Official Mackie Resource Guide
no .1
©2005 LOUD Technologies Inc. “Mackie.” and the “Running Man” are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thanks Scotty, now can you beam my clothes down?
4
4.
In a situation where your laptop is sharing an IRQ with video
card and USB/FireWire, there may be little you can do to resolve
this (due to the nature of your computer BIOS, Windows XP and
IRQ assignments; see Important Note). If you have an IRQ
conflict that cannot be resolved, it might be best to contact your
laptop manufacturer for more options.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
One of the most critical issues regarding
USB/FireWire performance is how your
computer is assigning communication
resources with its hardware. In some
cases, the computers BIOS is unable to
alter IRQ assignments - IRQs are
directly responsible for hardware
interfacing with software and the
computer. Making matters worse,
Windows XP will attempt to interpret
these assignments and at times,
inadvertently stack devices on a single
IRQ number. Beyond disabling devices
in your computer - a laptop for example,
may not be able to control IRQ assign-
ments thus, leaving you with no solution
- where as a PC desktop computer will
often allow you to force IRQs on
particular PCI slots with respect to its
motherboard. (See page 5)
Before Buying a New Computer -
(particularly a PC laptop), be sure to
check its resource assignments
regarding USB and/or FireWire as well
as additional software that should not be
present (See New Computers with
Preloaded Operating Systems). If you
already have a computer (laptop) with
this adverse condition – check with the
manufacturer for a BIOS upgrade that
could possibly resolve hardware conflicts
– otherwise your computer (laptop) may
not be able to correctly stream USB/
FireWire audio.
To modify your computers BIOS
please contact the manufacturer
You can also use Window XP System Information to find more details
regarding hardware, software, conflicts and more. Go to
Start->
Accesories-> SystemTools-> SysInfo
. Remember, you can only disable
hardware from the Windows Device Manager.
System Information collects and displays configuration information
that includes both signed drivers and unsigned drivers.
System Information saves data files in a native (.nfo) format. You can
also open .cab and .xml files in System Information. When you open
.cab files, you can view the contents of those files by using the
Tools
menu.
4. An Alternate Method for Viewing
IRQ Conflicts
With older PC laptops (pre 2005),
IRQ sharing is very common.
Notice that some of these devices
are critical to the computers
operation. In most situations, this
cannot be resolved.
System Information from Pre 2005 Laptop
Also see example on page 12
Video
Network Card
USB Device
Audio Device
All sharing IRQ 9