Conference giadev::decstation

I have a similar problem to that of the basenoter,
except that instead of disabling the network interface,
I'd like to remap its IRQ.  I have an ISDN card that wants
to use IRQ 5,9,10,11,12, or 15, but this system is pretty fully
loaded:

	IRQ 5 	= sound
	IRQ 9 	= on-board Matrox
	IRQ 10	= on-board SCSI controller (RZ28, tape drive)
	IRQ 11	= on-board network adapter
	IRQ 12	= on-board ps2 mouse
	IRQ 15	= secondary IDE channel (cd-rom)

Com1 and Com2 are unused, so in theory IRQ 3 & 4 are available,
but I can't seem to convince any of the above devices to use
these IRQs. (BTW, this is under Win95).  

I have tried various approaches:

(1) disable the secondary IDE channel (and put the cd-rom on
	the primary).  This sorta works, but Win95 complains about
	running the primary IDE controller in DOS compatibility
	mode;  there is a noticeable degradation of system performance.

(2) disable the ps2 mouse (and use a serial mouse on Com1) This 
	supposedly frees up IRQ12, but I'm not sure I believe it... 
	the ISDN controller hangs during its init sequence when it 
	uses this IRQ, and its troubleshooting guide suggests that 
	this is due to an IRQ conflict.

(3) disable the network adapter.  This frees up IRQ11, and the ISDN
	adapter happily uses this IRQ and works like a champ... but
	now I can't connect to my LAN.

(4) disable the sound. :(  The ISDN adapter happily runs at IRQ5
	(for that matter, so does the network adapter if I have put
	the ISDN adapter at IRQ11).

Can anyone suggest a mechanism whereby I can have my cake and eat 
it too?  At the moment I make use of multiple configs, and live 
without either sound or LAN as necessary, but it's frustrating to
know that there *are* IRQs available that I can't seem to use...

	-Todd
 

    Well, you could always put a serial mouse down on IRQ3 or 4,
    toss the PS2 mouse, thus freeing up IRQ12 for the ISDN thingy.  

    uh... .7 (KRATZ)
    
    from .6
    
    >(2) disable the ps2 mouse (and use a serial mouse on Com1) This
    >        supposedly frees up IRQ12, but I'm not sure I believe it...
    >        the ISDN controller hangs during its init sequence when it
    >        uses this IRQ, and its troubleshooting guide suggests that
    >        this is due to an IRQ conflict.
    
    On this - check that the BIOS allows you to disable the PS/2 mouse
    (IRQ12)
    
    Seems like you have a pretty full system there :'}
    
    H

    ...and if you can toss the CD-ROM in exchange for a SCSI one, you'll
    free up IRQ15.
    
    /Bill

First off, thanks for the suggestions!

re: .7

>    Well, you could always put a serial mouse down on IRQ3 or 4,
>    toss the PS2 mouse, thus freeing up IRQ12 for the ISDN thingy.  

Yeah, I tried that.  But I couldn't seem to actually free up IRQ12.
I tried disabling the ps2 mouse port in the BIOS, and telling Win95
that I had a serial mouse, but it didn't seem to actually free up
IRQ12.  At least the ISDN adapter claimed there was still a conflict.

re: .8

>    >(2) disable the ps2 mouse (and use a serial mouse on Com1) This
>    >        supposedly frees up IRQ12, but I'm not sure I believe it...
>    >        the ISDN controller hangs during its init sequence when it
>    >        uses this IRQ, and its troubleshooting guide suggests that
>    >        this is due to an IRQ conflict.
>    
>    On this - check that the BIOS allows you to disable the PS/2 mouse
>    (IRQ12)

Yes, it does.  Perhaps I'm not doing the right sequence of steps to
convince Win95 it's really gone. :)   My approach was to:
(1) first tell Win95 via the control panel that I had a serial mouse,
	using the "Mouse" icon.  Power down.  Detach ps2 mouse, attach
	serial mouse.  Boot.
(2) Log into Win95, check that serial mouse works. Power down.
(3) Power up, switch into BIOS and disable ps2 port.  Boot.  Examine
	device manager and find that IRQ12 *seems* to be unused (however,
	I do note that the mouse *doesn't* show up at IRQ3 or 4 either
	-- the mouse works, but Win95 doesn't know what IRQ its at?)
(4) Use the ISDN adapter's configuration utility to tell it to use IRQ12 on
	next powerup.  Power down.  Reboot.
(5) Log into Win95, ISDN adapter fails to init -- troubleshooting guide
	suggests an IRQ conflict.

It's the results at step 3 that have me suspicious I did something wrong.
Win95 doesn't seem to have *any* IRQ allocated to the mouse, and yet the
mouse is quite happily working...

>    Seems like you have a pretty full system there :'}

I'm not greedy, I just want it all! :)

re: .9
>    ...and if you can toss the CD-ROM in exchange for a SCSI one, you'll
>    free up IRQ15.

"BZZZZZTT! Sorry, but thanks for playing our game!" :)

I have tried moving the CD-ROM to the primary IDE channel, and disabling the
secondary channel in the BIOS.  Win95 then complains that both my CD-ROM and my C:
drive are running in DOS compatibility mode (and I definitely notice the 
performance hit).  Win95 Device Manager says the IDE controller is a multifunction
device -- apparently it won't let me disable just one channel...  So just adding
a SCSI CD-ROM is not the answer.

I could just live with this, or throw money at it (SCSI CD-ROM & boot disk), but
I'd really prefer to wrestle Win95 and the IRQs to the ground and just make it
work, dammit! :)  

    How about changing the sound card to IRQ7 (freeing up 5), I thought I
    remember reading somewhere that the printer really doesn't use the IRQ.
    
    glen kelley

At the risk of being told again that this system is really
loaded up... :)

While the printer doesn't use the IRQ, I believe that the 
parallel-port ZIP drive I have attached does... 

    re: WRKSYS::mccasa.eng.pko.dec.com::DUTTON
    
    You've made your bed, now SLEEP in it!
    
    *I* would go all SCSI...
    
    ;-)

re: .14

Ok, I probably deserved that! :)

Pulling the plug on the IDE controller and going all SCSI
will definitely do the trick...  so, you wanna go tell my
wife that I'm gonna buy a new CDROM and harddrive at the 
KGP show this weekend? :)

I'll give disabling the mouse one more shot tonite...

	-Todd

    re: .15 by WRKSYS::mccasa.eng.pko.dec.com::DUTTON
    
    >> so, you wanna go tell my wife...
    
    She, too, can be replace, you know.  ;-)  The ultimate upgrade?   :-p
    
    In case anyone doesn't understand those odd characters, I'm ONLY
    KIDDING!
    
    /Bill

    
    ever hear the term treading on 'thin ice' Bill?   ;^)
    
    But the best way to convince the wife is to tell her 'IT WAS ON
    SALE'!!!    
    
    Hey. lets ALL tread on thin ice!
    
    chet

    oh dear oh dear...
    
    trading in the wife? ;') not a 'good solution' :')
    
    I had a similar problem with irq12 and ps/2 mouse - of course, I solved
    it by a different method all together - I went 'Linux' ;')
    
    Probably not the solution you're after. As suggested, try letting Win95
    do the detection bit, after re-enabling the ps/2 mouse on irq12, go the
    whole hog, and then (after a reboot or two) delete the ps/2 mouse and
    free up the resources it's using.
    
    H
    
    (who's nearly convinced SWMBO to let him buy a SCSI card and Jaz
    drive)

No, Linux is not the "solution" I'm looking for... :)

I tried what was suggested -- I straightened everything out with the PS/2 mouse,
then removed it, attached a serial mouse, and let Win95 detect everything.
The system now seems perfectly happy to use the serial mouse on COM1... but
the !@#!@#$!@$# ISDN adapter *still* doesn't work on IRQ12.  I'm ready to blame
the adapter now instead of the base system.  

My solution is to follow Bill Lin's advice, and to go all SCSI.  That frees up the
IDE interrupts at 14 & 15 (the ISDN adapter works just fine at 15), and gives me
back IRQ11 for the NIC.  Haven't actually done this yet... still looking for a
good price on a >= 4X SCSI CDROM... there's a KGP show in Marlboro on the 12th...

End of the saga...

Picked up a nice 12X SCSI CD-ROM at the KGP show this
weekend, and thereby finished converting to SCSI.  
ISDN adapter now happily humming along up at IRQ15.
The on-board IDE controller seems to want to hang onto
IRQ14 regardless of being removed from Win95 and disabled
in the BIOS, but what the hey... my network is back! :)

Thanks to all for their help  (with the notable exception
of the divorce advice from Bill Lin... :) :) :) 

	-td