[GH-ISSUE #50] Failed to install Soundblaster PCI 128 Drivers with Stock Iso inside a VM

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:33 +03:00

Owner

Originally created by @f1nalspace on GitHub (Jul 18, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/50

Inside a virtual machine (VMWare Workstation) that installation of the "Ensonic Audio PCI 128" crashes the VM with an IRQ mismatch , when windows was installed from win98-quickinstall. But when i use a raw win98 iso and do everything manually (patch9x, patch_mem, VMware Tools, etc.) and then installing the audio driver works. So its a not a problem of the driver nor the VM itself.

Steps to produce:

Create a win98 virtual machine in VMWare Workstation (512 MB, 1 CPU, IDE HDD, Audio, CD)
Mount Win98 Quick Install (Stock) and Boot from it
Partition and format the drive
Install it and let it reboot until windows is ready
Set DMA for CDROM and Drives
Install VMWare Tools
Install "Ensonic Audio PCI 128" from the original ISO -> Fails with an IRQ conflict and crashes the entire VM

Used Software:

VMWare Workstation 17.5.2 build-23775571
Windows 98 SE ISO
Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 Stock ISO
Creative Ensoniq AudioPCI 128 ISO (PN 1713330899) -> ES1371

Originally created by @f1nalspace on GitHub (Jul 18, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/50 Inside a virtual machine (VMWare Workstation) that installation of the "Ensonic Audio PCI 128" crashes the VM with an IRQ mismatch , when windows was installed from win98-quickinstall. But when i use a raw win98 iso and do everything manually (patch9x, patch_mem, VMware Tools, etc.) and then installing the audio driver works. So its a not a problem of the driver nor the VM itself. Steps to produce: 1. Create a win98 virtual machine in VMWare Workstation (512 MB, 1 CPU, IDE HDD, Audio, CD) 2. Mount Win98 Quick Install (Stock) and Boot from it 3. Partition and format the drive 4. Install it and let it reboot until windows is ready 5. Set DMA for CDROM and Drives 6. Install VMWare Tools 7. Install "Ensonic Audio PCI 128" from the original ISO -> Fails with an IRQ conflict and crashes the entire VM Used Software: - VMWare Workstation 17.5.2 build-23775571 - Windows 98 SE ISO - Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 Stock ISO - Creative Ensoniq AudioPCI 128 ISO (PN 1713330899) -> ES1371

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:33 +03:00

Author

Owner

@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Jul 18, 2025):

Exactly what version of the AudioPCI drivers are you using? Are you using an English or German raw ISO for comparison? By Patch9x do you mean Patcher9x, the Unofficial Service Pack, or the community Windows Update Collection? The QuickInstall image includes many of the official updates.

Things are working perfectly for me with the following setup:

VMWare Workstation Player 16.2.4
256 mb RAM in the emulated system (though this shouldn't matter)
Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 98SE Stock
VMWare Guest Integrations installed from the included menu option
the JHRobotics VMDisp9x display driver installed after the VMWare tools because the stock VMWare driver has bad screen corruption when scrolling.
SBPCI.sys (WDM) version 5.12.01.5017 from the SBPCI_WebDrvs_5_12_01 installer (attached here)

The Ensoniq ES1370 drivers are not entirely compatible with the later ES1371 and 1373, and the VMWare implementation is not accurate to either of the real chips as described here.

SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip

@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Jul 18, 2025): Exactly what version of the AudioPCI drivers are you using? Are you using an English or German raw ISO for comparison? By Patch9x do you mean Patcher9x, the Unofficial Service Pack, or the [community Windows Update Collection](https://archive.org/details/w98se-upd-r1)? The QuickInstall image includes many of the official updates. Things are working perfectly for me with the following setup: - VMWare Workstation Player 16.2.4 - 256 mb RAM in the emulated system (though this shouldn't matter) - Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 98SE Stock - VMWare Guest Integrations installed from the included menu option - the [JHRobotics VMDisp9x display driver](https://github.com/JHRobotics/vmdisp9x) installed after the VMWare tools because the stock VMWare driver has bad screen corruption when scrolling. - SBPCI.sys (WDM) version 5.12.01.5017 from the SBPCI_WebDrvs_5_12_01 installer (attached here) The Ensoniq ES1370 drivers are not entirely compatible with the later ES1371 and 1373, and the VMWare implementation is not accurate to either of the real chips as described [here](https://messaroundery.net/2023/09/19/ensoniq-es1371-driver-bug). [SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/21322879/SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip)

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:33 +03:00

Author

Owner

@f1nalspace commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2025):

Exactly what version of the AudioPCI drivers are you using? Are you using an English or German raw ISO for comparison? By Patch9x do you mean Patcher9x, the Unofficial Service Pack, or the community Windows Update Collection? The QuickInstall image includes many of the official updates.

Things are working perfectly for me with the following setup:
* VMWare Workstation Player 16.2.4

* 256 mb RAM in the emulated system (though this shouldn't matter)

* Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 98SE Stock

* VMWare Guest Integrations installed from the included menu option

* the [JHRobotics VMDisp9x display driver](https://github.com/JHRobotics/vmdisp9x) installed after the VMWare tools because the stock VMWare driver has bad screen corruption when scrolling.

* SBPCI.sys (WDM) version 5.12.01.5017 from the SBPCI_WebDrvs_5_12_01 installer (attached here)
The Ensoniq ES1370 drivers are not entirely compatible with the later ES1371 and 1373, and the VMWare implementation is not accurate to either of the real chips as described here.

SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip

The problem happens with all Audio PCI 128 drivers that i have tested, regardless of the win98 quick iso and win98 version (ME not tested).

When installing any Ensonic Audio PCI 128 driver inside a win98 quick environment, i get a VM popup with the following message and the VM crashes:

*** Access to misconfigured virtual devices ***

Your guest operating system has accessed an I/O range where multiple devices overlap.
This can have a variety of unpredictable results including virtual machine failures.
Click OK to reset the virtual machine or click Cancel to ignore the error.
If you choose to ignore the error, shut down the guest operating system as soon as possible to minimize instability.
If the problem persists after you reboot the virtual machine, see the knowledge base article at http://vmware.com/info?id=46

Btw. this also happens when i use the "SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.exe" driver you provided!

Looking at your post, you was using VMware Player 16.x, but i use VMware 17.x Workstation, so i assume win98 quick install uses some driver/IO configuration that is not compatible with VMware 17.x.

But as i already wrote, its not a problem from VMWare or the virtual machine configuration.

When i don't use quick install and do everything manually, it works:

Boot up patch9x from floppy
Paritition and format drive
Copy over windows 98 setup files to drive
Patch win98 setup files using the mounted patch9x
Install win98 with "setup /ie /nm"
After install, activate DMA for cdrom and drive
Install VMWare Tools without SVGA drivers
Install Ensonic Audio PCI 128 driver from ISO (ES1371)
Works just fine, no crash, audio is playing

Even forcing the VMX to use ES1371 always (sound.virtualDev = "es1371") will not work either.

So i can't use any win98 quick install at all, which is unfortunate because i really wanted to accelerate the win98 setup process, because i install it very very often - making tutorials, programming, playing retro games, testing Soft GPU, qemu etc.

@f1nalspace commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2025): > Exactly what version of the AudioPCI drivers are you using? Are you using an English or German raw ISO for comparison? By Patch9x do you mean Patcher9x, the Unofficial Service Pack, or the [community Windows Update Collection](https://archive.org/details/w98se-upd-r1)? The QuickInstall image includes many of the official updates. > > Things are working perfectly for me with the following setup: > > * VMWare Workstation Player 16.2.4 > > * 256 mb RAM in the emulated system (though this shouldn't matter) > > * Win98 QuickInstall 0.9.6 98SE Stock > > * VMWare Guest Integrations installed from the included menu option > > * the [JHRobotics VMDisp9x display driver](https://github.com/JHRobotics/vmdisp9x) installed after the VMWare tools because the stock VMWare driver has bad screen corruption when scrolling. > > * SBPCI.sys (WDM) version 5.12.01.5017 from the SBPCI_WebDrvs_5_12_01 installer (attached here) > > > The Ensoniq ES1370 drivers are not entirely compatible with the later ES1371 and 1373, and the VMWare implementation is not accurate to either of the real chips as described [here](https://messaroundery.net/2023/09/19/ensoniq-es1371-driver-bug). > > [SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/21322879/SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.zip) The problem happens with all Audio PCI 128 drivers that i have tested, regardless of the win98 quick iso and win98 version (ME not tested). When installing any Ensonic Audio PCI 128 driver inside a win98 quick environment, i get a VM popup with the following message and the VM crashes: ``` *** Access to misconfigured virtual devices *** Your guest operating system has accessed an I/O range where multiple devices overlap. This can have a variety of unpredictable results including virtual machine failures. Click OK to reset the virtual machine or click Cancel to ignore the error. If you choose to ignore the error, shut down the guest operating system as soon as possible to minimize instability. If the problem persists after you reboot the virtual machine, see the knowledge base article at http://vmware.com/info?id=46 ``` Btw. this also happens when i use the "SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01.exe" driver you provided! Looking at your post, you was using VMware Player 16.x, but i use VMware 17.x Workstation, so i assume win98 quick install uses some driver/IO configuration that is not compatible with VMware 17.x. But as i already wrote, its not a problem from VMWare or the virtual machine configuration. When i don't use quick install and do everything manually, it works: - Boot up patch9x from floppy - Paritition and format drive - Copy over windows 98 setup files to drive - Patch win98 setup files using the mounted patch9x - Install win98 with "setup /ie /nm" - After install, activate DMA for cdrom and drive - Install VMWare Tools **without SVGA drivers** - Install Ensonic Audio PCI 128 driver from ISO (ES1371) - Works just fine, no crash, audio is playing Even forcing the VMX to use ES1371 always (sound.virtualDev = "es1371") will not work either. So i can't use any win98 quick install at all, which is unfortunate because i really wanted to accelerate the win98 setup process, because i install it very very often - making tutorials, programming, playing retro games, testing Soft GPU, qemu etc.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:34 +03:00

Author

Owner

@henk717 commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2025):

I can confirm this, I also had this with QI and this does not happen on a regular Windows 98 install using the same drivers.

@henk717 commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2025): I can confirm this, I also had this with QI and this does not happen on a regular Windows 98 install using the same drivers.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:34 +03:00

Author

Owner

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2026):

I was able to reproduce this in 86box using VxD drivers. I have no clue what's going on. Will investigate

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2026): I was able to reproduce this in 86box using VxD drivers. I have no clue what's going on. Will investigate

Rows
Columns

[GH-ISSUE #50] Failed to install Soundblaster PCI 128 Drivers with Stock Iso inside a VM #46