Computer Help - Please

[stkr00]

I posted this in the MotoGP2 forum, but wanted to throw this out for others to give ideas on it.  WWJD has helped me a lot, but before I do anything else, I would appreciate some feedback.

I have been having problems with the joystick I use while racing in MotoGP2 on-line.  The controls hang up periodically causing me to have no control over the bike.  This is really getting annoying to say the least.  

<span style='color:red'>Originally Posted:</span>
Okay, let me start by appologizing about the length of this post.

I purchased a new video card today.  ATI Radeon 9200 128MB.  The graphics are phenomenal compared to my last one.  Now I can see my logos, tire smoke, crashing dust, scratches on the bike, etc...

Just one problem...IT DIDN'T CORRECT THE CONTROLLER ISSUE  

I need  

with this.  I have looked at all of my computer resources/information and this is what I found.  IRQ-09 is overloaded.  I think the underlying problem is the the Ethernet adapter is on the same IRQ as the Video, Sound, and USB Joystick.  Off-line it is able to keep up, but when the ethernet is active (on-line), it is too much.  

Here's what I found:
System Information report written at: 01/09/2004 08:10 PM
[IRQs]

IRQ Number Device
9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
9 RADEON 9200 SERIES
9 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
9 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
9 Creative SB Live! Basic (WDM)
9 Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4)
9 Win2000 Promise Ultra100 â„¢ IDE Controller (PDC20265)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
13 Numeric data processor
6 Standard floppy disk controller
7 ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
1 Easy Internet Keyboard
14 Primary IDE Channel
15 Secondary IDE Channel
[/QUOTE]

Windows shows these conflicts in the System Information listing, but when you go to device manager...the individual component properties box does not list any conflicts.  Windows can't even communicate with itself.
System Information report written at: 01/09/2004 08:10 PM
[Conflicts/Sharing]

Resource Device
IRQ 9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
IRQ 9 RADEON 9200 SERIES
IRQ 9 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 9 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 9 Creative SB Live! Basic (WDM)
IRQ 9 Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4)
IRQ 9 Win2000 Promise Ultra100 â„¢ IDE Controller (PDC20265)
[/QUOTE]

Now for the big question:
How in the hell do you re-assign the IRQ's for components in Windows 2000.  The resources tab shows a place for changing resources, but in Windows 2000 it is a shaded check-box so you can't change anything.  I looked in the BIOS for the startup settings, but couldn't find a general IRQ setting area.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  PM or E-mail responses are fine, but I will check back here often.

Thanks,
Jim

<span style='color:red'>New Info:</span>
MS Windows 2000 and XP use IRQ-9 for IRQ steering to IRQ's above 15.  This is used with ACPI motherboards and Plug-n-Play OS's.  I need to find out how to force the IRQ's for the Ethernet card, Video Card, or anything else currently using IRQ-9 listed above.  I'm trying to avoid starting from a blank hard drive.  I've tried changing the BIOS to not use the PnP OS, but that requires a fresh install of Windows, which will then require me me to reinstall all my programs from scratch.  Simply updating the Windows installation will not force Windows into a non-PnP OS mode.

Okay, here's you chance to show how much you know about computers.  Please tell me I'm not screwed.  I can't afford a new computer right now, so that is out of the question.  I'll be getting one in the Fall I think.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Jim

 

[frisbee]

try using a hammer .

 

[frisbee]

Well okay that may not be the best way . It did fix my last computor problem .... got a new one now

 

[WWJD]

I'll do some more research stkr00.  I like solving the impossible.  Like I always say in these cases, "It's gotta be SOMETHING"  

 Best guess is the network card because that is the ONLY piece that comes into play online that messes you up.   I see it's a Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4), make sure you download the lates driver:  ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/lne100tx512.zip  Uninstall the old card driver COMPLETELY, shutdown, remove the card, reboot, get into BIOS and flip the switch that says RESET PCI SLOTS or something simialr, boot up and test everything.  Shutdown and install card again, boot up and use the latest drivers from Linksys.  See if it helps.  Next, and this will sound silly, try setting the card to a speed of 10/half duplex.  Shouldn't really affect your online speed but could release processing power.  You can always put it back to auto.  If you have access to them, try a different network card.  You can buy one for $6, try and return if it doesn't do anything for ya.
What brand of motherboard if is?  numbers and crap.  Have you gotten the latest drivers for that too?
More options [now that I'm awake and my brain is working]  that Network Card might be pre-plugNplay which means you could run a config from DOS to tell it to use another IRQ - in the old days 10 or 11 were pretty common.
Here's something about changing IRQ that are Greyed out:
http://www.winnetmag.com/Article/ArticleID/14412/14412.html
I feel for you, man!  If it's playable just fine on an 800, then it should work fine online too.  
It's gotta be SOMETHING!  

  Good luck, and I'll keep thinking.  I think you are on the right track.



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[fstbusa]

try putting the NIC in a different PCI slot....that may force it to get a new IRQ....

 

[stkr00]

I'll keep trying these things out, but right now I'm kinda tired from working midnight shift.

Thanks for the help, and I'll check back to see if there is any new info.

 

[GeebMan]

Load the latest Bios and driver updates for your motherboard. A lot of resource bugs like this are cured with the latest driver updates for motherboard resources (chipsets, usb drivers, etc...)

 

[cache]

ATI is your problem. nothing but bad luck have I had with their products.

 

[Ride_or_Fish]

The irq's are pooled together or shared when you use acpi (advanced configuration & power interface) for power management. That's why winblows wont allow you to change the irqs and memory settings for those devices. You could try uninstalling the acpi from your machine, but it's a very risky procedure and I don't recommend it. I've had problems with Linksys network cards and suspect you might be having the same problem. It would be far easier to try another brand of nic.  Good Luck.



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[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

keep using different slots, some cards like particular slots or memory banks,
your IRQs should look something like this;

[IRQs]

0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2 Programmable interrupt controller
3 Communications Port (COM2)
4 Communications Port (COM1)
5 Creative SB Live! SB16 Emulation
6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7 ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
9 Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
9 Pinnacle Systems Studio AV/DV E4
9 Pinnacle Systems Studio AV/DV Overlay
9 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
9 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
9 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
9 SCI IRQ used by ACPI bus
10 NETGEAR FA311 Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter
10 Creative SB Live! Value
10 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
10 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
11 Matrox Millennium G450 DualHead
11 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
12 PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
14 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller
15 Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
15 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller

what you see using 9 is actually a single video capture card that has the USB, 1394, overlay, etc. interfaces, but its a single card using that resource, yours seem to be using 9 for sound, video and nic? maybe thats why you are getting the conflicts...see if these devices are trying to use the same IRQ by going into your device manager and clicking the resource tab in the properties of each of those devices, sound, video and nic it should tell you weather or not these devices have any conflicts and also tell you which one of the devices it has the conflict with, its prolly just a matter of moving cards around till they are happy?

 

[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

if there are no hardware issues and you beleive the joystick is working properly, its more than likely a software issue? one thing you can do to see if its a resource issue is to run the resource meter while you are playing, checking available resources while your playing?, it is possible that due to the sharing you are experiencing a buffer overflow? how much ram do you have?

 

[thrasherfox]

I just picked up on this. In windows 2000 there should not be an IRQ issue.

My first thought however is what kind of internet connection do you have?

I have never played a game online using a joystick, however I have played other online games such as Asherons Call. What can happen is if you have dropped packets of information this can cause lag, it will make the computer look like it is locked up or frozen. Lag kills. In AC, you could be fighting someone and all of a sudden you cant move, you cant run, you cant attack or nothing, what you can see however is your health of your character dropping indicating you are getting the snot kicked out of you, and the next thing you know your packets catch up, but by then your character is dead.

If you are on a high-speed dialup connection, that is probably not the problem. If however you are on a dialup connection, dropped packets on an online game could cause problems.

If you have a high-speed internet connection at home, but the computer you are on has a wireless connection to your internal network (such as my wife's laptop and my sons desktop) the wireless connection could be dropping packets causing a degradation in the online response time.

Hope this helps

 

[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

your problem is win2K then... sorry

 

[stkr00]

I'll be messing around with this this week, so if y'all don't hear from me for a few says, then that means I've fugged up my PC, and had to start from scratch.

Twisted / Thrasherfox:
Here's a quick rundown of my PC:
Asus A7V Motherboard 512MB RAM
AMD Athalon-800MHz
ATI Radeon 9200 w/128MB Memory
Saitek Cyborg 3-D Gold Joystick (USB)
Cable Modem (Plenty of connection speed)

Sorry, I forgot to add this in the original topic. I had originally posted this in the MotoGP-2 forum.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[WWJD]

my buddy has a Seitek p880 like me, and he had problems with the game - he bought a USB2.0 card and it cured everything for him

 

[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

all I can think of is using different slots, I am sure you did that. saitex says the cyborg is compatible with a 133 mgz or better processor so its prolly a USB 1.1 compliant joystick? try to use the joystick on a similar machine, maybe the card too? just to eliminate the hardware issue, then check the software installation and compatability, then installation compatibility. have you downloaded the latest directX? saitek says 8.1 or earlier. I know radeons are pretty compatible with asus boards?

 

[thrasherfox]

I am not a big AMD fan.. AMD chips often have cooling issues. they are not as tolerant to heat as Intel chips (from my experiance).

What I have often seen in the past is that if there is any problem with CPU cooling at all it would cause the CPU to act weird. Hard to explain anomalies such as temporary system freeze, program lock ups for no reason, in ability to install new programs.

I would go into your bios and check your CPU temp and fan RPM's you should be able to see them in the BIOS.

My CPU temp usually does not get about 121 F. and I normally see my CPU fan RPM's around 2100 rpm's. I have had systems in the past where the CPU fan began to go bad, or it was real dirty causing the fan RPM's to drop to around 1800rpm's with a CPU core temp increase to about 132 F. even at 1800 rpm's with 132 F I have seen my Intel processor act flakey.

Keep in mind, unless you have awesome vision and a fast mind, you probably wont notice a visual differance between 1800 rpm and 2100 rpm, even if that fan is spinning, it doesnt mean it is spinning fast enough. you need to check it in the bios


Often when there is a problem with a system acting flakey, when you go to check the CPU fan it is not even running.

Also make sure the power supply fan is running, I have seen systems running but super hot inside the case, started checking it out and realized the power supply fan was not spinning so it was not getting the heat from the power supply vented and the case was taking all the heat.

Anyway, check the cooling.. see if that might be the problem,. if nothing else, opening the case up and using a can of compressed air and blowing out all the fans and all the dust off of everything never hurt, keep in mind, when you have dust and lint on computer chips, it is just like a blanket, the dust and lint act as an insulator increasing heat and preventing the chips from cooling.

Ron



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[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

your k7 should have came with a CD that will have system monitoring software for the board, you will be able to monitor while gaming and stuff...

 

[fstbusa]

if not you can get a free monitoring software called motherboard monitor....its compatible with alot of chipsets

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/



PS: you would be surprised how often flakey memory or power supplies cause problems...make sure neither of these is bad.....



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[stkr00]

I would go into your bios and check your CPU temp and fan RPM's you should be able to see them in the BIOS.

My CPU temp usually does not get about 121 F. and I normally see my CPU fan RPM's around 2100 rpm's. I have had systems in the past where the CPU fan began to go bad, or it was real dirty causing the fan RPM's to drop to around 1800rpm's with a CPU core temp increase to about 132 F. even at 1800 rpm's with 132 F I have seen my Intel processor act flakey.

Ron

CPU 113'F Fan Speed 4787 rpm
MB 82'F

I had the original CPU fan quit, and I have experienced the weird halts/crashes first hand. Thanks for the help, but I think all of the problems lie within the IRQ auto-steering done by Windows.



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