Mark,
As I said, if you disable COM2 on the motherboard you may find that the
modem will successfully reassign and operate in both NT and Linux, since you
will have cleared an address conflict. Some motherboards will stop the
PowerOnSelfTest before turning control over to an operating system with this
kind of address conflict, though most will not. And, yes, changing to a p/s2
mouse will clear the IRQ conflict (since COM1 and COM3 share the same
interrupt) and allow you to use COM3 for the modem. Borrow your friends p/s2
mouse and verify it for yourself. You will have to reconfigure the mouse, but
hopefully most of this will be automatic. This will let you see what
configuration problems you are getting into so that you can backout if you
wish, but once reconfigured you won't want to go back to a serial mouse, if
nothing else simply to avoid the headaches. Maybe I should have been more
explicit when I mentioned the p/s2 mouse before.
Again, my question is why this works in NT. You and I are on the same
track with this one. The IRQ conflict, as a function of the motherboard,
exists independently of any operating system; if it works in NT it should
work in Linux, and if it doesn't work in Linux I would expect it not to work
in NT. I'd like to hear the explanation for that one!
-Gary-
In a message dated 9/13/2000 8:14:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< The modem works fine on COM3 in NT, in fact, it will not run on COM2, I
tried. There is a conflict on COM2, I am not quite sure what it is right
now, but NT would not even detect the modem on COM2. Anyway, a friend of
mine said that I might try using a PS/2 mouse. He said that he used his on
his Linux system and didn't have a problem. The only thing is, if COM3
works in NT then it should work in Linux, thus there would be no need to get
the PS/2 mouse, correct?
Mark
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: [newbie] I am having problems with my modem
> Mark,
> If your mouse is on COM1 and your modem is on COM3 you do have an
> interrupt conflict. Interrupt lines are a function of the motherboard
(not
> the operating system as I saw mentioned in another posting), and there are
a
> physically limited number of interrupts available on the motherboard,
hence
> the sharing.
> I don't know if moving the mouse to COM2 is viable or not. Usually
COM1
> is hard configured, i.e. whatever you plug in "here" is COM1. There is
> usually a COM2 preexisting to complicate matters. Your motherboard CMOS
> will give you the answer about whether those physical ports can be flipped
or
> logically reassigned. I don't think that this is going to be a simple
swap,
> but I've never needed to reassign the mouse and this is beyond my
experience.
> If you do move the mouse, you may also have software configuration
problems
> because the mouse is NOT on COM1. A like reason is why some programs
will
> not operate with nonstandard soundcards. Tell us what your results are if
> you try.
> What's stopping you from using COM2 for the modem? Assuming that your
> modem will assign there, which it should if it is now on COM3 (but it
> actually may or may not), to change the modem to COM2 you may first have
to
> eliminate the address conflicts by disabling COM2 in CMOS. Maybe the COM2
> address being occupied is what was stopping the modem from assigning to
COM2
> in the first place (assuming the modem is not jumpered). If the modem is
> jumpered the jumper configuration is usually printed on the circuit card
and
> it's just a matter of whether it will take the COM2 address space, which
they
> usually will. Jumpering to COM2 will work in this case even if there is
an
> address conflict, though the conflict could stop the POST requiring you to
> fix it immediately to boot into any o/s -- the conflict would need to be
> eliminated in CMOS for the modem to work in any case.
> Another option, if you cannot change the modem to COM2, and COM2 is
not
> otherwise in use, might be to change the modem to COM4, which uses the
same
> interrupt as COM2 but a different logical address. This should work "as
is",
> but in some cases you might need to disable COM2 in CMOS. If you have a
free
> interrupt available, and either COM2 or COM4* is already in use tying up
that
> interrupt, you might assign the modem to COM5 and then assign the free
> interrupt to COM5. Once you get past the first four COM ports things get
> easier, though they eat additional resources (interrupts). Configure
> software as necessary in all cases. * in which case moving the mouse to
COM2
> will create another interrupt conflict, this time with COM4.
> Sorry, but a modem on COM3 is an unusual problem. As a former
computer
> technician I've never seen it set up this way, presumably because of the
> mouse conflict issue. It is going to take a little fixing. Does the
modem
> on COM3 work without errors in NT? Then it should in Linux. What I'm
saying
> is that something doesn't seem right in this equasion.
> -Gary-
>
> I<< Mark Thurston wrote:
> >
> > I do have a serial mouse, it is connected right next to the printer and
> > under the keyboard. I have a PIII and the motherboard is an ABit BH6.
> > According to the manual, the mouse is on COM1 the keyboard is connected
> > using the PS/2 connection. I am dual booting Linux and WindowsNT, is
there
> > going to be a problem if I do move the mouse to COM2? Thanks for the
help.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 10:02 AM
> > Subject: Re: [newbie] I am having problems with my modem
> >
> > > I haven't checked the latest mail, so if this has been covered
> already
> > > please pardon my duplication, but:
> > > Do you have a serial mouse on COM1 [the
> > typical
> > > hookup uses the 9-pin D-shell connector on the back of your computer]
(or
> > > anything else on COM1)? If so you have an IRQ conflict. COM 1 AND
COM 3
> > > share the same interrupt (IRQ4), as COM2 and COM4 likewise share
another
> > > (IRQ3). I don't know whether this is alterable in the CMOS (the
> > motherboard
> > > BIOS configuration), but the standard fix is to put the modem on COM2
so
> > that
> > > it uses a different interrupt, assuming that COM2 is available for
you to
> > use
> > > and that you know how to change the modem settings. If your
motherboard
> > is
> > > set up for it you could also change to a ps/2 mouse [a round
connector
> > about
> > > the size of your little finger], which uses a different interrupt
(IRQ
> > 12?)
> > > but the mouse may need configuration in your o/s.
> > > The suggestions that others have made for your problem may well
> (also)
> > be
> > > necessary, and they might even get your modem dialing and on-line
even if
> > you
> > > do have an IRQ conflict, but if you do have an IRQ conflict modem
> > operation
> > > will not be reliable until it is corrected. -Gary-
> > > >>
>
>>
