CD Shareware Magazine 1997 January

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Rosenthal Engineering P.O.Box 1650, San Luis Obispo CA USA 93406 U.S. Patent No. 5,359,659, Copyright 1996 all rights reserved. WWW http://slonet.org/~doren/ e-mail doren@slonet.org Rosenthal Engineering Conflict Resolver (tm) Hardware and software diagnostics combine to identify, resolve and prevent all PC system conflicts for DOS, Windows, Windows 95, Windows NT and OS/2. From the earliest PCs to today's most sophisticated Plug-and-Play components, all are supported even when systems mix old and new technologies. A special "Analyzer" circuit board (included with registration) plugs into any standard (ISA or EISA) card slot and monitors the actual DMA (direct memory access) and IRQ (interrupt request) electrical signals directly, assuring absolute accuracy. The "Analyzer" is totally transparent to the system and not affected by software, operating system, or configuration errors, allowing normal operation while collecting IRQ and DMA usage. The test diskette remains in the floppy drive during system reset which loads a special diagnostic program ahead of the operating system without modifying the hard drive boot sector. True hardware measurements made by the "Analyzer" board are the most accurate, but this diagnostic program is useful with or without the "Analyzer" circuit board installed. Suspecting Conflict Problems Today's complex computers employ a large variety of dedicated circuits and software, each designed to perform their own specific tasks. Every circuit board that plugs into the computer and software program that supports that board must cooperate with the others. Unless every portion of the system is correctly configured, conflicts between different devices will cause problems. Configuration conflicts range from subtle sluggish or unreliable performance, to unexplained system crashes, data loss, programs that won't work properly, and even dead systems. Some conflicts will be obvious and crash the system when a particular device is used with another, or display error messages like: "Device Failure. Try changing the driver for this device". "Windows cannot determine which resources this device is using." "This device is not present, not working properly, or does not have all the drivers installed." Rosenthal Conflict Resolver insures systems are configured correctly or optimized before installing additional new devices, peripherals, or operating systems like Windows 95, NT or OS/2. DMA, IRQ and I/O The terms DMA, IRQ and I/O and interrupts are used throughout this and the manuals included with periperals being installed, so a basic understanding of what they mean will help considerably. When a circuit board plugs into one of the slots within the computer, the edge connector, where the board and computer contact each other, passes electrical signals between the card and the other components of the computer. Each different contact carries an electrical signal dedicated to a specific function. These electrical signal levels change millions of times a second. Address lines, for example, select different input and output (I/O) device registers, so circuit boards are configured to each appear at a different address. People are used to ten digit numbers, because our number system is based on us having ten fingers. Since it only takes four fingers (or bits) to represent a number from zero through fifteen, computers make the most efficient use of each address line by employing a hexadecimal numbering system for I/O addresses. Bits Decimal Hex Bits Decimal Hex 0000 0 0 1000 8 8 0001 1 1 1001 9 9 0010 2 2 1010 10 A 0011 3 3 1011 11 B 0100 4 4 1100 12 C 0101 5 5 1101 13 D 0110 6 6 1110 14 E 0111 7 7 1111 15 F When the computer needs to address a circuit board plugged into one of the card slots, it sets the electrical levels of each address line to a number that corresponds to where it expects to find the device. Both the device driver servicing the board, and the board itself need to be set to the same address. It's important that the correct device (and only that device) resides at each address or an I/O conflict will result. Other connector pins carry Interrupt ReQuest (IRQ) electrical signals between the computer and the circuit boards. IRQ lines allow the different components to signal the processor to interrupt what it's currently doing, and service the device demanding attention. Direct Memory Access (DMA) allows devices to move large blocks of information directly in and out of memory without going through the processor. DMA electrical signals also appear on pins of the connector. Originally, only short XT card connector slots were available, but with AT class systems a second longer connector was added so additional pins could be used to support an increased number of IRQ and DMA channels. There are only a limited number of IRQ and DMA lines, and many are already dedicated to service components on the motherboard. To assign a device to an IRQ and/or DMA channel, an electrical contact needs to carry the voltage between the appropriate pin of the edge connector and the electronic circuit on the board exchanging the IRQ or DMA signal. Depending on the design of each plug in circuit board, IRQ and DMA channels get selected by routing them electrically to the appropriate connector pins using jumpers, switch positions, or electronic configuration. Each DMA, IRQ and I/O address must correctly correspond to the electrical circuit on the plug-in board and the software that supports it. Conflicts The two causes for the majority of today's lock-ups and system crashes are resource conflicts and related device driver incompatibilities. Resource conflicts occur because different peripherals demand exclusive use of IRQ and DMA which may have been assigned to another device at the same time. Device driver incompatibilities are quite common in Windows 95. For example Windows 95 may accept an old driver for an existing card that will only works under Windows 3.1, or may incorrectly identify a card or the IRQ and DMA lines it uses and supply the wrong driver. Finding a free IRQ or DMA available can often be difficult, especially when some cards will only accept a specific IRQ or DMA which may have already been assigned elsewhere. With some cards requiring several of the limited number IRQ and DMA lines, conflicts are often difficult to avoid and correcting was an extremely frustrating experience. Before the Rosenthal Conflict Resolver was developed, there was no practical way to observe and identify IRQ and DMA activity within a system during use. Pre-existing Mixed with Plug-and-Play As demands for faster and more complex hardware and software have grown, getting them all to cooperate has been an increasingly difficult task. For example, it's now quite common among on-line users for modems, mouse, sound cards, video graphics and disk drives to all require DMA and IRQ service at the same time. In an effort to relieve some of the configuration problems, the industry has developed new design specifications called "Plug-and-Play". Ideally, it should be possible to just plug in a new board, turn on the system and have everything work. The reality is that not everything will recognize or conform to Plug-and-Play. Some fall outside the requirements, some pre- existing components (referred to as "legacy") predate the Plug-and-Play specifications, and some specialized components ignore them altogether. Some cards (like sound and multimedia) support several different configurations or emulate other products standards depending on the software being run at the time. It's not uncommon for one game to configure a board to work in several different modes while another game using the same board configures it to a different mode which won't work at all. To accommodate a mix of plug and play with non compliant or legacy devices, Win95 includes a "Device Manager" and a "Conflict Trouble- shooter". The Trouble-shooter is an interactive Windows help file which will guide you through the Device Manager. Both these programs require Windows to be operational to use. If you have a conflict that prevents Windows from running, you also won't be able to use these tools to fix the problem. To avoid and resolve conflicts, you must first determine which of the eighteen IRQ and DMA lines of interest have been assigned and which are available. The only way to identify with absolute certainty which are being activated for all the hardware devices (Plug-and-Play compliant or not), is to measure the electrical signals at the pins on the connector while the device is being exercised. That's where the "Analyzer" comes into play. Watching IRQ and DMA in Action To determine which IRQ and DMA lines are in use, they must be monitored at the hardware level while each device is exercised. Electronically configured devices that support many different modes (sound and multimedia cards for example) need to be exercised in every mode they operate in. The Rosenthal Conflict Resolver uses two methods to watch the hardware DMA and IRQ lines as they are being used. The most effective and reliable is the "Analyzer" circuit board that plugs into the computer and directly monitors the actual electrical signals at the connector. The second, less accurate method, watches the hardware circuits through a special software program that gets loaded ahead of the operating system when the computer is first turned on, during the boot up process. With the "Analyzer" board plugged into the system, as each hardware device is exercised, indicator lights display the IRQ and DMA being used. When two conflicting devices attempt to share a single IRQ or DMA, both will cause the indicator to display. Indicators for unused IRQ and DMA lines remain dark and are therefore available for assignment. Simply assign new or conflicting devices to the unused lines and conflicts are resolved or avoided. The "Analyzer" circuit board makes it just that simple. Watching the IRQ and DMA hardware lines through software is far more difficult and less accurate than using the plug in "Analyzer" board. The software method can be used in conjunction with the board, or when it's not practical to use a plug-in circuit board. Using the "Analyzer" Circuit Board The "Analyzer" is included with paid registration. It consists of a special diagnostic circuit board that plugs into a slot on the computer and directly monitors the IRQ and DMA electrical signals at the connector. Disconnect the power whenever you insert or remove anything in your computer. Plug the board carefully into the (ISA (XT/AT), EISA, PCI, VLB) slot before turning the power back on. The signals on the connector pins consist of impulses that change in voltage levels millions of times each second. These signals are much too fast for people to observe without a special instrument, so the "Analyzer" converts them to easily observed indication lights. IRQ and DMA lines are observed using the "Analyzer" board during actual operation without causing interference because it is completely transparent to the system. The "Analyzer" instantly reports any and all IRQ or DMA requests with 100% accuracy unobtainable by software methods alone. All IRQ and DMA usage is reported, and misconfigured IRQ or DMA usage is revealed and never reported falsely. Loading the Diagnostic Software Performing the function of the "Analyzer" board in software requires a special diagnostic program that loads ahead of the normal operating system during the boot process. Any software that attempts to monitor IRQ and DMA activity will add some load to the system and be less transparent as well as being less accurate than true hardware level diagnostics, but may be sufficient or more practical. A test diskette is created first that loads diagnostics into the system ahead of the operating system and before the normal boot process. The special test diskette is left in the A: drive and the system is reset. The diagnostic program loads, followed by the normal boot process which continues by loading the operating system from the hard drive as usual. Because the diagnostic program takes control before the operating system, IRQ and DMA activity is reported more accurately. Information on IRQ and DMA activity is collected as the system is used normally, with a display similar to the indicator lights of the "analyzer" board displayed in the corner of text screens. Using the Diagnostic Software After booting the system from the special diagnostic diskette, exercise all the hardware and drivers including the mouse, printers, modem, etc. Be sure multimedia and sound cards get operated in as many different modes as they support. Demo programs supplied with the hardware can be quite helpful to insure all the modes get used. Then run the Rosenthal Conflict Resolver to analyze the data that was collected. Both a simplified digested report and a more detailed expanded report are available. A text file RCR.DAT is produced that's convenient to review or share by printing, modem or FAX with service or technical support people. IRQ and DMA lines that are dedicated to fixed functions and never available are not monitored or reported. These are used by the system timer (IRQ 0), keyboard (IRQ 1), second IRQ controller on ATs (IRQ 2) or second AT DMA controller (DMA 4), real time clock (IRQ 8), math coprocessor (IRQ 13). To return the system to normal, remove the special test diskette, and then power off and restart the system without the diskette in place. No changes are ever made to the hard drive boot sector or the operating system. Orders Outside the U.S All international orders are sent by air-mail. See the order form (ORDER.FRM) for shipping and handling rates. Please be sure to make your payment in "US Dollars" either by (US) cash, international money order or check drawn on a US member bank. Otherwise banks want a fifty dollar processing fee to cash a twenty five dollar check. Sorry, no euro-checks. Visa or Master Card orders can be processed if you include the card holders name, card number and expiration date on the order form. - - - - - - - - - - - - Computer Manufacturers, Resellers and Consultants This program is especially appreciated by customers during their critical first month and falls within the FREE evaluation period. Providing copies or installing the complete unregistered version on customers systems is acceptable, and encouraged. Rosenthal System Monitor (tm) is also recommended for installation on new or updated systems, and including the unregistered version is encouraged. - - - - - - - - - - - - More Information "IRQ, DMA, & I/O Resolving and Preventing PC System Conflicts" Jim Aspinwall . ISBN 1-55828-456-7 MIS:Press Intel Plug-and-Play Specifications and Toolkits release 1.44 - - - - - - - - - - - - Software License agreement You are encouraged to copy and distribute this software provided it remains unmodified, complete in its original form, and no fee (other than a nominal copy charge) is required. This software is provided "as is" without warranty either expressed or implied. You may not make any changes or modifications to the software, and you may not decompile, disassemble or in anyway reverse engineer the software. This software is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. Responsibility rests entirely with the user to determine its fitness for a particular purpose. ROSENTHAL ENGINEERING SHALL NOT IN ANY CASE BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR OTHER SIMILAR DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. Some states may not allow these limits on warranties, so they may not apply to you. In no case shall Rosenthal Engineering's liability exceed the license fees paid by you to Rosenthal Engineering for the right to use the Licensed Software. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government of the computer software and documentation in this package shall be subject to the restricted rights applicable to commercial computer software as set forth in subdivision (b) (3) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013 (DFARS 52.227-7013). The Contractor/manufacturer is Doren Rosenthal, Rosenthal Engineering, P.O.Box 1650, San Luis Obispo, California 93406. This constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between the parties and supersedes any prior agreement or understanding whether oral or written and may only be modified in writing.