IRQ advice

[Nuno]

I just installed a PCI Rockwell v90 modem, and guess what: on rebooting my G400 got IRQ5 and the modem IRQ11.

Everything is working fine, even on-line gaming. Stability and performance are as it used to be.

Now, if it ain´t broken, don´t fix it, right? But what is your advice? Let it be or move that G400 to a higher IRQ before is too late ?

Thanks

[Guyver]

I recommend getting the modem to IRQ 5, and getting 11 back to the G400.

But that's just my opinion.

[Kruzin]

If it works, and you're happy, you don't really need to mess with it...but if you start having any problems (instability, lower performance, bus master trouble, 3D glitches), that would be one of the first things I would change...

Personally, though I would try to get the G400 on IRQ9 or higher, just as a preventative measure.



[This message has been edited by Kruzin (edited 08-23-1999).]

[franksch3]

Might seem like a stupid question, but why do you want to have the G400 at a higher IRQ? What's better with that?

[Kruzin]

Assigning IRQs can be a pain in the butt...

I don't have an Abit, so I don't know it's bios specifically. But I was under the impression you could assign IRQs to specific PCI slots (much like I can in the BIOS of my P2B).

But, often, even with IRQs assigned through the bios, windows will change them around after booting. A couple of ways to work around this are:

-in the BIOS, If there is an option for PnP OS, disable it.

-In windows, go to your system properties>device manager>system devices>Plug n play bios>settings, and disable NVRAM/ESCD updates. This will stop windows from changing IRQs from what they are assigned to in the bios...

------------------
PII-450(112x4.5=504), Asus P2B(1010), 128meg PC100, MillG400 32meg DH (5.??/1.?), 3com 3c905b, SBLive!value, (2)USR 56k v.90(multi-linked), WD 6.4&8.4gig, CL PC-DVD, Mitsumi CD-RW, and some other things...

[The PIT2]

Good advice Kruzin I'll have to try that when I get a machine which won't allow to change anything just see if windoze has moved things around.
Another thing you can do at your own risk is deleting the plug and play bios from device manager. I say at your risk because this can trash you 9x system. This is supposed force windoze to re-assign everything. This is really the last resort when you're going to re-install anyway because it works about once out ten.

[Nuno]

Thanks for replying.

I thing the most recent Abit board (BX-6r2, BE6, BP6)have that feature, but I have the venerable old BX6. By reading the manual, I understand that the only thing it allows in manual configuration is to choose the IRQ´s that can be automatically assigned to PNP devices. Usefull to configure old non-pnp devices, thy say. I just allow for it to assign them all, and it did the trick. Even the option "Assign IRQ to VGA" only has two options "auto" and "dsabled"

hmmmmm, a Sb live was in my shoping list, but I foresee trouble. As far as I can get, the only reason because I got no conflicts was because nothing else uses busmastering than the G400 (I have a trusty sb AWE32).

Why do I have the feeling everyone just hates Plug´n´Pray?

[RAB]

Kruzin,
Thanks for the suggestion about disabling PnP OS in bios. I'll try that tonight when I get home.

I forgot to mention, as part of the Win 98 SE upgrade, I also upgraded the mobo bios from 1533 to 1536. But since Nuno's BX board is having the same problems, I don't know why my modem went from IRQ 5 to 11 and my G200 went from 11 to 5. Was it the mobo bios or Win98SE? I didn't touch either card - they were both happily in their slots for months now.

RAB

[This message has been edited by RAB (edited 08-23-

[Nuno]

Guyver, Kruzin, thanks for the advice. Assigning IRQ on my BX-6 bios is not the easiest task, but on a trial-and-error basis it finally assigned IRQ 9 to the G400. The modem is still taking the lead, though, blazing on IRQ 12 ... Oh well, everything is working, let it be... I´m sure IRQ9 is alright for now, right?

franksch3, I don´t know for sure the technical basis for that, but in some way IRQ9 and higher are prioritary over the lower ones. Matrox cards are not very fond of these lower ones, and some people have been reporting problems.

Oh, and finally surfing at the unbelievable speed of 42/44 kbs... it really makes a difference... I should have upgrade this 33.6 sooner.

[This message has been edited by Nuno (edited 08-23-1999).]

[Kruzin]

franksch3 - I'll just cut and paste a bit from a thread from yesterday that got burried after Tyloozer's latest spam attack:

Generally, Matrox cards don't like lower IRQs, as Matrox cards are Edge activated, and lower IRQs use level activation. Anytime I try to run below IRQ8, I have 3D problems...

[Jorden]

What's the standard IRQ the G400 or Max are assigned to (cardwise) ??

[Nuno]

Hey Kruzin, is there any way to assign a particular IRQ to a particular device other than the bios? Windows don´t let me do it, and the Abit BX-6 bios (latest version) only have the option to assign IQR´s to PCI/ISA but wouldn´t let me assign a particular one. I just "Y" all IRQ´s and on reboot the G400 was on IRQ9. I´ve tried other configurations, like reserving IRQ11, but then G400 was on IRQ3... I am not quite an expert in that IQR´s stuff as you can see...

Thanks

[RAB]

I have the same problem on my FIC 503+ now that I've upgraded to Win98 SE. G200 is now IRQ5 and Diamond Modem (Rockwell chips) on IRQ11. I can change the modem to 5, but windows says the G200's IRQ is not changable, so I can't swap them.

Also, my sound card is very distorted on videos and I get alot more frame skipping in all the games. Since Win98 SE, I can't install the Matrox 5.12 PD. All I get is a bunch of verticle bars on the screeen. Only the 4.51 would work.

1) Is there a way to change IRQ's in mobo bios?
2) How do I get PD 5.12 to load?

And Steve C., don't tell me to get an Intel, it worked much better before Win98 SE, so its not broken. But thanks if you have other suggestions.

RAB

I think some of the PD 5.12 problems were covered a week or two ago, but I gave up reading for a while during the Tylau disaster. See what happens when you really piss someone off, even if they deserve it.



------------------
FIC503+1.2a,bios115je33;AMD K6-2/350;128MB PC100;Myst G200,bios2.3,drivers4.26;Win98;no OC

[The PIT2]

Yes it is a problem when you can't assign an IRQ to a particular slot. Sometimes swapping the cards to another slot may enable the G400 to get an IRQ 9 plus.
Kruzin is right about the IRQ triggers I queried Haig about it when my latest Aopen bios assigned 5 to the VGA card rather than 11. The result one crashed machine in 3D. The solution I used since I had the option was to reserve the SBlive slot to five.
If I couldn't I would have had an interesting problem.