Network Card IRQ Conflicts with Another Device

• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

After you install a network interface card (NIC) in your computer, the IRQ that is set may conflict with another device in your system.

CAUSE

This problem can occur with NICs that are software configurable. If Windows 95 cannot detect the NIC resources (for example, if there is no PROTOCOL.INI file, NDIS 2 driver, or Novell NetWare ODI configuration) it defaults to the first available logical configuration, regardless of IRQ assignments.

RESOLUTION

Use Control Panel to change the IRQ setting for the NIC to its original setting. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Network icon.

3. On the Configuration tab, double-click the NIC in your computer.

4. On the Resources tab, change the IRQ setting so that it matches the setting on the NIC.

5. Click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

During Setup, Windows 95 tries to determine the NIC's configuration from existing network information. If no network configuration information exists, Setup tries to detect the configuration. If you are using a software configurable NIC, Setup detects the I/O address, not the IRQ. Setup then assigns an IRQ from the first logical configuration Windows 95 has for it, even though the IRQ may already be assigned to another device.

For example, if you install an Intel EtherExpress 16 NIC configured to use IRQ 10 in a computer with no previous network files, Setup assigns IRQ 3 to the NIC when it cannot find the NIC's IRQ. This creates an IRQ conflict, because IRQ 3 is already assigned to COM2.