Author Topic: Shuttle Socket A, AK31/KT266A Mobo (Read 756 times)

Gunthr · « **on:** October 23, 2001, 08:01:00 PM »

Just a little feedback for upgraders. I picked up one of these boards locally for $85 because I got tired of waiting. Very easy install. Looking at this board, it looks to be made with just as much quality as my previous ASUS and Abit boards. Don't have to mess with jumpers, just 2 of them, one to clearCMOS, and one to LockCmos.

The only fly in the ointment is that I have an unused Live! soundcard that I could never get to work in my other Via boards. It was supposed to work in the AK31, so I was hoping to put it to use, but no dice. I could just stomp that damn thing to pieces. I can throw my Philips Accoustic edge in any slot you want, and it will work.

Anyway, with the decent overclocking potential that it has, this is a pretty good board.

[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: Gunthr ]

weazel · « **Reply #1 on:** October 23, 2001, 10:33:00 PM »

In the BIOS try changing the latency of the PCI slot your putting the SBLive in.

If your using a NVidea chipset video card it can sometimes causes latency problems with the PCI bus due to AGP demands on the bus,<depending on the mobos chipset> stock latency setting should be 32clks - try reducing it in small increments to see if the card will work.

You might try searching some of the hardware sites for info about this, I've seen it posted but don't remember where, possibly www.overclockers.com?

mrsid2 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2001, 11:02:00 PM »

Have you tried the Live! in any intel based board? Maybe it's simply defect..

I have SB Live! in KG7 (via) and as long as I don't share irq's it works just fine.

Do YOU have irq conflicts in your present system? I've heard nothing but good reviews of the shuttle kt266a board, something which can't be said about earlier shuttle models.

Gunthr · « **Reply #3 on:** October 24, 2001, 06:28:00 AM »

Latency is one thing I havent tried. I am using an Nvidia video adapter. I'll see if I can change it in the bios. I never tried the Live! card in an Intel board, but I understand the problem is with Via chipsets. The KT266a chipset is supposed to fix that according to the reviews, so maybe I do need to fiddle with it a bit more... thanks for the ideas.

I love this Shuttle mobo so far, just a plain vanilla card without raid, but fast and stable.

[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: Gunthr ]

mrsid2 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2001, 10:49:00 AM »

Your Live! will work properly only if you put it to a slot with a free irq.

If you have acpi enabled, disable it. It won't do you any good anyway so you're better off disabling it just to make sure.

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #5 on:** October 24, 2001, 11:05:00 AM »

I have an Epox 8KTA3 using the VIA KIT133A chipset, and all I had to do was put my SoundBlaster Live! in the slot and it worked fine.

My ZooM 56K ISA Modem, OTOH, I had to manually assign IRQs and screw with a few BIOS settings to get it to work although Windows picked it up.
-SW

Gunthr · « **Reply #6 on:** October 24, 2001, 11:06:00 AM »

Yeah, I disabled ACPI yesterday following Wobble's tip. I put the Live card in and restarted. It seemed to install, and needed a re-boot to complete. I rebooted but Win2k wouldn't load. I was so disgusted after doing this about a million times with this card, I just shut down and took it out without going further. I didn't check IRQs or anything. I'll get back in the ring with it in a day or two. Can you tell me the procedure to get it on its own IRQ if it turns outs to be sharing?

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #7 on:** October 24, 2001, 11:12:00 AM »

In the BIOS, underneath Integrated Peripherals I believe, there is an option "Is your OS PNP?" By default it's set to NO, I set it to yes and it helps some cards to work.

Try that first.

If that doesn't work, below there is an option "Assign IRQ/DMA" either set to auto or manual. Set it to manual and it will give you a list of IRQs and DMAs. I forget the exact way it looks, but find out which IRQ your SB Live! wants (it should show up after your post screen just before the ESCD line, it's below the large rectangle and should be listed as a Multimedia device, it should be 11 or 12)...

Manually assign whichever IRQ it wants...

I'll be right back after I look at my BIOS to give you better tips... (Even though it's a PII mobo- I'm at work- the BIOS is pretty much the same)....
-SW

Gunthr · « **Reply #8 on:** October 24, 2001, 11:20:00 AM »

Thanks SWulfe! I know the setting you mean. I never messed with it - shows my ignorance. Will try it...

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #9 on:** October 24, 2001, 11:22:00 AM »

Okay, here's how to do it in the BIOS:

It's under PNP/PCI configuration. Try setting the option for the "Is your OS PnP?" to YES. If that works, then you will be fine.

If not, set the assignments to MANUAL and whichever IRQ it is on (a list will come up), make sure it is set to PCI/PNP (or PCI/ISA) rather than Legacy ISA.

If you can get into Win2K, you can manually assign IRQs by going to Start->Settings->Control Panel->System ICON->Hardware TAB->Device Manager...->EXPAND Sound, Video, and Game Controllers->Highlight SB Live! (the main one, not drivers or codecs or any of that)-> RIGHT CLICK, select PROPERTIES->Click on RESOURCES TAB->HIGHLIGHT Interupt Request (IRQ)-> Uncheck Automatic Settings->Click Change Setting->Assign to free IRQ.

That should do it, that's *IF* you can get into Win2K (through VGA mode or otherwise).
-SW

Gunthr · « **Reply #10 on:** October 24, 2001, 01:09:00 PM »

Great! I'll try it tonight when I get home. That couldn't be any easier. I'm a knucklehead sometimes. By the way, when the Live card locked up Win2k, I shut down and put in my Philips AE, and Win2k started up fine. I'll let you know if I get the Live working... thanks for demystifying that for me.

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #11 on:** October 24, 2001, 01:41:00 PM »

Just to clarify about the last thing I mentioned, you should be able to boot into Win2K using VGA mode no matter what. If your video drivers go bad, sound drivers, something that would cause normal Win2K (when it loads all drivers) to fail to boot, VGA mode typically will work.

Also, when I gave you the steps to assign IRQ manually from within Win2K, there is no option to actually "assign to free IRQ", but it will allow you to find a free IRQ (there's a box that will say if it's free or being used) and once you find a free IRQ you can choose to use that one and Win2K will force it to that IRQ.

I hope it works out for you!
-SW