Hostile Wires

[Pepe]

Hardest event in eons!

My system straight died yesterday afternoon. Not unlikely since I was receiving BSoD every single first attempt to power on, from some weeks ago on. Im formatting my HD and making an install from scratch.

The question is more of an intellectual nature. Anyone knows how in the world a BIOS IRQ settings can be altered by Windoze, especially when I got Software BIOS IRQ control disabled on Control Panel->System->BIOS?

I was amazed (after my fear was over) when on an attempt of power on, after the windoze logo, just before the video driver kicks in, I got a flash and a crack from the monitor, and it was dead for 10-15 minutes. No video signal on powerup at all. Then, after 10 minutes, all seemed to start normally, but when I see the BIOS report on startup, ALL and EVERY IRQ was set to 9!!

Weird things....

Pepe

[Vulcan]

Most monitor/pc power circuits have built in protection so that if they get spiked the power supply kicks out for a bit.

Don't be suprised if your monitor does have further problems. Often the spike does the partial damage before the protection kicks in. Sometimes it takes a month to show up.

[Lephturn]

All IRQ's being set to 9 means that ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power management Interface) is enabled.

What OS are you using?

ACPI can be a problem with some PCI devices that don't function properly and/or don't meet PCI 2.0 specs.  Video cards and sound cards are normally the problems.

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Sean "Lephturn" Conrad - Aces High Chief Trainer

A proud member of the mighty Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com

Check out Lephturn's Aerodrome for AH articles and training info!

[Pepe]

My OS is W98. I personally HATE ACPI, and, as far as I can recall, It was disabled.

I will update situation when I reinstall everything, but I would appreciate any way of disabling ACPI right from the start. Btw, you nailed it, Leph, all my headaches started with Voodoo5  

Cheers,

Pepe.

[bloom25]

All your devices being on IRQ 9 tells you that ACPI is enabled.  Windows is smart enough/dumb enough to ignore your settings and pick any IRQ it chooses if plug and play OS is enabled in the bios.



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bloom25
-MAW-
(Formerly of the)
THUNDERBIRDS

[Lephturn]

With Win98, you should be able to disable ACPI and have 98 recover.

Try disabling ACPI in the BIOS.  If you don't have that option, hit your mobo manufacturer's site and look for an updated BIOS version that does have that option.  Failing that, try changing PnP OS to False and manually assign resources for your AGP/PCI devices.

------------------
Sean "Lephturn" Conrad - Aces High Chief Trainer

A proud member of the mighty Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com

Check out Lephturn's Aerodrome for AH articles and training info!

[Pepe]

Fresh reinstall, problems out  

I am using now a mirroring program, so that I can revert to my fresh install, just in case.

Thanks a bunch for all the help!

Cheers,

Pepe

[Lephturn]

And BTW, although I've had the odd problem in other games, my Voodoo 5 has always been sweet in AH.  Nothing I've seen yet beats the V5's 2x FSAA (1024x768 32 Bit color) for image quality and the speed is acceptable.

Maybe when the GeForce 3's get a bit more reasonable....

------------------
Sean "Lephturn" Conrad - Aces High Chief Trainer

A proud member of the mighty Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com

Check out Lephturn's Aerodrome for AH articles and training info!

[Pepe]

Now I'm running 1280x1024, getting from 24ish to 50ish no FSAA, and from 14ish to 30ish 2xFSAA. Not a lot ooooooommmphh! but, as you say, Leph, quality is impressive indeed  

All in all, I'm starting to like Voodoo5  

Cheers,

Pepe