IRQ 15 problems

[Brianc2k]

Biostar Motherboard with 32 Mg RAM. 1 ISA slot and 4 PCI slots. ALI M5226 chipset. AMDk6-400 CPU. Set up IDE hard drive and CD ROM on primary channel. Secondary channel open. The ALI Bus Master controller sets itself up on 15 and will not allow manual or auto change from this setting. When I put in a PCI NIC, and or PCI 56K modem the ALI Bus Master controller disables. Neither the Intel 10/100 NIC nor the internal MDM7800 56K modem will allow manual or auto change from their IRQ 15 setting either. <br>
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I have gone with auto in PCI configuration within CMOS as well as Manual. When I set to manual and try to manipulate IRQ 15 it goes to Legecy settings. Neither modem, ALI Chipset, or Intel NIC devices have resetting utilities that I have been able to find. <br>
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Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get this system configured to allow IDE CD ROM/HDD on primary channel, leave secondary channel open for future expansion, and configure the NIC and Modem to function in harmony with the ALI Bus Master Controller? <br>
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Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[DaveGoTech]

Brian -<br>
First, remove the NIC & modem from the PC (& Windows).<br>
Keep your BIOS PNP set to AUTO. (I assume you are using Win95/98).<br>
I suggest you connect the CD as a master on the secondary IDE channel.<br>
IDE controllers, Primary & Secondary, normally reside on IRQ 14 & 15 <br>
respectively.<br>
Now boot-up and make sure Pri & Sec IDE are set properly in Control Panel.<br>
ALI usually comes with drivers (on CD?) for IDE. These must be installed<br>
in most cases (instead of Windows drivers).<br>
Next, add the modem. But before you do, disable the 2nd serial port on<br>
the main board if you are not using it. (most people don't). This frees-up<br>
an IRQ (3). <br>
Once this is set-up, add the NIC. It should install itself on an IRQ such as<br>
5,10 or 11. <br>
Let us know how you made out.<br>
Dave.