Manuals

ISA Configuration Utility: Dell Dimension� XPS Pro150n, Pro108n, and Pro200n

ISA Configuration Utility: Dell Dimension XPS Pro150n, Pro180n, and Pro200n

NOTE: The ISA Configuration Utility is not required for the Microsoft� Windows� 95 operating system because the same functions are provided by the Device Manager. See the Windows 95 documentation for instructions on using the Device Manager.

Before installing any ISA expansion cards, the user may need to change the IRQ line assignments and memory address assignments for the cards to avoid resource conflicts with other system devices. If the user is using the Microsoft Windows NT� operating system, the user must run the ISA Configuration Utility whenever adding or removing an ISA expansion card.

The ISA Configuration Utility is used to tell the system what expansion cards are installed and which expansion slots they occupy. With this information, the system automatically configures Plug and Play expansion cards and PCI expansion cards and can tell the user how to configure ISA expansion cards manually by setting jumpers or switches. Plug and Play and PCI expansion cards do not contain jumpers and switches; they are configured through software only.

If using Windows 95, the functions provided by the ISA Configuration Utility are handled by the Device Manager in the Control Panel.

NOTE: Dell will support only PCI video boards that meet the 2.1 PCI bus specification.

Whenever adding, removing, or repositioning an ISA expansion card, use the ISA Configuration Utility to reconfigure the system. The utility reads the card's corresponding configuration file (.cfg file) in the database located in the \db subdirectory, which describes the card's characteristics and required system resources. After the resources identified in these configuration files are assigned to all ISA cards, the ISA Configuration Utility assigns resources to all Plug and Play and PCI cards, thereby creating a conflict-free configuration.

Unlisted cards are ISA expansion cards that do not have configuration files stored in the ISA Configuration Utility database. Unlisted cards are not displayed in the list of cards provided for the various card categories. The unlisted cards may be cards for which no configuration file exists or may be new cards that include a manufacturer-supplied configuration file on diskette.

PCI cards do not require configuring through the ISA Configuration Utility. A PCI configuration utility in ROM automatically reads the configuration information in the ISA Configuration Utility and assigns resources to the PCI cards accordingly. If the PCI configuration utility is not aware of an installed ISA card, resource conflicts can arise.

When to Run the ISA Configuration Utility

Run the ISA Configuration Utility before adding or removing any ISA expansion cards. The utility can identify and resolve any resource conflicts, as well as indicate the proper jumper and switch settings for each expansion card to avoid such conflicts. Running the program first helps the user determine how to configure the ISA expansion card before installing it in the computer.

After the user runs the ISA Configuration Utility for the ISA expansion cards and the utility has configured all the Plug and Play and PCI expansion cards, the user can use the utility to lock the configuration of the Plug and Play and PCI cards so that they are always assigned the same resources.

Preparing to Run the ISA Configuration Utility

The user should do the following:

If the user did not receive an ISA Configuration Utility diskette with the system, the user should make a program diskette from the utility diskette image on the hard-disk drive.
For instructions on how to create a program diskette from the diskette image, see the online help provided with the Dell� DiskMaker program, which is available in Dell Accessories.
Copy the mouse driver file (mouse.exe) to the program diskette. Then add the mouse statement to the autoexec.bat file on the program diskette.
Make a backup copy of the program diskette.

Use the backup copy whenever the utility is run; store the original program diskette in a safe place.

Backing Up the ISA Configuration Utility

The user should do the following:

Make sure the user has a blank high-density, 3.5-inch diskette.
Turn on the computer if it is not already on.
In the Windows NT File Manager, select Copy Disk from the Disk menu.
Follow the instructions on the screen for inserting the source diskette (the original copy) and the destination diskette (the backup copy).

The user may be prompted to swap diskettes during the duplication process.
Store the original program diskette in a safe place. Use only the backup diskette when running the ISA Configuration Utility.

Starting the ISA Configuration Utility

Insert the backup copy of the ISA Configuration Utility diskette into drive A. Then turn on the computer or reboot it by pressing the reset button.

The ISA Configuration Utility takes a few minutes to load. During this time, the cursor may appear as a pointer rather than as an hourglass, as it normally appears when a program is loading.

Accessing Help in the ISA Configuration Utility

The user can access online help in the ISA Configuration Utility in the following ways:

Select Contents from the Help menu to display a list of topics. Select a topic and click Help. Help text on that topic appears in a dialog box.
For most dialog boxes, click Help to display information on the action being performed.
From the ISA Configuration Utility window, press <F1> to display a list of available topics.
To redisplay the first message received from the ISA Configuration Utility, select Previous Message from the Help menu.

Making Selections in the ISA Configuration Utility

The ISA Configuration Utility window is the main window of the utility and the starting point for making any changes to the expansion-card configuration. This window displays a list of all ISA, Plug and Play, and PCI expansion cards currently installed in the system. The ISA Configuration Utility window contains menus and a tool bar. When a course of action is chosen, the ISA Configuration Utility displays dialog boxes to guide the user through the various steps.

The user can maneuver through each menu and dialog box by using a mouse or the following keystrokes:

Keys	Action
<Alt><x><y>	Displays the menu containing the underlined letter x and performs the operation indicated by the menu item containing the underlined letter y.
<Tab>	Moves from one control button or list to another.
Up- and down-arrow keys	Move up and down items in a list.
<Spacebar>	Highlights an item in a list.
<Enter>	Selects the highlighted button or item in a list.

Viewing Resources

The ISA Configuration Utility displays all resources currently used by the system. To view all the system resources, select System Resources from the View menu. The System Resource Usage dialog box displays all resources currently used by the system.

To determine which card uses a particular resource shown in the System Resource Usage dialog box, select the resource in question and then click Used By Card. The Card Resource Usage dialog box appears with the information.

To view the resources that a particular card is using, select the card from the list displayed, and then select the Card Resources item from the View menu or click View. The Card Resource Usage box displays the resources assigned to that card.

The user can save the information displayed in the resource usage dialog boxes by clicking Print To File. The ISA Configuration Utility then prompts for a filename.

Adding a Card

Use the following procedure to add a card with the ISA Configuration Utility:

Start the ISA Configuration Utility.
Click Add, or select Add Card from the Configuration menu.
Click the name of the category of card that is to be added. If the Add button was clicked in step 2, click OK.
Select the name of the card to be added from the Select Board list box.

NOTE: If the name of the card is not displayed, select Unlisted Card at the bottom of the listing. Insert the diskette that was supplied by the manufacturer, click on Yes, and specify the path from the Load Configuration File dialog box. Then click Open. If no diskette was supplied, click No when the ISA Configuration Utility asks whether there is a configuration file for the card, and enter in the card name and the resources it is using.

To select the resources yourself, click Advanced.

To change any of the resource settings for the card, select the resource setting, and then click Settings. Click the down arrow next to the Configuration Choice box. Then click the new setting from the list of available settings.

To change individual resource values for the current configuration setting, select the resource value to be changed and click Options.
Click OK in the Configuration Settings dialog box once finished selecting resources for the functions.
Save the configuration and exit the ISA Configuration Utility.
Turn off the system if the system configuration has been modified, and change the jumpers on the ISA expansion cards to match the settings in the ISA Configuration Utility.

Modifying a Card

Modifying a card allows the user to change the system resources used by a client. This feature is helpful when adding a card that requires resources already in use by other cards or devices in the system. The user can allocate different resources to the cards currently in the system to free the resources necessary for the card to be installed.

To modify the resource settings for a listed or unlisted card, complete the following steps:

Start the ISA Configuration Utility.
Select the card from the list of installed cards in the ISA Configuration Utility window, and choose Modify Card from the Configure menu or click Modify.

If the Card Configuration dialog box appears, continue with step 3.

If the Configure Unlisted Card dialog box appears, go to step 7.

NOTE: When the user modifies an unlisted card, the ISA Configuration Utility cannot display the valid resources for the card. Therefore, refer to the documentation from the manufacturer that describes the settings the card can use.

Select the resources to change and click Settings to display the Configuration Settings dialog box.
Click the down arrow next to the Configuration Choice box. Then click the new resource setting from the Configuration Choice list box.
To change an individual resource value for the current configuration setting, select the value you want to change and click Options.

For example, when the user clicks the value under DMA, the Options button changes to the DMA Options button. When the user clicks this button, a smaller dialog box appears. By clicking the down arrow next to the current resource value, a list of available values for the resource is displayed.

Choose a value and click OK. The selected value is displayed under the resource heading in the Configuration Settings dialog box. The Options button is disabled if no alternative values are available for the selected resource.

Click OK to complete the card modifications. Then go to step 11.
To add, modify, or remove a resource value, select the box beneath the resource to be assigned, and then click the Add, Modify, or Remove button.

For example, if the user clicks beneath Interrupt (IRQ), the 3 buttons change to Add Interrupt, Modify Interrupt, and Remove Interrupt. When one of these buttons is clicked, a smaller Specify list box appears.

If providing a value for the IRQ or DMA resource, click the down arrow beneath Available Resources. Click the desired value to be assigned to the resource. Then click OK.

If none of the values for the DMA or IRQ resource match the allowable values for the unlisted card (as indicated in the card’s documentation), select one of the available values offered by the utility and click OK.

If providing values for the I/O port or memory resource, enter the starting and ending addresses in hexadecimal format using the 2 fields provided by the Specify Memory or Specify I/O Port dialog box.

Click OK in the Configure Unlisted Card dialog box.

A message box appears stating that the card is using its default settings or that it cannot use its default settings and must be reconfigured.

Click OK. If the card must be reconfigured, record the resource settings recommended by the ISA Configuration Utility. Then click Close.

If a disallowed resource value was assigned to the card in step 7, click each of the other cards, and then click View until finding another card using a resource value that is allowed for the unlisted card. Reassign the resource setting for this other card. Then modify the setting for the unlisted card to use an allowable value.
Save the configuration and exit the ISA Configuration Utility.
Turn off the system and make any required jumper setting changes on the ISA expansion cards to match the settings selected in the ISA Configuration Utility.

Removing a Card

To remove a Plug and Play or PCI expansion card from the system, the user does not need to run the ISA Configuration Utility. However, this utility does need to be run when removing an ISA expansion card. Use the following procedure to remove an ISA expansion card from the computer system:

Start the ISA Configuration Utility.
Select the card from the current system configuration list in the ISA Configuration Utility window.
Select Remove Card from the Configuration menu or click Remove.
Click Yes to free the resources allocated to the card and remove its name from the list of active cards, or click No to cancel the operation.
Save the configuration and exit the ISA Configuration Utility.
Remove the card from the system immediately. Failure to do so can damage the system.

Locking/Unlocking Cards and Resources

The ISA Configuration Utility includes a locking mechanism that enables the user to allocate the system resources for all or for some functions of a Plug and Play expansion card. Plug and Play expansion cards are dynamic, meaning that they are allocated resources at system boot. Some device drivers support this dynamic card configuration, but some do not. Device drivers that do not support dynamic card configuration are referred to as static device drivers.

To determine whether the expansion card has static device drivers, check the documentation that came with the device driver. If the card is using a static device driver, the user needs to permanently associate resources with the Plug and Play expansion card instead of relying on the default Plug and Play behavior. Otherwise, the device driver might not be able to find the card the next time the system boots. The procedure is known as locking a card.

NOTE: The locking feature of the ISA Configuration Utility is valid only for Plug and Play cards and PCI cards.

Locking/Unlocking All Resources

To lock or unlock all the resources and configurations for a Plug and Play or PCI expansion card, perform the following steps:

If it is not already installed, install the Plug and Play or PCI expansion card. Then turn on the system. The expansion card is configured automatically by the system.
Start the ISA Configuration Utility.
Select Locking Enabled from the Advanced menu in the ISA Configuration Utility window. A check mark next to the Locking Enabled item shows that it is active, and a Lock button appears on the tool bar.
Select the Plug and Play or PCI expansion card that is to be locked or unlocked from the Cards Configured in System list.
Click Lock or select Lock/Unlocked Card from the Advanced menu.
Select Save from the File menu, exit the ISA Configuration Utility, and reboot the system.

Locking/Unlocking Individual Resources

The user can also lock individual resources for a card. To do so, perform the following steps:

If it is not already installed, install the Plug and Play or PCI expansion card. Then turn on the system.
Start the ISA Configuration Utility.
Select Locking Enabled from the Advanced menu in the ISA Configuration Utility window. A check mark next to the Locking Enabled item shows that it is active, and a Lock button appears on the tool bar.
Select the Plug and Play or PCI expansion card to be locked or unlocked from the Cards Configured in System list.
Click Modify, or select Modify Card from the Configure menu.
From the Card Configuration dialog box, select the function to be locked or unlocked.
Click Settings. Modify the resource setting and/or resources offered on the Configuration Settings screen, if necessary.
Click the Lock Resources box, which toggles the lock state of the selected configuration setting.
Repeat steps 6 through 8 for any other configurations settings to be locked or unlocked. Then click OK in the Card Configuration dialog box.
Select Save from the File menu, exit the ISA Configuration Utility, and reboot the system.

Saving the System Configuration

The system configuration can be saved to NVRAM as each card's resources are configured. To do so, select Save from the File menu and then continue with your operation.

Exiting From the ISA Configuration Utility

At the ISA Configuration Utility window, select Exit from the File menu to exit the ISA Configuration Utility. If any changes to the system configuration have been made, the user is prompted to save the changes.

Click Yes to have the ISA Configuration Utility save the updated system configuration data into NVRAM and in the system.img file. Click No to exit the ISA Configuration Utility without saving any of the configuration changes. If the Cancel button is clicked, nothing is saved and the utility continues to operate.