Short version: Boot into patcher9x from https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x before, during and after running auto-patcher, in order to fix CPU stuff, which may present as missing/broken DLLs.
Long version:
Over on the VirtualBox forums there's a fantastic guide by Kurt_Aust called "Windows 98se step by step" available here https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=59559 (archived here), which provides very detailed instructions on getting Windows 98SE working in VirtualBox. However, through some experimentation, I found a workaround for "AMD Zen2+ CPUs" such as my own Ryzon 5 3600 allowing you to install things yourself, rather than "copy across a finalised Windows 98se VM that was installed on another Windows machine" as recommended by Kurt_Aust.
The crux of this is https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x, which has a number of system file patches to fix compatibility with host systems with various CPUs, including AMD Zen2+ CPUs. There's a few ways to do it, but I found the most reliable way was the following:
Follow the guide up to "Auto-Patcher December 2008 Upgrade". Let it install, but don't let it run. Instead, shut down the VM.
I took a snapshot here to roll back in case the patcher went wrong, but I had no issues. Up to you.
So here, you want to mount the floppy image from patcher9x (the .ima file). In the VM settings, you will also want to change the boot order so "Floppy" is ticked and at the top of the list.
Boot from the floppy. Press enter or wait a few seconds to boot into the top option.
After a few seconds, you'll be at the command prompt "A:\>". Enter "patch9x" (without quotes) and press enter.
Press enter again to accept the default path to the SYSTEM folder.
Press enter again to patch the files directly (which is option 2, the default option).
If it's found files to patch, it'll ask you for confirmation. Press Y and enter for any it finds and then press enter to exit.
If it hasn't found any, it'll say "no patches to apply found" right above "Patching process failure" (which feels counteproductive to me, it didn't fail if it didn't find any, but idk).
Now, unmount the floppy image in the VM settings and reboot the VM.
When you get back into Windows, mount the floppy again.
Run Auto-Patcher from the start menu and follow the instructions in the guide.
Now, you'll be part of loop where you'll need to keep an eye on this (sorry, it takes about half an hour). You'll be doing the following flow:
- Auto-Patcher does something
- VM reboots itself
- patcher9x floppy boots
- check for any patches and apply when necessary
- unmount floppy
- reboot
- mount floppy when Windows loads and Auto-Patcher is waiting 15 seconds
- Auto-Patcher does something
- etc
Most reboots there won't be anything to change, but I'm not 100% which specific updates put files in that need patching, so it's best to check on each reboot.
I haven't used the VM a lot yet, so there may still be issues with it, but without patcher9x, I was getting numerous errors part-way through Auto-Patcher and then afterwards every boot. Now, I can get theough the whole setup guide.
Thought this was worth sharing.
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