I can't recall, but USB 2.0 is backward compatible with USB 1.1, so a USB 2.0 device should work as 1.1 on Win9x if it doesn't support 2.0 .
I don't have the '98 PC anymore so I can't try anything else. Any kind of external (or even internal like an internal USB card reader) is going to be seen as a "mass storage device". I have an internal combo floppy drive and media reader, and the media reader portion is USB 2.0 (for CF cards, SmartMedia, MicroDrive, etc), and on XP the card slots are seen as a "mass storage device". XP usually sees USB devices with no problem, but I DO have problems with FireWire devices. It usually takes several tries of unplugging, plugging back in, back and forth, turning the device on/off, on/off, etc., before it shows up. I've never been able to find ANY FireWire drivers for XP, they appear to be only built in the to the OS, so they are generic and that's probably why they are problematic. The FW ports on my mobo had no drivers and still have no drivers, only XP SP1+ installs them. VIA's website incredibly, has no FW drivers for XP. They say something like "licensing restrictions" prohibit them from placing them at their site. Texas Instruments (who also makes a FW chip) is probably the same way. I never tried anything like this on '98 when I used it, I only tried it the first time a few days ago and this was SE, but with no updates. The external enclosure just "sat" there. I remember that some USB devices demand you install the drivers FIRST, THEN hook up the device, and some require the other way around. I only tried one way so that may have been the problem, or it may have needed an update. -Clint Merry Christmas to all & God Bless Clint Hamilton, Owner http://OrpheusComputing.com ) http://ComputersCustomBuilt.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Thompson" First, I don't think that you can get usb 2.0 to work in straight 98. I was running usb 1.x. My problem was that according to the instructions, I was supposed to load the card reader driver, which I tried several times. each time, I had to take out the driver, reboot and then I would try to follow the somewhat obtuse instructions again. For whatever reason, on one of the last tries, I tried the Mass Storage driver and then rebooted, plugged in the reader and it was there (viola !). It did not have the stability that I now have in XP, but would usually read the card, if I inserted the card into the reader before plugging it into the usb port. I never tried a hard drive unit with the win 98 as they all read usb 2.0 and firewire. I had neither at that time. I did finally put in a usb 2 card and now have 4 external usb 2 drives running. Three of them are with Nexstar enclosures and the fouth is with another 'generic' usb 2 enclosure. That one gives me problems in startup even with xp. I'm in the process of replacing that enclosuer with another Nexstar as these will always start no matter how its connected, whether power first, before usb connection or power after usb connection, they are always recognized. This tells me that various usb devices do have different characteristics in their firmware and this may make the device easier or harder to start. No matter what, win 98, without the updated usb drivers won't read or at least not very easily read a usb device. 98 SE had those added into the upgrade. Keith Support-OrpheusComputing.com wrote: >I tried an 80gb HD in an external USB 2.0 enclosure on '98 and even >after installing the drivers it never saw the device. The same mobo on >XP saw it fine as a USB 1.1 device since the mobo isn't USB 2.0 . I >didn't spend a lot of time on it though. >Just which "hoops" did you jump through exactly Keith? >-Clint > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Keith Thompson" > > >I have a photo card reader that I used on windows 98. Its a usb >device. I will say that I had to jump through many hoops to get it to >read, but did finally when I found that I had to use the Mass Storage >driver rather than a Card Reader driver. Once I got that straightened >out, it worked just fine. The trick is to get the right software, >install it first THEN plug in the usb device. Any other order will >result in failure. I had to remove the software several times in >finding out that the usb device could not be plugged in first or it >would upset the whole installation. > >Keith Thompson > >Ben Moore wrote: > > > >>OK, I've found some info that Win98 doesn't support USB mass storage >>devices. What is the name of the storage pen? Have you tried going to >>the web site of the manufacturer of the USB device and looking for >>drivers? >>Apparently you are going to need one. >> >>Ben Moore ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines & make sure you've followed proper posting procedures, http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com =====================================================
