Abit BE6-II & PDPI L4 - Stumped

I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to instructions in the manual. As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings relating to the dreaded ISA issue. I've changed the settings for: Memory Hole at 15M-16M Passive Release Delayed Transaction PnP OS Installed Force Update ESCD Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these settings mean. Other specs: PII 450 ( not overclocked ) SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) Kingston NIC in Slot 3 Win98 SE Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? TIA -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

You can find the rev. number by holding a mirror along side the isa slot and look for a sticker. I don't know about your specific gameport but in the past I've used a thrustmaster acm card (isa) with my be6-II rev. 1. Regarding the various bios switches you might want to turn the PNP-OS option OFF and let the bios do the irq's. I know you said the isa card doesn't need an irq but it does sound like an irq conflict to me. I believe slot 2 (your SBLive) shares an irq with slot 5 which I think IS the isa slot (which in turn could be the source of the conflict). Try moving the SBlive to slot 1 (shares with agp) or slot4 (shares with usb), though SBlive cards have been known not to share irq's well. If that doesn't work move the NIC card to slot 1 or 4 (which may or may not share better). Also, I think there might be an updated bios available (I think I'm at UH or something like that). And, of course, you want to disable the gameport in SBlive. I think serial ports use irq's too which you can disable in the bios. My hunch is though your answer is probably in moving the cards around (I'd start with the SBLive) and not the bios settings. Don "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. > > The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I > do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to > instructions in the manual. > > As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just > after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the > BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings > relating to the dreaded ISA issue. > > I've changed the settings for: > > Memory Hole at 15M-16M > Passive Release > Delayed Transaction > PnP OS Installed > Force Update ESCD > Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy > ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). > > I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many > permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these > settings mean. > > Other specs: > > PII 450 ( not overclocked ) > SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) > Kingston NIC in Slot 3 > Win98 SE > > Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? > > TIA > > -- > " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

"Don" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:gqbs6.238$[email hidden]... > You can find the rev. number by holding a mirror along side the isa slotand > look for a sticker. ..or use an upside-down CD.

Simon Brown wrote:

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> > "Don" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:gqbs6.238$[email hidden]... > > You can find the rev. number by holding a mirror along side the isa slot > and > > look for a sticker. > > ..or use an upside-down CD.

Or reference his BIOS version of RV at Abit's website where you download their BIOS updates. It indicates a version 1.0. -- Fester

"Don" <[email hidden]> wrote: >"Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. [...]

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>> As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just >> after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the >> BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings >> relating to the dreaded ISA issue. >> I've changed the settings for: >> Memory Hole at 15M-16M >> Passive Release >> Delayed Transaction >> PnP OS Installed >> Force Update ESCD >> Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy >> ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). >> Other specs: >> PII 450 ( not overclocked ) >> SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) >> Kingston NIC in Slot 3 >> Win98 SE >You can find the rev. number by holding a mirror along side the isa slot and >look for a sticker.

Jeez, they don't make it easy, huh? Ver. 1.1. >I don't know about your specific gameport but in the past I've used a >thrustmaster acm card (isa) with my be6-II rev. 1. I had an old an old ACM laying around & decided to try it. Slapped it in & the system was able to POST. Perhaps my PDPI is dead (R.I.P.). I installed the BE6 because my old Asus P2B-F died (R.I.P.) & I couldn't find a replacement. Perhaps the PDPI got fried when the moboard passed away. >Regarding the various bios switches you might want to turn the PNP-OS option >OFF and let the bios do the irq's. I've tried that but no go. > I know you said the isa card doesn't need an irq but it does sound like an irq >conflict to me. I believe slot 2 (your SBLive) shares an irq with slot 5 which I >think IS the isa slot (which in turn could be the source of the conflict). Yeah, it does sound like an IRQ conflict but I'm fairly certain the L4 doesn't require an IRQ. You're correct in that Slot 2 & 5 share an IRQ but Slot 5 is PCI. I looked thru the Abit manual to see if the ISA slot shares resources with other slots but didn't find any info. >Try moving the SBlive to slot1 (shares with agp) or slot4 (shares with usb), >though SBlive cards have been known not to share irq's well. If that doesn't >work move the NIC card to slot 1 or 4 (which may or may not share better). OK. I had to do some card shuffling to get the NIC & SB Live to work together in their present config so I may re-shuffle. >Also, I think there might be an updated bios available (I think I'm at UH or >something like that). Yes, the latest BIOS update available is UH. > And, of course, you want to disable the gameport in SBlive. Initially, I tried to install the PDPI *before* installing the SB Live. That always worked with my Asus as the L4 would grab its' required I/O. The, once the SB Live was installed, it would use another I/O range. With the Asus, I never had to disable the Live's gameport. With the Abit, I can't even the get the L4 installed. > I think serial ports use irq's too which you can disable in the bios. My hunch is >though your answer is probably in moving the cards around (I'd start with >the SBLive) and not the bios settings. Yes, I disabled Com2 to free up an IRQ ( which I don't think the L4 needs ) but that didn't work either. I may re-shuffle my PCI cards but since the ACM card allowed my rig to POST, I feel the L4 may be dead. Anyway, thanx very much for the reply. I'm having a new rig built, but in the meantime, I need this old system to race online. I've used the L4 for a long time & if the thing is dead, I may have to hold some kind of ceremony for it...:-) -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

"Simon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>"Don" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:gqbs6.238$[email hidden]... >> You can find the rev. number by holding a mirror along side the isa slot >>and look for a sticker. >..or use an upside-down CD.

Or use a *clean* putty knife...:-) -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

...or you could excessively polish the bottom of the inside of your case until it was shiny enough to reflect :) "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > > Or use a *clean* putty knife...:-)

Mark, Well you're obviously working the problem hard and inevitably the computer will finally give up and do what you want it to do. You've used a couple terms I'm not familiar with, PDPI and L4. What are they? Though we both evidently own acm cards I read somewhere once that the SBLive card gameport is fine and it obviously doesn't bring the isa into play at all. So is this PDPI that good? I'm curious. Sorry about the bad call on number of pci slots, guess I was number challenged. You're not out anything except your time by flipping the cards around, but I think your're right that the isa card sounds dead (especially if the acm works in the isa slot). So what's this PDPI thingy...People Drive Purilli Italia ? Don

Hi Mark, I use the same combo as you with no problems. You do have to ues the L4Setup.exe or the M/B wont see the card. I dont know if the PDPI site is still avail for the file if you need it. E-Mail me if you still need help. George Sandman "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. > > The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I > do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to > instructions in the manual. > > As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just > after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the > BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings > relating to the dreaded ISA issue. > > I've changed the settings for: > > Memory Hole at 15M-16M > Passive Release > Delayed Transaction > PnP OS Installed > Force Update ESCD > Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy > ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). > > I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many > permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these > settings mean. > > Other specs: > > PII 450 ( not overclocked ) > SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) > Kingston NIC in Slot 3 > Win98 SE > > Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? > > TIA > > -- > " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

"Don" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Well you're obviously working the problem hard and inevitably the computer >will finally give up and do what you want it to do. You've used a couple >terms I'm not familiar with, PDPI and L4. What are they? PDPI - Pacific Digital Peripherals, Inc. - They designed the L4. Bought out by Act-Labs about a year ago. L4 - Lightning 4 - A digital gamecard. Similar to the ACM, but considerably more efficient. Still being sold by Act-Labs: http://www.actlab.com/pdpi_l4.htm >Though we both evidently own acm cards I read somewhere once that the > SBLive card gameport is fine and it obviously doesn't bring the isa into play >at all. So is this PDPI that good? I'm curious. The SB Live is fine. However, the L4 has plenty of features that equate to rock solid performance. This site explains it better than I ever could: http://www.gplonline.com/Tech-Talk/L4-Gamecard/L4-Gamecard.htm Speaking subjectively, I'm convinced the L4 helps with lap times. There's *no* jitter in any calibration screens & the thing is very tweakable via Registry settings. For instance, I installed a new high-grade steering pot in my TSW. I wasn't getting enough range with it so I changed the numbers in the Registry & found a sweet spot. >Sorry about the bad call on number of pci slots, guess I was number >challenged. Hey, no problem. I've been reading some much stuff lately about this new moboard, my brain needs an upgrade...:-) >You're not out anything except your time by flipping the cards around, but I >think your're right that the isa card sounds dead (especially if the acm >works in the isa slot). Yeah, I think it may be dead. However, George Sandman's post indicates I should install the drivers before the card. This is opposite of my routine with an Asus moboard but evidently, it worked for George. >So what's this PDPI thingy...People Drive Purilli Italia ? Close, but I think it might be.... Peripherals Drive People Insane...:-)) -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

"George Sandman" <[email hidden]> wrote: >"Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. [...ISA woes...] >I use the same combo as you with no problems. You do have to ues the >L4Setup.exe or the M/B wont see the card. Hmmm....this is interesting, George. I don't understand how drivers would affect a machine that won't POST but you've obviously got yours working. >I dont know if the PDPI site is still avail for the file if you need it. E-Mail >me if you still need help. The PDPI site is a goner but I've got the L4 CD. I'll run the setup & see what happens. If this works, I'll email you a case of your favorite beverage...:-) Thanx for the help! -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

Install the SBLive.... disable the gameport... shutdown.... install the L4.... boot up.... run the install for L4.... see if you still have a prob. If you don't "disable" the SB gameport... the L4 cannot assume the proper I/O (since the SB occupies it, and is VERY intrusive and particular). Dunno if this would cause a boot error.... but just make sure the SB GP is disabled... before you install the L4. Then.... make sure you "calibrate your wheel/stick/pad" before you reboot again. Then its set in stone. Hope it works... Cheers, Schumi "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. > > The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I > do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to > instructions in the manual. > > As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just > after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the > BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings > relating to the dreaded ISA issue. > > I've changed the settings for: > > Memory Hole at 15M-16M > Passive Release > Delayed Transaction > PnP OS Installed > Force Update ESCD > Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy > ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). > > I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many > permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these > settings mean. > > Other specs: > > PII 450 ( not overclocked ) > SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) > Kingston NIC in Slot 3 > Win98 SE > > Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? > > TIA > > -- > " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

Install the SBLive.... disable the gameport... shutdown.... install the L4.... boot up.... run the install for L4.... see if you still have a prob. If you don't "disable" the SB gameport... the L4 cannot assume the proper I/O (since the SB occupies it, and is VERY intrusive and particular). Dunno if this would cause a boot error.... but just make sure the SB GP is disabled... before you install the L4. Then.... make sure you "calibrate your wheel/stick/pad" before you reboot again. Then its set in stone. Hope it works... Cheers, Schumi

"Jason \"Schumi\" Murray" <[email hidden]> wrote: >"Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. [...]

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>Install the SBLive.... disable the gameport... shutdown.... install the >L4.... boot up.... run the install for L4.... see if you still have a prob. >If you don't "disable" the SB gameport... the L4 cannot assume the proper >I/O (since the SB occupies it, and is VERY intrusive and particular). Dunno >if this would cause a boot error.... but just make sure the SB GP is >disabled... before you install the L4.

I thought it was best to install the L4 *before* installing the SB Live card. That way, the L4 was assured of grabbing its' required I/O. That always worked with my old Asus but not with the Abit. But, since the Asus died, perhaps it killed the L4 too...:-( >Then.... make sure you "calibrate your wheel/stick/pad" before you reboot >again. Then its set in stone. Yes, that was always the case before my moboard croaked. I used the PDPI / TSW combo for about 18 months without calibrating once after the initial calibration. Thanx for the help. -- " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

Here's the latest flash: ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/utilities/award_flash/awdflash.exe Here's the latest bios: ftp://66.40.22.130/download/bios/be6-II/behxu.exe Pull out all your cards except the video and see if the PDPI works then. If not, load bios setup defaults using the F key and try again. If the PDPI card still doesn't work, it's probably dead. If it does, you'll probably still have to disable the SBLive gameport as Shumi suggests. -- Slot Tweaks & Reviews www.slottweak.com "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. > > The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I > do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to > instructions in the manual. > > As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just > after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the > BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings > relating to the dreaded ISA issue. > > I've changed the settings for: > > Memory Hole at 15M-16M > Passive Release > Delayed Transaction > PnP OS Installed > Force Update ESCD > Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy > ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). > > I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many > permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these > settings mean. > > Other specs: > > PII 450 ( not overclocked ) > SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) > Kingston NIC in Slot 3 > Win98 SE > > Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? > > TIA > > -- > " Why bother..." - R. Crumb

Any chance the L4 will work in Windows 2000? "Jason "Schumi" Murray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Install the SBLive.... disable the gameport... shutdown.... install the > L4.... boot up.... run the install for L4.... see if you still have aprob. > > If you don't "disable" the SB gameport... the L4 cannot assume the proper > I/O (since the SB occupies it, and is VERY intrusive and particular).Dunno

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> if this would cause a boot error.... but just make sure the SB GP is > disabled... before you install the L4. > > Then.... make sure you "calibrate your wheel/stick/pad" before you reboot > again. Then its set in stone. > > Hope it works... > > Cheers, > > Schumi > > > "Mark Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > I'm trying to get an ISA PDPI L4 gameport to work with a BE6-II. > > > > The first problem is I cannot locate the revision # for the board. I > > do know it's a non-RAID with a BIOS version of RV according to > > instructions in the manual. > > > > As far as getting the card to work, I'm stumped. The POST stops just > > after identifying my CPU. So, I have to pull the card to access the > > BIOS. Once in the BIOS, there appears to be a myriad of settings > > relating to the dreaded ISA issue. > > > > I've changed the settings for: > > > > Memory Hole at 15M-16M > > Passive Release > > Delayed Transaction > > PnP OS Installed > > Force Update ESCD > > Resources Controlled By: (Disabled Com2 & assigned its' IRQ to Legacy > > ISA & PCI/ISA PnP but later learned this card doesn't use an IRQ ). > > > > I've stopped fiddling with these settings as there's too many > > permutations available & I lack the clues as to what all these > > settings mean. > > > > Other specs: > > > > PII 450 ( not overclocked ) > > SB Live in Slot 2 ( Dos driver disabled ) > > Kingston NIC in Slot 3 > > Win98 SE > > > > Anybody in r.a.s. land using this moboard & a PDPI?? > > > > TIA > > > > -- > > " Why bother..." - R. Crumb > >