Conflict I/O Ports: 378 3F8

I have read the FAQ but it did not help me. I only boot this computer
up when I need to print something. I have three computers networked
(Mac OS9, NT4 and Windows 98) and this is the one with the actual
drivers. One day it would not boot past an error "Conflict I/O Ports:
378 3F8" when it had worked fine prior. I have not installed software
or hardware. Everthing is the way it has been for a couple of years.


I am given the option to "continue" booting past the error message by
hitting F1. I did this and was prompted to insert the Windows 98 CD
(of the three networked this is the Windows 98 system). I have been
able to boot to my desktop and I can see all of my icon/aliases
intact but it hangs up so I cannot use the computer.

Before I start feeling around in the dark I was hoping someone might
have some idea what could have happened.

PI 200mhz Windows 98 96mb RAM

Thanks

00ignacio00 wrote:
I have read the FAQ but it did not help me. I only boot this computer
up when I need to print something. I have three computers networked
(Mac OS9, NT4 and Windows 98) and this is the one with the actual
drivers. One day it would not boot past an error "Conflict I/O Ports:
378 3F8" when it had worked fine prior. I have not installed software
or hardware. Everthing is the way it has been for a couple of years.

Well, I dare say that something has changed even though not by intent but
exactly what is hard to say. Could be a bad CMOS battery that caused BIOS
settings to change. Could be an inadvertent human induced something or
other that caused BIOS or Windows settings to change. Could be a hard drive
error that cause Windows parameters to be lost/corrupted. Could be a port
hardware failure. Could be a virus.

You need to start at the bottom, meaning the BIOS, and verify everything.

If the BIOS looks right I'd remove the printer and the printer ports then
reboot and let Windows redetect and install them again.


I am given the option to "continue" booting past the error message by
hitting F1. I did this and was prompted to insert the Windows 98 CD
(of the three networked this is the Windows 98 system). I have been
able to boot to my desktop and I can see all of my icon/aliases
intact but it hangs up so I cannot use the computer.

Before I start feeling around in the dark I was hoping someone might
have some idea what could have happened.

PI 200mhz Windows 98 96mb RAM

Thanks

did you get a checksum error at boot up?
it sounds like a bios reset and the configuration for your parallel ports
has been reassigned parameters.

"00ignacio00" wrote in message
m...
I have read the FAQ but it did not help me. I only boot this computer
up when I need to print something. I have three computers networked
(Mac OS9, NT4 and Windows 98) and this is the one with the actual
drivers. One day it would not boot past an error "Conflict I/O Ports:
378 3F8" when it had worked fine prior. I have not installed software
or hardware. Everthing is the way it has been for a couple of years.


I am given the option to "continue" booting past the error message by
hitting F1. I did this and was prompted to insert the Windows 98 CD
(of the three networked this is the Windows 98 system). I have been
able to boot to my desktop and I can see all of my icon/aliases
intact but it hangs up so I cannot use the computer.

Before I start feeling around in the dark I was hoping someone might
have some idea what could have happened.

PI 200mhz Windows 98 96mb RAM

Thanks

David Maynardwrote:
Could be a bad CMOS battery that caused BIOS
settings to change.

You need to start at the bottom, meaning the BIOS, and verify
everything.

If the BIOS looks right I'd remove the printer and the printer ports
then
reboot and let Windows redetect and install them again.

At one point I went into Setup at boot up and the date was way off so
the battery or backup battery could need replacing.

JADwrote:
did you get a checksum error at boot up?
it sounds like a bios reset and the configuration for your parallel
ports
has been reassigned parameters.
Yes I did get this in a line directly under the Conflict I/O Ports:
378 3F8:

"CMOS checksum error - Defaults Loaded"

I did not mention it because it went away and did not return after I
hit F1 the first time and loaded Windows. It is difficult for me to
remember everything as it happened. I have put together, upgraded and
rebuilt a few systems but it has always seemed like I had to relearn
from scratch everytime. The circumstances have always been different
and there has been so much time in between. It has been fun but this
really isn't my thing.

I appreciate everyone's help.

What do I need to do first?

00ignacio00 wrote:

JADwrote:

did you get a checksum error at boot up?

it sounds like a bios reset and the configuration for your parallel

ports

has been reassigned parameters.

Yes I did get this in a line directly under the Conflict I/O Ports:
378 3F8:

"CMOS checksum error - Defaults Loaded"

Bad battery, or bad enough. Btw, time 'way off' is another clue that the
battery is going bad, although it might still hold parameters for a while
as it takes more power to run the clock than to just keep CMOS alive. Yours
is apparently past that point.

It would seem the BIOS configuration for either the ports, or something
else, was not standard so when it loaded in the defaults the address and/or
irq changed so they're not where Windows expects them to be. And since,
according to your previous post, it's the ports being redetected it would
seem to be them that was different, or the other thing is causing the BIOS
to assign IRQs in a non standard manner to resolve the conflict.

Got any add-on cards in the thing?

The most common offender is if there's one of the old 'multi-I/O' add-on
cards that also contains a() printer port(s) and it wants to grab the same
I/O and IQ as the on-board port(s). For some reason people will use the
add-on port and disable the on-board, rather than jumper disable the add-on
ports, so if the BIOS gets reset, like yours did, it'll re-enable the
on-board ports (default) and you've got a conflict.

You could see if my wild stab in the dark guess is correct by checking
where your Printer is plugged in and if it's to an add-on card then simply
disabling the on-board printer ports should remove the conflict.

I did not mention it because it went away and did not return after I
hit F1 the first time and loaded Windows. It is difficult for me to
remember everything as it happened. I have put together, upgraded and
rebuilt a few systems but it has always seemed like I had to relearn
from scratch everytime. The circumstances have always been different
and there has been so much time in between. It has been fun but this
really isn't my thing.

I appreciate everyone's help.

What do I need to do first?

First, get a new battery.

Then, either figure out from Device Manager where Windows expects the
parallel ports to be and set them to that in BIOS (and resolve conflicts if
there's something else trying to use the same address/IRQ) or remove the
printer, the ports, then let it redetect and reload the drivers (after
resolving conflicts if there's something else trying to use the same
address/IRQ).

"00ignacio00" wrote in message
...
David Maynardwrote:
Could be a bad CMOS battery that caused BIOS
settings to change.

You need to start at the bottom, meaning the BIOS, and verify
everything.

If the BIOS looks right I'd remove the printer and the printer ports
then
reboot and let Windows redetect and install them again.

At one point I went into Setup at boot up and the date was way off so
the battery or backup battery could need replacing.


a battery is in order. then if you get the IO error change the
parallel/printer port setting to another choice.
or 'reset configuration data' and make sure that the MS routing table is
enabled(if applicable).
if the setting exists 'PnP OS installed?' set to NO

I replaced the CMOS battery and disabled onboard ports and was able to
boot up Windows. However, I have not been able to get the printer to
print since. By disabling the ports it doesn't see the printer yet
enabling them brings back the IO conflict and checksum error. It has
been some time since installing everything in this system. I do have
add on cards that allowed a game port I did not have. I do not even
use the joystick anymore. I hope a simple suggestion is simpler than
retracing my steps and removing the card. I may still need it for
something else. It has been a long time. I am moving in a couple
weeks and I do not want to devote this much time to this but I need
the printing option. Thanks again for any assistance.

Am I correct in finding inconsistency in behavior to be the norm when
resolving computer problems? I think I repeated the same thing a few
times attempting to reestablish an LPT port and rebooting. Suddenly
the same thing that did not work, worked. I am able to print and all
is back to working order.

glad you got it, did you 'reset configuration data' or set the defaults?
We really didn't want you to 'disable' the ports, just change the parameters
to another address and IRQ.


"00ignacio00" wrote in message
m...
Am I correct in finding inconsistency in behavior to be the norm when
resolving computer problems? I think I repeated the same thing a few
times attempting to reestablish an LPT port and rebooting. Suddenly
the same thing that did not work, worked. I am able to print and all
is back to working order.