Grant Howard Associates Lawn Mower C H A P T E R 4 User Manual

C H A P T E R 4  
Finding Software Solutions  
Because most computer systems have several application programs installed in addi-  
tion to the operating system, isolating a software problem can be confusing. Software  
errors can also appear to be hardware malfunctions at first.  
Software problems can result from the following circumstances:  
Improper installation or configuration of a program  
Input errors  
Device drivers that may conflict with certain application programs  
Interrupt conflicts between devices  
You can confirm that a computer system problem is caused by software by running  
the System Set Test Group as described in Chapter 5, “Running the Dell Diagnos-  
tics.” If all tests in the test group are completed successfully, the error condition is  
most likely caused by software.  
This file provides some general guidelines for analyzing software problems. For  
detailed troubleshooting information on a particular program, see the documentation  
that accompanied the software or consult the support service for the software.  
Installing and Configuring Software  
You should use virus-scanning software to check newly acquired programs and files  
for viruses before installing the programs on the computer's hard-disk drive. Viruses,  
which are pieces of code that can replicate themselves, can quickly use all available  
system memory, damage and/or destroy data stored on the hard-disk drive, and per-  
manently affect the performance of the programs they infect. Several commercial  
virus-scanning programs are available for purchase, and most bulletin board services  
(BBSs) archive freely distributed virus-scanning programs that you can download with  
a modem.  
Before installing a program, you should read its documentation to learn how the pro-  
gram works, what hardware it requires, and what its defaults are. A program usually  
includes installation instructions in its accompanying documentation and a software  
installation routine on its program diskettes.  
support.dell.com  
Finding Software Solutions  
4-1  
Avoiding Interrupt Assignment Conflicts  
Problems can arise if two devices attempt to use the same interrupt request (IRQ)  
line. To avoid this type of conflict, check the documentation for the IRQ line's default  
for each installed expansion card. Then consult Table 4-1 to configure the card for one  
of the available IRQ lines.  
Table 4-1. IRQ Line Assignment Defaults  
IRQ Line  
IRQ0  
IRQ1  
IRQ2  
IRQ3  
IRQ4  
IRQ5  
IRQ6  
IRQ7  
IRQ8  
IRQ9  
IRQ10  
IRQ11  
IRQ12  
Used By/Available  
Used by the system timer  
Used by the keyboard to signal that the output buffer is full  
Used by interrupt controller 1 to enable IRQ8 through IRQ15  
Used by serial port 2 (COM2 and COM4)  
Used by serial port 1 (COM1 and COM3)  
Available unless used by a secondary parallel port  
Used by the diskette drive controller  
Used by the primary parallel port  
Used by the RTC  
Used for power management functions  
Available  
Available  
Used by the PS/2 mouse port unless the mouse is disabled in the Sys-  
tem Setup program  
IRQ13  
IRQ14  
IRQ15  
Used by the math coprocessor  
IDE secondary  
IDE primary  
NOTE: For the full name of an abbreviation or acronym used in this table, see the abbreviations and  
acronyms list at the end of this guide.  
support.dell.com  
Finding Software Solutions  
4-3  
 
4-4  
Installation and Troubleshooting Guide  

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