Changing IRQs under W2K

[rollbaby 0]

Hi,

 

I would really appreciate some help on this issue.

 

See my hardware list below. Whenever I boot up the system, my audio card, graphics card and USB Host Controller (running my USB cable modem) are set to the same IRQ. Obviously this is not good, because the computer crashes constantly, esp, while surfing. I have tried IE 5, IE 6(SP1), Mozilla (1.4) and Mozilla Firebird (0.6.1.).

 

The weird thing is, while using my old graphics card (Voodoo 3), the system allocated separate IRQ to all 3 devices. The only other change is that I flashed the BIOS to 5AX F4 from 5AX Rev. 1.03.

 

Is there a way to change the IRQs, because under the device manager it doesn't let me do it, or does anyone have a idea how to solve the problem? The issue was worse when I had SP4 installed. However, it doesn't happen with ME. With ME, however, the 3 devices are allocated to different IRQs.

 

Thanks for any help

 

Christian

 

Hardware list:

 

AMD K6 III /450

Ram 256MB

HD 13GB

Gigabyte 5AX (Rev. F4)

Ali Chipset 1541

Ati Radeon 9200 (lite)

Creative PCI 128/62

Motorola Surfboard USB Cable Modem

W2K (no SPs)

Win ME

[zen69x 0]

Having all those devices on 1 IRQ under Win2k is by design for the ACPI model. It will work correctly provided the following:

 

Motherboard has a proper implemenation of ACPI

 

Device manager shows ACPI PC under computer

 

PCI cards and drivers are designed according to the PCI 2.1(?) or better spec.

 

Bottom line, if you can't change your IRQ assignments, then it looks like you probably meet criteria #2. You could try removing cards and placing them back in one at a time to see if there is a problem device.

[packman 0]

Make sure, in your System BIOS, that resources are assigned by the BIOS. It'll be under 'Resources Controlled By' or something similar and normally you should set it to Auto. Definitely DON'T set it so that Windows takes control of the IRQs.

 

I'd definitely install Service Pack 3 as well. SP4 is available but is regarded as quite buggy and it might be best to hang on for a few months before installing that (if ever).

 

Anyway, under an ACPI-compliant system, a number of IRQs may well end up shared, if there are insufficient of them to go round. And that's usually the case. Sharing is not wrong and normally works OK. I've certainly had my soundcard shared with my AGP graphics card before, with no problem. At various times, on different machines, I've had up to four devices on one IRQ. (I use Win2K).

 

You won't alter the net sharing but it might help if you moved your soundcard to a different PCI slot. Don't use slots 1 and 2 next to the AGP. Put the soundcard in slot 3, for instance, or a slot even further down (if you've got that many). You'll still end up with some sharing but it'll be with different devices, and perhaps will be enough to avoid the problem you're experiencing.

 

Are you sure, anyway, that your problem is actually down to IRQs? It might be caused by something else, instead.