I solved my 2 (or 3) minutes boot problem!!!

This is my reply to the "IRQ Headache A+" lettter, I think you'll like to
read it:

"I got the same "IRQ Holder for PCI Steering", not one, not two, not even 3,
but 5 IRQ Holders!!! It seems to be the symptom of a conflict of some sort
(of the sort that doesn't show on the device manager :-) I removed my PCI
cards from the Device Manager, then moved my PCI cards from one slot to
another. This helped a lot. Now THIS is worth noticing: The problem seems
PCI only, but my troubles really stopped when I removed my ISA NIC and
replaced it with a PCI, and to make things stranger: the "shadow" conflict
was between that ISA NIC and the Onboard ISA Sound Chip!!! (I know it
because I had to disable one to get the other working) So why the "IRQ
Holders for PCI"s, me no know. Strange isn't this? :-) I am sorry I cannot
give you a real solution here, but hope this info helps."

I got a 2 minutes boot evrytime I enabled the sound card or the NIC, but if
one of them was disabled, the boot was matter of seconds.

One thing is for sure (if I am wrong PLEASE SOMEONE CORRECT ME): if you have
"IRQ Holders for PCI Steering" you probably are dealing with some sort of
"shadow" conflict.

Cesar Mendoza

-----Mensaje original-----
        Humm, I have a 3C905C-TX-M for my DSL sharing IRQ11 with Intel PCI
to USB
host along with two IRQ holders for  PCI steering in my device manager. The
NE2000 for my network is on IRQ10 all by it's self. Granted, my boot time is
a bit long, but it hasn't caused any problems as far as operation. For what
this is worth.
Brad Loomis
Los Angeles, CA

Kyle said:
What I would be interested in knowing is what IRQ was assigned to the card
before and after you swapped slots.  There is another thread going on right
now that has to do with USB and NIC sharing IRQ's, and I would suggest that
the problems might be interelated.

Where I work we use 3COM cards EXCLUSIVELY on systems where the NIC is not
integrated into the motherboard.  Not one of these NICS has ever been able
to successfully share an IRQ.  If there is another device on the same IRQ,
either that device or the NIC is very flakey.  So, if the NIC in question
here were sharing an IRQ with another device for whatever reason, I would
suggest that the slow boot may be a result of this.

One afterthought.  Back in the 3COM 905-TPO days (before the 905b or any
iteration thereof), I discovered that these devices did not like it when
they WEREN'T connected to a network.  About every four seconds they would
make an appeal to they system, looking for a network connection.  This had
the annoying repercussion of making the mouse freeze ever-so-slightly every
four seconds.  There may be some such anomaly occurring here as well.

Kyle Elmblade
[log in to unmask]


> I loaded the latest Win98 Chipset (Intel 430TX) drivers for the mobo.  Got
the
> correct version of Win98 cab files (Win98 first ed.) on the system.
Physically
> removed NIC.  Removed and re-installed all networking "components"
(Clients,
> Protocols, Services).  Re-installed NIC.  The boot up was still nearly 2
minutes
> following P.O.S.T.

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