Interphase PC/180 Troubleshooting Manual

INTERPHASE INTERPHASE
T E C H N O L O G I E S,
PC/VIEW & PC/180 TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE
Below are outlined the 3 most common conflicts encountered using PC/View and PC/180. Please
read the entire document before attempting any changes to the computer system or PC/View or
PC/180 programs Typically, these conflicts are noted by the message "PC32 sonar not found.
Switch to demo mode?" This indicates some conflict in the computer that prevents it from finding
the equipment via the parallel port. Other messages may appear as noted below.
PC's running Win2K and WinXP will always need setting changes to run the program.
1.
Standard parallel port conflict: The PC/View and PC180 use interrupt IRQ 7 to communicate
with the hardware via standard parallel port. Some computers may have another device
installed that will also try to load on IRQ 7, creating a conflict. We will use Soundblaster as an
example. When the driver is loading "aggressively" on IRQ 7 at boot time, the interrupt will be
taken from the PC/View or PC180, and any other interrupt-driven application.
Note: many parallel port applications, such as printer drivers, are not interrupt-driven and
therefore do not suffer when this conflict exists.
There are two ways of addressing the conflict:
1. Use the port before the Soundblaster can.
2. Switch the Soundblaster to use another IRQ.
There are two ways to to resolve this conflict for Win95 and Win98. In order of preference they
are:
A. Use the Device Manager to switch the Soundblaster's interrupt. There are many ways to get to
the Device Manager. Perhaps the easiest to describe is through 'My Computer'. Here's the
process for Windows 95/98:
1. Right click on the 'My Computer' icon (usually upper left of desktop).
2. Select the 'Properties' option.
3. Select the 'Device Manager' tab.
4. Right click on the 'Computer' icon at the top of the Device Manager box.
5. Select the 'Properties' option.
6. Select the 'Reserve Resources' tab.
7. Click on the 'Add' button.
8. Type "07" in the edit box.
9. You will now see a little "07" in the Reserved Resources box.
10. Reboot.
11. If you watch the boot cycle carefully, you should see the Soundblaster load on IRQ 5.
12. If your system acts funny or gives you new LPT messages/warnings, just revert to the
unreserved IRQ and try our DriverLoadMethod.exe.
________________________________________________________________________
2880 Research Park Drive, Suite 140, Soquel CA 95073 Phone: 831-477-9685 Fax: 831-462-7444
Web Site: www.interphase-tech.com E-mail: comments@interphase-tech.com
Forward Looking Technology
I N C.