CALLING COMPUTER GURUS

looch · Feb 27, 2003

IRQ problems are not fun, and I think this is what your problem is. You described having degraded sound while having the scanner plugged in - that's a good indication that your scanner and sound card are fighting over the same system resources.

This is not simple to fix and depending on how much time you want to invest in correcting the problem, maybe exchanging the scanner for a different one makes more sense.

There are a couple of things I would verify, unfortunately I'm on a Linux machine right now so my descriptions of where stuff is may be a little messed up.

First, check the "Event Viewer" for error messages (XP home has that, right?} In the Control Panel switch to "Classic View" and in there should be an Administrative tools applet. Double click this and you should find it. Possibly some info in there.

By your previous posts, I am assuming that you know how to get to the hardware device list. Verify the settings of both your scanner and sound card. I think by right-clicking the device and selecting "properties," you can find your way to a dialog box of "resources." Check the status of your IRQ settings on this page,"No Conflicts" is what should be there.

If this isn't the case, you may or may not be able to assign different IRQ's to one of the devices - it depends if they are software programmable, set by jumpers, or hard coded into the device's circuitry.

Good luck,

Paul

i_want_1_2 · Feb 28, 2003

run dxdiag.

see if everything's OK.

Then, disable MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device.

Run dxdiag again - did anything improve?

(Make sure you clear the bios and the abios before rechecking; a plain restart is not enough!) You clear these bios's with a power cycle or a pushbutton reset if your machine has one.

herbenus · Feb 28, 2003

I'm running XP without any problems. I love it. The only negative I would say about it, is it is not for the faint of heart. There is a LOT of tweaking that needs to be done to take advantage of it's power and it's easy to overlook something. Also, many older games won't work on it.

That said, here's my two cents worth: If you just had computer built, it seems like you could go back to dealer for help. Another point, I have seen problems with USB. I had a friend that was getting degraded performance. He had a lot of accessories plugged into USB ports. Apparrently USB devices use up some resources. His solution was to unhook his printer (an Epson) from USB and hook it up conventionally to serial port. This may help you, although it sounds like you have a driver problem, or setup with sound card is in error.

Rch · Feb 28, 2003

http://www.expertcity.com/c/corp/expertlive?SessionInfo=8224976/47564702BF94E4C/null
Here is an online computer service that can "scan" your computer in order to see what you see on the screen and try to work out soft/hardware problems. 2 years ago they got a good review in a NY Times article but I have no personal experience. Since then they apparently have been acquired or morphed into something else corporation-wise. Any comment on a real experience with them would be interesting.
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

shado · Mar 1, 2003

Yeah, that does sound like an interupt request problem, Windows OS is supposed to assign interrupts as it booting up automatically, but with that XP OS, who knows? But the great thing about USB is it's Plug & Play, and can be connected & dis-connected at random, even with the power on! So how about booting everything up with the scanner USB cable dis-connected & unpowered. Then plug in the USB connection, turn on the scanner, and see what happens. Hopefully XP will assign it a new interrupt that has not already been taken as long as the device is recognized (meaning drivers are already in place).
J.W.

JohnMiller3 · Mar 1, 2003

( IRQ problems are not fun, and I think this is what your problem is. You described having degraded sound while having the scanner plugged in - that's a good indication that your scanner and sound card are fighting over the same system resources. )

"Sounds" like the perfect place to start.../forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

When your builder comes over, ask him to use/try "manual" control vs. auto control of hardware interrupts when setting up the motherboard through CMOS...

When God was a kid... the IRQ's were originally set up with IRQ 5 for audio, then later IRQ 11 for Windows sound system & IRQ 11 for USB for general start conventions...

Rearranging the IRQ's is not difficult, but take a little time and your problem should be resolved... but let the builder of the system take care of it... versus removing drivers, reinstalling drivers, upload/download, etc.etc. and before long you dig yourself a deep hole... that only a Full System Reinstall will solve... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

frank_f15 · Mar 1, 2003

BILL; have been trouble free for the last 6 days, as long as i leave the scanner on and then boot i have no problem, it seems to only affect booting if i leave the scaneer switch off and then start computer, then if i turn scannere on it goes nutso the next time i start up, and will not go right till i unplug usb cable and re start. then everything is fine. IRQ does not show any conflict, although i am not sure i have checked it when it was acting up.

frank_f15 · Mar 1, 2003

not knowing what i am doing that is basically what i did, it seems my problem occoured because being an old timer i shut off scanner and only turned it on when i needed it, that appears to be the cause of the problem. once i unpluged usb cable and then repluged it, everything seems fine, guess i will just have to do it that way. WHERE NOT COMPUTER SUPPOSED TO MAKE OUR LIVES EASIER?

herbenus · Mar 3, 2003

Come to think of it. I leave my scanner on all the time too. I remember having some trouble with scanner early on, but do not remember specifics. It had something to do with when I turned it on... I also have trouble with Adobe Photoshop: I have to have Epson (Color) as default printer when running it. Otherwise I leave my HP Laser (B&W) as default the rest of the time.

frank_f15 · Mar 3, 2003

have left the scanner on now for 1 week and not one problem, i leave my EPSON 890 printer off and turn it on when i need it and there is no problem doing that. by leaving the scanner on i mean when i hit the main power switch the scanner comes on and then i start computer, guess it does not really hurt scanner as it shuts off the light if not used for a few min.