New PCI card on old motherboard

Hello all,

I've (finally) hopped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, and bought, among other
gear, a pair of PCI 802.11g network adapters.

Problem is, the PCI card is properly detected on my recent motherboard
(2001 ASUS A7V133-C SocketA) but *NOT* on my older motherboard (1997
ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 Socket7).

I've tried 3 different PCI slots, removed all ISA cards, increased the
PCI bus latency (whatever that does)... Still the card does not show up
in the BIOS summary (right before the OS boots). I've loaded Knoppix,
and, unsurprisingly, lspci does not see the adapter either (I thought
Linux might perform initialization which the BIOS forgot).

Is it possible that recent PCI cards DO NOT WORK plain and simple in
older motherboards? Isn't there some kind of backward compatibility?

P.S. why is the old Socket7 called Socket7? It's not like the CPU only
has 7 pins, right?

--
Regards, Grumble

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 19:00:25 +0100, Grumble wrote:

Hello all,

I've (finally) hopped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, and bought, among other
gear, a pair of PCI 802.11g network adapters.

Nice. ...haven't gone there yet. I opened up the walls and ran a CAT-5
and RG6 to my "office" (there are advantages to having the kid move out
;-).

Problem is, the PCI card is properly detected on my recent motherboard
(2001 ASUS A7V133-C SocketA) but *NOT* on my older motherboard (1997
ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 Socket7).

Oops.

I've tried 3 different PCI slots, removed all ISA cards, increased the
PCI bus latency (whatever that does)...

The PCI bus latence timer has nothing to do with the congiguration phase.
Basically, the PCI latency timer is the *minimum* time-slot (in PCI
cocks) that a device is alowed to "hog" the bus. Once the bus has been
granted (GNT# active) to a device the timer starts. If the bus arbiter
then decides to grant access to another device (GNT# de-asserted) the
first device does *not* have to give up the bus until the latency timer
goes to zero. If it's already zero it must immediately fork over access
to the bus.

It's not your problem (though you went the wrong way with it ;-).

Still the card does not show up
in the BIOS summary (right before the OS boots). I've loaded Knoppix,
and, unsurprisingly, lspci does not see the adapter either (I thought
Linux might perform initialization which the BIOS forgot).

Have you seen this with any other cards? What chipset (Northbridge)?

Is it possible that recent PCI cards DO NOT WORK plain and simple in
older motherboards? Isn't there some kind of backward compatibility?

It's certainly possible.

straw_grasping_mode
Is it a "universal" PCI card or is it a 5V card. It's possible it's
intended for 3.3V PCI?
straw_grasping_mode/

P.S. why is the old Socket7 called Socket7? It's not like the CPU only
has 7 pins, right?

....umm because it came after Socket-6 (PPro), Socket-5 (early Pentia -
single supply), Socket-4 (486)? ;-)

--
Keith

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 19:00:25 +0100, Grumble wrote:

Hello all,

I've (finally) hopped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, and bought, among other
gear, a pair of PCI 802.11g network adapters.

Problem is, the PCI card is properly detected on my recent motherboard
(2001 ASUS A7V133-C SocketA) but *NOT* on my older motherboard (1997
ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 Socket7).

Ah the famous P55T2P4. Are you running standard clocking and have you
checked your BIOS to make sure it's the last one issued?

I've tried 3 different PCI slots, removed all ISA cards, increased the
PCI bus latency (whatever that does)... Still the card does not show up
in the BIOS summary (right before the OS boots). I've loaded Knoppix,
and, unsurprisingly, lspci does not see the adapter either (I thought
Linux might perform initialization which the BIOS forgot).

Sometimes cards just don't/didn't show in the BIOS summary list - no idea
why. Do you have PnP OS enabled in the BIOS Setup? That could prevent the
BIOS from do a full enumeration of PnP... i.e. leaving it to the OS to
figure out. I don't recall if the P55T2P4 BIOS had a "Reset Configuration"
or "Clear NVRAM" option - worth a try if it does. Also try disabling
something, like COM2 to make sure an IRQ is free.

Is it possible that recent PCI cards DO NOT WORK plain and simple in
older motherboards? Isn't there some kind of backward compatibility?

PnP was kinda half-baked back then, with the P55T2P4. I recall having
monumental "quarrels" with it, on some mbrds, where it would not release
resources back after they'd been assigned to a card which had subsequently
been removed. In one case I had to remove everything and boot it with a
bare config... to "give it a jolt"... and then put things back in an order
which got the dissenting card recognized before others.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

I've (finally) hopped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, and bought, among
other gear, a pair of PCI 802.11g network adapters.

Problem is, the PCI card is properly detected on my recent
motherboard (2001 ASUS A7V133-C SocketA) but *NOT* on my older
motherboard (1997 ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 Socket7).

lack of PCI 2.1 or something, it wont work


Pozdrawiam.
--
RusH //
http://randki.o2.pl/profil.php?id_r=352019
Like ninjas, true hackers are shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
You may never know -- UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE.

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 13:59:36 -0500, keith wrote:

....snip...

P.S. why is the old Socket7 called Socket7? It's not like the CPU only
has 7 pins, right?

...umm because it came after Socket-6 (PPro), Socket-5 (early Pentia -
single supply), Socket-4 (486)? ;-)
IIRC, Socket4 was for bigger, 5V Pentium 60/66 - the ones with
(in)famous FDIV bug.
486 used Socket3

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 03:25:20 +0000, wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 13:59:36 -0500, keith wrote:

...snip...

P.S. why is the old Socket7 called Socket7? It's not like the CPU only
has 7 pins, right?

...umm because it came after Socket-6 (PPro), Socket-5 (early Pentia -
single supply), Socket-4 (486)? ;-)
IIRC, Socket4 was for bigger, 5V Pentium 60/66 - the ones with
(in)famous FDIV bug.
486 used Socket3

You're probably right. When one gets old... ;-)

--
Keith

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 16:34:20 -0600, Ed wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 19:00:25 +0100, Grumble wrote:

Is it possible that recent PCI cards DO NOT WORK plain and simple in
older motherboards? Isn't there some kind of backward compatibility?

IOW if setting the IRQ manually in the BIOS for the slot the card is in
to an IRQ that is not already in use/shared by other devices might help?

Were it junt an IRQ issue, the card would still show up in the
configuration.

--
Keith

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 23:49:48 +0000, RusH wrote:

I've (finally) hopped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, and bought, among
other gear, a pair of PCI 802.11g network adapters.

Problem is, the PCI card is properly detected on my recent
motherboard (2001 ASUS A7V133-C SocketA) but *NOT* on my older
motherboard (1997 ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 Socket7).

lack of PCI 2.1 or something, it wont work

The differences between 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 are rather trivial. There's
nothing in there that would cause your problems.

--
Keith

keith wrote :

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 23:49:48 +0000, RusH wrote:

lack of PCI 2.1 or something, it wont work

The differences between 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 are rather trivial.
There's nothing in there that would cause your problems.

not my problems and those trivial differences make day and night
when it comes to wifi cards. I work as WISP consultant, its a common
problem. Just like USB2 cards - they dont work in Pentium 1
motherboards.


Pozdrawiam.
--
RusH //
http://randki.o2.pl/profil.php?id_r=352019
Like ninjas, true hackers are shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
You may never know -- UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE.

RusH wrote:

not my problems and those trivial differences make day and night
when it comes to wifi cards. I work as WISP consultant, its a common
problem. Just like USB2 cards - they dont work in Pentium 1
motherboards.

The card I tested was an MSI PC54G2:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...il.php?UID=584
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...p?model=PC54G2

NOTE: It was the cheapest I could find ;-)

Do you think I'll have problems with every PCI 802.11g card,
or is there one that might work with the P55T2P4?

--
Regards, Grumble