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Problem: Geforce3 Card Sharing Same IRQ as NIC

W

Wiloden

Member
I have a VisionTek Geforce3 64MB AGP card that is sharing the same IRQ as my Linksys NIC. Occasionally, Internet Explorer will freeze, with the exception of the mouse pointer.

After a lot of research, I have determined that IRQ sharing could be the culprit.

How can I change the IRQ for my video card? I tried changing the IRQ for my Linksys card, but the system didn't react well to the change.

Here's my setup:

AMD 1.1Ghz CPU
Gigabyte Mobo
256MB RAM
VisionTek Geforce3 64MB AGP Video
Soundblaster Live Value
Linksys NIC (LAN NIC)
D-Link NIC (cable-modem NIC)
IOmega SCSI Adapter
SCSI Jazz Drive
HP CD-RW
(2) IDE Harddrives (C: and D: respectively)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!



 
Is your NIC in the first PCI slot next to the AGP slot? If so, try moving it to other slots until you resolve the IRQ conflict. If you're using WinXP this is probably irrelevant.
 
No, I'm still using Windows ME. The NIC is about the 3rd slot down from the AGP slot (not sure, but I know that's about right).

Again, moving the NIC card to another slot only caused problems in Windows (lockups, etc).

Thanks for the quick response!
 
You can also go into the BIOS and assign an IRQ number that the AGP isn't using to the PCI slot that your NIC card is in. If you have a completely free IRQ number, that would be better.
 
By doing that, will Windows think a new device has been added, or will it automatically adjust to the new IRQ setting without having to re-install the drivers?

Thanks.
 
No, windows won't think that a new device is installed. It just won't re-assign an IRQ number to that device/slot. As it is now, Windows is assigning an IRQ # to your NIC, which is shared w/ the AGP. Some devices don't want to share IRQ numbers, that's when you run into problems. Depending on your MB/BIOS, IRQ numbers 9, 10 & 11 are usually free - check your manual. If you're not using USB and your board has them, disable the USB ports in the BIOS to free up a couple more IRQs.
 
Yes, some BIOS setup(s) and MB design(s) do allow for specific IRQ's to be set for specific PCI slots. Certain PCI slots "share" IRQ's and many newer components can do this with little problem.

It is likely that if you uninstall the card in device manager, power down the PC and move it to another PCI slot, then reboot and reinstall the unit, the IRQ that the NIC had will change. Since your are running Windows ME, the best scenario would be to be able to set the PCI slot to the IRQ of your choice within the BIOS Setup.

Let us know how you make out.🙂
 
Motorheader,

My BIOS won't let me change the IRQ for that particular slot. I may go with the suggestion of uninstalling the NIC via Device Manager, relocating the card, and then re-installing it.

Thanks for the suggestions folks!
 
It sometimes help to use the "one card at a time" approach. Pull out ALL the cards except video and boot. Shutdown, add the next card into PCI slot 2 (always skip PCI 1), boot, shutdown. Add next card to PCI 3, boot, etc. Also, before I start adding cards, I disable the COM ports in BIOS (most people never use 'em anyway) to free those IRQ's.

Good Luck! 🙂
 
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