Re: [RULE] does Slinky detect do ISA?

[Richard Kweskin]

On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 18:19:49 +0200
Richard Kweskin <address@hidden> wrote:

> On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 19:37:57 +1100
> drose <address@hidden> wrote:
> > snip 
> > Regarding hardware detection in general, is it possible to have a piece
> > of software which can see that there's an ISA card at 0x300, IRQ 12 (for
> > example) wihtout having to know what it is or how to use it, or is
> > loading a driver and using the hardware the only way to find out the
> > details?
> > 
> Hello
> 
> I have installed plug and play isa cards with Slinky. These can usually be 
> detected by isapnp. But isa cards which are not plug and play (or are preset 
> by software to not be - I have some of these, too) will not be detected 
> unless the input/output address(es) and irq the jumpers or software settings 
> the card has are manually put to insmod.
> 
> You guessed it when you said you need to know the hardware, have the kernel 
> compiled to either attach the module(s) or contain the driver internally and 
> then see the results.
> 
> At least that is as far as my experience has been. Does anyone else have a 
> different experience? Of course I will quickly add that Windows could do no 
> better.
> 
> Richard
>
An update from Richard: Informative is 
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Plug-and-Play-HOWTO.html

Also, which bugs me, is the fact that it seems necessary to resort to DOS to 
run any of the following:  a configuration utility to get a particular 
jumperless isa card to change from plug and play to not being plug and play or 
reverse and/or to "set" the parameters of the pnp mode. Such utilities are 
designed particularly to the individual card or family of cards and are found 
either having been accompanied with the card when purchased or sometimes on the 
Internet. A configuration utility designed to discover a non-pnp isa card's 
parameters and to add them to a database in the BIOS referred to as escd or 
extended system configuration data  
http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/gen_indx.htm resulting in the BIOS 
being able to recognise the card's existence on each and every subsequent cold 
or warm boot until either intervention of the cmos utility resetting this 
database or a running of windows which may reset this database. Linux does not 
erase such entries. Why care? Once such cards are properly entered in the escd, 
pnp config in the BIOS can be left at auto and still no pci device steals some 
required resource.

A complicated and sometimes frustrating subject, Richard