:
sbbasic.exe
Run this .exe under DOS (self extracting archive). Launch SETUP.EXE then, it will copy the needed files into your windows directory. At the next windows start it will setup a program group for the Mixer applications.
16bit sound with 44,1 kHz sample rate is possible with this driver. Look for "Winplay3" and you're ready to play MP3 files including .m3u playlists on your Windows 3.11 machine!
[Update:]
To be able to use 32 bit disk access under Sun xVM Virtual Box, just use this driver:
MH32BIT.386 (Maxtor 32 bit driver)
Copy this file to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.
Insert these lines in SYSTEM.INI directly under [386Enh]:
DEVICE=MH32BIT.386
32BitDiskAccess=On
And it should work...
Give your system 16 MB of RAM and 12 MB of graphics memory (to be able to switch to fullscreen).
Use a normal IDE primary master (no SATA! Windows 3.11 is from 1993...). Turn on Sound support via "SoundBlaster 16".
Use the PCInet-PC II network card emulation.
To install Windows for Workgroups 3.11, you will need a working DOS. You may use FreeDOS if you don't find your disks. I installed MS-DOS 6.22.
First, install CPUIdle, otherwise you will use up an entire CPU core for your emulation (no HLT loop in DOS).
Then, install CDROM support for your DOS, otherwise Windows will not "see" your CDROM or CDROM emulation from VirtualBox. I used CD1.SYS, available from many DOS boot disks with CDROM support...
Windows itselfs came on nine 1,44 MB-diskettes, the setup ran smoothly. For the network: Use the AMD network driver, still available from AMD:
http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/dynamicDetails.aspx?ListID=b7383048-1ac6-4dd5-9f0e-087bb719e48e&ItemID=508
Important: Only install NDIS3! Deselect NDIS2 otherwise it will ask for additional diskettes.To transfer data/drivers from my host to the dos/windows box I just made ISO images and included this ISO image via CDROM emulation...
You have to change a setting of the network driver, otherwise it won't detect your network card and you'll get the famous network error messages "Device ... is not working properly"...
For "Bus Type to Scan" select "PCI1". Then you're ready to go!
Now, add a protocol for your network card: Microsoft TCP/IP 32b! You will find the needed file here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/99891
Run the exe, put the files on a diskette or ISO image, mount it. Then you can install the protocol "TCP/IP" from this "diskette".
At the end, install WQGHLT.386 into \windows\system to make the HLT loop working in windows, too. Otherwise your virtualbox will consume 100% CPU.
You'll get this little driver here:
http://www.weiqigao.com/blog/2006/02/20/qemu_the_open_source_processor_emulator.html
Add into \windows\system.ini under the section [386Enh]:
device=wqghlt.386
For Sound Blaster emulation: Go to "System Settings", "Driver" and add the driver for "Creative SoundBlaster 1.5". Select I/O Port 0x220 and IRQ 5. Then you'll have sound.
If you want to have stereo sound, use the Sound Blaster Pro 2 Driver for Windows:
sbbasic.exe
Run this .exe under DOS (self extracting archive). Launch SETUP.EXE then, it will copy the needed files into your windows directory. At the next windows start it will setup a program group for the Mixer applications.
16bit sound with 44,1 kHz sample rate is possible with this driver. Look for "Winplay3" and you're ready to play MP3 files including .m3u playlists on your Windows 3.11 machine!
[Update:]
To be able to use 32 bit disk access under Sun xVM Virtual Box, just use this driver:MH32BIT.386 (Maxtor 32 bit driver)
Copy this file to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.
Insert these lines in SYSTEM.INI directly under [386Enh]:
DEVICE=MH32BIT.386
32BitDiskAccess=On
And it should work...
Very nice work. This made me take the time to try it out. Back in the day, huh?
Everything works well except the 32-bit hdd driver. I'm getting the message:
The Micro House 32-bit disk driver (MH32BIT.386) validation failed at phase 01, 00
To continue starting Windows without using the 32-bit disk driver, press any key.
Did you run into that at anytime? I'll mess with it, but I thought I'd see if it was something you saw.
Thanks
Make sure there is no EMM386.EXE loaded in your CONFIG.SYS. This 32bit disk driver is incompatible with EMM386.
"Important: Only install NDIS3! Deselect NDIS2 otherwise it will ask for additional diskettes."
It is not possible to "deselect" NDIS2 since there is nothing to select or deselect, it's all part of the same driver. And that driver requires files that are not present in the download, forcing me to skip it. Fortunately networking works after a reboot.
WOW Pascal, if you were really around back then, you sure have different memories to me and all my network game playing LAN party buddies. We used to have LAN parties to play network games several nights every week.
For us, Win3.11 was a breath of frash air, it enabled networking to be setup so easily that we could play 8 player network games infinitely easier than before using *ANY* other OS or software.
Win3.11 was the muts nuts.
It it didn't work, we would have chucked it in the bin. But work it did, and extremely well.
Here you are calling it 16 years of nightmares - WOW this could not be different from my experiences. It sure makes me question whether you were really around back then, or whether you are just another brainless microsoft basher.
Here's another example for you. Back in the early 1990's, I had a 486 with 4 MB of RAM - a decent PC at the time. However, I could not get my new game "Rise of the Triad" to load. So I purchased an extra 4 MB of RAM (making 8 MB in total), and ROTT still would not load - it wanted 8 MB and no amount of DOS tweaking would allow me to play it (loading drivers into UMB, loading high, trimming out everything at boot-up except what was absolutely necessary, etc). So, I loaded Win3.11 and ran ROTT as a DOS program under Windows - and it worked .... PERFECTLY, with full network support.
Win3.11 was *THAT* good - it blew the pants of anything else, including the rubbish OS's from IBM, Apple, etc.
Maybe you should think about this before you join the brainless sheep who all love to bash microsoft without a shred of evidence and without talking to anyone who was there at the time and/or actually used the products.
Dear Mr. Moose,
In light of your last paragraph, I would suggest you think before you write, "the brainless sheep who all love to bash microsoft without a shred of evidence and without talking to anyone who was there at the time and/or actually used the products."
I was there and all I can say is that the most impressive bit of magic ever concocted was how microslop managed to sell DOS (single-task operating system) vs. Unix (multi-tasking operating system). Oh, and please don't forget other magic moments in overpriced rubbish like Win95! True 32-bit! ahmmm, no, not 32-bit. Win98! True-32-bit! Well, not really...hurray WinMe! True 32-shit! sorry, that was a fake too.
As far as I can tell, microslop didn't make a decent OS until win2k (which still wasn't 32-bit really...)
Just a little note: The Windows NT line of operating systems _ARE_ fully 32bit. They carried a Dos Virtual 16bit machine for compatibility, sure.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU CRAZY BUNCH OF BARSTARDS (of which I am unashamedly one). I just started messing with Virtual Software, specificially Sun's Virtual Box, and what's the first thing I do, I load Windows For Workgroups 3.11, and I'm in process of loading NIC and Sound drivers, which brought me here. So I guess there are 8 of us crazy barstards now. (evil grin and very evil laugh.)
As to GEM, Whoooa, damn, there partner, I think you shot, tagged, bagged and mounted poor Mr. Moose's head on your wall. He may well have had very good luck. I've heard of such luck. Aint ne'er seen it, but I done heard tell of it from others. Myself, I called it Winshit, but was forced to use and learn it, usually cussing all the way.
I too was there in the beginning. The first computer I ever worked with was an IBM 360 in High School doing Fortran programming. My first personal computer was a TRS-80 Model I, (Stop laughing dammit, it weren't that bad.) followed by TRS-80 Model IV (Stop laughing dammit.), Commodore Vic 20, Commodore 64, and finally a PC AT. Before the AT, I worked with Apple II (a simply marvelous machine. Thanks Woz!), and also with a Timex Sinclair, TI 99/4, Atari ST and a few others I forget. So I think I just might know a bit about computers.
So, I must say that Unix and Apple were far more solid in every way than anything MS had. And Mr. Moose there does exhibit a certain lack of knowledge on the subject when he says it blew away all other OSes. I'd love to know what exactly he means by all other OSes. He may have had wonderful results with Windows 3, but it was a hastily cobbled together and unreliable GUI. (It was NOT an OS and I will not call it one.) And yet, the tech in me loved it because I always had to learn more and think more to make it work. I'm sick that way. Like you seven other deranged barstards. Mwahahahahahahahaha!
Hi Pascal,
Yes bad days but good days too :)
I used to integrate this stuff with Netware - long ago!
I have also a WFW VM. Works great, but wish it had accelerated video.
For Moose, oh how we used to despise you guys. OS/2 was so much better, but stupid Windows weenies won the day. Ignorance and sloppiness always win against knowledge and accuracy.
Pascal, this is a great blog, and I love the MARTA picture - I live in Atlanta.
-drl
Hi Mr Lunsfors, nice to hear that you like my blog.
Reading Mr Mooses comment and the replies I felt like taken back with a time machine - you remember the Atari vs Amiga advocacy battle? Then Windows 3 vs OS/2, now Windows vs Linux...
I began playing with computers with a ZX 81 (remember? 1 Kilobyte RAM) in 1981 and a Commodore 64 in 1984. What a heck I was happy to get a 1541 floppy later with money I earned for delivering newspapers during a whole year...
I had the opportunity than to work on a /370 compatible machine (Comparex) using VM/CMS SP with HPO (High Performance Option, 32 MB RAM instead of 16, usable due to Bank Switching). I coded my first ReXX-programs and then /370 assembler. That was fun and I got in contact with many coders and users via BITNET (remember "TELL mike AT DKNKURZ1 blah blah" ?). This was my first touch with virtualization and the ability to reboot your own session ("IPL CMS") - a little bit like Xen nowadays. And storage was expressed as equivalents of a 3380 "cylinder" (4 MB each). I then learned COBOL, another defunct language nowadays.
Now I am stuck with Fiberchannel and iSCSI SANs and (Open)Solaris infrastructures. :-)
As for Atlanta: It was one of my most interesting parts of my life. It was my first trip to the US and I stayed 4 weeks there. This changed many views I had from the United States and I began to understand american people much better - and the american society/political system. The picture - for me - stands for this experience.
If I had a university degree (which I have not, blame it on me) I am sure I would have tried to get a job there.
Pascal
Great walk-through! As far as NDIS2/NDIS3 is concerned, there isn't any graphical option to choose just NDIS3. Instead, I edited the oemsetup.inf and commented out the line "ndis2=Z:pcntnd.dos"