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How to change IRQ settings?

X

Xpred

Senior member
I need some serious help. I have an onboard FireWire card that's IRQ is currently shared by my Video Card (GF4) and another USB controller. The thing is, I just bought a firewire interface that has some problems due to the sharing of IRQ 16. I have the option of trying to set IRQ settings manually in my BIOS, but it only goes up to IRQ 16 and has some weird options that I don't know how to tweak with. I was wondering is there anyway in Windows or some other things that I can manually change the IRQ settings? I have Windows XP SP2. I tried going into the Device Manager and trying to go to Resources and uncheck the "automatic settings," but it is greyed out. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
You can't, and you shouldn't.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with IRQ sharing. This has been mandatory in the PCI specification since 1993. Any problems that appear to by IRQ sharing are the result of badly written drivers, or in rare cases buggy hardware. Solution: replace drivers (or hardware) with something that actually works properly.

Second of all, IRQs above 15 are virtual ones created by Windows, nothing you can do about it.

So, are you actually experiencing problems?
 
Yes I am. I'm going to go out and buy a cheap FireWire card (PCI to 1394) to see if this would solve it. My FireWire right now is onboard.
 
What kind of problems are you having? What are you doing when the problem occurs? And what kind of hardware are you using? GF4 Ti or MX series? What motherboard?
 
I am using a M-Audio FireWire Solo preamp for some sound recording equipment. When connected to the FireWire port, the input volume on my mic is ultra low. I tried this on ANOTHER computer, and it had the same problem. However, to rule out that the preamp/mics weren't the problem, I tried different mics. I then returned my preamp to Guitar Center (where I originally bought the item), and they tested it out on their Laptop Mac OS system, and it worked fine. So it wasn't the preamp nor the mics that were the problem, but something on my computer/and the other system I tested. I then called M-Audio's main tech support, and they told me it could be an IRQ problem due to the video card (It is a MSI GeForce4 Ti4600) sharing with the FireWire that is not giving it enough power (thus inducing low input volumes), or just making it not functioning properly.

I then quickly looked at my other computer I also tested and found out that the video card (the other computer has a PNY GeForce4 Ti4200) was also shared on the same IRQ. Both computers have video cards shared with the firewire controller (IRQ 16). Ironically, both computers are custom-built. They have Giga-byte mobos (different models, same brand) with onboard firewire. Ala, this could explain everything. Oh well... later I'm going to Fry's to buy some cheap FireWire PCI cards and see if this resolves anything. Thanks.
 
That is a BS answer from M-Audio tech support, to get you off the phone. IRQ Sharing has absolutely NOTHING to do with the power delivered to the device.
 
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