Technical Question...

[Myrkris]

Putting this here rather than in Off-topic, just in case people don't read everything...


Backstory: 1.7 apparently changed the way video was handled in a way that broke a lot of people's video performance if they used NVidia based cards, particularly FX-5XXX series cards. That would include me, with WoW unplayable using my FX-5500 even though I've tried all the fixes suggested on the Tech Support forum. Rather than keep playing using my GeForce 3 Ti-200 card (which is playable, but sluggish during raids and group pvp) I ordered a Radeon 9550 card.

Problem: The Radeon apparently can't find enough system resources to load the drivers, and as a result I STILL can't play WoW with anything but the Ti-200 card. Here's the message in the Device Status for my video card, in the Device Mangler:


This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)

If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system.

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.

Note that it doesn't tell me what kind of free resources it needs, though it is supposed to do that according to the Hardware troubleshooter. Here's my System Resources Report:


Resource Summary Report - Page: 1
******************** SYSTEM SUMMARY ********************
Windows Version: Windows 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Registered Owner: Daniel Lake
Registered Organization:
Computer Name: CX545143-A
Machine Type: AT/AT COMPATIBLE
System BIOS Version: VKT400 - 42302e31
System BIOS Date: 12/18/02
Processor Type: x86 Family 6 Model 10 Stepping 0
Processor Vendor: AuthenticAMD
Number of Processors: 1
Physical Memory: 1536 MB
******************** DISK DRIVE INFO ********************
Drive D:
Type: CD-ROM drive
Total Space: 532,676,608 bytes
Drive F:
Type: Fixed disk drive
Total Space: 120,023,252,992 bytes
Free Space: 86,565,593,088 bytes
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 14593
Sectors Per Track: 63
Bytes Per Sector: 512
******************** IRQ SUMMARY ********************
IRQ Usage Summary:
(ISA) 0 System timer
(ISA) 1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
(PCI) 3 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
(PCI) 5 VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
(ISA) 8 System CMOS/real time clock
(ISA) 9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
(PCI) 10 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
(PCI) 10 C-Media AC97 Audio Device
*(PCI) 11 RADEON 9550
(PCI) 11 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
(PCI) 11 VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
(ISA) 12 Logitech-compatible Mouse PS/2
(ISA) 13 Numeric data processor
(ISA) 14 Primary IDE Channel
(ISA) 15 Secondary IDE Channel
******************** DMA USAGE SUMMARY ********************
DMA Usage Summary:
4 Direct memory access controller
******************** MEMORY SUMMARY ********************
Memory Usage Summary:
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] PCI bus
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] VgaSave
[000C0000 - 000DFFFF] PCI bus
[60000000 - FEBFFFFF] PCI bus
[C0000000 - DFFFFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[C0000000 - CFFFFFFF] RADEON 9550
[D0000000 - DFFFFFFF] RADEON 9550 Secondary
[E0000000 - E7FFFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[E8000000 - E80FFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[E8020000 - E802FFFF] RADEON 9550
[E80F0000 - E80FFFFF] RADEON 9550 Secondary
[E8100000 - E81000FF] VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
[E8101000 - E81010FF] VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
Resource Summary Report - Page: 2
******************** IO PORT SUMMARY ********************
I/O Ports Usage Summary:
[00000000 - 00000CF7] PCI bus
[00000000 - 0000000F] Direct memory access controller
[00000010 - 0000001F] Motherboard resources
[00000020 - 00000021] Programmable interrupt controller
[00000022 - 0000003F] Motherboard resources
[00000040 - 00000043] System timer
[00000044 - 0000005F] Motherboard resources
[00000060 - 00000060] Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
[00000061 - 00000061] System speaker
[00000062 - 00000063] Motherboard resources
[00000064 - 00000064] Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
[00000065 - 0000006F] Motherboard resources
[00000070 - 00000073] System CMOS/real time clock
[00000074 - 0000007F] Motherboard resources
[00000080 - 00000090] Direct memory access controller
[00000091 - 00000093] Motherboard resources
[00000094 - 0000009F] Direct memory access controller
[000000A0 - 000000A1] Programmable interrupt controller
[000000A2 - 000000BF] Motherboard resources
[000000C0 - 000000DF] Direct memory access controller
[000000E0 - 000000EF] Motherboard resources
[000000F0 - 000000FF] Numeric data processor
[00000170 - 00000177] Secondary IDE Channel
[000001F0 - 000001F7] Primary IDE Channel
[00000200 - 00000200] Standard Game Port
[00000201 - 00000207] Standard Game Port
[00000274 - 00000277] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000279 - 00000279] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000294 - 00000297] Motherboard resources
[00000376 - 00000376] Secondary IDE Channel
[00000378 - 0000037F] Printer Port (LPT1)
[000003B0 - 000003BB] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000003B0 - 000003BB] VgaSave
[000003C0 - 000003DF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000003C0 - 000003DF] VgaSave
[000003F6 - 000003F6] Primary IDE Channel
[000004D0 - 000004D1] Motherboard resources
[00000778 - 0000077B] Printer Port (LPT1)
[00000A79 - 00000A79] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000D00 - 00003FFF] PCI bus
[00003D00 - 00003DFF] VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
[00003E00 - 00003EFF] C-Media AC97 Audio Device
[00003F40 - 00003F5F] VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
[00003F60 - 00003F7F] VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
[00003F80 - 00003F9F] VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
[00003FF0 - 00003FFF] VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
[00004000 - 0000407F] Motherboard resources
[00005000 - 0000500F] Motherboard resources
[0000C000 - 0000CFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[0000C000 - 0000C0FF] RADEON 9550

I tried disabling the USB Host Controller that was sharing IRQ 11, with no effect. The computer won't let me manually change the IRQ for either the on-board Ethernet or the Video Card (option present by grayed out).

So, any ideas how I can fix this so I can use the fucking card?

[Warcaster]

Not 100% sure but weeding through the dump you submitted it looks like your computer supports AGP2 and AGP3. The 9550 requires AGP4. That could be the problem.

[Potpie]

No, those 2.0 and 3.0 are AGP version specifications - not like AGP 2x / 4x / 8x.

AGP v2.0 = 4x
AGP v3.0 = 8x

The thing that jumped right out at me is your motherboard BIOS revision - it is dated 2002.
Goto your motherboard manufacturer's website and get a BIOS update, if available.
I'd try your nVidia card after a BIOS update too.

Also, anyone who has a Radeon should be using the drivers here: www.omegadrivers.net
ATI can't write drivers for shit -- hence that site with some really really nice alternatives to the Catalyst drivers. :)

[Warcaster]

Doh! PP's right on the AGP versions. That's what I get for trying to think before caffeine.

[Myrkris]

No, those 2.0 and 3.0 are AGP version specifications - not like AGP 2x / 4x / 8x.

AGP v2.0 = 4x
AGP v3.0 = 8x

The thing that jumped right out at me is your motherboard BIOS revision - it is dated 2002.
Goto your motherboard manufacturer's website and get a BIOS update, if available.
I'd try your nVidia card after a BIOS update too.

Also, anyone who has a Radeon should be using the drivers here: www.omegadrivers.net
ATI can't write drivers for shit -- hence that site with some really really nice alternatives to the Catalyst drivers. :)

Well, flashing the BIOS could be a bit of a problem. I'm pretty sure my FDD is non-functional, and I don't have any floppies even if it still works. :( I'll see if I can track down a disk, and scavenge a workable drive...

[Jabber]

Well, flashing the BIOS could be a bit of a problem. I'm pretty sure my FDD is non-functional, and I don't have any floppies even if it still works. :( I'll see if I can track down a disk, and scavenge a workable drive...

Not all Bois updaters require floppies anymore. I have 2 ASUS boards and both of them can flash bois w/o a floppy. I know Ive also updated an "Albatros" board the same way recently.

[Myrkris]

Not all Bois updaters require floppies anymore. I have 2 ASUS boards and both of them can flash bois w/o a floppy. I know Ive also updated an "Albatros" board the same way recently.

According to the manufacturer's website, this one does. /sighs at Biostar...

[Jabber]

According to the manufacturer's website, this one does. /sighs at Biostar...

/boo luckily floppy drives are cheap :) I know you can pick them up for 4.95 at the local computer store. :)

[Soy]

I just had to install a floppy drive myself in order to flash my video card bios. It was either that or figure out how to boot XP into DOS (a normal Windows command prompt doesn't count). I figured installing a floppy was the lesser of two evils.

So now that magnificant piece of 80's technology is marring my beautiful computer. =P

[Sol]

Go into the system bios and disable anything you are not using.

parallel port
serial 1
serial 2
firewire port (if you have it, its the ieee thing)
onboard sound card (usually called "Ac97")
onboard joystick support/midi
onboard modem (if you have one)
you already spotted the USB IRQ thinger
onboard anything that you don't use (check if you dont' know what it is)

disabling all these things may get ya enough ports/DMA's/IRQ's/com ports/ whatever

The new bios idea is an absolute must.... also, new mobo drivers are a dangerous thing, but if all fails, a new mobo driver for windows may help too. Bios is typically more safe though....

Another thing: especially since you have an older mobo, make sure that you aren't putting any cards/devices in the PCI slot adjacent to your AGP slot.

If you have any non-essential PCI devices plugged in, remove them and reboot once with the old vidcard. uninstall the old vidcard, put in new vid card, and reboot and see if you get it installed. Then add in the PCI cards 1 at a time and install drivers 1 at a time. Remember to not use the PCI slot next to the AGP slot. May be an old computer tech wive's tale, but i avoid that one and avoid the last PCI slot a well.

[Myrkris]

Go into the system bios and disable anything you are not using.

parallel port
serial 1
serial 2
firewire port (if you have it, its the ieee thing)
onboard sound card (usually called "Ac97")
onboard joystick support/midi
onboard modem (if you have one)
you already spotted the USB IRQ thinger
onboard anything that you don't use (check if you dont' know what it is)

disabling all these things may get ya enough ports/DMA's/IRQ's/com ports/ whatever

The new bios idea is an absolute must.... also, new mobo drivers are a dangerous thing, but if all fails, a new mobo driver for windows may help too. Bios is typically more safe though....

Another thing: especially since you have an older mobo, make sure that you aren't putting any cards/devices in the PCI slot adjacent to your AGP slot.

If you have any non-essential PCI devices plugged in, remove them and reboot once with the old vidcard. uninstall the old vidcard, put in new vid card, and reboot and see if you get it installed. Then add in the PCI cards 1 at a time and install drivers 1 at a time. Remember to not use the PCI slot next to the AGP slot. May be an old computer tech wive's tale, but i avoid that one and avoid the last PCI slot a well.

Yah, did all that. You'll notice no Serial Ports installed... :)

I've got open IRQs, but it isn't doing any good since Vid Cards seem to default to IRQ 11 (the FX5500 goes there too), as does my on-board Ethernet, and I can't disable the LAN and still access the net. No cards other than the Vid Card installed at all, so that isn't the problem. Hopefully flashing the bios will work. I have two FDDs at home, so I'm hoping one will work!

[Myrcaus]

Ah, I never used the onboard LAN on that board, so might not have noticed the conflict.

That an APCI board should have IRQ conflicts is just fooking WRONG, though. Hrm. Anywho - for the techies here, the board is a Biostar M7-VIT Pro II.

[Myrkris]

I've got a gimpy old NetGear FA310X (or something like that) I *can* use in place of the onboard Ethernet, but it's a lot slower and I really can't afford to keep throwing money at this problem...

[Daggem]

What kind of powersupply do you have in this computer? A 9550 will draw a pretty good amount through the agp channel. If you've only got a 300watt, I would suggest bumping that up to at least 350. I don't think it's directly causing your problem, but one thing for certain is that newer video cards do draw a lot more power than your older nvidia card.

And, yeah, I would go ahead and go through the pains of plugging in a floppy drive just to update the bios. Remember, it doesn't have to stay in when your done. Heck, you could even just borrow someone's for a day and give it back. Pop the case, plug it in, drop the files, boot to dos, flash, power off, remove the drive, cover back on, done. 2 hours and you're good to go.

[Myrkris]

I installed a new power supply within the past year. 400 or 450w I think, not sure though.

Anyway, heading home to start working my way through the list of possible fixes. Wish me luck!

[Myrkris]

OK, some updates...

The power supply is 350W, Mad Dog brand, FWIW.

I uninstalled the video drivers and utilities and installed the Omega drivers for ATI cards.

I disabled the onboard LAN and put in a spare NIC I had lying around.

Net result? No change, same error message.

However...

The interesting thing is the system resources now:



Resource Summary Report - Page: 1
******************** SYSTEM SUMMARY ********************
Windows Version: Windows 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Registered Owner: Daniel Lake
Registered Organization:
Computer Name: CX545143-A
Machine Type: AT/AT COMPATIBLE
System BIOS Version: VKT400 - 42302e31
System BIOS Date: 12/18/02
Processor Type: x86 Family 6 Model 10 Stepping 0
Processor Vendor: AuthenticAMD
Number of Processors: 1
Physical Memory: 1536 MB
******************** DISK DRIVE INFO ********************
Drive D:
Type: CD-ROM drive
Total Space: 532,676,608 bytes
Drive F:
Type: Fixed disk drive
Total Space: 120,023,252,992 bytes
Free Space: 86,330,490,880 bytes
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 14593
Sectors Per Track: 63
Bytes Per Sector: 512
******************** IRQ SUMMARY ********************
IRQ Usage Summary:
(ISA) 0 System timer
(ISA) 1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
(PCI) 3 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
(PCI) 5 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
(PCI) 5 C-Media AC97 Audio Device
(ISA) 8 System CMOS/real time clock
(ISA) 9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
(PCI) 10 Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter #3
(PCI) 10 VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
*(PCI) 11 RADEON 9550 (Omega 2.6.71)
(ISA) 12 Logitech-compatible Mouse PS/2
(ISA) 13 Numeric data processor
(ISA) 14 Primary IDE Channel
(ISA) 15 Secondary IDE Channel
******************** DMA USAGE SUMMARY ********************
DMA Usage Summary:
4 Direct memory access controller
******************** MEMORY SUMMARY ********************
Memory Usage Summary:
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] PCI bus
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000A0000 - 000BFFFF] VgaSave
[000C0000 - 000DFFFF] PCI bus
[60000000 - FEBFFFFF] PCI bus
[C0000000 - DFFFFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[C0000000 - CFFFFFFF] RADEON 9550 (Omega 2.6.71)
[D0000000 - DFFFFFFF] RADEON 9550 Secondary (Omega 2.6.71)
[E0000000 - E7FFFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[E8000000 - E80FFFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[E8020000 - E802FFFF] RADEON 9550 (Omega 2.6.71)
[E80F0000 - E80FFFFF] RADEON 9550 Secondary (Omega 2.6.71)
[E8120000 - E81203FF] Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter #3
[E8121000 - E81210FF] VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
******************** IO PORT SUMMARY ********************
Resource Summary Report - Page: 2
I/O Ports Usage Summary:
[00000000 - 00000CF7] PCI bus
[00000000 - 0000000F] Direct memory access controller
[00000010 - 0000001F] Motherboard resources
[00000020 - 00000021] Programmable interrupt controller
[00000022 - 0000003F] Motherboard resources
[00000040 - 00000043] System timer
[00000044 - 0000005F] Motherboard resources
[00000060 - 00000060] Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
[00000061 - 00000061] System speaker
[00000062 - 00000063] Motherboard resources
[00000064 - 00000064] Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
[00000065 - 0000006F] Motherboard resources
[00000070 - 00000073] System CMOS/real time clock
[00000074 - 0000007F] Motherboard resources
[00000080 - 00000090] Direct memory access controller
[00000091 - 00000093] Motherboard resources
[00000094 - 0000009F] Direct memory access controller
[000000A0 - 000000A1] Programmable interrupt controller
[000000A2 - 000000BF] Motherboard resources
[000000C0 - 000000DF] Direct memory access controller
[000000E0 - 000000EF] Motherboard resources
[000000F0 - 000000FF] Numeric data processor
[00000170 - 00000177] Secondary IDE Channel
[000001F0 - 000001F7] Primary IDE Channel
[00000200 - 00000200] Standard Game Port
[00000201 - 00000207] Standard Game Port
[00000274 - 00000277] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000279 - 00000279] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000294 - 00000297] Motherboard resources
[00000376 - 00000376] Secondary IDE Channel
[00000378 - 0000037F] Printer Port (LPT1)
[000003B0 - 000003BB] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000003B0 - 000003BB] VgaSave
[000003C0 - 000003DF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
[000003C0 - 000003DF] VgaSave
[000003F6 - 000003F6] Primary IDE Channel
[000004D0 - 000004D1] Motherboard resources
[00000778 - 0000077B] Printer Port (LPT1)
[00000A79 - 00000A79] ISAPNP Read Data Port
[00000D00 - 00003FFF] PCI bus
[00003D00 - 00003DFF] Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter #3
[00003E00 - 00003EFF] C-Media AC97 Audio Device
[00003F60 - 00003F7F] VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
[00003F80 - 00003F9F] VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
[00003FF0 - 00003FFF] VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
[00004000 - 0000407F] Motherboard resources
[00005000 - 0000500F] Motherboard resources
[0000C000 - 0000CFFF] VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller
*[0000C000 - 0000C0FF] RADEON 9550 (Omega 2.6.71)

The only "competition" for resources is between the Video Card and the on board AGP, which shouldn't be a conflict as far as I can tell. I'm going to try to flash the BIOS next, assuming my other FDD works...

[Ryndstrum]

(New here, part of Requiem guild, looks like we will be joining this little alliance here soon)

I agree with what everyone else has suggested, updating the BIOS is the next logical step, though for this particular issue, not sure if that will clear your conflict up. If the update fails to help, be sure to reset the BIOS to default. Then grab the latest VIA 4in1 windows driver from BioStar. If still no go, I'd go directly to VIA's site and grab their 4in1 driver. Could be you are running a much older 4in1 driver that is preventing the I/O ports to be properly assigned...

Just thinking off the top of my head...

[Myrkris]

So far, no-go on flashing the BIOS. I can't get either of the FDDs I have to work. The BIOS is set correctly for the FDD and I've tried two different drive cables with the drives, but no joy. Either both drives are hosed (possible) or the drive controller is broke (also possible). At the moment, everything is on hold until I figure out which it is, and whether it's possible to flash the BIOS. If it is, we'll see what happens, and I'll look into updating the board drivers. If not, looks like there's a new mobo in my future...