Lesson Plan

Supplemental Info / Notes

• Conflict Resolution Area in the Troubleshooting Expert
• A List of Typical Symptoms of Resource Conflicts

Afternoon Coursework

• Demo of inserting cards into a system.
• Demo of changing jumper settings.
• Complete ITCSS 2000 Hardware Lab
• Review the supplemental info / notes

ITCSS 2000 Hardware Lab

Serial Port Conflict Resolution

The following lab assumes the each station has a modem that is configured to operate from COM2 and a serial port (mouse) on COM1.

Creating and Observing the Conflict

1. Power off the lab workstation.
2. Unplug the power cord.
3. Remove the case from the lab workstation.
4. Locate the modem.
5. Using the provided documentation, change the modem jumper settings from COM2 to COM1.
6. Replace the case and plug in the power cord.
7. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot into Windows 95. Note that depending on the type of system, you may receive an error message during POST (Power On Self Test). Observe the error message and continue booting the system following the instructions on the screen.
8. Log into your system.
9. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.
10. Double-click the System icon.
11. Click the Device Manager tab.
12. Look for yellow exclamation points located on top of COM1 and the modem icon. If the yellow exclamation marks now exist over the modem and COM1, then you have successfully created a resource conflict between the two devices.

Resolving the Conflict

There are several different ways to resolve this conflict, the best answer really depends on the needs of the user. For example, you already know that you can easily resolve this conflict by simply changing the modem jumper settings back to their original settings. Another solution would be to disable or reassign the COM port's resources.

Reassigning or Disabling the COM Port's Resources

1. Reboot your lab workstation.
2. Enter the BIOS setup program.
3. Locate the serial configuration section.
4. Change your serial port configuration from COM2 to Disabled.
5. Save the changes and reboot the lab workstation.
6. Check the current status in the Device Manager.

Note: Not all serial ports are configurable through the BIOS. If the COM port configuration is not available through the BIOS setup program of your lab workstation, you may need to manually disable it on the motherboard of the I/O card (depending on configuration).

Undo What Was Done

1. Perform the steps to disabling the COM port's resources in reverse.
2. Power off the lab workstation.
3. Unplug the power cord.
4. Change settings (jumpers) of the modem back to COM2.
5. Reboot the workstation and check the device manager for conflicts.

Lab Notes

Default port assignments on many computers:

Note that in some of the more severe cases, a PC will completely freeze when a serial port conflict occurs.

Viewing device resources - You can use the Device Manager to view resource settings by simply double clicking the device icon.

Yellow exclamation marks in the Device Manager? - When the Device Manager displays a yellow exclamation mark over a device, it means the device is conflicting with another device.

A red "X" in the Device Manager? - When the Device Manager displays a red "X" over a device, this means that the device had been disabled in the current hardware profile.

Review Questions (Not For Marks)

1. Describe how to view the IRQ of a device using the Device Manager.
2. List two ways to solve a serial conflict.
3. You are the desktop PC support technician for the Good Job Corporation. Janet, one of your customers, suspects that she has a resource conflict between her newly installed modem and one of her serial ports on her laptop. Describe how you could use the Device Manager to confirm or eliminate her suspicions.

Parallel Port Conflict Resolution

The following lab assumes the each station has a sound card configured to run on IRQ 5.

Creating and Observing the Conflict

1. Power off the lab workstation.
2. Unplug the power cord.
3. Remove the case from the lab workstation.
4. Locate the sound card.
5. Using the provided documentation, change the sound card jumper settings from IRQ 5 to IRQ 7.
6. Replace the case and plug in the power cord.
7. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot into Windows 95. Note that depending on the type of system, you may receive an error message during POST (Power On Self Test). Observe the error message and continue booting the system following the instructions on the screen.
8. Log into your system.
9. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.
10. Double-click the System icon.
11. Click the Device Manager tab.
12. Look for yellow exclamation points located on top of LPT1 and the sound card icon. If the yellow exclamation marks now exist over the sound card and LPT1, then you have successfully created a resource conflict between the two devices.

Resolving the Conflict

There are several different ways to resolve a parallel port conflict. Like serial conflicts, a parallel conflict can also be resolved by disabling the parallel port. Under normal circumstances however, you will not be allowed to disable the parallel port because the user will need to use it for their printer. This leaves you with two options. One is to reassign the resources of the conflicting device, and the other is to reassign the resources of the parallel port.

Reassigning or Disabling the Parallel Port's Resources

1. Reboot your lab workstation.
2. Enter the BIOS setup program.
3. Locate the parallel configuration section.
4. Change your parallel port resource settings to IRQ 5, and be sure to use a different I/O address.
5. Save the changes and reboot the lab workstation.

Verifying the Resource Conflict Has Been Resolved

1. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot into Windows 95.
2. Log into your system.
3. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.
4. Double-click the System icon.
5. Click the Device Manager tab.
6. Double-click on Ports.
7. Double-click LPT1.
8. Click the Resources tab.
   
   Note that the IRQ and I/O settings now read what you have previously chosen in the BIOS setup program.
   
9. Click the Cancel button.
10. Double-click Sound, video, and game controllers.
11. Double-click the sound card icon.
12. Click the resources tab.
13. Observe the IRQ and I/O settings of the sound card.

Note: Not all parallel ports are configurable through the BIOS. If the parallel port configuration is not available through the BIOS setup program of your lab workstation, then using available IRQs is the only viable solution.

Lab Notes

COM port assignment vs. LPT assignment - Unlike COM ports, parallel ports do not allow you to simply change the LPT number from LPT1 to LPT2 and maintain the same system resources. The difference is, a COM port number (1, 2, 3, 4) can be assigned any I/O address and IRQ that are reserved for COM use. However, a parallel port is assigned its LPT numer (1, 2, 3) by the BIOS in the order of highest I/O address first.

Parallel ports only work on printers? - Parallel communication was originally intended for use with printers only. But because parallel port communication is faster than serial communication, it is commonly used for fast transfers over short distances. To accomplish this sort of data transfer a bi-directional parallel port is used.

Note that in some severe cases, a PC will completely freeze when a parallel port conflict occurs.

Review Questions (Not For Marks)

1. Briefly describe how parallel ports are assigned LPT numbers.
2. List two ways a parallel port conflict can be resolved.
3. You are working on a PC that has a parallel port built into the motherboard. You are about to install a new sound card that is currently configured to use IRQ 7. Describe the steps you will need to take to avoid an IRQ conflict with the sound card.