NT4: ISA card installation problems

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Hi,

I am having a big problem with a non-PNP ISA data aquisation card. I used
winmsd to locare free ressources (I/O and memory base address). There are no
error messages and no conflicts. It simply acts as if it was not there.

The card runs in the same PC when I boot with MS-DOS 6.22, so there are no
problems with the BIOS settings or any conflicts. BTW it is the only card on
the ISA bus.

The card runs on another PC with NT4, so I know that the drivers are all
right.

In the newer Windows versions (since 2k) there is the device manager that I
normally use for checking hardware problems. I there a similar tool in NT4?

Is it possible that the OS tries to remap I/O and memory base address?
On the card it is set with jumpers, and then entered in the driver
installation tool.

What on-board tools can I use diagnose the problem?

Thanks,
Bernd

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Bernd Maier wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am having a big problem with a non-PNP ISA data aquisation card. I
> used winmsd to locare free ressources (I/O and memory base address).
> There are no error messages and no conflicts. It simply acts as if it
> was not there.
>
> The card runs in the same PC when I boot with MS-DOS 6.22, so there are
> no problems with the BIOS settings or any conflicts. BTW it is the only
> card on the ISA bus.
>
> The card runs on another PC with NT4, so I know that the drivers are all
> right.
>
> In the newer Windows versions (since 2k) there is the device manager
> that I normally use for checking hardware problems. I there a similar
> tool in NT4?
>
> Is it possible that the OS tries to remap I/O and memory base address?
> On the card it is set with jumpers, and then entered in the driver
> installation tool.
>
> What on-board tools can I use diagnose the problem?
>
> Thanks,
> Bernd
>
>

Is pnpisa.sys installed in this particular computer with
Windows NT? This file is needed for running legacy cards.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Ghostrider" wrote:

> Bernd Maier wrote:
>
>> I am having a big problem with a non-PNP ISA data aquisation card. I
>> used winmsd to locare free ressources (I/O and memory base address).
>> There are no error messages and no conflicts. It simply acts as if it
>> was not there.
>
> Is pnpisa.sys installed in this particular computer with
> Windows NT? This file is needed for running legacy cards.
>

It is an out-of-the-box installation. I will check this out.

But is pnpisa.sys really required for an non-Plug-and-Play ISA device?

Regards,
Bernd

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Ghostrider" wrote:

> Is pnpisa.sys installed in this particular computer with
> Windows NT? This file is needed for running legacy cards.

I seems that pnpisa.sys is not needed. The card runs on another PC without
it.

As far as I know pnpisa.sys is needed for jumperless PnP cards. My card is
configured with jumpers and does not support (or need) Plug-and-Play.

Regards,
Bernd

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Bernd Maier wrote:

>
> "Ghostrider" wrote:
>
>> Is pnpisa.sys installed in this particular computer with
>> Windows NT? This file is needed for running legacy cards.
>
>
> I seems that pnpisa.sys is not needed. The card runs on another PC
> without it.
>
> As far as I know pnpisa.sys is needed for jumperless PnP cards. My card
> is configured with jumpers and does not support (or need) Plug-and-Play.
>
> Regards,
> Bernd

Believe pnpisa.sys is still needed, even for jumpered
cards. This is based on installing Soundblaster legacy
ISA cards with jumper settings for IRQ, High DMA, low
DMA, I/O, etc., since the very first days of NT 4.0.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Ghostrider" wrote:


> Believe pnpisa.sys is still needed, even for jumpered
> cards. This is based on installing Soundblaster legacy
> ISA cards with jumper settings for IRQ, High DMA, low
> DMA, I/O, etc., since the very first days of NT 4.0.

Ok, I installed it but the card still does not run. Do you have any other
tips?

BTW: with pnpisa installed, should the BIOS settings be "PnP OS" or "Non PNP
OS"? I already tried them both, but I would like to know which one is
correct.

Thank you,
Bernd

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Bernd Maier wrote:

>
> "Ghostrider" wrote:
>
>
>> Believe pnpisa.sys is still needed, even for jumpered
>> cards. This is based on installing Soundblaster legacy
>> ISA cards with jumper settings for IRQ, High DMA, low
>> DMA, I/O, etc., since the very first days of NT 4.0.
>
>
> Ok, I installed it but the card still does not run. Do you have any
> other tips?
>
> BTW: with pnpisa installed, should the BIOS settings be "PnP OS" or "Non
> PNP OS"? I already tried them both, but I would like to know which one
> is correct.
>
> Thank you,
> Bernd

The bios configuration setting should be disabled for PnP
OS. Your comment of no resource conflicts is noted. But,
the resources cannot be dynamically set in Windows NT and
just what are the specific actions the "driver installation
tool"? Is this really an ISA configuration utility?

Also, since Windows NT does not rely on the autoexec.bat
and config.sys file at bootup, does this peripheral card
need specific device drivers to be loaded in order to work?
If so, these need to be written for Windows NT and loaded
via autoexec.nt and/or config.nt through a *.pif file, when
the application utilizing this device is being started.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Ghostrider" wrote:

> The bios configuration setting should be disabled for PnP
> OS. Your comment of no resource conflicts is noted. But,
> the resources cannot be dynamically set in Windows NT and
> just what are the specific actions the "driver installation
> tool"? Is this really an ISA configuration utility?

It is the application and driver installation program from the card
manufacturer. It prompts the user to locate free ressources with winmsd and
to enter them into the driver installation dialog. These are the same that
are jumpered on the card.
After the installation winmsd shows that the ressources are claimed by the
driver.


> Also, since Windows NT does not rely on the autoexec.bat
> and config.sys file at bootup, does this peripheral card
> need specific device drivers to be loaded in order to work?
> If so, these need to be written for Windows NT and loaded
> via autoexec.nt and/or config.nt through a *.pif file, when
> the application utilizing this device is being started.

The drivers are made for NT4. The same software configuration runs on
another PC with NT4 without problems.

Regards,
Bernd

 

[Bruce]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

When using only pnp devices (which includes all PCI devices) the
system knows about all ports, interrupts and DMA use and can
configure them.

When you introduce a non-pnp card you need to manually tell
a) the card the ports, interrupts and DMA settings to use
b) the part of the system that configures pnp devices that
these ports, interrupts and DMA channels are already used.
(With NT4, it's normally the BIOS that handles pnp).
c) the device driver for the non-pnp card the ports, interrupts
and DMA channel to use.

It sounds like you have done a) and c) but not b).

BIOSes that can handle pnp have a some method where you tell
the BIOS what ports, interrupts and DMA channels are being
used by non-pnp cards. I think if you do this your problem
will be solved.


p.s. The pnpisa.sys driver that was mentioned earlier in this
thread is for use when the BIOS is not configuring pnp devices.
Unless you have an old computer BIOS that does not support
pnp or a have another operating systems that prevents you
using the BIOS pnp features, you should let the BIOS configure
pnp and not use the pnpisa.sys driver.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Bruce" wrote:

> BIOSes that can handle pnp have a some method where you tell
> the BIOS what ports, interrupts and DMA channels are being
> used by non-pnp cards. I think if you do this your problem
> will be solved.

There is this "IRQ resource exclusion" for ISA cards option in the BIOS,
which is enabled. It tells the system not to uses these IRQs for PCI
devices. But there is no option for setting ports or DMA.

Is this what you mean? Or ist there another option in the bios? What is the
name or menu entry of it?

thanks,
Bernd

 

[Bruce]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Bernd Maier wrote:
>
> "Bruce" wrote:
>
>> BIOSes that can handle pnp have a some method where you tell
>> the BIOS what ports, interrupts and DMA channels are being
>> used by non-pnp cards. I think if you do this your problem
>> will be solved.
>
>
> There is this "IRQ resource exclusion" for ISA cards option in the BIOS,
> which is enabled. It tells the system not to uses these IRQs for PCI
> devices. But there is no option for setting ports or DMA.
>
> Is this what you mean? Or ist there another option in the bios? What is
> the name or menu entry of it?
>
> thanks,
> Bernd

The Bios (BIOS by Award on a QDI Advance 9 motherboard) on my current
computer has a setup page titled "PNP/PCI Configuration". On this page
some of the options are
1) "PNP OS installed". This can be set to "Yes" or "No".
2) 16 entries "xxx assigned to" where xxx is IRQ-n for n = 3, 4,
5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 (10 entries) or DMA-n for n = 0, 1,
3, 5, 6, 7 (6 entries). These can each be set to "Legacy ISA"
or "PCI/ISA PnP".
3) "Assign IRQ For USB". This can be set to "Enabled" or "Disabled".
4) "Assign IRQ For VGA". This can be set to "Enabled" or "Disabled".

This BIOS doesn't have an option for reserving ports but I'm almost
certain I have seen a BIOS that does.