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IRQ conflict?

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25 replies

by darah.shawn

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As I try and work through this moronic USB modem issue, I've come across some similar situations, most of which have ended up being IRQ conflicts between the USB Host Controllers and audio or video cards.

In particular, I'm looking at IRQ 18 on my machine:

18 NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
18 NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT
18 VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller

All IRQ's are being used up to 23 at the moment. Unfortunately, my BIOS only allows me access (PCI or Reserved) up to 15. Vista is not allowing me to rearrange IRQ assignments.

1) Is this IRQ possibly the source of my issues with a USB modem that constantly freezes?
2) How can I get the IRQ assignments changed through Vista?

I can post the other IRQ's as well, if necessary.

PC specs are as follows:

Asus A8N-E, non-SLI, BIOS Rev. 1013
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+
Onboard audio
BFGTech GeForce 7800GT
two separate generic USB2.0 cards
Vista Ultimate 32-bit (although issue is similar on 64-bit Vista and 64-bit Windows XP Pro)

Thanks in advance.

25 replies

by oh smeg

Or more importantly if you can change the IRQ & DMA Settings for these devices at least.

Open the device Manager then open up the USB Devices find the VIA USB Enhanced Controller and right click on it in the drop down menu select proprieties and left click on this in the next window to open left Click on the Resources Tab and see what you can change in there. If you can change things make the changes and reboot the computer if it's still working correctly try connecting the USB Modem again and see if it works now. If it doesn't change the IRQ on the Nvidia Geforce 7800GT the same way and reboot after saving the changes.

Personally I don't think that you'll find this is a IRQ Conflict though but a conflict between the Modem and computer you may be required to open the Modems Setup and make changes in there. But to be perfectly honest I stopped using USB Modems because of issues like this with th original version of XP. I found the USB Modems to just be unreliable.

Col

by darah.shawn

That's how I was trying to change the IRQ settings, and unfortunately Vista has it greyed out ("Use Automatic Settings" is checked with no option to uncheck it).

The only common factors I have seen between my issue and similar ones are 1) IRQ conflicts with audio or video cards, whether or not a conflict is shown; and 2) issues with USB modems emulating COM ports, but I don't have any options to change those either.

Unfortunately, I do not have any other options for internet here besides a USB modem through the wireless carrier (EVDO). I'm already locked into a contract anyhow, so I'd rather get this working instead of having to use it with my laptop at all times.

How can I get Vista to allow me to change IRQ settings within the OS? So far I'm not finding any way to make that happen.

by darah.shawn

....that I went straight from 1010 to 1013?

I only flashed up when the problem started, so I'm not sure if skipping 1011 would have been a problem or not?

by peconet tietokoneet

Select the "Load default settings" option and then re-start your computer. When started do a shutdown. Boot up and access the BIOS and sort out your settings to the way you want it and then re-boot (make sure you save and exit). See if the problems are still there.
Next load on the new version of your BIOS and do the same as above. Hopefully this should correct your issue.

by darah.shawn

Hopefully that will do it. I'll try and re-flash, then post back.

Thanks.

by darah.shawn

That was the first thing I looked for, incidentally.
I've asked my ISP who provides the modems, but their techs are (go figure) useless. UTStarcom and Pantech (the manufacturers) say they don't have any info on newer firmware and refer me back to my ISP. It's a vicious cycle.

I also tried downgrading the BIOS to revision 1011, but the update utilities don't allow for downflashing so I'm stuck on the newest.

by rob miners

firmware is dated 2005. Have you asked them if these modems are compatible with Vista. What Operating System is on the Notebook.

by rob miners

problem reports.

Reconnect it to the Notebook and press the Winkey+r and type in services.msc compare the startup features from each System under Sources for the errors. EG: Source: Tcpip

The system detected that network adapter Alltel Wireless Internet was disconnected from the network and its network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Try updating the driver for the network adapter.

by darah.shawn

The only things I'm seeing different on the main PC were:

SSTP - currently on Manual
ICS - currently on Automatic
TPM Base Svcs - currently on Automatic
WLAN AutoConfig - currently on Manual

ICS I'm sure I can go ahead and disable. I'd wonder about WLAN AutoConfig as well(set to Automatic?)

by darah.shawn

My laptop is running Vista Home Premium (32-bit). The modem runs flawlessly.

So far, the main PC has run XP Pro x64, Vista Ultimate 32- and 64-bit, all to the same tune.

by darah.shawn

varies depending on who you talk to.

I'm still unclear if this is just a joint effort gone wrong, or what.
Device info shows UTStarcom, ESN sticker on device itself shows made by Pantech. It's a mess.

by rob miners

in Event Viewer. Check the problem history in the Problem Reports and Solutions control panel. Are there any memory dumps. Minidump Files can be found here. C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini122707-02.dmp

Have you tried other USB ports especially the on-board rear ports.

by darah.shawn

I've run the modem on all 8 ports. All of my other USB devices work fine.

These are the most recent Event Viewer logs related to the modem freezing up. This covers everything from time of connect to "disconnect":

Log Name: System
Source: PlugPlayManager
Date: 3/4/2009 7:12:10 AM
Event ID: 12
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: ******
Description:
The device 'PANTECH UM175AL WWAN Driver' (USB\VID_106c&PID_3715&MI_03\7&6494a93&0&8515) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.

Log Name: System
Source: RemoteAccess
Date: 3/4/2009 7:10:41 AM
Event ID: 20268
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: ******
Description:
CoID={6A3305EF-E798-4800-B8FD-3B7F82EEECB5}: The connection to Alltel Wireless Internet made by user **********@alltel.net using device COM3 was disconnected.

Log Name: System
Source: Tcpip
Date: 3/4/2009 7:10:32 AM
Event ID: 4202
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: ******
Description:
The system detected that network adapter Alltel Wireless Internet was disconnected from the network and its network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Try updating the driver for the network adapter.

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-User-PnP
Date: 3/4/2009 7:09:06 AM
Event ID: 20003
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: ******
Description:
Driver Management has concluded the process to add Service tunnel for Device Instance ID ROOT\*6TO4MP\0000 with the following status: 0.

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-User-PnP
Date: 3/4/2009 7:09:04 AM
Event ID: 20003
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: ******
Description:
Driver Management has concluded the process to add Service tunnel for Device Instance ID ROOT\*ISATAP\0002 with the following status: 0.

Log Name: System
Source: Tcpip
Date: 3/4/2009 7:09:03 AM
Event ID: 4201
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: ******
Description:
The system detected that network adapter Alltel Wireless Internet was connected to the network, and has initiated normal operation.

The interesting thing is that once I notice the "freeze", I can check Device Manager and still find no conflicts, modem still shows up okay. I have to force the software to disconnect and then I'm able to reconnect again (even though it'll happen over and over).

by darah.shawn

version of Quicklink software I downloaded straight from Alltel onto the main PC, so thankfully that's one less thing to worry about.

I'll go modify those few services and see what we get. Will post back.

Thanks :)

by darah.shawn

ICS be turning itself back on right around the time of disconnect?

If I'm disabling it in Services, I'm not sure what would be setting it back to Manual. This isn't happening on the laptop.

Is that possibly the issue, then?

by darah.shawn

other than USB connection for the modem itself.

The link doesn't really show anything that appears to be of use - there is no Internet Gateway in Network Connections - not sure if this is because the system recognizes it as a dialup connection?

Not sure what else would be changing the ICS settings....but aside from that, I'm still concerned as to why I'm getting PnP Manager errors in Event Viewer.

by rob miners

12 is for a device no being removed properly. The System thinks that it was removed. I wonder if it has something to do with power. Do you have access to a Powerd USB Hub to connect to.
Also have you disabled the Power options on the USB Root Hubs. Expand the universal Serial Bus Controllers
Double click on the USB Root Hub
Select the Power Management Tab and check the "allow the computer to turn off the device to Save Power
If you have more than one USB Root Hub, then you should apply the steps to each one of them. That's it, Reboot

by darah.shawn

I've heard speculation on how much power the USB modems require (ie. just about as much as a single 4-port card puts out).

The computer itself runs on a 500W power supply with an APS backup, so it shouldn't be experiencing any power losses...but would a powered USB Hub offer more power than what I already have?

by rob miners

Yes it certainly would. The USB specification for a USB port is 500mA per port. If a device needs more then 500mA, the USB port may be switched off by the over current circuit.

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