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P2B-LS PCI Limitation?

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Ronald E. Raikes

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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On http://www.sharkyextreme.com there is a review of the P2B-LS that states if
both onboard LAN and SCSI are used, only three of the four PCI slots may be used
(due to a limitation of 5 PCI devices). Is this true? Is anyone using both
onboard devices and all 4 PCI slots plus the AGP slot?

Ron

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Grant Wood

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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Yes with no problems under Win 98


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Ronald E. Raikes

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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"Grant Wood" <grantwood@usa-x-.net> wrote:

>Yes with no problems under Win 98

"Yes" the limitation is true and you cannot use all four PCI slots PLUS both
onboard LAN and SCSI, or "Yes" you are using all four PCI slots and you're also
using both onboard LAN and SCSI?

Grant Wood

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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Using all slots PLUS LAN & SCSI. LAN is Fast Ethernet SCSI has 2 9.1 gig
Cheetahs, Ultra Wide Plextor CD-ROM and wide Yamaha 4x4x16 CD-RW. I have a
Rage 128 in the agp slot then 2 VOODOO2 blasters in SLI (use no IRq's) then
a SB Live then an ADSL modem. All work with no problems at all.

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ConanK

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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>a review of the P2B-LS that states if
>both onboard LAN and SCSI are used, only three of the four PCI slots may be
>used
>(due to a limitation of 5 PCI devices). Is this true? Is anyone using both
>onboard devices and all 4 PCI slots plus the AGP slot?
>
>Ron

Ron,
I have P2BLS with SCSI and LAN in use. I'm on an NT-based network. Both
channels of the SCSI are used (Cheetah LVD drive, 2 CDROM, Tape Backup). All
four PCI slots are filled. Diamond Monster II, Hauppauge WINTV, Soundblaster
Live, and an additional Adaptec SCSI adapter (It's a long story). All of these
devices get along just fine, thank you very much. Now there might be a problem
with USING all four slots at the same time. For example the SCSI adapter (for
external scanner) is never active at the same time as the Monster II.
Tim

George Costanza

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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Sharky's Extreme is correct in most cases but they should have been more
specific. The issue is IRQs. In Grants configuration, the Voodoo IIs don't use
an IRQ so they don't count against you in numbers. If the PCIs do require an
IRQ then only three slots can be filled when both the LAN and SCSI are used.

George Costanza

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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Another case of Voodoo II. Again, no IRQ for this card.

Frank Garcia

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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On Tue, 30 Mar 1999 12:05:49 -0500, George Costanza <Co...@Kramer.com>
wrote:

>Another case of Voodoo II. Again, no IRQ for this card.

But would this make a difference as to the question of whether all
PCI *slots* can be used at the same time as the SCSI and LAN? Clearly,
the V2's lack of an IRQ is relevant to the question of available IRQ's
-- I can see how there would be a limit to how many IRQ's you could
have among those devices. Of course, with the P2B-S and P2B-LS, this
doesn't get to be an issue because you have forced IRQ sharing among
the LAN, SCSI, AGP, and what, two or three of the PCI slots (not all
on the same IRQ, of course)? Thus, you are effectively limited to no
more than 4 different IRQ's between all the PCI devices, including the
SCSI, LAN, and AGP card. Was that maybe what the original article was
referring to -- the fact that you couldn't use four PCI devices that
required their own IRQ's (ie, couldn't handle IRQ sharing) at the same
time as the SCSI and LAN?

It just doesn't make any sense to me that you couldn't use all the
*slots* at the same time as the onboard hardware. You'd think that
when a board is designed like this, you (the party making the board)
assume that people will use the onboard hardware, and you assume that
all the PCI slots will be used; if you don't assume these things, it
doesn't make much sense to put them all there. Of course, no one ever
said that anything in the computer industry (or in the "minds" of
manufacturers) ever had to make sense... :)

Frank Garcia
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George Costanza

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Mar 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/30/99
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Very interesting point. I don't have the raw data to support why it
doesn't work.
Here is how I have made it work, and what didn't work:

TV card, PCI modem, PCI sound, and additionally SCSI controller - all
require an IRQ even if they are willing to share.---4th PCI slot didn't
recognize any card I tried in it, in other words, I was shuffling them
around.

As soon as I replaced one of the cards with a Voodoo II - no IRQ
required--- the 4th PCI slot came back, again for any card that I put into
it.

My only conclusion is that it is somehow IRQ related but even with the
Voodoo II, some of the IRQs are still shared.

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