Troubleshooting & Tips; Motherboard Issues - Promise Technology FASTtrak100 TX User Manual

This section is used to assist with troubleshooting conflicts and FastTrak100
installation problems. Also refer to the "README.TXT" file on the FastTrak100 driver
and utility diskette for more recent information as well as the PromiseOnline
services listed in Appendix A.
The section is divided into the following categories: Motherboard Issues, System
CMOS Issues, Drive Errors, Operating System Errors, and Audio/Video Editing Tips.

Motherboard Issues

Freeing additional IRQ resources
Since the Promise card supports PCI Interrupt sharing, it is possible to use IRQs
already assigned to another PCI card. Interrupt Sharing is not supported with onboard
IDE controllers. If the onboard IDE controller(s) are not used, you may disable the
controllers to free IRQ 14 and/or 15.
Configuring PCI IRQ resources
Setting the IRQ for a particular PCI slot will be different depending on the motherboard
BIOS. This setting is usually made in the PCI Configuration and/or Plug and Play (PnP)
section of the motherboard BIOS setup. There are three common methods that
motherboard BIOS's handle assignment of IRQs to PCI slots:
1. Specifically assigning an IRQ to a particular slot - You can tell the motherboard to
use IRQ 10 for PCI slot 1, IRQ 11 for PCI slot 2, etc.
2. Listing which IRQs are available to be assigned to the PCI slots - This BIOS has
an option where you specify "1st Available IRQ", "2nd Available IRQ", etc. The
BIOS then scans the PCI slots for PCI cards and assigns these IRQs in the order
that it finds the PCI cards.
3. Excluding an IRQ from being used by a PCI slot - If you have an ISA card that is
using an IRQ, change the setting for this particular IRQ from "Available" to "used
by ISA card" so that the motherboard will not assign this IRQ to a PCI slot.
Consult your motherboard manual for information that is specific to your motherboard.
System locks up during bootup or when Windows starts
There may be a possible IRQ conflict with an ISA card. Identify what IRQs are used
by ISA cards, enter the Mainboard PCI Setup, and reserve the IRQ for use with ISA.
PCI slots cannot share IRQs with ISA cards.
Miscellaneous problems such as the FastTrak100 BIOS not appearing
during boot, the FastTrak100 driver not loading, or slow data transfer rates
Move the FastTrak100 to a different PCI slot.
FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual
Troubleshooting & Tips
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