IRQ Conflicts

[Panama Red]

Compaq 5274 (same one as in the Dust Bunnies thread) had too many issues to deal with so I reformatted and installed 98se. Found all the drivers, did all the updates from the MS Security update disk and finished it off at Windows Update. Check Device Manager and I have 2 listings for Game Port Joystick one of which has an exclamation point. There is only one Game Port on the computer, in the front connected via ribbon cable to the mobo. No sound card, sound is on board. Tried Removing the problem GP but it reinstalls and then says "No resources are available". Can't access the resources. Tried removing both devices as suggested in a book I have, but they both reinstall.

Second problem. Another exclamation point appears with Motherboard Resouces. Checking the Resources tab and I see that the IRQ's assigned are the ones reserved for Keyboard (1) and Mouse (12). Again, following the troubleshooting guide in my PC Hardware Desk Reference by Bigelow, I'm unable to change/access any of the IRQ's. Can't change Mouse, Keyboard, or Motherboard Resources. The machine seems to be running fine. However, when I try to shut down, it stops at the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" message. I can push the power switch and turn it off and it restarts just fine.

Worth noting that I have also installed Intel's Application Accelerator. Don't know if it's related to the problem because all I did was several restarts during the install process. Wasn't until the shutdown issue that I became aware of the conflicts in Device Manager. Also worth noting, I flashed the bios to the latest version because the bios "fixes" seemed pertinent. Didn't fix the problems though.

[ThePoor]

did you try changed the setting in the BIOS??

[Mesaeus]

You don't have to worry about IRQ 12. While any PS/2 mouse will default to that IRQ, if you don't have one installed, it's free to get used for other things. Or DO you have a ps/2 mouse, and it's sharing an irq with something else ? The only real suspicious thing is the IRQ 1 (keyboard) one, that definitely is wrong.

[Panama Red]

Bios settings are very limited and all check out ok. No option for Plug N Play OS which was my first suspicion. The mouse and keyboard are both connected to the standard PS/2 ports and seem to be functioning just fine. I went to SAFE mode and checked and the Motherboard Resources problem doesn't exist there because they aren't loaded yet. Tried removing the second Joystick in Safe but it came right back on reboot. Removed Application Accelerator and that made no difference. Reinstalled it. I had replaced the DVD rom and added some memory previously. Removed both of them and returned the unit to it's original hardware configuration. No change after rebooting, so I just put it all back again.

[Mesaeus]

Is ACPI enabled ? Does your bios support it ? (older computers may have trouble). Also, try taking out any PCi cards except video. To me it seems like it's running out of free IRQ's which may be because they can't be shared ? ACPI should allow for sharing of IRQ's.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by Mesaeus Is ACPI enabled ? Does your bios support it ? (older computers may have trouble). Also, try taking out any PCi cards except video. To me it seems like it's running out of free IRQ's which may be because they can't be shared ? ACPI should allow for sharing of IRQ's.

You asked the right questions! Couldn't find anything in bios about ACPI so I did a google search for "enabling ACPI". Came up with a MS site and another that explained how to edit the registry to make it happen. Did the Edit, ran the Find New Hardware wizard and Bingo! As soon as I saw it find the new Motherboard Resources driver I knew we were golden. Still have the dual Gameport Joystick entry, but the shutdown problem is fixed. Appears it was an IRQ Steering problem and enabling ACPI fixed it. Thanx for your thoughts, Mesaeus.

[glc]

Remove the gameport that is NOT flagged - leaving the one that IS flagged there - and reboot.