Using USB with Windows 98 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Wallace Gasiewicz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2020, 11:02:21 pm
content: I would like to use the USB port in my Agilent 54810 running Windows 98I can get to windows and DOS. I have read a little about the drivers but I thought I would ask here first.Any information would be helpfulWally

author: greenpossum
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2020, 11:09:16 pm
content: What do you intend to plug into the USB port?

author: Wallace Gasiewicz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 09:48:34 am
content: Just memory thumb driveWally

author: greenpossum
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 10:15:45 am
content: Try installing the USB driver for W98 then. A search should find it.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 10:27:29 am
content: For any PC running Win98, you *NEED* to be running Windows 98 Second Edition as USB support in the original release was minimal. You also need Windows to have a valid driver installed for the USB controller(s) - if they are too new a chipset that may be problematic. Then simply install the Maximus Decim Native USB drivers (3rd party user developed USB drivers for Win98SE) for full mass storage support, subject to Win98SE's volume size and filesystem limitations*. You *may* need to delete the USB controller(s) from device manager then scan for hardware changes to force redetection if you've messed around with other USB drivers.Most of the stuff you need can be found on or linked fromhttp://www.mdgx.com/However as you are considering upgrading/patching the OS on an oscilloscope there may be some further issues e.g. conflicts between system files patched in the USB updates and ones patched by the OEM to support their scope UI. Don't even consider it unless you have a tested exact clone of the hard drive!* There are various patches for Win98SE that extend its drive and volume size limits, but you are still stuck with it only understanding FAT16 and FAT32 filesystems. I believe there is third party NTFS support, but back in the day the only free NTFS support I could find was buggy as heck.

author: Wallace Gasiewicz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 12:30:08 pm
content: This is Windows 98 FE 4.10.1998The HD is upgraded to 35 Gig SSDThere are some drivers on the net that proclaim to work, just wondering if they ever do workI have no intention of upgrading the OS since the scope works fine, just wanted to download files to USB 1 or 2 so I could transfer files this was instead of floppy.I just wondered if anyone had done this.Wally

author: bobcat2000
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2020, 09:39:01 pm
content: I don't know what Agilent 54810 is. So, I google this machine. I found this document.I don't see it says you can use the USB port to transfer file. On the other hand, it says it can access network shared folder. It says the floppy drive is a LS-120. If I remember correctly, the LS-120 is an ATA drive. Is it possible for you to replace the LS-120 with IDE-SD card adapter?http://www.testequipmenthq.com/datasheets/Agilent-54810A-Datasheet.pdf

author: Wallace Gasiewicz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2020, 12:00:41 pm
content: I really do not know if I can replace the disc drive. I suppose I could but it works and writes to 1.4 floppy which is enough for file transfer at present. There are various drives associated with the LS 120. Here is a quote:"SuperDisk drives have been sold in parallel port, USB, ATAPI and SCSI variants. All drives can read and write 1.44 MB and 720 KiB MFM floppies, as used on PCs, Apple Macintoshes (High Density format only, see below), and many workstations. 2.88 MB floppy formats are not supported."I do not think that the OS will support USB mass storage anywhere, but I thought I would ask.The machine is built upon one of several old motherboards, I do not know right now which motherboard I have. The unit I have has a SSD that was partitioned and installed as a replacement for the old small HD.I have not looked inside to see if there are any available slots left on the motherboard, I think there are free slots. I was also wondering if there was a device that would enable me to use a slot to use an adapter to use a USB for mass storage. I do not know if this is practical with the Windows 98 FE.Please excuse my ignorance in these matters, any suggestions would be welcome.I may try a dongle to see if I can connect to my home network.There are lots of older radio and test equipment units built on old PC motherboards. As far as I can gather, the software used to run the equipment usually cannot be changed much because of the interface with the "hybrid" components. Today the pieces of test equipment are smaller and more integrated, one of my slightly newer Agilent/Keysight units runs on Linux. I can modify the boot/upgrade disc in ASCI format. It also has USB ports that are useless.I have a "modem" that is installed on an old IBM PC motherboard. It is a radio modem used for shortwave communication. I am unable to get it to work partially because of my lack of knowledge and partially because it is so unusual and information is scarce.Anyway back to the point, Is there a way to install another board that would enable me to use some sort of USB mass storage?Thanks for all of your responses.Wally

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2020, 12:28:48 pm
content: If there's insufficient OS support for USB mass storage, no adapter will help. Don't expect a WiFi dongle to work either as one with Win98FE drivers is a rare beast indeed and is unlikely to support the minimum security for a modern network or even compatible IEEE 802.11 signalling.If its got a free PCI slot, an Ethernet adapter might well be the best option to transfer data to/from it. Expect problems getting modern Windows PCs to 'see' network shares on a Win98 machine, as support for old insecure network and filesharing protocols have largely been removed or disabled in current versions of windows. It may well be easier to install a webserver (e.g. Win98's own PWS) or a FTP daemon and do all transfers from a web browser or FTP client on the modern PC.Any ethernet adapter should have a minimum of 1KV isolation, so it wont introduce any ground loops, and although it will cause some additional EMI, it should be insignificant compared to that due to the motherboard. Worst case you may need to add extra screening round the card.

author: Wallace Gasiewicz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2020, 12:49:22 pm
content: Already have an ethernet card installed. I could plug it into my router or some sort of wifi .

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2020, 06:30:25 am
content: Windows 98 came with native USB support. The first version of Windows which supported USB was 95 OSR2 through the use of a USB supplement.That being said, if you're just using it for USB thumb drives etc... you will probably need to install the mass storage driver.I have attached the generic Microsoft mass storage drivers for Win9x in this post. They should work with most devices.

author: DrNefario
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 01:06:09 pm
content: I know this is an old post, but I just did this over the weekend.The driver I used was here:https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2018/05/usb-drivers-for-windows-98.htmlans it is the nusb320-Eng-98FE.exe file. I followed the instructions and upgraded an Agilent 54845B running win 98 FE with this.Prior to the upgrade it could use a USB mouse but no flashdrives. Following the instructions I removed all USB devices (be careful - you should use a PS-2 mouse or that will stop working if you have a USB mouse) with device manager and loaded the driver. It created another folder and extracted the files there. Point to that folder if you are asked where to install the drivers from. Now I can read and write to my flashdrives. BTW, I made a clone of my drive and verified that it worked before I did this just to be sure.