Assigning IRQ's on Intel dp35dp

[firubbi]

can i install 2 pcie cards? looks irq 1,5,6,7,10,12,14,15,24 are free! or they're using but not seen here!

[cortone]

firubbi,

Installing 2 pcie cards will have more to do with the slots available on your board. Whether they conflict will probably relate to what the two cards are.

As for the IRQs, yes most of the unlisted ones are probably being used. For instance, your keyboard is likely using 1, and your motherboard is probably using 2. XP and later OSs don't allow the same control of IRQs as earlier OSs, at least in ACPI mode. That's one of the prices of more or less functional Plug and Play. In addition, most modern motherboards hardwire the IRQ for specific slots, which why garyb recommends swapping slots to find a solution to conflicts.

I don't think the DP35DP has multiple pcie slots. Is this your motherboard? What are the two pcie cards you want to install?

Cory

[winger]

The comment about not plugging in the usb drive before boot is not my problem.. First, it is a real hard drive not a usb stick, but is not bootable. If I plug it in before booting, all is well. If is when I plug in after boot that is when I crash.

Winger.

[garyb]

then, there is likely a usb controller sharing an irq with the card. have you checked?

[firubbi]

I don't think the DP35DP has multiple pcie slots. Is this your motherboard? What are the two pcie cards you want to install?
Cory

hi cory,
dp35dp has 3 pci,3pcie x1 and 1 pcie x16 slots/ 2 firewire(internal-external) 6/more usb.
my plan is to run these cards:
pulsar 2
xite-1
duende pcie
powercore 6000 firewire( on firewire port or by pcie / pci firewire )
Canopus ADVC-110 DV Converter (firewire video output from sonar to tv - dubbing )

3 Usb is already running (keyboard,mouse and midi keys)
2 sata HD is also running

so is plug/play mobo means if i hook any external device it will put on a free irq? (if the mobo has any free irq)

[cortone]

firubbi,

Unfortunately it's not that simple. The manual for your mainboard will have a chart which says which slots use which IRQs, and what shares those IRQs. You'll need to check with that, and then start disabling whatever you can to free IRQs. From the looks of your list of devices, I think you are expecting too much from your computer to handle all of them. But that is just an opinion, it may be possible. I do know that it is not clear how a Scope PCI card and an XITE will work together, although SonicCore says it can. I hope that it is true!

Good luck!
Cory

[cortone]

I mis-read your question winger. If you don't find any conflicts as garyb suggests, another possibility is that the drive is causing a power surge when it is plugged in, which can hang or crash a system. It may be that the drive draws too much current as it spins up, or it may be the way the mainboard improperly implements the USB protocol, which is not providing enough current. This is properly accounted for (by the BIOS, I think) when your system is booting and all the devices are drawing power in surges, but is a shock when the OS is in control.

Some USB ports in a system may be better than others (fully implemented with proper power specs), which you can determine by experiment. Some hard drives require a special USB cable that has two plugs at one end. These both need to be plugged in first, and then plugged into the hard drive, so that it can draw current from two different USB ports.

Cory

[firubbi]

firubbi,
Unfortunately it's not that simple. The manual for your mainboard will have a chart which says which slots use which IRQs, and what shares those IRQs.

im trying to understand these info:
www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/prodspec/DP35DP-tps.pdf

[cortone]

firubbi,

I must be thinking of a different board and manual, very sorry! I have searched for an IRQ list for your board, but can't find anything that describes the assignments. Here's my suggestions for disabling:

USB #2938 on IRQ 21

USB #2934 on IRQ 23
USB #293A on IRQ 23 (these two alone will open up IRQ23)

ICH9 SMBUS on IRQ 9

IDE Controller on IRQ 17 (I am assuming you only have SATA drives, don't do this one if you are using an IDE cd/dvd drive)

Garyb, maybe you can verify this? I am pretty sure that you can disable all of the USB stuff on IRQs 18 and 19. At some point, you need to leave a few USB ports enabled, but I think that there will be enough left after all of these are shut off.

Don't worry about sharing Scope cards with the SATA controllers. I don't have experience with the other cards you would like to install.

This will get you much closer, possibly all the way to your dream system. I'll say again, IMHO, you won't be able to get all of those things running in a single system at the same time. I'll be happy to be wrong though!

Cory

[garyb]

that looks correct, but it's really easier to just put the cards in, find out what is sharing and then disable it. it's really not a big deal at all.