[SOLVED] Installing Win Xp x86 on a modern (2015) laptop - keyboard stops working during "Press ENTER [...] ..."

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mwasil

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Oct 18, 2019
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Hi everyone!
So, I wanted to try to install Win XP 32bit SP3 on a fairly new Asus GL552VW laptop (i7 6300HQ, 16GB ram, GTX960m, UEFI) (just for fun :D)

Since XP cannot boot the installer in EFI mode, I used easy2boot to create a bootable flash drive, and put the XP .iso in the appropriate folder.

After struggling for hours with the modern UEFI to even launch the flash drive (secure boot, and other irritating things), I managed to do it. It boots to the easy2boot menu, I can select the Installation of winXP. The installer launches, and after loading the drivers, upon the screen giving you 3 options (ENTER, F3 and ESC) the keyboard freezes. I tired connecting a regular USB keyboard, but doesn't work either. Rebooting the installation with the USB keyboard already plugged in did not help either.

USB legacy support is enabled.

Disabling it makes the flash drive not boot at all.


Needless to say, it's a 2015 laptop - so no PS/2 ports!
Any idea on how to tackle this problem?
 
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Hi! Thanks for reply. Can you elaborate on what a CD version would change in this situation?
x64 is not an option, as I stated before - the purpose of this is to run old games.

I believe that Win XP wasn’t meant to be installed from a USB connection.
It should be installed using IDE or SATA connections.
It’s a protocol thing.
That’s why I suggested installing it off a CD. Using a CD/DVD-ROM.

kanewolf

Titan
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Hi everyone!
So, I wanted to try to install Win XP 32bit SP3 on a fairly new Asus GL552VW laptop (i7 6300HQ, 16GB ram, GTX960m, UEFI) (just for fun :D)

Since XP cannot boot the installer in EFI mode, I used easy2boot to create a bootable flash drive, and put the XP .iso in the appropriate folder.

After struggling for hours with the modern UEFI to even launch the flash drive (secure boot, and other irritating things), I managed to do it. It boots to the easy2boot menu, I can select the Installation of winXP. The installer launches, and after loading the drivers, upon the screen giving you 3 options (ENTER, F3 and ESC) the keyboard freezes. I tired connecting a regular USB keyboard, but doesn't work either. Rebooting the installation with the USB keyboard already plugged in did not help either.

USB legacy support is enabled.

Disabling it makes the flash drive not boot at all.


Needless to say, it's a 2015 laptop - so no PS/2 ports!
Any idea on how to tackle this problem?
There may be no answer. You are missing drivers for the USB subsystem. If you can find XP drivers (unlikely) you could slipstream them into the installer. Installing XP as a VM withing a Windows 10 environment will be a lot easier.
 
I don't know easy2boot but most usb tools are no good for XP ,you can't just make a bootable iso to usb it fails the second stage of the installation.
Back in the days I had good success with WinSetupFromUSB it makes a boot menu for the first and second boot of the installation process.

Of course you are already failing on the first boot...
You would have to find chipset drivers for your mobo compatible with XP and load them up when it asks you to.
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
I don't know easy2boot but most usb tools are no good for XP ,you can't just make a bootable iso to usb it fails the second stage of the installation.
Back in the days I had good success with WinSetupFromUSB it makes a boot menu for the first and second boot of the installation process.

Of course you are already failing on the first boot...
You would have to find chipset drivers for your mobo compatible with XP and load them up when it asks you to.
And since this is a laptop, UNLIKELY. Manufacturers have no incentives to support multiple (very old) OS versions.
 

mwasil

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Oct 18, 2019
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Thanks for a fast response. easy2boot was made specifically in mind to bypass such stuff like old OS's needing an non-uefi enviroment, and the installation is somewhat scripted and divided into 2 parts (i've seen videos on YT, it's doable on a normal modern UEFI motherboads, only thing is - PS2 port must be present).
It's a shame the whole thing is compromised because of a stupid usb driver :)

Anyhow, how about this?:
https://drp.su/en/laptops/asus/gl552vw?os=windows-xp-x86
is this site even legit? Thay claim to have some sort of "Keyboard Device Filter" driver for win xp.
 

mwasil

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Oct 18, 2019
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And even if you could, why would you use the 32-bit version anyway, outside of a burning desire to leave 12 GB of your RAM sitting unused?
like I said - for fun. Windows Xp 64bit is not compatible with old games, I wanted to game on it. The nvidia 381 driver version supports the GTX960m on a 32 bit XP.
Also, using a VM is not an option - both vmware and virtualbox are very cool, but for emulating office work. For 3d games, VM's are absolute dog s*** :p
 

steve6375

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May 15, 2011
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If you are Legacy booting to the E2B menu (candle background) and have used the DPMS version of E2B, then it will pick some DPMS drivers. Did it identify the chipset and pick an XP 32-bit driver for the storage controller?
Did you use one of the recommended recently updated XP ISOs on the List of Tested Payloads page of the E2B website?
Did you look at the XP pages on the E2B site?
 

steve6375

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May 15, 2011
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P.S. Picking the correct ISO with correct (new) drivers is often the key (especially if you have the OEM XP ISO).
Also, check for any USB options in the BIOS settings (legacy USB options).
Also, try holding down the SHIFT key when booting to E2B menu to load grub4dos USB 2 drivers (doesn't always work on new chipsets though!).

if you still get USB freeze issues and have tried all the XP ISOs listed on the E2B page, then try using WInNTSetup instead.
If XP ISO contains the correct mass storage drivers, then you can just use WinNTSetup to install the files from the ISO.
Basically, you boot to Win10 WinPE and run WinNTSetup.exe to copy the XP files over. You must partition and format the internal HDD first (press SHIFT+F10 and run DISKPART).
WinNTSetup also allows you to add extra XP drivers.
Since you may have no USB access when XP installs, it would be a good idea to copy all the drivers you can find to the hard disk after you have formatted it. That way you can install the enet, wifi, usb drivers from HDD once it has booted to XP successfully.

https://www.easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/windows-install-isos/winntsetup/ see near bottom of page.
 
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mwasil

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Oct 18, 2019
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P.S. Picking the correct ISO with correct (new) drivers is often the key (especially if you have the OEM XP ISO).
Also, check for any USB options in the BIOS settings (legacy USB options).
Also, try holding down the SHIFT key when booting to E2B menu to load grub4dos USB 2 drivers (doesn't always work on new chipsets though!).

if you still get USB freeze issues and have tried all the XP ISOs listed on the E2B page, then try using WInNTSetup instead.
If XP ISO contains the correct mass storage drivers, then you can just use WinNTSetup to install the files from the ISO.
Basically, you boot to Win10 WinPE and run WinNTSetup.exe to copy the XP files over. You must partition and format the internal HDD first (press SHIFT+F10 and run DISKPART).
WinNTSetup also allows you to add extra XP drivers.
Since you may have no USB access when XP installs, it would be a good idea to copy all the drivers you can find to the hard disk after you have formatted it. That way you can install the enet, wifi, usb drivers from HDD once it has booted to XP successfully.

https://www.easy2boot.com/add-payload-files/windows-install-isos/winntsetup/ see near bottom of page.
Thanks a lot steve!
Answering your questions fro the prev. post:
  1. yes, the DPMS
  2. yes, the easy2boot part before loading the installer from the iso into memory reports all drivers have been found, no errors encountered
  3. yes, I used the SP3 from the list of recommended ISO's (it can be found on archive.org)
  4. Legacy USB support is enabled

Yep, I have read the XP pages, also I have encountered 2 problems along the way:
  1. if I dont load the payload into memory when prompted, I'm getting a BSOD
  2. If I do, I have to repeatedly press F7 during the XP installation screen (when the message "Press f6 to [...]" appears) - if I don't do it - BSOD

I will investigate the WinNT Setup method and post results :)
 

Endre

Honorable
Hi everyone!
So, I wanted to try to install Win XP 32bit SP3 on a fairly new Asus GL552VW laptop (i7 6300HQ, 16GB ram, GTX960m, UEFI) (just for fun :D)

Since XP cannot boot the installer in EFI mode, I used easy2boot to create a bootable flash drive, and put the XP .iso in the appropriate folder.

After struggling for hours with the modern UEFI to even launch the flash drive (secure boot, and other irritating things), I managed to do it. It boots to the easy2boot menu, I can select the Installation of winXP. The installer launches, and after loading the drivers, upon the screen giving you 3 options (ENTER, F3 and ESC) the keyboard freezes. I tired connecting a regular USB keyboard, but doesn't work either. Rebooting the installation with the USB keyboard already plugged in did not help either.

USB legacy support is enabled.

Disabling it makes the flash drive not boot at all.


Needless to say, it's a 2015 laptop - so no PS/2 ports!
Any idea on how to tackle this problem?

Have you tried to install Win XP off a CD?
(By the way, by having so much RAM, I’d install Win XP x64 SP2).
 

mwasil

Prominent
Oct 18, 2019
26
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545
Have you tried to install Win XP off a CD?
(By the way, by having so much RAM, I’d install Win XP x64 SP2).
Hi! Thanks for reply. Can you elaborate on what a CD version would change in this situation?
x64 is not an option, as I stated before - the purpose of this is to run old games.
 

Endre

Honorable
Hi! Thanks for reply. Can you elaborate on what a CD version would change in this situation?
x64 is not an option, as I stated before - the purpose of this is to run old games.

I believe that Win XP wasn’t meant to be installed from a USB connection.
It should be installed using IDE or SATA connections.
It’s a protocol thing.
That’s why I suggested installing it off a CD. Using a CD/DVD-ROM.
 
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