GL1 Freezes comp

Steve Leone · January 13th, 2003, 10:33 AM

sharing IRQ's should only be a problem if you are not using Win2K or XP...I have 7 devices sharing IRQ 7, including my Pyro card, and I never have IRQ issues; of course, this is just Win2k nomenclature for "dynamic IRQ sharing", and this is all you need to know, as far as Microsoft is concerned.....I dont reccommend defeating the plug and play on such a system; however,this is the only way to force IRQ's with these os's as far as I know. Once you defeat it, you are back to a win98 type system, where you cant share IRQ's at all, except with devices that are very unlikely to make hardware calls at the same time. Generally to do this you have to turn off ACPI in the system bios first. Then you can assign an IRQ to a slot....check the motherboard manual to find the slot assignment numbers. This is a major hassle, and if it was me I 'd rather be installing a new OS. but, back in the days when I ran Win98, this is what I did, and it did address IRQ issues in win98.

Dan Holly · January 13th, 2003, 01:00 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Steve Leone : sharing IRQ's should only be a problem if you are not using Win2K or XP. -->>>

You are correct.
But I've had major issues with VIA chipsets, Geforce, and Sound Blaster cards. I don't know what the issue is, but I know from experience that if you go to an ATI video card the problem goes away.......this is all in XP Pro and Win2K

I would bet if he takes out/un-installs all the other cards (I still can't figure out which sound card he has) and only puts his firewire card back in.......his problem will be gone (until of course he reinstalls the other cards)

Again.....just shot-gunning from here with my past issues along the same lines........

Steve Leone · January 13th, 2003, 01:16 PM

Chipsets and video drivers are a whole other can of worms.....you do get to the point with a problem like this when all you can do is offer conjecture without sitting down with the machine and hashing it all out yourself....seems this machine is running XP, so I would agree that the video driver or chipset might be a better place to start, rather than disabling PNP and forcing IRQ's....I'd start with the driver, since the chipset can only be fixed by replacing the Motherboard....its always a good idea to research chipsets before you buy, obviously. I have a VIA chipset, incidentally, and it works fine.....but its one of the few on the Canopus approval list, the KT133A, so not ALL Via's are buggy....the approval lists are a good place to look for starters. This problem illustrates why I always suggest to people that they research every single component before they buy anything, and design a PC system from the ground up to run video hardware and software.
step one might be to check upgrades for the video driver
step two might be a 4in1 driver update
step 3 a bios upgrade assuming the bios is flashable

January 13th, 2003, 10:33 AM	#16
Steve Leone Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 116	IRQ sharing sharing IRQ's should only be a problem if you are not using Win2K or XP...I have 7 devices sharing IRQ 7, including my Pyro card, and I never have IRQ issues; of course, this is just Win2k nomenclature for "dynamic IRQ sharing", and this is all you need to know, as far as Microsoft is concerned.....I dont reccommend defeating the plug and play on such a system; however,this is the only way to force IRQ's with these os's as far as I know. Once you defeat it, you are back to a win98 type system, where you cant share IRQ's at all, except with devices that are very unlikely to make hardware calls at the same time. Generally to do this you have to turn off ACPI in the system bios first. Then you can assign an IRQ to a slot....check the motherboard manual to find the slot assignment numbers. This is a major hassle, and if it was me I 'd rather be installing a new OS. but, back in the days when I ran Win98, this is what I did, and it did address IRQ issues in win98. __________________ Omens carry only as much weight as we choose to assign them.

January 13th, 2003, 01:00 PM	#17
Dan Holly Major Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Posts: 336	Re: IRQ sharing <<<-- Originally posted by Steve Leone : sharing IRQ's should only be a problem if you are not using Win2K or XP. -->>> You are correct. But I've had major issues with VIA chipsets, Geforce, and Sound Blaster cards. I don't know what the issue is, but I know from experience that if you go to an ATI video card the problem goes away.......this is all in XP Pro and Win2K I would bet if he takes out/un-installs all the other cards (I still can't figure out which sound card he has) and only puts his firewire card back in.......his problem will be gone (until of course he reinstalls the other cards) Again.....just shot-gunning from here with my past issues along the same lines........ __________________ Dan Holly Anchorage, Alaska

January 13th, 2003, 01:16 PM	#18
Steve Leone Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 116	IRQ's Chipsets and video drivers are a whole other can of worms.....you do get to the point with a problem like this when all you can do is offer conjecture without sitting down with the machine and hashing it all out yourself....seems this machine is running XP, so I would agree that the video driver or chipset might be a better place to start, rather than disabling PNP and forcing IRQ's....I'd start with the driver, since the chipset can only be fixed by replacing the Motherboard....its always a good idea to research chipsets before you buy, obviously. I have a VIA chipset, incidentally, and it works fine.....but its one of the few on the Canopus approval list, the KT133A, so not ALL Via's are buggy....the approval lists are a good place to look for starters. This problem illustrates why I always suggest to people that they research every single component before they buy anything, and design a PC system from the ground up to run video hardware and software. step one might be to check upgrades for the video driver step two might be a 4in1 driver update step 3 a bios upgrade assuming the bios is flashable __________________ Omens carry only as much weight as we choose to assign them.