                                                             Last Revised
    AST RESEARCH, INC.        TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 1788          01/06/98

    TITLE:  Ascentia M Hangs w/CardBus &16-bit Card

    ISSUE

       When booting the Ascentia M with both a CardBus  card (such as
       the 3Com 3C575) and a legacy 16-bit PCMCIA card inserted, the
       system will hang at the Windows 95 logo or login screen. If
       either card is removed before booting, the system boots
       correctly.

       This issue applies to all Ascentia M systems and may apply to all
       systems using CardBus technology.

    BACKGROUND

       Windows 95 arbitrates resources for the cards. Some conflicts can
       occur if the user does not follow the settings listed in the
       ACTION section. Per Microsoft's  suggestion, these setting allow
       for a free interrupt.

       For further information on this issue, see the following
       Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: Q171284, Q169652, Q164222, and
       Q164223, or search the Microsoft Support Web site for "CardBus".
       These articles are posted on Microsoft's support Web site as of
       this printing.

    ACTION

       Move the 16-bit card to IRQ 3.

       Move the CardBus card to IRQ 11. This will leave IRQ 10 free.

       For IRQ settings, refer to the card's user's manual.

       See the Notes section for information about conflicts.

    NOTES

       Setting the 16-bit card to IRQ3 set it in conflict with the Infra
       Red (IR) port built into the system. This did not interfere with
       the operation of the system, and both devices were used
       separately in all the cards tested by AST. If other cards do not
       seem to work with the IR port conflict, disable the port.

       To DISABLE the IR port, perform the following:

       1. Set up the cards as described in the ACTION section.

       2. Remove the IR port from this configuration by checking
          the "Disable in this hardware profile" box for the
          "Built-in Infrared Port on laptop or desktop" under
          Ports in Device Manager.

    TAN TPR 19451JB

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