# [Solved] How do I change IRQs on XP



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

I need to change my IRQs because my Video Card is getting slowed down by my TV Tuner. I have tried switching PCI slots without success. And changing them in the BIOS I don't think is possible on my ECS K7S5A. Below is some specs that might help you help me.

Here are my system specs :
ECS K7S5A
AMD Athlon XP 1.8Ghz 2200+
Microsoft Windows XP SP1 [No SP2 things]
1280x1024 32bit
Maxtor 60GB [Int] & Maxtor 120GB [Ext]
256Mb PC2100 RAM
ATI Radeon 9000 - 128MB DDR - Dual Display

Here are my IRQs :
IRQ 0	System timer
IRQ 1	PC/AT Enhanced PS/2 Keyboard (101/102-Key)
IRQ 2
IRQ 3	Communications Port (COM2)
IRQ 4	Communications Port (COM1)
IRQ 5	SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
IRQ 5	NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)
IRQ 5	CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
IRQ 6	Standard floppy disk controller
IRQ 7
IRQ 8	System CMOS/real time clock
IRQ 9
IRQ 10	SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
IRQ 11	RADEON 9000 SERIES
IRQ 11	Hauppauge WinTV 878/9 WDM Video Driver
IRQ 11	Hauppauge WinTV 878/9 WDM Audio Driver
IRQ 12	NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
IRQ 12	NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
IRQ 12	56HP-PCT #3
IRQ 13	Numeric data processor
IRQ 14	Primary IDE Channel
IRQ 15	Secondary IDE Channel


----------



## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

First off, it's very unlikely that the shared interrupts have anything to do with any real or perceived slowdown. You can actually disable the assignment of an interrupt to the video board, very few applications ever notice it doesn't have one. This computer has run for several years with no video interrupt, and I've never had any issues with the fact that it's not there.


----------



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

Well it does it to me while playing games.

I've also noticed my 3D Mark score to be high when it is not shared.


----------



## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

You cannot assign irqs in xp if you are using acpi. While you may have a problem, shared irqs do not generally cause any grief. It is possible to disable acpi, however that can lead to other problems. What have you done as far as troubleshooting the problem?


----------



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

The real problem is games, The Sims and Diablo II LOD, crashing in during game play without error notice. This, the IRQ changing, was the last thing I could think of for this problem.

"What I've done troubleshoot?" Well I've done everything imaginable: I've reformated, ran the games without sound to see if that was the problem, reinstalled the games several times, change the accelaration of the sound and video, changed my system to single display, swaped RAM chips, and a couple of other things all with me having the same problem.

Also these two games, The Sims and Diablo II LOD, are the only games that crash, both of which aren't really graphic intense but games like Return To Castle and Age Of Mythology, both graphic intense, don't crash.

If you can suggest anything I haven't tried please do so.


----------



## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

From your description, I would surmise that the problem is with the individual games not an irq problem. If you want to try and disable apci so that your cards are on different irqs, I have instructions on how to do it without a reformat and reinstallation. Let me know if you want the instructions.
Have you checked for updates / patches for those games? Just a thought do these games run from your hd or do they run from the cd?


----------



## Miz (Jul 2, 2002)

There is a patch for Diablo II. It wouldn't run correctly on my XP system until I'd applied that patch.

You can get the patch from Blizzard.


----------



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

crjdriver : I know how to change the ACPI without reformatting and reinstalling but thanks, I have the latest patches for the games, and they are running off my HD. I've noticed a better performance when running off the HD.

Miz : I already have that patch for Diablo II, it will run it just crashes after a random duration of time.


----------



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

Ok, I've found out how to fix the problem.

Here is what you do to asign IRQs by the BIOS, which is good enought for me.

Go to open boot.ini with notepad and put /PCILOCK after the '/fastdetect' switch.



and they said it couldn't be done


----------



## Dan O (Feb 13, 1999)

Nice job and thanks for sharing the tip.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

And just for the record, did the change resolve the gaming problems?


----------



## justaten01 (Apr 11, 2003)

I did change the resolution, and still couldn't fix it.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Since these are gaming issues that may be video driver related, have you checked the ATI site for the latest drivers and technical reports?

http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/winxp/radeonnowdm-xp.html

You might want to contact their support and see if they are getting any similar reports or have any advice for you.

http://www.ati.com/support/products/pc/radeon9000/radeon9000proissues.html


----------



## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

As I stated above shared irqs do not generally cause problems. The computer I am typing this on currently has eight devices on irq 11 with no problems whatsoever. Modern PCI / AGP cards do not use irqs in the same manner as the old isa cards; they are made to share irqs.
As a test disable your tv card in device manager and restart the computer [you can always enable it later] see if your problem goes away. If not, then it is not related to the tv card / video card. 
What programs / services are loading at startup? You can disable them [one at a time] to see if one of them is causing the problem.
Have you installed the latest catalyst driver along with dx9 for your video card? Do you have the latest driver for your tv card? 
I used to have the same video card and I tend to think the problem resides elsewhere rather than with the video card. As I said mine was shared with eight devices and ran great.


----------



## Swiper (Mar 14, 2003)

I agree with CJRdriver.
Windows 2k/XP will run just fine with IRQ's being shared.
If your games are crashing, it is most likely a video card driver issue, chipset driver issue perhaps. The hardware itself. heat.
and last but the most likely cause. ( aggressively set RAM / AGP timings )


By the way, to change from IRQ shared ( ACPI )to IRQ seperated
all you need to do is go to device manager, under computer where it says ACPI computer, you need to update this driver and change it to STANDARD PC and reboot. This will force XP to reassign IRQ seperately for each device.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!


----------



## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Swiper:_
> *By the way, to change from IRQ shared ( ACPI )to IRQ seperated all you need to do is go to device manager, under computer where it says ACPI computer, you need to update this driver and change it to STANDARD PC and reboot. This will force XP to reassign IRQ seperately for each device.*


I suspect you haven't tried this.  If you turn off ACPI and reboot, you'll discover that you can't boot anymore! You can run a repair and change from the ACPI HAL to the standard HAL, but NOT the other way. Since the ACPI HAL is more desirable, I'd suggest not taking this route...


----------



## Swiper (Mar 14, 2003)

I have done this lots of times.

changing from ACPI PC to Standard PC has worked for me everytime. when it boots up, it will redetect all hardware ( in the same/similar ) fashion as 9x/ME would.

Going from Standard PC to ACPI PC has never worked for me though.


----------



## beatlejuice9 (May 24, 2003)

I've been trying to figure out a problem for the last year, and only recently have I got a clue where the problem is starting from. My parents bought a very new fast pc last year, and I installed XP on it. Occasionally the system would freeze up, and the people at the store I bought it at treated me like a newbie explaining that computers sometimes freeze. I had to set them straight and let them know that I am a developer, and I know what I'm doing, but this freezing was unacceptable. I was able to always re-produce the problem by playing Unreal Tournament, but other Graphic intensive games didn't always freeze. The System Process would go to 99% and not let any other processes work whenever this freeze happened. I brought in the pc to where I bought it thinking it was a hardware issue. They were unable to reproduce the problem, and so told me they had done everything they could. I eventually tried just unplugging different devices seeing if that would get it to stop freezing. I eventually saw why they didn't have any problems, they were not plugging in any USB devices when they did the testing. I found this thread by looking for a device driver to replace my current driver "Sis 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller", and thought I might suggest, unplug all USB devices then try to play the games. If it doesn't crash, then you have the same problem as me, and at least I'm not alone. Hopefully someone else reading this knows of the way to fix this problem without running the pc with no USB devices. My parents would like to hook there printer back up full time, instead of just plugging it in when they need it. Any help anyone can give to this would be most appreciated.


----------



## wullie1974 (Jun 4, 2003)

@ beatlejuice9. the sis 7001 usb chipset does not work properly on xp. you might want to go here and try this patch for it. http://www.usbman.com/winxpusbguide.htm#SiS

i also have the sis 7001 chipset and had masive problem with an mp3 player.

good luck anyway !!!!!


----------

