what the hell is up with ACPI in win XP ?????

it is a hradware prob but also softwre prob.

microsoft blames the hardware (bios) but in fact it is XP that is at fault blocking 0x70 and 0x71.

i am talking about event ID4, and 5.


ACPI BIOS has attempted to read/write to protected memory sector 0x70 and or 0x71.

WTF?


there is nothing one semengly can do to fix this ***** of a problem.

-got newest bios

Abit BE6 II v2.0
celeron 566
512MB RAM
RADEON 8500
IBM GXP 60 60gB

If all else fails, try disabling ACPI. There are countless topics on this message board that explain the process in detail.

The fault does not lie with Microsoft.
Microsoft publish the specifications for ACPI, it is then down to the BIOS writers to make sure they meet these specifications.
The BE6-II is hardly the newest motherboard available and my guess is that no new fully ACPI compatible BIOS has ever been released for it.

If it was an MS issue everybody would be getting the errors you list, they aren't.

well the board was the #1 board about a year ago. My board is diff from BE6 II. It is essentially BE6III,,, BE6 II v.2.0 as they decided to call it, but who cares.

so "hardly the newest"... we r in deep **** if we start thinking like that. I mean if it was 2 years old or 3 i would say OK, but c'mon... this is outrageous.

don't wory i am getting new sys.

thanx

It is very possible that the ACPI specifications changed between Windows 2000 and Windows XP although I'm not aware of any changes.
If changes were made Microsoft would not have kept them quiet, they will be publically available for the very reason that motherboards would require BIOS updates.
The ball then firmly rests in ABit's court, it is their job to speak to AMI, Phoenix, Award etc and ask them to make the relivant changes to the BIOS for a new release.
Alas, most companies cannot be bothered to offer support on anything but their latest models.

I recall having ACPI up and running on a Abit BE-6 (rev 1) board, but not on XP. On my KG7, I have a vague feeling that ACPI is not working quite as well under XP as under W2K, but it could of course be some tweaking that is causing the issues

Plato, if you are just seeing this in your system log, without other problems I wouldn't worry about it.


H.

thanx for ur coments.

all is well.

after fully testing everything it turns out my processor is dying and is to blame for all problems, well almost all.

i did not select PnP OS in bios.

PnP OS in the BIOS should be set for No under both Win2k & WinXP.
I'll edit this message later if I can and add the URL to the MS Knowledge Base article on said subject.

ohhh.


thanx. that is strage isn't it?

Extremely.
There is a reason for it, but I cannot for the life of me remember what that is.
Must try to find that knowledge base article.

Its long ago, and I'm not sure I got this right. Anyhow I've understood that this is due to some PnP standard / white paper which Bill decided wasn't that cool at all, at the end of the day. So he made his PnP OS to work a bit differently.

Now, my understanding is that if you set PnP OS to enabled, the BIOS will try to give the OS an early start by assigning some resources to the very basic stuff, videocards etc. MS decided that they do this better, so their OS will (maybe) attempt to reassign them. If you set PnP OS to disabled, the OS does it all, which is what MS wants.

Anyhow, When you use a MS (PnP) operating system you should definately set the PnP Operating System in the bios to disabled or no sorta because the OS is more PnP than the BIOS. Confused ? Never mind, just set it to no.

As BladeRunner implies, this is (was) MS recommendation. I've seen that knowledgebase article too, but it was nowhere to be found when I just looked.

H.

Just change your setting in Device Manager to read Standard PC instead of ACPI. Unless you absolutely have to use Stand By. I have always, with the exception of NT 4.0, used PNP set to YES. Some devices are not detected properly by the OS with it set to NO.

I made a DOC file that explians how to disable ACPI and manually assign IRQ's it has screen shots and more... email me and I'll send it to you....

At last!!!
Got it, try this knowledge base article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314068

Actualy I have made a DOC that takes you step by step on how to disable the ACPI and issign IRQ manualy weather you are doing a new install or you just want to change an existing install....

The article referanced above says that you have to reinstall the OS but I have found that this is NOT the case... I run all my PC as standard PC's with the ACPI off and have no problems with any of them other that the cant hybernate or turn themselves off... I leave my systems on all the time and the ones that are turned off are my childrens and they just hit the power button.....Hard shut down!!! Agghhh bad for the OS!!! I dont know my system crashes more than theirs.....Maybe because windows doesnt get to save all the setting that they have changed....I understand that the article says that windows can do this IRQ sharing with everything on IRQ 9...but all of my hardware is not the latest and greatest....so it ended up having alot of conflicts....during all my years as a computer geek I have been taught that IRQ sharing is BAD and have dealt with IRQ conflict and I am sorry to disagree with MS but I still have IRQ conflict...and I have found a way to fix them....I really dont see the need to put share an IRQ when i have 3,4,5,7,9,11 open and free...Irq sharing would be fine if it happened after all of the IRQ were used... But it doesnt it just sticks 10 devices on one IRQ...so that poor IRQ end up in a circle jerk with all these devices pushing it around... I still think that picking on the single IRQ is a bad thing...

also the PNP OS setting in your BIOS does this

if set to yes or enable - the bios only assignes IRQ's to the hardware that is required to boot....IE hard drive...
and allow the OS to assign the rest...

if set to no then the BIOS assigns IRQ to all hardware that requires them... Which windows XP then reassigns to IRQ 9....

Right,
turn OFF ACPI, use a ISA Video Card and switch back to 5,25 inch floppies. WTF ?

There is no point with current PnP hardware to stubbornly trying to assign IRQ yourself. Unless you have very old or very exotic hardware, you should of course install XP with ACPI if you are planning on using any power saving options. If you install from scratch, you have to resort to mild violence not to install ACPI.

H.

When Windows 2000 was first released to the public these forum's were immediately filled with threads along the lines of "All my devices are on one IRQ, how do I sort?" & "WTF is up with my PC?".
However in 90% of these cases the user wasn't having a problem, but the cosmetic view of all devices on the same IRQ "freaked" them out.

As long as you have the hardware then ACPI is one of the best things ever to come from Microsoft/Intel.
No more limited by 16 physical IRQ's.
No more have to shift things around whenever I wanted to add new ahrdware.
No more sitting with pencil & paper for hours on end trying to work out which devices could use which resources, which could share, which couldn't.
It's now just plug everything in and go.

I'm sure people must be aware that although all hardware devices appear to be using the same physical address (usually IRQ 9) they are in fact using virtual addresses.
For example my NIC is running on IRQ44 if I remember correctly.

If somebody has older hardware or more than one ISA card then I can see the logic behind choosing "Standard PC".
You are using legacy devices and should set your OS to run in "legacy" mode.
However if you've got relatively new hardware then ACPI has to be the way to go, purely from it's simplicity.

1. if you disable ACPI you dont have to assign IRQ yourself, your PNP BIOS and Windows can still assign IRQ and most of the time this works fine.... But it allows you to change them if you need to... and it allow Windows to assign your devices to IRQ's other than 9..

2. In the realm of PC's any thing older than six months is old and alot of people are installing XP on 400 or 500Mhz machines that may not be 100% compliant with ACPI... (IE E machines are a prime example)

3. ACPI and APM are differant if you disable your ACPI only hybernation and auto shutdown are affected as they require ACPI the other power saving features (monitor off, hard drive off) are unaffected)

4. If you istall from scratch you have to hit F5....????if that is mild violence then I guess I need anger management counseling...

Sigh,

the point is there is normally, on a PCI card /Windows based system, no reason to disable ACPI. The hardware and software is built to use it. And ACPI is not really assigning IRQ 9 to anything, read BladeRunners post, doesn't really need any elaboration.

H.

Originally posted by BladeRunner [/i]
As long as you have the hardware then ACPI is one of the best things ever to come from Microsoft/Intel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The concept is good but to bad MS doesnt make everything in my system so that it is compliant with their standards
--------------------------------------------------------------------

No more limited by 16 physical IRQ's.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep software waves a magic wand and does away with hardware limitations....
-------------------------------------------------------------------

No more have to shift things around whenever I wanted to add new ahrdware.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Even MS says moving PCI cards may help
--------------------------------------------------------------------
No more sitting with pencil & paper for hours on end trying to work out which devices could use which resources, which could share, which couldn't.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah now your having IRQ conclict and cant do anything about it.... And sitting for hours? I never did that with my old systems.... 4 com port 16 IRQ's not a lot to figure out....
--------------------------------------------------------------------

It's now just plug everything in and go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ohh in a perfect world
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sure people must be aware that although all hardware devices appear to be using the same physical address (usually IRQ 9) they are in fact using virtual addresses.
For example my NIC is running on IRQ44 if I remember correctly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Like virtual memory.... a good thing but you dont want to use it...
---------------------------------------------------------------------

If somebody has older hardware or more than one ISA card then I can see the logic behind choosing "Standard PC".
You are using legacy devices and should set your OS to run in "legacy" mode.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
You mean slow mode
--------------------------------------------------------------------
However if you've got relatively new hardware then ACPI has to be the way to go, purely from it's simplicity. [/B][/QUOTE]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If it works for you then thats the way to go... I havent had any good exp with it and most of the ACPI concept havent been implimented so thats why its not working the way it should.....ACPI is mainly for future use.....(IE turning your toaster on and off)

This is what MS invisions..... so why use it now when I dont have a PNP toaster??? I think I will use it in the future when they have worked the bugs out of it....

both the main systems that I use has all PCI... both motherboards dont even have ISA slot all my hardware is less than 6 months old and is 100% ACPI compliant(or so they say) so why do I get IRQ conflict when running ACPI?

*Shrugs*

I've got no idea why you are getting IRQ conflicts, I've not worked on a single PC within the last year that hasn't been 100% happy running in ACPI mode, some PC's had very few cards in, ones like mine are full to the brim, not a single one of these has given me a problem.

No more limited by 16 physical IRQ's.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep software waves a magic wand and does away with hardware limitations....

Let me elaborate further cause you seem to have missed the point.
Agreed there is no magic wand at work here removing the physical restriction of 16 IRQ's, however this is no longer an issue as devices can and do use IRQ's at much higher levels, my NIC being on IRQ 44, it's as if the limitation no longer exists, another good reason for using ACPI.

No more have to shift things around whenever I wanted to add new ahrdware.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Even MS says moving PCI cards may help

Even MS say this will help? Help where exactly? As I've never had a problem with ACPI then I don't need help, it all just works, so by moving a card how does that help me?

No more sitting with pencil & paper for hours on end trying to work out which devices could use which resources, which could share, which couldn't.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah now your having IRQ conclict and cant do anything about it.... And sitting for hours? I never did that with my old systems.... 4 com port 16 IRQ's not a lot to figure out....

Lets see, 16 IRQ's.
0=Timer, 1=Keyboard, 3=Com, 4=Com, 6=Floppy, 8=Clock, 13=Data Processor, 14=IDE, 15=IDE

That doesn't exactly give you many IRQ's to play with. Some cards could only be forced to use specific IRQ's, to you might have a soundcard that can only use 5, 7 or 9, a NIC that will only use 9 or 11, a graphics card that can only use 11, etc
The more devices you had the more complicated working out where everything should go got.
ACPI removes this by doing everything for you, again a great reason to use it.

It's now just plug everything in and go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ohh in a perfect world

I must be living in a perfect world then, this is exactly how it works for me.
Plug & Play, ACPI, all works fine for me.

Like virtual memory.... a good thing but you dont want to use it...

Pray tell why?
Once again, have many devices on IRQ's well and above 15, never experienced any problems.

If somebody has older hardware or more than one ISA card then I can see the logic behind choosing "Standard PC".
You are using legacy devices and should set your OS to run in "legacy" mode.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
You mean slow mode

? Are you now saying that "Standard PC" mode is slower than ACPI?
I suppose it could be, the OS is having less control over everything and isn't being allowed to do as it pleases, could cause slow down.

ACPI is mainly for future use.....(IE turning your toaster on and off)

Me thinks you are getting terminology confused here, ACPI used to turn your toaster on and off??????
ACPI is here now, it works now.
If ACPI is so terrible, why is it that you are in the minority of people who don't use it, when most people use it without a single problem?

Hey BladeRunner, I'm in that perfect world too. 3 ACPI PC's at home, + a laptop, lots of free beer and hordes of scantily clad females... Some of the hardware is from around '96 (a SCSI card for example) but ACPI still works. A few months ago I tried XP on a 250 Mhz machine on a old Asus mobo so old it didn't even have USB ports (just for fun) and guess what - ACPI worked! Right now I have ACPI and XP running on a networked 450 Mhz machine (old Abit BE6 mobo, Matrox Millennium graphics card, legacy 16 bit sound card etc) without a hitch. On my main system which is pretty crowded (SCSI card, TV card, Raid controller, 4 IDE devices, two pointing devices, two printers one LPT, one scanner etc, hell I even use the serial port occasionally) I must have done between 10 and 20 W2K/XP installs and not seen an IRQ conflict - not once. And I've just left all the HW in place when reinstalling.

rjs82vette, when did you try a ACPI install last time - which OS? Are you also assigning the memory ranges manually? Honestly I can't believe that you have any probs on a all PCI system on a Mobo made after 1999. How about posting a hardware list on the system you have this problem with and (if you remember) the devices that had an IRQ conflict ?

H.

No hordes of scantily clan females I'm afraid, one will do!

When it comes to ACPI what also needs to be remembered is that you need three compatible layers.

First, an ACPI compatible OS, Win2k, WinXP are fine here.
Next, an ACPI complient motherboard BIOS, now things can get awkward here.
MS originally posted the ACPI specifications, BIOS writers wrote the BIOS accordingly and then at the 12th hour MS changed the specs.
Result is a lot of "ACPI complient" BIOS's not actually being so.
Lastly, you need ACPI complient hardware.
Now both Harry and myself have installed OS's in ACPI mode on hardware which was released before ACPI was even thought about without problems.
However it would appear that some of the newer hardware devices are the ones that have problems, they just don't like sharing resources.

Of course I'd also like to throw in that it wouldn't suprise me if over half of these ACPI issues were VIA related, but that would be just childish

Well put, Bladerunner, and if I could, I would like to say that there can be a further childishness in relation to VIA drivers which is often found in installing the "latest and greatest" when in fact there was no need to change them to begin with for a specific motherboard.

Ooh, I forgot to mention, two of my systems are VIA based. It is a perfect world...

H.

Is this Dirty Harry or Caius Caligula speaking?

Plato, the error you receive you very well may have received in 2k IF Microsoft had included the ability in 2K to log those ACPI errors to the event viewer. It seems they have added this to XP to get Hardware Manufacturers to take note of their crap support for ACPI. Email off to your motherboard manufacturer the error and see what they say. ACPI is not Microsoft's fault (well it could be but it isn't in this case).

Wow, long thread here. One thing that I didn't see throughout the posts (sorry if I missed it) is that there are many devices that require multiple IRQs, not just one. I have seen several sound cards that want 3 or more IRQs in order to function properly, and there were times where you could have extra PCI slots but no more IRQs to install anything. But, I too live in this perfect world where I can hookup gadgets and not have issues.

So to sum up what's been said in this thread - I can have ACPI & the ability to use hibernation & have my soundcard cease to function @ random, often within a couple of mins [sometimes it's less than 30 seconds] of starting to watch a video file or play a game - OR I can do without ACPI & hibernation & hopefully be able to get my soundcard [Videologic Sonic Vortex 2] on IRQ10, on it's own, as opposed to being on 12 with a bunch of other stuff as it is now. Is this right?

Is it that hard to understand that your soundcard, or any other device, isn't "on 12 with a bunch of other stuff ". It just looks that way.

Your system doesn't work with ACPI - well fine, can be, don't use ACPI then. But for any readers who are about to install W2K or XP - try an install with ACPI before you believe that it causes problems.

H.

1. Aureal cards and 2K/XP are not the best combination...even without throwing ACPI into the mix.

2. Your board is old. Yes it is old.

3. You can have hibernation without ACPI. I've done it.

4. Always try ACPI first. Lately I haven't had any ACPI problems but if you work on enough systems you will.

5. Go to the sotre. Stick an Audigy in. If it fixes your problems then keep it. If it doesn't then return it. It's really that simple. Well if you can return it.

Although some problems with IRQ sharing exist, most are related to high-bandwidth devices. Windows XP Professional manages IRQs using a first in, first out (FIFO) stack. The more devices that share a single IRQ, the longer it takes to traverse this stack, which can have a system wide performance impact. Performance problems might be reduced if high-bandwidth devices such as high-speed network adapters and high-end Small Computer Standard Interface (SCSI) controllers, for example, use different IRQs. More flexible interrupt handling models are available on newer x86-based ACPI systems that support the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller standard. Systems that incorporate the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller have access to more interrupts, which avoids the need to share interrupts.

Most x86-based systems do not support manual configuration of IRQ settings. However, a few do offer this capability as a troubleshooting feature. If you are experiencing problems with system lockups or stability, you have two alternatives:

If your system firmware supports manual configuration of IRQ settings, as a troubleshooting method, try manually assigning IRQs to specific PCI slots by using the configuration options in the BIOS. If you need to manually assign IRQ addresses for an ACPI-compliant computer and the BIOS option to disable ACPI is available, disable ACPI before installing Windows XP Professional. However, remember that it is best not to change the BIOS default or automatic settings unless you have a specific reason to do so.
If your system does not support manual configuration of IRQ settings, try moving high-performance peripherals to another slot.





and this is from this DOC that is found on MS site....

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treevie...dh_dmt_kasl.asp


EEEEAAAHHHHH Say agian??? what was that....

Oh yeah I almost forgot.... if your motherboard isnt ACPI compliant or on the BAD list that MS has then XP isnt suppose to install ACPI..

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treevie...dc_mcc_htev.asp


and if this isnt an issue then why does MS give you this?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q216251

Well thats it for me... if you believe that there arent any issues here then thats fine but when MS says they have issues I would tend to believe them.......

Uuuuummmmmmmmm yeah that about right.......

No it is not that hard to understand - I understand it perfectly well, the point I was trying to make is that my soundcard doesn't seem to understand this. Whilst other devices in my system don't seem to mind all pretending they're on the same IRQ [or allowinbg Windows to do so] it seems that my soundcard needs to genuinely be on the IRQ that it wants [10], either that or it doesn't like sharing an IRQ - which it may or may not be doing as I can't see what IRQ's their really using cos of the whole ACPI/virtual IRQ thing.

A.

Greetings to the Society for Unnecessarily Patronising People

Oh bugger. I kinda knew that, but didn't think it was [B]that old. You can? cool....how?<sigh> I would if I had the money, only just bought new mobo & CPU & that kinda cleaned me out financially.

8) It say's "store" in your quote but I said sotre. 8) Weeeeiiirrrdd..

Srory

Sorry I wasnt trying to be funny... I was trying to say that in your case disableing the ACPI may help you.... it depend if you can set IRQ 10 just for your soundcard... that may involve moving PCI cards...ETC... But as IRQ 10 isnt use for any of the system board stuff like system timer, hard drive controllers, USB ports then there is a very good chance that this can be done...

I hope so. I've had another idea as well - I could try removing the card, turning on the PC long enough for it to POST, tell it to reset the errrmmm..oh bugger, forgotten the name of it off the top of my head - that thingy under PCI/PNP in the BIOS, then turning off & putting the card back in. I'll have to record this on my VCR to find out what IRQ it's on as it flashes by too quickly to read.

If doing that doesn't work then I'll have to see if doing without ACPI solves the problem. The thing that makes it worse is that it's not predictable - it doesn't seem to be caused by any noticeable event. Someitmes I can watch a couple of hours of recorded video files [I sometimes use my PC as a VCR, as my actual VCR no longer records in stereo] without probs, but then other times it doesn't last more than about 10 seconds before the sound goes, & then I have to reboot to get it back.

Funnily enough when I 1st [re]installed XP after getting new mobo & CPU it was on 10, even in Device Manager, but so was my network card. I tried uninstalling & reinstalling the network card [physically as well as in Device Manager], but when I reinstalled it it kept going back to 10 [@ least that's what it showed up as in Windows - that blasted virtual IRQ thing certainly confuses the issue when you're trying to troubleshoot].

I'd forgotten that my mobo does [or so it seems] have the ability to allocate specific IRQs to specific PCI slots. The reason I forgot about it before is well...

I've seen the ability/function to do this in the BIOS's of other mobos & the way it was done was nice & simple:

PCI no. X use IRQ Y

Anyone care to guess which way of doing this Abit didn't use? Yup, that's right - the simple 1.

The reason I forgot about my KT7A-RAID v1.3 [supposedly] having this ability is that when I tried to wrap my head around the explanation of it in the manual I ended up tying my brain in knots!

Here's what it says:
So far, so good - normal straight-forward stuff, right? So then there's this:WTF??? Can anyone explain that in plain & simple English please?

Sure try this....

http://duxcw.com/faq/irq/irq.htm

Also your PCI slot has a IRQ that you can assign but it also is connected to other devices like your usb port...etc (USB not a PCI card but it will use the same IRQ as the PCI slot) so it almost like being a real PCI card... takes the same resoures...

Errrmmm... That's not exactly what I meant. I know that it's a more awkward way of assigning IRQs to PCI slots, but what I don't understand is how to use that table to figure out how to make a spcific PCI slot use a specific IRQ.

I don't know why Abit [or Award, if it was their idea] would chose to do it this way instead of the "PCI no. X use IRQ Y" way.

try going to thier web site and see if they have a support forum... I am sure someone thier has the infor you need...

I figured it out eventually, not that it did me much good - made no difference @ all. Tried moving cards around according to what slots share IRQs with each other & so on to get it on its own & managed to get it on the right IRQ in the BIOS, but that didn't help. Did the thing in device Manager to switch to a Standard PC [instead of ACPI] so that windows reports IRQ useage the same as the BIOS, but that makes no difference either, well, actually that's not strictly true - it made the problem a bit worse, Now, if the sound goes the system sometimes freezes up which is a less dramatic version of what my SV2 used to do with old mobo [used to lock the system & black-screen].

I've also updated to the latest BIOS [incase anyone else has a KT7A (RAID or non-RAID) version 1.3, there's a new BIOS out - 8T]. No change from that, nor from the latest VIA 4-in1 betas. Oh well, I think my system's probably in a bit of a mess "under the hood" now after all this fiddling, so am gonna reinstall. <sarcasm>Oh what fun!</sarcasm>

Unless doing the fresh reinstall solves the issue then it looks like I'll be in the market for a new soundcard. Will probably go for an Audigy, £55.28 [inc VAT & delivery] for the OEM version doesn't sound too bad I guess.

I think if I was you I'd maybe try and steer clear of a Creative Labs soundcard.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Audigy to bits, it's never caused me a single problem and I'm extremely happy with it.
However I'm using an Intel chipset and there are numerous stories on the web with people having problems with the Live! & Audigy - What they all seem to have in common is VIA chipsets.
Be it VIA or Creative Lab's fault (I refuse to take sides on that one) they really don't appear to be well suited together.

What alternatives would you suggest? I'm rather reluctant to go with Videologic again as this is the 2nd card from them that I've had probs with - haven't had any CL cards yet. Please bear in mind that I can't really afford to spend more than the cost of that Audigy.

I was planning on getting that Audigy [though not for a few weeks yet, sadly] from Overclockers.co.uk, & I was thinking that if I fone them beforehand & specifically ask them if there would be any problems using it with a KT7A-RAID v1.3 & XP & they say that it should be fine & it then turns out to be problematic then I could send it back.

It would be difficult for me to recommend any other make of soundcard than CL as I've always used them, ever since my SB Pro.
But then again I've always used Intel chipsets too so never had a problem.
overclockers.co.uk have a quite good forum so I'd be tempted to post over there asking about the Audigy and your exact motherboard and see if anybody else has had success or failure with that combination.

Cheers, I'll check it out. I know there were probs between the SB Live series & KT7 series boards, & even with KT7A series, but that was [so I've heard & read] fixed with a BIOS update, & mine came with a BIOS that was newer than that BIOS patch anyway. I built a system for a friend last year with a KT7A [non RAID & not sure what v. #] & put a Live 5.1 Player in it & it works fine. so hopefully CL &/or Abit &/or VIA have got their collective acts together.

Just had a chat/conference with someone from CL tech support via their website & they told me that they're "not aware of any incompatibilities" with my mobo, which is nice. However, 1 thing that did bother me a bit was:I think it sucks that you have to install the 2K driver 1st, & that they don't offer a complete download of the driver for XP, only an update. I remember reading that this was something to do with bandwidth on their server or whatever & the size of the patch, but having looked @ the stuff on the download page & from installing a CL card on someone else's system before the only thing I'd want is the drivers, not all the other crap.

Well the drivers for Win2k and WinXP for the Live! & Audigy cards are the same, the update on the web site is a Win2k/XP update rather than a specific WinXP one (As fas as I know, I'm pretty sure they list them as seperate things on the CL site, but I believe the files are the same).

I don't mind installing the Liveware package, never had a problem with it and the update installs over the top without worries too.
In theory it might be possible to uninstall Liveware afterwards and that should leave the drivers intact, never actually tried that though.

Have you ever considered a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card? http://www.tbeach.com/site/products/santacruz/producthome.asp

I don't know of anywhere in the UK that does TB/SC cards, I've checked all the usual places I deal with & they only do Creative, Videologic, Terratec, Hercules, Diamond, & Guillemot. I won't be going with Videologic again, that's for sure! Besides, apparently Creative have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee in addition to the normal faults guarantee/warranty/whatever.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I saw an Abit AU10 mentioned somewhere as well, but so far I think the Audigy OEM v. still looks a good bet, especially as I can send it back if I don't like it.

Paul's Unofficial Abit FAQ explains all about that Abit PCI-Irq Table. "What on earth is the interrupt pin assignment table in the manual all about?!":

http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kg7kr7/bios.htm

Take note that most Asus motherboard have an Asic for control of PCI sharing activated only by enabling PnP OS in the Bios.

1394a (i.e. "Firewire", "I-Link") as network solution with Internet Cable Modem plus USB2 and ADS USB Turbo Quad bring a clear slowdown on ACPI.

These tools go far to solve the lack of sufficient IRQs. Standard PC is then more efficient and recovers the one Gigabyte HD space otherwise lost to hiberfile.sys.

I'm glad I didn't see that 1st as it's more confusing than the thing I found buried on Abit's site, but thanks anyway. Ummm, yeah, but I only just bought an Abit - I won't be buying a new mobo for quite a while, unless I win the lottery. Good thing I don't have any of them then, ain't it? Well, I do have a cable modem - a Motorola Surfboard 3100, but it uses good old ordinary ethernet.Ummm, it's only 1GB if you have 1GB of RAM, I only have 384MB. Besides, I [B]want hibernation capability, & even if I didn't, or desperately needed the extra space it's a lot simpler to just go to Control Panel -> Power Options -> Hibernation & uncheck the box marked "Enable Hibernation", & you don't even need to reboot when enabling/disabling it.