[OFFER] Windows NT Server "Cairo" (the real one!) 4.00.1175

[The Distractor]

And here comes something I never thought I'd see.

Here's a build of the real Cairo. It's based on an early NT 4 build, but don't confuse this with all the mislabeled NT 4 builds that are labeled as "Cairo"...

...this one has OFS, for example:




...and a whole bunch of other things added to Setup:










Here's the caveat: nobody has managed to install and log in to this build yet.

You're willing to try: just remember, you'll need two partitions formatted on your HD, one system partition, another that will be formatted OFS during GUI setup.

I'd also advise installing DC, and use the following details:

username: arnoldm
any password
computer name: arnoldm0

For the rest, use the defaults. These specific details are marked as being a domain admin in ACCOUNTS.INF.

You'll also want to Alt+F4 out of the PDC dialog that you can't get past because errors.

This was obviously very much MS internal, I guess back when PWA originally released this in December 1995, nobody could install it then either.

Here's the ISO: http://citadel.rol.im/CAIRO1175iso.rar

Use winnt /b to start the install (you might want to run smartdrv first).

EDIT: Update! Turns out that when logging in, you can just use the username as the password and it should work!

[AyamiOoruri29]

Nice, but What's this for OFS mean?

[The Distractor]

Nice, but What's this for OFS mean?

OFS is the Cairo Object File System. We had an earlier build of it (it was bundled with NT 3.50.854, you had to install it yourself), but this Cairo build has it fully integrated into the setup, etc.

[DiskingRound]

Very good find. Hopefully more of them can be found, nice to see this exists. What emulation softwares you used?

[The Distractor]

Very good find. Hopefully more of them can be found, nice to see this exists. What emulation softwares you used?

I personally used VMWare (in 5.x compat mode); others used 86Box.

[mrpijey]

So what's the difference between this ISO and the one we already got on the FTP?

[The Distractor]

So what's the difference between this ISO and the one we already got on the FTP?

Let's see:

- OFS
- changes in setup
- changes in login screen
- "Cairo domains"
- lots and lots and lots of files that mention "Cairo"

And that's just from a preliminary look.

Remember, despite the mislabels, NT 4.0 "SUR" is not NT "Cairo".

[mrpijey]

So what is the one on the FTP? Some kind of custom hack? As it has the same build number and all...

[Battler]

- mrpijey: The one on the FTP is regular NT 4.0 Server build 1175.

[AlphaBeta]

So what is the one on the FTP? Some kind of custom hack? As it has the same build number and all...

From what I've been told, Cairo has been developed in tandem with NT4 (a.k.a Shell Update Release). What you're looking at is essentially the reason why MS are using buildtags - build number collisions and incompatibility are certainly not the ideal result of concurrent development.

[mrpijey]

So if this is the only real "Cairo", then what do we call the others? Since I clearly have to rename the folder...

[Overdoze]

Regular NT4 was supposedly called Shell Update Release (SUR).

[mrpijey]

And it was called this throughout the entire NT4 development?

[Meow_2004]

Amazing Leak! Yea, i think it was called Shell Update Release (SUR)

[The Distractor]

And it was called this throughout the entire NT4 development?

I do believe so (IIRC some early IE4 builds mention it)

[Meow_2004]

Was this released for x86 only?

[The Distractor]

Update:

You need to use the username / computer name of a user in the "Shell" group when installing to run EXPLORER.EXE.

These are:

username: bobday
computer names: bobday1, bobday2, bobday3, bobday4, bobday5

username: mikeke
computer names: mikeke66, mikeke33

username: jonbe
computer names: jonbe1, jonbe2, jonbe3

username: tomzak
computer names: tomzak1, tomzak2, tomzak3

username: markta
computer names: markta, markta2, markta3, markta4

Courage provided this screenshot of the installed build:

Was this released for x86 only?

Yes.

[ovctvct]

Update:

You need to use the username / computer name of a user in the "Shell" group when installing to run EXPLORER.EXE.

These are:

username: bobday
computer names: bobday1, bobday2, bobday3, bobday4, bobday5

username: mikeke
computer names: mikeke66, mikeke33

username: jonbe
computer names: jonbe1, jonbe2, jonbe3

username: tomzak
computer names: tomzak1, tomzak2, tomzak3

username: markta
computer names: markta, markta2, markta3, markta4

Courage provided this screenshot of the installed build:

Was this released for x86 only?

Yes.

That explains why explorer won't load for me BTW it's ridiculous that it can't even install video drivers for that reason... Why is this build supposed to be such restricted?...

[The Distractor]

Another update:

Even with the steps in the previous post, explorer will hang on the first logon on every boot.

So, log in once, ctrl+alt+del, log off, log back in.

[Meow_2004]

Yea, how did you get the 32-bit/True color onto the build? I can't seem to figure it out for NT 5.0. I tried using a tutorial that only worked for Win 95, 98 and Me, but it didn't work. Do you have sound on there?

[ovctvct]

Well, explorer still hangs for me even after following that guide actually my computer hangs only.

[Courage]

Meow_2004: I was using 86Box with that guide, with the S3 Trio64 emulated. This build has native Trio64 drivers, and so I was able to get 1024x768x32bpp working.

ovctvct: What program are you using to run 1175? During my testing, I noted that this build's explorer is quite buggy, so different configs may crash with different things. In my case, changing the desktop wallpaper leads to a crash.

[Battler]

- ovctvct: Do not boot from an OFS partition, that will hang.

[Meow_2004]

Ok, I want to try this out in VMware when I can, Do you think it will work with...

"Creative Labs Sound Blaster 1.X Pro 16"?


ovctvct: Yea, use NTFS, or FAT

[ovctvct]

Well, I tried it in virtualbox, but I converted the vdi to vhd and swapped it for 86box. And yes, it's on an OFS partition, but boot doesn't hang. I'll reinstall it with NTFS anyway.

Meow2004: you must use 86box for better display, select the s3 trio 64.