Setting device IRQ in Windows...?

esuhl

It's been a long time since I've even thought about IRQs on PCs. But I'm trying to help a friend resolve a latency problem with a USB soundcard, and one suggestion has been to ensure that the soundcard uses a USB host on its own IRQ.

Now... how do I do that in Windows 8?!

Do I need to disable the PnP OS option in the BIOS and set all IRQs manually somehow... Or can I just over-ride the IRQ setting for the soundcard in Windows...?

Has anyone else had similar problems?

agrinnall

Like you that's something that is way back in the distant past, so I've no idea how you'd do it now, but might there be a function in God Mode that would help make it a bit easier?

indesisiv

According to microsoft:

Go to the device list then.

a. Right click on the device in the list and then select properties.
b. Click the Resources tab.
c. Remove the tick from the Use automatic settings option.
d. Select a non-conflicting configuration from the pull down box.
e. Click OK.

droopsnoot

I thought the IRQs on more modern kit were assigned by the BIOS, and the PnP feature of the OS reads that information from the BIOS for its configuration, the idea being that if you add a card and the IRQs get shuffled around, you don't need to reconfigure your OS for the new settings. If that's the case, then surely setting the BIOS to a configuration that allows this would be the way. Would altering the setting in Windows change the way the BIOS configures the USB interface, or just how Windows configures its driver?

Next challenge will be whether your BIOS allows that kind of control. Many USB interfaces use more than one IRQ, I guess it depends on what else is in the machine.

I originally read your post as asking about Windows 98, and was about to suggest that it doesn't support PnP. But then I don't think it supported USB, either.

esuhl

agrinnall wrote: »

Like you that's something that is way back in the distant past, so I've no idea how you'd do it now, but might there be a function in God Mode that would help make it a bit easier?

Oh... interesting. I wasn't aware of "God Mode". But I found IRQ settings in Device Manager...

indesisiv wrote: »

According to microsoft:

Go to the device list then.

a. Right click on the device in the list and then select properties.
b. Click the Resources tab.
c. Remove the tick from the Use automatic settings option.
d. Select a non-conflicting configuration from the pull down box.
e. Click OK.

I tried that on my own PC (Win7) last night, but every "Use automatic settings" option was both ticked and greyed-out so I couldn't change it... :-/

I'll have a look to see if it's the same on my friend's PC when I get a chance.

droopsnoot wrote: »

I thought the IRQs on more modern kit were assigned by the BIOS, and the PnP feature of the OS reads that information from the BIOS for its configuration, the idea being that if you add a card and the IRQs get shuffled around, you don't need to reconfigure your OS for the new settings. If that's the case, then surely setting the BIOS to a configuration that allows this would be the way. Would altering the setting in Windows change the way the BIOS configures the USB interface, or just how Windows configures its driver?

Next challenge will be whether your BIOS allows that kind of control. Many USB interfaces use more than one IRQ, I guess it depends on what else is in the machine.

Yeah -- I'll see if I can get some photos of the BIOS settings. It's hard to guide someone through blindly when it's all gobbledegook to them!

droopsnoot wrote: »

I originally read your post as asking about Windows 98, and was about to suggest that it doesn't support PnP. But then I don't think it supported USB, either.

Oh, Windows 98?! Nooooo! :-)

Actually it was the first Windows OS to natively support USB. Originally Windows 95 didn't, but there was some magic update to Windows 95b that supposedly fixed that... but it didn't always work properly till Win98 came along!

Cheers all! :beer:

droopsnoot

esuhl wrote: »

Oh, Windows 98?! Nooooo! :-)

Actually it was the first Windows OS to natively support USB. Originally Windows 95 didn't, but there was some magic update to Windows 95b that supposedly fixed that... but it didn't always work properly till Win98 came along!

Cheers all! :beer:

Of course you're right. I was picturing the old OEM CDs we had lying around the office and pictured one with "with USB support" on it, my mind told me it was XP but you're right, it was 95.