Believe it or not I have a couple of old hosts on Win98 crunching Milkyway. Somewhere in the many application updates I realized that they were erroring out, certainly with .17 they do.

This may be a deliberate decision (due to requirements), or perhaps just an oversight. But if Win98 is not supported, could you please detect the host OS and not allow application or WU downloads to that host?

And also on the applications page this entry is at present incorrect:

Microsoft Windows (98 or later) running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU

I'm hoping Win98 will be supported again, as those hosts are too under-powered for XP, and there aren't that many projects they can run (walk? crawl??). However, the project must look at the bigger picture.

Here's hoping.
Rod

Yea in the last version or so they were compiled on a newer version of software and therefor that is not compatable back to 98, so no support. (basically from what Dave said)

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Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected the expected?
If it makes sense, DON'T do it.

Yea in the last version or so they were compiled on a newer version of software and therefor that is not compatable back to 98, so no support. (basically from what Dave said)

Ah ok, missed that.
Thanks, even though it means I lose a couple of (slow) crunchers.
Rod

Yea in the last version or so they were compiled on a newer version of software and therefor that is not compatable back to 98, so no support. (basically from what Dave said)

Ah ok, missed that.
Thanks, even though it means I lose a couple of (slow) crunchers.
Rod

Yeah, Dave "upgraded" to visual studio 2008, and I guess that doesn't support windows 98 anymore. However, we just got a new undergrad to work with us. I'll see if we can get her to compile apps on VS 2005.

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Yes, i think its quite stupid. It actually gives me a warning saying the flag for windows 98 compatibility is deprecated.

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Dave Przybylo
MilkyWay@home Developer
Department of Computer Science
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

It seems like there may still be hope then. Great!

But if not, can Boinc/The Application/Or Whatever be able to prevent the app from being downloaded to Win98 hosts - apart from setting no new work, of course?

Rod

Yes, i think its quite stupid. It actually gives me a warning saying the flag for windows 98 compatibility is deprecated.

Agreed. The truth is if you know what you're doing there really isn't that much wrong with 98 (especially SE). NT4 for that matter, which lost support as well. :-(

Of course, as usual dropping support in VS is more about ensuring MS has a constant cash cow user base to gaff than anything else. ;-)

Oh yeah, I suppose I shouldn't forget about hosing developers with a never ending story when it comes to MSDN subscriptions. At least in that case you can usually deduct the cost on taxes and/or pass it along to your customers (who always end up losing ultimately). :-D

Alinator

If the OS support is determined in the compiler is there an optimized app out there that was compiled with something supporting Win98?

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me@rescam.org

Yes, i think its quite stupid. It actually gives me a warning saying the flag for windows 98 compatibility is deprecated.

Agreed. The truth is if you know what you're doing there really isn't that much wrong with 98 (especially SE). NT4 for that matter, which lost support as well. :-(

True, but I think by now I'd have upgraded from win 98 to linux (if changing the OS is possible) :P

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For MW there is 135 win98 computers & 1488 win2000 computers currently signed up out of 32k hosts. That's ~5%.

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Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected the expected?
If it makes sense, DON'T do it.

Yes, i think its quite stupid. It actually gives me a warning saying the flag for windows 98 compatibility is deprecated.

Agreed. The truth is if you know what you're doing there really isn't that much wrong with 98 (especially SE). NT4 for that matter, which lost support as well. :-(

True, but I think by now I'd have upgraded from win 98 to linux (if changing the OS is possible) :P

LOL...

Not if you had ever tried to find decent driver support for old hardware.

98 has the best and most comprehensive support for devices of that era hands down. 2K runs a close second (after SP2).

Alinator

Just thought I'd post this for the few Win98'ers who may still be around.

Using the 'x87' optimized app downloaded from zslip I seem to be able to crunch with Win98 again. Well, at least it's been going for 10 minutes now, whereas it immediately errored out with the stock app.

[edit] Just seen that a newer version is now available from Cluster Physik. The one I'm talking about in this post, I downloaded from zslip.com 3 Feb 09. [/edit]

I will post any error or success in the morning (almost 1am here!)

Regards
Rod

Thanks for the heads up. Will give a try as well and report back.

Alinator

What I forgot to mention is that for that host cpu-z reports MMX only, no SSE of any type.

Anyway, I now have completed 1 WU which has been granted credit, so it looks like that host can crunch here again :)

Rod

LOL...

Well that shouldn't be a problem. x87 implies it's only using FPU math. ;-)

BTW, it runs on NT4 as well. :-)

So I've got the whole fleet back on MW now.

Alinator

Well that shouldn't be a problem. x87 implies it's only using FPU math. ;-)

That's what I thought too, and it was why I gave it a try - I'm glad I did!

So I've got the whole fleet back on MW now.

I have 2 other Win98 hosts. One has too little RAM to run MW, the other appears to have a power supply problem :(

Rod

Just an FYI and FWIW:

The zslip version of the x87 opti gave a no credit run on one of the 9x'ers. Don't know if it was a mistake on my part or what (had a lot of stuff going on at the time I installed it). My NT4 host is coming up on completion so we will see what happens there pretty soon.

Anyway, I'm giving it another try on the next task to see what happens. I'm phasing in the CP version of it on a couple of other hosts to see what the story is with that.

Alinator

Update:

The zslip version is OK.

Stupid me copied the wrong set of files to the MW project directory! :-O

<Give self slap on head>

Alinator

Update:

The zslip version is OK.

Stupid me copied the wrong set of files to the MW project directory! :-O

Oh dear. I would be blushing if I was you...

<Give self slap on head>

Do you need any help with that? LOL