!@#$%!^!@#$ Device manager!!!

[JerryH]

I just installed a Philips PCI sound card, and look how Win2K decided to allocate IRQ's:

11:HPT370 RAID adapter
11:Linksys Network card
11:Matrox G400
11:Philips sound card
11:Texas INstruments 1394 adapter
11:VIA USB Host controller
11:VIA USB Host controller

The VIA is shown twice (don't know why). Also, IRQ's 5,7 and 9 are completely unused! My motherboard is an ABIT-KT7Raid, and when it first boots the bios, most of these PCI devices are on their own IRQ. then Win2K jams everything onto #11! I've logged in as Administrator on my machine, but I can't "uncheck" the Use Automatic Settings (it's grayed out). The end result is that I can't do any DV editing; the whole computer locks up whenever I try to playback a DV file...recording seems fine though. Kinda strange.

How on earth can I force Win2K to bow down to my will, and let me change the IRQ's?

[Greebe]

It's called ACPI and that's normal for Win2K

[Rags]

What are you using for your captures?

BTW, your IRQ's are normal for win2k.

Rags

[JerryH]

Hmmm, I'm using my Firewire card with a Sony TRV-310.

My previous soundcard was ISA Sound-blaster clone, with nary a problem (except that the card itself was noisy).

I just can't help but think that if I play back a captured clip, won't windows run into trouble juggling between the RAID, G400, 1394 and the sound card?

[Gurm]

*sigh* No. It won't.

Windows is not even USING the IRQ's, it's just listing them to make you happy. It's using a method of device management called "hardware polling" (or a whacked-out combination of device polling and interrupt-driven events, it's VERY complex) where it doesn't allow interrupts to happen at all - it decides when the devices get time.

ACPI allowed this to occur on PC's for the very first time - and about time, too! Workstation class machines have had this since the 70's.

- Gurm

[Dr Mordrid]

Very true, but some devices and older mainboards choke on it regardless of their supposed driver/bios compliance with Win2K.

When they do its best to install Win2K in the "Standard PC" mode.

Dr. Mordrid

[DentyCracker]

You probably have two USB controllers, meaning 4 usb ports on the mobo.