Dg41ty Drivers

[Phoebe Sibilio]

Iwanted to buy a new SSD but then I found out that AHCI support in the motherboard is important. I looked into Google and couldn't find out if my Intel DG41TY motherboard support AHCI. The manual doesn't mention it but maybe the newest BIOS has it.

SSD drives will work just fine in classic SATA/IDE mode. Some vendor provided tools might not work (in my case those provided by Samsung), but the drive will still work and the built-in firmware will still be able to alleviate wear caused by repeated writes (plus you'll still get a speed increase, even on SATA2). Also the operating system most likely will be able to use features such as the TRIM command (given it's supported, e.g. Windows 7 or Windows 8 but not Windows XP or Windows Vista), you'll just have to make sure to use the proper drivers (and, based on your mainboard/controller, not run in RAID mode; sometimes TRIM won't work then).

I am not sure if its chipset actually supports AHCI but just BIOS did not give you the option to turn that on. If this is the case, then there's still a (very faint) chance to force it to run in AHCI mode using external tools such as GRUB, but it may be waste of your time as only a few models of machines such as old Mac book pro and Vaio notebooks got the trick succeeded. If you're willing to use linux, things will get little bit easier but the chipset itself should support AHCI anyway. It's a complex issue and usually it's reasonable to think that, at least on Windows, no BIOS support means no AHCI at all.

Anyway, it's an old issue and probably you've upgraded your mobo already. If not and you still want to use AHCI on Windows with the environment you had, the last resort will be buying an external AHCI adaptor which may not be reasonable as it makes you spend money for the old hardware. It is true that turning on AHCI will give you not only "SSD trim" but also performance advantages, but it may not worth spending more money.

I did found a workaround that problem. I got borrowed a generic Samsung monitor from a friend and connected it to the VGA port. I disconnected the LCD TV from the DVI port and reinstalled the same video drivers on the machine. On restart, I connected my LCD TV thru the VGA port and I could set it to 1360X768 @ 60 Hz

DVI is completely digital and the quality is apparent (more crisp display) compared to vga which is analog. I prefer using VGA & HDMI on Intel 4 series motherboards since the the DVI output from the GMA is giving me such a headache.

- When connecting this product via HDMI or DVI to a Set Top Box, DVD Player or Games Console etc, make sure that it has been set to a compatible video output mode as shown in the table below. Failure to observe this may result in picture distortion, image breakup or no picture.

Intel does not verify all solutions, including but not limited to any file transfers that may appear in this community. Accordingly, Intel disclaims all express and implied warranties, including without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, as well as any warranty arising from course of performance, course of dealing, or usage in trade.

Hello everyone!

This project is fairly straightforward. I have integrated the Device Data from the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility versions 6.3.0.1007 and 8.3.1.1009 (up to ICH9; all after ICH6 is UNOFFICIAL) (excluding server motherboard/Xeon CPU chipsets due to 64KB INF size limit) into the original MACHINE.INF, MACHINE2.INF, and MSHDC.INF files. At the moment, only files for 98SE English have been created. I may consider creating equivalent versions of these INF's for ME/98FE (MAYBE 95, it is more complicated) if there is sufficient interest.

Updated info for USB Devices is not included in this initial version. The reason being that there would need to be multiple versions of USB.INF and USB2.INF, depending on if the original USB files are to be maintained; if manufacturer-issued USB2 drivers will be in use; or if NUSB 3.3, NUSB 3.6, or any other unofficial package is used in a target system.

Hopefully some of you with Intel or Intel-based systems can test these in a new installation.

Answers to a few initial questions:

Do I NEED these INF's?

No, but they can take a step out of setting up a new system. They are also only useful for new Windows 98SE installations on Intel or Intel-based motherboards.

How do I use these INF's?

Unzip them and place them in the same directory as your Windows 98SE CAB files prior to installation, and they will be used instead of the older versions inside the CABs.

In order to use these, you will need to copy the \WIN98 folder of your 98SE CDROM to your Hard Drive and install from there, or be able to create a new Windows 98SE CD with these files added to the \WIN98 folder.

What do these INF's do?

These INF's provide all of the Device Information contained in the above listed versions of the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility. If you use these updated INFs during 98SE installation, you will no longer need to install the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility to provide drivers/identify devices on your Intel or Intel-based motherboard.

EDIT 7/20/13 :

I have split the project into two INF sets, one to be used with Intel Chipsets up to ICH6 (mostly 8xx chipsets) and one to be used with ICH7/ICH8/ICH9/ICH10. (ICH10 not included yet!) Please use the proper version for your system.

I have tested the ICH6 and below INFs on some ICH6 and ICH5 systems, and I know these work.

Based on the issues schwups reported below, I have reduced the size of MACHINE2.INF for the ICH7 and up INF set. This set is still experimental, and this reduced version is for testing ONLY!

If anyone can test, especially on ICH7/ICH8/ICH9 systems please report your results.

INTEL_INF_98SE.ZIP - 44.9 Kb

I have updated the project to include all devices up to the Intel Chipset Identification Utility version 9.4.0.1017. The newer version requires slightly different handling, so the older version and links are left intact. See Post #31 for link and more info.

the first attempt failed . "The file C:\WININSTO.400\machine2.inf couldn't be opened. The file is missing or corrupted....SU0410". Generally inf files with more than 53 KB don't work on Win ME. But I'm not so familar with Win98SE. My test system: Win98SE, chipset i945 / ICH7.

For the second attempt I reduced machine.inf and machine2.inf to 48 KB and 51 KB (removed not necessary entries). Now the setup runs without an error. But the look into the Device Manager reveals that something went wrong. The devices of your machine.inf exist except the PCI BUS (unknown device). Also the manual install fails (errorcode 192). The devices of machine2.inf and MSHDC.inf are missing or aren't installed.

I haven't had the opportunity yet to actually use these on ICH7 and up yet. I do know that everything I integrated from the last official 98SE INFs DOES work, because I have used it successfully on ICH6 and ICH5R boards, but this was before I added the ICH7/8/9 data.

I will investigate further as soon as I can. I am surprised that xRayer's driver works where mine doesn't though, because I actually compared them before I released my versions. Also I noted some instances in xRayer's INFs where the device VEN&DEV line entries point to install sections that do not exist. (This is a side-effect of directly copying those lines from a 2K/XP INF file without the corresponding sections, one should either do this and modify those sections accordingly for 9x, or when the VEN&DEV entries are copied, they should be edited to point to the proper sections in the 9x INF... but who am I to criticize, LOL , his apparently works and mine doesn't, so I'll have to figure out what is different. )

"The file C:\WININSTO.400\machine2.inf couldn't be opened. The file is missing or corrupted....SU0410". Generally inf files with more than 53 KB don't work on Win ME. But I'm not so familar with Win98SE. My test system: Win98SE, chipset i945 / ICH7.

But the look into the Device Manager reveals that something went wrong. The devices of your machine.inf exist except the PCI BUS (unknown device). Also the manual install fails (errorcode 192). The devices of machine2.inf and MSHDC.inf are missing or aren't installed.

I compared my INFs to xRayer's again. The only major difference is that I moved all of the Intel data to MACHINE2.INF rather than MACHINE.INF; this because it is the method already used in 98SE. All of the ICH7 devices are pointed to the same "installation processes;" basically the exact same actions should be performed by both INF sets.

As I mentioned above the "PCI Bus" driver installation failure happened to me as well, even without any updated INFs, and I had to manually install "PCI Bus" to cause the detection of the remaining missing devices. It may be impossible to avoid this during a "clean install," or, it may require special handling in the INF if we can figure out what to modify.

If you manually place xRayer's drivers (without mine) in the \WIN98 folder before installation, are they detected and used during installation? If so, does the "PCI Bus" installation failure still occur?

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