Marvel G400 & mobo IRQ conflicts

[dpatters]

okay for about 3 days I sat and pondered what could be the source of my problem. When the g400-tv was in the machine, windows would not load. The HDD light would stay on for minutes and then windows would usually report some sort of "windows installation" error (or even a 'divide-by-zero' error) -- i couldn't even get into safe mode or command line. Blah blah blah, this went on for 3 days, i tried tons of stuff, it would still happen with no cards in the machine except for the Marvel, etc. Whenever I booted up and the machine reported on the different devices, the "Display Adaptor" (Marvel) was at IRQ 14. So I stick my old video card in there and boot into windows and check my IRQs. What is on 14, but the Primary IDE controller! Ah ha! this explains everything!

Alright, to the point: how can I set my Marvel to be on IRQ 9 (there's nothing there and plus it's in the 9-12 range so IRQ 9 would work perfectly)? I have an Abit BX6r2......


thanks a bunch!

[Kruzin]

Go to the PnP section of your mobos bios.
Set PnP OS to "NO"
Set resources controlled by to "MANUAL"
If you have any ISA or older legacy PCI cards that are going to use an IRQ, set that IRQ to "Legacy/ISA"
Set your first PCI (or PIRQ0) to use IRQ9, instead of letting it automatically choose one...
Set Force ESCD Update to "YES".

Hopefully, this will get the BIOS to sort out the IRQs.

Once into Windows, to make sure they stay sorted (Windows likes to change IRQs around sometimes), go to your device manager.
Go to the system devices section, and double click on "Plus and Play BIOS".
Go to the settings tab, and check the "disable NVRAM/ESCD updates" box. This will keep windows from switching IRQs around on you.

You may need to repeat the first part with your Bios, if Windows does change stuff around before you have a chance to check that box in device manager....

[dpatters]

welp.. that idea sounded like it really would work - and when it booted up it said "display contorller -- irq 9" but to my dismay there was still a conflict for some reason (the conflict symptoms remained the same, so I hypothesize that it is the same problem, i.e. the IRQ wasn't really changed)... so to sum it up it fked up my c: and i was forced to format that drive and do a fresh install (which i obviously couldn't do w/ the Marvel in there 'cause of the conflict) -- don't worry, nothing was on the c: that was important (hehe i backed up my registry the day before! whew!)...

any more suggestions? Anyone here have an Abit BX6r2 and had a problem similar to mine? I'm thinkin on calling/emailing the tech support at Abit and gettin' all up in that ;-)


Has ANYBODY gotten the Marvel G400 working w/ a BX6r2.0 and Win98 (not SE)?

[This message has been edited by dpatters (edited 24 May 2000).]

[dZeus]

Seems like there is a device in PCI1.. move it to another slot.

I use the BX6r2 and the G400 without any problems... TO set the IRQ, you don't even have to set PNP OS=NO... only PCI1 IRQ=9 is enough.

[dpatters]

okay.. i did an RMA for the Marvel G400-TV, and I just got the replacement.. that took a while to get here.. so anyway, i stuck the new board in and it had the same problems. Obivously not a bad board but somethin screwy with my motherboard. Now before I purchase a new mobo, please assure me that it isn't a power supply problem, cause that's what it looks like it might be on some other people's problems, and i'd rather buy a new PS than a new mobo ;-)... there is no card in the first PCI slot -- it happens without any cards in the system.

i'm lookin at gettin' a Soyo BA6+IV

[This message has been edited by dpatters (edited 12 June 2000).]

[xortam]

What does your IRQ list look like in sysinfo? Compare that with what you see during POST to see if Windows is rearranging them on you.

Remove any non-essential cards to test. You say "it happens without any cards in the system" ... you mean only the Marvel G400-TV is present? I don't know your Abit BX6r2 MB but the IRQ list will show any conflicts w/ any integrated devices.