User`s guide

PCLTA-20 Adapter User’s Guide 2-9
IRQ resource problems may generally be resolved by disabling another device in the
system. More information can be found in the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting
portion of the Windows 95/98 on-line Help file.
Access the hardware conflict troubleshooter through the procedure outlined below:
1. Open the Windows 95/98 on-line help by clicking the Windows Start button
and selecting “Help.”
2. In the Help Topics window, choose the Contents tab, or from another Help
window, choose the Contents button.
3. Double click the Troubleshooting topic, and then select the help topic, “If You
Have A Hardware Conflict.”
Extensive trouble-shooting documentation can be found in the Microsoft Windows
95/98 Resource Kit Help File. This help file is part of the Windows 95/98 Resource
Kit, which is available from Microsoft.
If a DOS real-mode driver is in use for a specific device which is installed in the PC,
Windows 95/98 may not know about that device’s resource requirements. Unlike
Windows driver conflicts, this problem is difficult to diagnose.
There are rare I/O conflict situations of which the Device Manager may be unaware.
Such a conflict may occur when an I/O resource is not properly specified for a device,
and a new driver overlays onto the true I/O space of that device. In the event of such
a conflict, it may become necessary to manually reserve I/O or IRQ resources using
the Device Manager. This process is described in the Windows 95/98 on-line Help.
Once these resources have been reserved, the Device Manager will recognize and
attempt to resolve any resource conflicts between the DOS driver and any Windows
drivers. If a conflict still occurs, it will be “visible,” and may be resolved as described
in
Solving IRQ and I/O Conflicts under Windows 95/98
earlier in this chapter.
If a device resource requirement is “hardwired” into the PC (i.e., configured by a
jumper or not modifiable from the system
BIOS
) then there is little that the Windows
95/98 operating system can do to free the resources.
Common Resource Problems under Windows 95/98
The following situations produce an additional drain on system resources that may
be hard to manage. Conflicts arising from these situations can generally be resolved
by selectively disabling devices to free up the required resources.
• COM ports that may not have a connector, but are consuming resources and
cannot be disabled through the
BIOS
• Unused IDE controllers that can not be disabled through the
BIOS
• Unused/nonexistent PS/2 mouse ports
• Sound cards that support both 8-bit and 16-bit compatibility modes,
consuming two IRQs
An additional problem often associated with sound cards is the improper reporting of
I/O resource usage. This problem may be recognized by examining a device’s I/O
address allocation for unusual one-byte assignments (since devices typically use
more). For example, if a device’s stated I/O range is 0x201-0x201 but its actual range
is 0x201-0x204, a conflict will occur if the PCLTA-20 adapter is assigned an I/O range