Summary - Compaq 108164-003 - ProLiant - 800 Integration Notes

PCI Bus Numbering in a Microsoft Windows NT Environment
Frontline Partnership site
http://www.compaq.com/partners/microsoft/resourcepaq/utilities/pci.html. You can use these tools
to enter Compaq PCI bridged and non-bridge controllers in PCI slots for any of the servers
included in Table 11. The bus numbers are immediately displayed when you select a controller
and place it in a slot.
Additional tips to remember:
Install PCI video controllers on the Primary Bus. Some video controllers require allocation of
memory below the 1-megabyte boundary. The Intel 82450GX chip set architecture dictates
that this memory is only available to devices on the Primary PCI bus. Video controllers
installed on the Secondary PCI bus will probably not work.
Ensure that you are adding PCI devices to the appropriate PCI bus. Some older third-party
controllers might not operate properly on the secondary bus due to driver incompatibilities.
You might receive a message similar to "Device not Found." To correct this problem, install
the controller in the Primary Bus. Also, contact the device vendor to determine if an upgraded
driver will correct this problem.

Summary

PCI Bus numbers are determined during each and every boot cycle. Systems Administrators
understanding the PCI BIOS bus numbering and discovery process eliminate unnecessary system
downtime. As discussed in this white paper, adding and removing PCI devices might cause a
renumbering of PCI buses. Windows NT does not automatically detect that bus were renumbered
the server is booted. However, configuration mismatches are correctable using the tools that
Compaq and Microsoft provide with Windows NT and several Compaq support software tools.
This document provides the information needed to determine PCI bus numbers and plan how any
potential bus numbering changes will affect the system.
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