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IRQ conflicts

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First post, by krivulak

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I am just now facing problem that I cannot solve. About a week ago I posted here something about Thintune mikro PC. Everything is working correctly, until I plug in PS/2 mouse. I don't even have to load drivers, just plugged into the port does the problem, which is sound card stops working. Duke 3D throws error about IRQ conflict, but if I list IRQs, port 5 is free. If I load the CuteMouse driver, it sits on IRQ 12, but the sound card doesn't work. If I unplug the mouse, everything is back to normal. I just ran out of ideas, I tried other driver, didn't help.
The card is OPTI 930 (SB Pro 2.0 clone), mouse is Genius EasyMouse. Thanks for any advice 😀

Reply 1 of 14, by Ozzuneoj

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krivulak wrote:

I am just now facing problem that I cannot solve. About a week ago I posted here something about Thintune mikro PC. Everything is working correctly, until I plug in PS/2 mouse. I don't even have to load drivers, just plugged into the port does the problem, which is sound card stops working. Duke 3D throws error about IRQ conflict, but if I list IRQs, port 5 is free. If I load the CuteMouse driver, it sits on IRQ 12, but the sound card doesn't work. If I unplug the mouse, everything is back to normal. I just ran out of ideas, I tried other driver, didn't help.
The card is OPTI 930 (SB Pro 2.0 clone), mouse is Genius EasyMouse. Thanks for any advice 😀

I'm unfamiliar with this particular PC, but does the BIOS have any settings for legacy mouse or PS/2 support? Its possible that it is doing something wonky with the resources when a mouse is detected.

Aside from something being physically defective (short or bad component related to the mouse port), I can't see what else would cause this in pure DOS as the mouse can't really do anything without interaction from a driver or the BIOS.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 2 of 14, by krivulak

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Yeah, I thought that too, but there is no setting like that in the BIOS. I looked in every section of BIOS and didn't found anything related to PS/2. It has Phoenix - AWARD BIOS.

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Reply 3 of 14, by Ozzuneoj

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Does it have any settings for legacy USB support? I believe that can use resources as well, and it could somehow be related. I'm just imagining all the strange configurations thin clients end up in...

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 4 of 14, by Jo22

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Ozzuneoj wrote:

Its possible that it is doing something wonky with the resources when a mouse is detected..

I think the same. IRQ12 is mainly reserved for auxiliary devices (mice), but can also be used by other devices.
But only, if no PS/2 auxiliary device is beeing used. More about these PS/2 technicalitiess can be read here: IBM PS/2 Model 50 Keyboard Controller. 😀

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Reply 5 of 14, by krivulak

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Well, the thing is - I don't really have to load drivers. If I just physically plug the mouse into the PS/2 port, the soundcard starts malfunctioning. When I unplug it, everything is back OK.

Reply 6 of 14, by cj_reha

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krivulak wrote:

Well, the thing is - I don't really have to load drivers. If I just physically plug the mouse into the PS/2 port, the soundcard starts malfunctioning. When I unplug it, everything is back OK.

I pray you're not hotplugging the mouse while it's on? PS2 ports aren't supposed to be able to be hotpluggable, and you could fry the port, the mouse, or both...

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Reply 7 of 14, by krivulak

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No, of course not. Everytime I want to disconnect it, I shut down the PC before. But - it really confuses me to the maximum.

Reply 8 of 14, by CkRtech

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Did you disable onboard sound? I don't know if those front ports are just wired for any given sound solution or if you have something on the motherboard itself.

Are there multiple serial ports, etc? What OS is on it? Does the sound card have CD-ROM interface(s) enabled?

I wouldn't just focus on the mouse alone for troubleshooting. Serial 1&2, printer, sound card, onboard IDE, PS/2 should easily co-exist provided there isn't an unexpected redundancy.

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Reply 9 of 14, by Ozzuneoj

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krivulak wrote:

Well, the thing is - I don't really have to load drivers. If I just physically plug the mouse into the PS/2 port, the soundcard starts malfunctioning. When I unplug it, everything is back OK.

That's why it pretty much has to be either something BIOS related that detects a mouse and changes resource settings, or it has to be a defect of some kind.

Have you opened up the system and physically looked things over? Check for any goofy jumpers near the PS/2 ports. I'm thinking anything related to the mouse.

Also, I would disable absolutely everything that the BIOS provides settings for. All onboard devices that aren't 100% necessary to run a game, compatibility settings and any power saving or power management settings (I believe these sometimes require resources). Check for any options that also allow the mouse to wake the system from sleep and disable any of that stuff.

And I see the system has USB ports, so if there IS a "Legacy USB" setting in the BIOS, try using a USB mouse, it should work with cutemouse if your BIOS has this option.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 10 of 14, by krivulak

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CkRtech wrote:

Did you disable onboard sound? I don't know if those front ports are just wired for any given sound solution or if you have something on the motherboard itself.

Are there multiple serial ports, etc? What OS is on it? Does the sound card have CD-ROM interface(s) enabled?

I wouldn't just focus on the mouse alone for troubleshooting. Serial 1&2, printer, sound card, onboard IDE, PS/2 should easily co-exist provided there isn't an unexpected redundancy.

Yes, onboard sound is disabled. The onboard chip is AC'97, and it sounds like garbage, so I disabled it and into the only slot I put SB PRO clone - OPTI 82C930.
There are two serial ports, one set to IRQ3 and one to IRQ4. OS is DOS 6.22. The soundcard has disabled CD-ROM interface since there is no way to fit CD-ROM inside.
LPT is set to IRQ7.

Ozzuneoj wrote:
at's why it pretty much has to be either something BIOS related that detects a mouse and changes resource settings, or it has to […]
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at's why it pretty much has to be either something BIOS related that detects a mouse and changes resource settings, or it has to be a defect of some kind.

Have you opened up the system and physically looked things over? Check for any goofy jumpers near the PS/2 ports. I'm thinking anything related to the mouse.

Also, I would disable absolutely everything that the BIOS provides settings for. All onboard devices that aren't 100% necessary to run a game, compatibility settings and any power saving or power management settings (I believe these sometimes require resources). Check for any options that also allow the mouse to wake the system from sleep and disable any of that stuff.

And I see the system has USB ports, so if there IS a "Legacy USB" setting in the BIOS, try using a USB mouse, it should work with cutemouse if your BIOS has this option.

I looked over it to see if caps are OK and to rewire ethernet LED to be HDD activity, but I didn't see anything bad. And sadly, no, the BIOS does not have USB legacy setting. If it had, it would be so easy, but it doesn't... At the end - this machine was designed to run Windows XP.

Reply 11 of 14, by Jo22

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Ozzuneoj wrote:
krivulak wrote:

Well, the thing is - I don't really have to load drivers. If I just physically plug the mouse into the PS/2 port, the soundcard starts malfunctioning. When I unplug it, everything is back OK.

That's why it pretty much has to be either something BIOS related that detects a mouse and changes resource settings, or it has to be a defect of some kind..

Not necessarily. Like the keyboard, the presence of an auxiliary device/mouse could be detected by the keyboard controller itself during power-on (a KBC has its own firmware).
If it did, it would generate IRQ12. Otherwise, only IRQ1 is used for the keyboard. I'm speaking under correction, of course,
as I haven't studied the mechanics of the interoperation of KBC, BIOS and interrupt lines..

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Reply 12 of 14, by Moogle!

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Could you try clearing your CMOS and redoing the settings? Sometimes, if your battery is low, the settings can become garbage and the machine will try to use settings that are wrong and/or impossible.

Your mention of IRQ 5 being 'free' seems odd.

Reply 13 of 14, by tayyare

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What kind of a card is your sound card? Does it require setting up jumpers or using a setup utility to adjust its IRQ settings? I've seen machines in the past which recognizes a PS2 mouse as soon as you connect it and assigns IRQ12 to it. This might be the case in your situation. Probably your best chance to solve the conflict is forcing your sound card to use IRQ 5 instead of 12 by some means of setting it up.

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Reply 14 of 14, by krivulak

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I did set up the card through the driver so it uses IRQ 5. The best test is Commander Keen - it uses 220h/I5/D1 and anything else won't work. It works until the mouse is plugged in - then it stops.