Soundcard and IRQs

[LifeForceExplorer]

Any GigaStudio users here?

My soundcard (Terratec EWX 2496) in my Win98se PC sometimes breaks out with a steady static, crackle sound while I'm using GigaStudio 96 instruments. I've found that I can get rid of it easily by changing the attenuation setting in GS - making any change here clears the crackle right up, til its back 5 minutes later.

Having done most optimizations and having a nice clean sound most of the time, I'd like to clear this up. I notice now that my sound card does share an IRQ - my system looks like this for IRQ number 9:

9 EWX 2496
9 Intel 828011AA USB Universal Host Controller
9 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
9 SCI IRQ Used by ACPI bus

And, miraculously, I do have ONE free IRQ - number 5. Is an IRQ just for the sound card important and perhaps connected to my problem? THANKS for any suggestions.

[Vas]

Are they all the devices using IRQ 9? I think if you have ACPI enabled in the BIOS, in some OS's, EVERY device shows up on the one IRQ, so this may not be the problem. However, if it is just these 4 things, the fact that it's sharing an IRQ could be problematic.

You could try manually setting the IRQ to 5. Go into Device Manager > Sound Video & Game Controllers, and double click on the Terratec EWX device. Then go to the resources tab, and take the tick out of "use automatic settings" then click on "change settings" and set the IRQ to 5.

[LifeForceExplorer]

Thanks, Vas, but it looks like I have a bit of a deep problem. Yes, those are all the devices assigned to IRQ 9. And having a USB port and my sound card assigned to the same channel seems to be the source of my problem, as Ive learned now that this is likely the cause of my "crackle" sound.

The procedure you described doesnt work for my card. I tried it a while ago off of an article I found on the net - and I got a "this device cant be reassigned message". Seems that if the device is not Plug and Play (Pnp) the assignment change process is not so easy and requires going into the BIOS. Ugh!

If you have any other thoughts, or anybody else has further info I'd appreciate it.

[Prince Makaha]

Actually....there are only two devices, one being the usb controller and one being the soundcard. I would search the web for the motherboard faq and see if you can use a different slot for the soundcard which may cause it to go for a different irq. Most motherboard's have slots that share an irq. I found the one on mine that doesn't share with anything I am using.

[LifeForceExplorer]

THANKS, Prince! Shows you I'm a musician not a computer tech. Sure, I can move the card around and see what happens. And I'll look up my mobo - an Intel 880C or something like that. Havent tried these things yet, but it beats going in and messing with the BIOS when you dont know what yer doing!

[LifeForceExplorer]

Hmmm. Well its an Intel CC820 with 5 PCI slots. Looks like everything goes to IRQ 9, 10 or 11 by some sort of auto default - according to the table at Intels website - except Slot 5 which repeats whatever is in Slot 3.

Is there something more to try, besides randomly moving the card among Slots 1 to 4 to try to get my soundcard somehow assigned alone to IRQ 5? Doesnt look like this "auto default" process is going to allow me to control the IRQ assignment. But I am new to this stuff.

I did read one article with in-depth stuff to do in your BIOS (no thank you) or there was an interesting short-cut. Just DISABLE your USB controller. An interesting option, though I presently use both my USB ports! But hey - this might be my only choice.

[Grayson_Peddie]

Did you (or haven't) you flash the BIOS?

[LifeForceExplorer]

Well, thanks for the comment, Grayson. I dont know how to flash the BIOS. How do I do that and how might it help in getting the IRQ arrangement reconfigured? Thanks!

Meanwhile, here's what I heard back from Intel. Looks like I'll be "under the hood" this weekend. :cool:

***********************

Hello John,

Thank you for contacting Intel(R) Technical Support.

To try and troubleshoot your issue, I suggest you try the following: Remove all add-in cards, then test placing the sound card in different PCI slots, if the problem is not corrected we strongly recommend contacting Microsoft* for further assistance as IRQ addresses are automatically assigned by the operating system.

Sincerely yours,
Roberto G.

[Styrerra]

First off keep your soundcard away from the top or bottom PCI slots (top usually shares IRQ with your AGP card, bottom usually with USB ports).

Second go into your bios [ usually press the F10, F12 or Del key as it's booting up or when the screen tells you too] and reset your IRQ settings. it could be called NVRAM in some bios.

Toggle between yes and no (with IRQ reset) if there is an 'OS PNP controls IRQ settings" option.

That's all I can think of for now