IRQ sharing can be a headache...

[silvrrwulf 0]

I have been having several IRQ sharing problems in 2 different computers with Win XP Pro, and no one seems to have an answer.

 

System #1 - P II 450, 192 RAM, 8 gig, integrated sound, Nividia TNT Video, el-cheapo ethernet, and a modem. Intel Mobo chipset.

 

Problem: Was working fine when I got it, albiet with lots of clutter. Network card worked, video worked well, etc. I even checked, out of curiosity, the IRQ's. The Ethernet was on 10, video on 11. To remove the clutter, I formatted. Now, with my clean computer, the sound, video, AND ethernet all want to be on 11. The ethernet card is not even registering on the hub (no light), except when attempting to set up networking, as it blinks ever so slightly before just giving up altogether. I know the card's cheap, but not broken, as it was working hours before.

 

system #2 - celeron 500, 128 Ram, 6 gig, TNT card, integrated sound, 3-com ethernet. VIa chipset with latest 4in 1's.

 

Problem - same issue, differant problem. All want to be on 11, but when you play a network game of UT, it's a slideshow, because both the network card and the video card aren't playing well together. I had to put in an old ATI rage card and a monster 2, while using someone's homemade drivers to get the thing to work. believe it or not it gets better framerates with the Monster II (something that shouldn't happen when compared with a TNT card using detonator drivers). the Monster card isn't taking up an IRQ from what I can tell.

 

Basically, no one seems to have an answer. All over the net I see this issue, and it's always followed by a naysayer ("Oh, I have one, and it works fine..."). That's all well and good that Joe's computer's working right with IRQ sharing, but everything I see screams IRQ conflict (even though it's not a registered "conflict", stuff ain't workin'.) I've tried your "Standard PC" settings as opposed to ACPI, all to no avail. I've disabled plug and play OS in BIOS (both of them). I just need a way to manually set the IRQ's. Even disabling 11 through BIOS makes everything on there jump to 5, and then to 3. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

~SilverWulf:(

[jtourville 0]

My system is sharing IRQs, and it works fine.

 

Seriously though, I've had problems with IRQ sharing too. Especially with my SB Live and Win98 SE. I tried every combination of BIOS settings, forcing IRQs, etc, and none of it worked. I found that removing unnecessary items from the computer drastically reduced the number of IRQs that were shared. Specifically, removing my DVD decoder made my network, video, and sound stop sharing. Now only my sound and USB share and things seem to work. So I guess you might want to poke around in your system and see if anything can go.

[GTwannabe 0]

You really shouldn't be having IRQ conflict problems. Each PCI device is assigned it's own ID, so IRQ sharing is possible.

 

Are you running an old-school TNT? I had massive problems w/ a PCI TNT on my dad's 2k system. Had to use old 3.x drivers to get working D3D.

[Alien 1]

Just a thought SilverWulf, but when you installed XP did you have all the cards in, or did you just have graphics card in & then install the others 1 @ a time after install? Sometimes Windows install will work fine with all your cards physically installed before you install windows itself, but sometimes it causes probs, in which case it often helps to remove everything but the bare essentials, install windows, then add stuff 1 @ a time.

[silvrrwulf 0]

I appriciate everyone taking the time : ). I'm about to try a format on both the systems and use some info found on the net about possible manual IRQ defining during setup. Thanks again : )!

 

~SilverWulf