Troubleshooting Device Configuration Problems

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Troubleshooting Device Configuration Problems

The Missing driver
If a device shows up as enabled in the Devices list but is not working, the problem may be that you don't have a driver for it. This is often the case with sound card failure.
Resource conflict - more devices on the system than it has resources to handle.
If something's not working and you've checked that it's connected properly, open Devices to see if it's disabled. The usual reason a device is disabled is because of a resource conflict. If the disabled device is one you want to use, you'll need to disable another device, or reconfigure the disabled device or the conflicting device, to free up resources for it. You can disable serial and parallel port devices in the BIOS (how you do this is different for every BIOS, so check your computer user guide for specifics). To disable a plug and play device, highlight it in the devices list (under ISA/Plug and Play Devices) and double-click on it. In the resources and info panel that appears, click the Current Configuration button in the upper-left of the Resources tab. If the device is one that can be disabled, Disable Device will be active and you can click it to do the job.
It's also possible that a device that's not working (the mouse won't move, the keyboard doesn't work) won't show up as disabled on the Devices list. This may also be a resource conflict. Try disabling other devices to free up resources and see if that fixes the problem.
Unknown device
If you have any jumpered devices (ISA, non-plug and play cards; generally, older devices) on your system, it may not be able to recognize them. Do you have an old modem, sound card, or Ethernet card? If so, you must tell your configuration manager about it in Devices preferences. For all unknown devices other than internal modems, go to Devices -> Add Jumpered Device -> Custom and fill in the panel that asks you for information about the device. (You'll need to get this information from the guide that came with the device.) If you don't know all the resources a device uses, just fill in the ones you do know.
If the unknown device is an internal modem, go to Devices -> Add Jumpered Device -> Modem and select a serial port from the popup in the configuration panel that appears. You may have to tweak the settings used for the modem, particularly the IRQ. If you want to do that, double-click on the new jumpered device and change the settings manually.
Just as with resource conflicts, if a device doesn't show up in red in the Devices list but isn't working, it may be in conflict with a jumpered device. In that case, choose Devices -> Add Jumpered Device -> Custom and create a new device in the panel that appears, then reboot.
Not-so-smart configuration manager
If the device doesn't appear in red in the Devices list, and probably is not a jumpered device, it may not be working because it incorrectly believes that it can use a certain resource (probably, but not always, an IRQ). To test this, force the device to use a different IRQ. There are two ways to do this:

- Create a jumpered device that uses that particular resource with Devices -> Add Jumpered Device -> Custom and reboot to make it take effect.
- Explicitly set the device's configuration by clicking the Configure... button and entering configuration information in the Resources tab of the panel that appears; reboot to make your changes take effect.

You can also try to see if there's any way to use all devices without having to disable any of them. Choose Devices -> Resource Usage (Alt+U) to see what resources all your devices are using, then highlight a device, click the Configure... button to bring up its configuration information, and see if you can reconfigure the device to fit by hand. If this doesn't work, you'll have to decide which devices you need less and disable them while you're working in Zeta.
There aren't enough IRQs for all your plug and play devices.
Try setting the Plug and Play OS to "no" in your computer's BIOS settings--if it's there. To find out how to get into your computer's BIOS, read the user guide that came with it.

Troubleshooting Jumpered Devices
If your computer hangs on reboot after you've added a jumpered device, reboot in "safe" mode:

1. Reboot, and when the BeOS splash screen appears, press the spacebar briefly and wait for the Boot Loader screen to come up.
2. Use the arrow keys to highlightSelect safe mode options and press Enter, then press Enter again to select Safe mode. Arrowdown to Return to main menu and press Enter, then choose Continue booting and press Enter again. The system boots in fail-safe video mode, with a grayscale screen.

Alternatively--without going into "safe" mode - you can edit the jumpered device's settings by clicking the Configure... button and changing the settings in the Resources tab in the resource and info window. You can also delete the device by highlighting it in the Devices window scrolling list and choosing Devices -> Delete Jumpered Device.

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