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kingtrey

WTF? everything on the same IRQ?

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alright i just got my new system put together, and my good ol' SBLive has decided to act up again, so i was playing around with the system trying to fix the snaps crackles & pops, and i noticed something. almost every one of my devices are all on IRQ 11 ... the Geforce 2, the NIC, the SBLive, the Modem, and the RAID controller, and i think maybe the USB controller too. needless to say i want this fixed. there are PLENTY of free IRQs, but how in the **** do i assign each device its own? i don't think Win2k will let me do it, the option si grayed out ... is there something i'm doing wrong or do i need a third-party utility? i checked in my BIOS and there are some settings for IRQ stuff, but it doesn't matter what i do with those settings i can't get them to change in Win2k. i even tried moving the cards around in the PCI slots, and the IRQ will be different on the first reboot and then after that they are all back to 11. anybody have any ideas or other things i can do to try to fix the SBLive BS?

*note - in my old system i was able to cure the SBLive skipping by finding PCI slot equlibrium with my cards, so thats why i'm assuming that will solve things here. please do tell me if i'm wrong about it and need to try other things.

 

ABIT TH7II-RAID

Pentium 4 1.7ghz Socket 478

256mb PC800 RDRAM

GeForce 2 GTS 32mb DDR

SBLive! (not 5.1)

Diamond Supra 56k PCI modem

Netgear FA310TX PCI NIC

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What problems are you having with all devices on the same IRQ?

You are experiencing what is known as ACPI, something that has been around with us since Win2k was released.

The system is designed to allow almost infinite updates to your system without the need to worry about IRQ's and other system resources.

Although your devices appear to all be running on the same IRQ, they are in fact utilising virtual IRQ's to get us over the old 16 interupt limit.

As you have a modern system your motherboard BIOS will be 100% ACPI complient, as is your OS.

I can't see any other devices that you list which are unlikely to be ACPI complient.

Pop along to www.microsoft.com & www.intel.com and read the ACPI design White Papers, theywill explain in more detail what is going on.

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I don't know if this is an option at all or if it works, but you may want to try reserving an IRQ in BIOS. Not having the BSLive! has probably been the best thing for me, and explains why I haven't had many problems with Intel or AMD rigs in Via boards (I know this ain't a Via board).

 

If you can, avoid having the BSLive! in between filled PCI slots. Leave one above or below it unused.

 

Above all, LEAVE ACPI ALONE!!!!! I've never had success in changing to or from ACPI. Whatever it is set as, leave it as is unless you'd like to reinstall Windows (at least in my experience).

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When a Santa Cruz sound card replaces the Creative Live in computer, such problems disappear. I remember reading the Microsoft official denial of responsability about all Live sound card problems: it explained that Creative drivers coding does not follow the Intel and Microsoft standard rules and memory conflicts may result.

 

Standard PC and ACPI PC rely on a different kernel. This kernel is properly chosen and installed on your HD only at a new installation.

 

Get DirectX 8 Control Panel and lower all debugging levels:

http://members.aol.com/axcel216/dx.htm

 

Get DirectX Buster 2 to clean up old DirectX files here:

http://www.entcity.com/sub/drivers/directx.asp

 

Get DirectX 8.1 Release Candidate 2:

ftp://147.46.236.164/yo/com1/e/Video/Microsoft/DX81NTeng.exe

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Be happy, live with it and enjoy it. IRQ 11 is great and ACPI even better!!

 

Not that I doubt all the horror stories about SBLive but personally I've never had any problems with it, not on my current MoBo (Abit KG-7-r) nor on my old MoBo (Abit KA7-100). I also run two mice (trackball on PS2, optical on USB), one USB and one LPT printer, a USB Scanner and a SCSI card. I've done numerous reinstalls and W2K has always sorted out the HW by itself. The only thing I do contrary to common recommendations is that I always put all hardware in place before installing W2K. I rarely really boot the system, just hibernate it. BOOM, up and running in three seconds !

 

Here's how my IRQ's appear.

 

IRQ Number Device

11 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System

11 NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro

11 VIA USB Universal Host Controller

11 VIA USB Universal Host Controller

11 Hauppauge Win/TV 878/9 VFW Video Driver

11 Hauppauge Win/TV 878/9 VFW Audio Driver

11 3Com EtherLink 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

11 Advansys SCSI Host Adapter

11 Creative SB Live! (WDM)

11 HPT370 UDMA/ATA100 RAID Controller

14 Primary IDE Channel

15 Secondary IDE Channel

8 System CMOS/real time clock

13 Numeric data processor

6 Standard floppy disk controller

4 Communications Port (COM1)

3 Built-in Infrared Device

12 Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)

1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard

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