[GH-ISSUE #84] Cannot boot on Thinkpad R40 #75

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opened 2026-03-03 18:48:46 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:46 +03:00

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Originally created by @stamasd on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/84

I'm using the 1.0.0 release files downloaded from here.
I made 3 CDs (win98 stock, win98 lite, winme) and 1 DVD (all) also a USB stick.
Verified that all of them were bootable on another machine
On the R40, using either one of the 3 CDs or the DVD, I get the boot menu; however no matter what I choose (enter, or F1-F4) I only get the following line of text with the kernel parameters (tsc=unstable noapic acpi=off etc) and then it hangs there. It never starts loading the kernel. The CD/DVD keeps spinning for about 5 seconds, and then it stops and nothing else happens after that.
This machine unfortunately does not boot from USB, and also doesn't have a floppy drive so I can't use the floppy method.

To make it clear, the DVD drive itself is fine. It can boot from a regular Win98SE install disk without a problem. It's not the drive that is causing the problem.

Originally created by @stamasd on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall/issues/84 I'm using the 1.0.0 release files downloaded from here. I made 3 CDs (win98 stock, win98 lite, winme) and 1 DVD (all) also a USB stick. Verified that all of them were bootable on another machine On the R40, using either one of the 3 CDs or the DVD, I get the boot menu; however no matter what I choose (enter, or F1-F4) I only get the following line of text with the kernel parameters (tsc=unstable noapic acpi=off etc) and then it hangs there. It never starts loading the kernel. The CD/DVD keeps spinning for about 5 seconds, and then it stops and nothing else happens after that. This machine unfortunately does not boot from USB, and also doesn't have a floppy drive so I can't use the floppy method. To make it clear, the DVD drive itself is fine. It can boot from a regular Win98SE install disk without a problem. It's not the drive that is causing the problem.

kerem closed this issue

2026-03-03 18:48:46 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:47 +03:00

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

Already fixed, same bug as #80, #77 and #73 and #68

Will be available with 1.0.1

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): Already fixed, same bug as #80, #77 and #73 and #68 Will be available with 1.0.1

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:47 +03:00

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@petershaw23 commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2026):

Can confirm, same error on Socket A mobo with VIA KT266A chipset.
Just out of curiosity, is the bug hardware specific?

@petershaw23 commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2026): Can confirm, same error on Socket A mobo with VIA KT266A chipset. Just out of curiosity, is the bug hardware specific?

kerem commented

2026-03-03 18:48:47 +03:00

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@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2026):

It's BIOS vendor specific and I have no clue why it happens, I just have a working workaround

@oerg866 commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2026): It's BIOS vendor specific and I have no clue why it happens, I just have a working workaround