[GH-ISSUE #57] USB Audio driver installation missing wdma_usb.inf, and other minor USB related annoyances

kerem commented

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

Owner

Originally created by @andrew-hoffman on GitHub (Sep 26, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57

Windows 98 SE can normally detect and install drivers for USB Audio Class 1.0 devices without NUSB or any third party drivers included. However Windows 98 Quick Install (using the 0.9.6 stock iso) fails to find and install the driver for these types of devices even on the same hardware where a normal install of Win98SE works properly.

I think the issue is the missing wdma_usb.inf and .cat files as when I copy these from a stock 98se install into C:\Windows\Inf on the QuickInstall system then the USB Audio device is properly detected and installed. The inf may still be somewhere in the CAB files in the WinCD folder, as I can find it when I open any of those files with 7-Zip, but that doesn't tell me which CAB file it is in and wherever it is, the Plug & Play manager can't seem to find it without manually extracting it. (edit: it's in Win98_50.cab and the .cat file is in Catalog3.cab)

Also, the included R.Loew Lexar USB Mass Storage driver (massstor.inf and massstor.cab) which is very much inferior to the NUSB mass storage driver since it doesn't support USB 2 or Hotplugging, seems to be selected automatically even when using NUSB 3.6 because the date on the INF file is newer than NUSB's. if I restart with a flash drive connected it loads both storage drivers and then there are 2 drive letters for the same drive, and this causes data corruption if I write to either drive letter.

If I use NUSB 3.3 instead then the New Hardware wizard offers me the choice between these 2 drivers but for 3.6 this is skipped. (edit: this also doesn't happen if I choose not to install the driver pack in setup and then it doesn't search C:\Driver)

Finally, NUSB36e.exe should be moved to either the Driver folder or the WinCD folder so it is always copied to the C drive to cover the case when 98QI is run from a USB CD-ROM drive or Flash drive and the CD-ROM is no longer accessible once in Windows. This could maybe be done for the chipset drivers as well but this would require more space to extract them.

Originally created by @andrew-hoffman on GitHub (Sep 26, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57 Windows 98 SE can normally detect and install drivers for USB Audio Class 1.0 devices without NUSB or any third party drivers included. However Windows 98 Quick Install (using the 0.9.6 stock iso) fails to find and install the driver for these types of devices even on the same hardware where a normal install of Win98SE works properly. I think the issue is the missing wdma_usb.inf and .cat files as when I copy these from a stock 98se install into C:\Windows\Inf on the QuickInstall system then the USB Audio device is properly detected and installed. The inf may still be somewhere in the CAB files in the WinCD folder, as I can find it when I open any of those files with 7-Zip, but that doesn't tell me which CAB file it is in and wherever it is, the Plug & Play manager can't seem to find it without manually extracting it. (edit: it's in Win98_50.cab and the .cat file is in Catalog3.cab) Also, the included R.Loew Lexar USB Mass Storage driver (massstor.inf and massstor.cab) which is very much inferior to the NUSB mass storage driver since it doesn't support USB 2 or Hotplugging, seems to be selected automatically even when using NUSB 3.6 because the date on the INF file is newer than NUSB's. if I restart with a flash drive connected it loads both storage drivers and then there are 2 drive letters for the same drive, and this causes data corruption if I write to either drive letter. If I use NUSB 3.3 instead then the New Hardware wizard offers me the choice between these 2 drivers but for 3.6 this is skipped. (edit: this also doesn't happen if I choose not to install the driver pack in setup and then it doesn't search C:\Driver) Finally, NUSB36e.exe should be moved to either the Driver folder or the WinCD folder so it is always copied to the C drive to cover the case when 98QI is run from a USB CD-ROM drive or Flash drive and the CD-ROM is no longer accessible once in Windows. This could maybe be done for the chipset drivers as well but this would require more space to extract them.

kerem closed this issue

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

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

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Owner

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Sep 26, 2025):

Hi,

I need to find a good solution for this, and I want to disable shipping any
NUSB with Quickinstall in favour of SweetLow's driver stack.

A suitable mass storage driver needs to be found, I have yet to find a good
option for this... But It's something that has been bugging me for a long
time.

You're right, the wdma usb inf file should be reinstated.

On Fri, Sep 26, 2025, 20:54 Andrew Hoffman @.***> wrote:

andrew-hoffman created an issue (oerg866/win98-quickinstall#57)
https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57

Windows 98 SE can normally detect and install drivers for USB Audio Class
1.0 devices without NUSB or any third party drivers included. However
Windows 98 Quick Install (using the 0.9.6 stock iso) fails to find and
install the driver for these types of devices even on the same hardware
where a normal install of Win98SE works properly.

I think the issue is the wdma_usb.inf and .cat files as when I copy these
from a stock 98se install into C:\Windows\Inf on the QuickInstall system
then the USB Audio device is properly detected and installed. The inf may
still be somewhere in the CAB files in the WinCD folder, as I can find it
when I open any of those files with 7-Zip, but that doesn't tell me which
CAB file it is in and wherever it is, the Plug & Play manager can't seem to
find it without manually extracting it.

Also, the included R.Loew Lexar USB Mass Storage driver (masstor.inf and
masstor.cab) which is very much inferior to the NUSB mass storage driver
since it doesn't support USB 2 or Hotplugging, seems to be selected
automatically even when using NUSB 3.6 because the date on the INF file is
newer than NUSB's. If I use NUSB 3.3 instead then the New Hardware wizard
offers me the choice between these 2 drivers but for 3.6 this is skipped.

Finally, NUSB36e.exe should be moved to either the Driver folder or the
WinCD folder so it is always copied to the C drive to cover the case when
98QI is run from a USB CD-ROM drive or Flash drive and the CD-ROM is no
longer accessible once in Windows. This could maybe be done for the chipset
drivers as well but this would require more space to extract them.

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub
https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57, or unsubscribe
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You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message
ID: @.***>

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Sep 26, 2025): Hi, I need to find a good solution for this, and I want to disable shipping any NUSB with Quickinstall in favour of SweetLow's driver stack. A suitable mass storage driver needs to be found, I have yet to find a good option for this... But It's something that has been bugging me for a long time. You're right, the wdma usb inf file should be reinstated. On Fri, Sep 26, 2025, 20:54 Andrew Hoffman ***@***.***> wrote: > *andrew-hoffman* created an issue (oerg866/win98-quickinstall#57) > <https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57> > > Windows 98 SE can normally detect and install drivers for USB Audio Class > 1.0 devices without NUSB or any third party drivers included. However > Windows 98 Quick Install (using the 0.9.6 stock iso) fails to find and > install the driver for these types of devices even on the same hardware > where a normal install of Win98SE works properly. > > I think the issue is the wdma_usb.inf and .cat files as when I copy these > from a stock 98se install into C:\Windows\Inf on the QuickInstall system > then the USB Audio device is properly detected and installed. The inf may > still be somewhere in the CAB files in the WinCD folder, as I can find it > when I open any of those files with 7-Zip, but that doesn't tell me which > CAB file it is in and wherever it is, the Plug & Play manager can't seem to > find it without manually extracting it. > > Also, the included R.Loew Lexar USB Mass Storage driver (masstor.inf and > masstor.cab) which is very much inferior to the NUSB mass storage driver > since it doesn't support USB 2 or Hotplugging, seems to be selected > automatically even when using NUSB 3.6 because the date on the INF file is > newer than NUSB's. If I use NUSB 3.3 instead then the New Hardware wizard > offers me the choice between these 2 drivers but for 3.6 this is skipped. > > Finally, NUSB36e.exe should be moved to either the Driver folder or the > WinCD folder so it is always copied to the C drive to cover the case when > 98QI is run from a USB CD-ROM drive or Flash drive and the CD-ROM is no > longer accessible once in Windows. This could maybe be done for the chipset > drivers as well but this would require more space to extract them. > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/57>, or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAISOPOHQ7JTVJ4GXJ7KKXL3UWDVNAVCNFSM6AAAAACHTWAOHCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTGQ2TQNZWGM4DGOA> > . > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message > ID: ***@***.***> >

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

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Owner

@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2025):

There seem to be quite a few other infs missing in the QuickInstall image, I have 382 files in C:\Windows\Inf on QuickInstall (VMWare) vs 536 and 589 in my other 2 non-QuickInstall VMs. I suppose some of these are replaced by newer drivers in C:\Driver or DriverExt and there's different hardware and programs installed in each, so I'd have to go through the list and compare which other stock drivers aren't there.

e: most of the missing files were for modems, I guess you're not including dial-up networking in the image fair enough. but also missing were PNPW* (tape drives) and a couple other WDMA_* for other plug & play sound cards that should come with Windows drivers

@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2025): There seem to be quite a few other infs missing in the QuickInstall image, I have 382 files in C:\Windows\Inf on QuickInstall (VMWare) vs 536 and 589 in my other 2 non-QuickInstall VMs. I suppose some of these are replaced by newer drivers in C:\Driver or DriverExt and there's different hardware and programs installed in each, so I'd have to go through the list and compare which other stock drivers aren't there. e: most of the missing files were for modems, I guess you're not including dial-up networking in the image fair enough. but also missing were PNPW* (tape drives) and a couple other WDMA_* for other plug & play sound cards that should come with Windows drivers

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

Author

Owner

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2025):

Yes, WDM audio drivers were removed on purpose because the drivers included with 98 for it were subpar and for chips you really want to use VxD drivers for. For example, ESS, Yamaha...

The USB ones should have escaped this deletion.

The modem drivers were removed because the sheer amount causes the internal driver index database to become very bloated and slowing down hardware detection noticably

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2025): Yes, WDM audio drivers were removed on purpose because the drivers included with 98 for it were subpar and for chips you really want to use VxD drivers for. For example, ESS, Yamaha... The USB ones should have escaped this deletion. The modem drivers were removed because the sheer amount causes the internal driver index database to become very bloated and slowing down hardware detection noticably

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

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@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 9, 2026):

Done

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 9, 2026): Done

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

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@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Feb 16, 2026):

wdma_usb.inf is still missing on at least the ME Lite image (haven't checked the rest yet). mdmgen.inf is also missing so the remove files exception doesn't seem to work correctly

@andrew-hoffman commented on GitHub (Feb 16, 2026): wdma_usb.inf is still missing on at least the ME Lite image (haven't checked the rest yet). mdmgen.inf is also missing so the remove files exception doesn't seem to work correctly

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:35 +03:00

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@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 17, 2026):

Yeah, this is a script bug. It worked initially but it broke when making the final images since I created those on Windows. there are hardcoded path separators in the script which shouldn't be there... :|

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 17, 2026): Yeah, this is a script bug. It worked initially but it broke when making the final images since I created those on Windows. there are hardcoded path separators in the script which shouldn't be there... :|

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[GH-ISSUE #57] USB Audio driver installation missing wdma_usb.inf, and other minor USB related annoyances #51