resource conflict (Code 15)

[Troy Clark]

I have a Compaq Presario 7500. I am
running Windows ME. My mouse quit
working. Then I got an error
saying "Resource conflict (Code 15)".
Also when I check the properties of my
mouse it says "Interrupt request 12
used by: communications port (Com1)".
What is wrong and what do I do to fix
it? I would really appreciate some insight. Thank You

[Michael_207]

First of all, if you can, bin Me as it is not a good o.s.

If you have been thinking of upgrading this is a good time. If not then uninstall and re-install the driver from the cd you got when you bought the mouse. or perhaps the driver will be packed with the Me cd.

It is widely accepted that Me is not a good platform so try to sort that first.

If you have installed any recent hardware the uninstall it.

[Troy Clark]

I should have given more information. I have tried reinstalling my mouse driver. I have also totally uninstalled my mouse and reinstalled it. I'm no expert, but it seems to me to be a problem with the conflict. I have not installed any hardware on my computer( until reinstalling the mouse driver). My next try will be to install a different mouse and then reinstall my old one. I'm pretty sure that wont work though. Thank you so much for the info. Got any other suggestions? Upgrading my OS is probably the best idea, but honestly, I probably wont be doing that anytime soon.

[Roger Faucher]

Hi:

Is your mouse a serial mouse or a PS/2 mouse. A PS/2 mouse normally uses IRQ12, however a serial mouse on COM1 should use IRQ4. Based on what you said, I would consider removing the mouse AND COM1 from Device Manager (make sure you have the Windows CD available). Then reboot and let us know what happens.

Good luck!

Roger

[Roger Faucher]

It occurs to me that COM1 may be using IRQ12 because something else is using COM4. See if anything is.

Roger

[Michael_207]

Make sure you always check for viruses as the first step in debugging any PC problem.

Check Other Hardware
The most common hardware conflict seen is when both a modem and a mouse are using COM ports on the PC by which to connect, and the mouse and modem end up trying to (badly) share an IRQ. All COM ports use one of two IRQs; for example, 1 and 3 share the same IRQ, as does 2 and 4. So you can't have a mouse on COM1 and a modem on COM3 or each will work only intermittently. Remove one in Device Manager, and let Windows try to reinstall it better.


COM1 usually works more often than COM2 because many modems come preconfigured with their own COM2 on board, which usually conflicts with the built-in COM2 on the motherboard unless you remember to disable it.

Is your modem working ok?

If it isn't, you probably have a resource conflict with COM2. Check to see if the modem is configured to use COM2 by default. If it is, you need to either reconfigure it to use a different COM port (and IRQ channel), or disable COM2 in the PC. Disable COM2 using the correct BIOS setting (for built-in COM ports on the motherboard) or using jumpers (for COM ports on an I/O controller card.)
Check the internal and external cables for the COM2 port. It's possible that they are loose or connected incorrectly (although it's unusual for one port to not work for this reason when another does).

Use a diagnostic tool such as Norton Diagnostics. There is a test in this package that looks for the IRQ usage of various devices and will sometimes highlight conflicts (though it is not perfect by any means).

more utilities:
Norton System Information: This utility is similar to the Microsoft Diagnostics, only more detailed in its later versions. SI shows a great deal of information about what is in the PC, going well beyond what MSD gives you, but really is still an information utility as opposed to a true diagnostic. This program is part of Symantec's Norton Utilities.
Microsoft ScanDisk and Norton Disk Doctor: These programs are used to check for hard disk problems. This includes file system corruption and hard disk read errors. They should be used when hard disk problems are suspected.
Norton Diagnostics: This utility is meant to go beyond the System Information program and actually perform tests on the hardware to identify problems. It includes tests of the processor and motherboard and system memory, and will identify some types of resource conflicts. In reality it is still quite limited in terms of the numbers of problems it will find.
QAPlus: QAPlus from DiagSoft is a more advanced diagnostic suite that comes in several flavors, depending on what you need to do and how you want to do it. This is a more expensive package but can give you much more detailed information about your system and help identify problem situations as well.


Also have a look at this page:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/res/config_Summary.htm


You can find a Device Resource Usage Summary here:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/res/config_Summary.htm

Get back to us if you need more help.

[Troy Clark]

Well here is what happened. I moved the Com1 port to interrupt 4. I left the mouse on Interrupt 12. By the way, it is a PS/2 mouse. This seems to have fixed it. My mouse is working fine now. I used my modem and it worked fine too(the modem never had a problem, just checking to see if I had messed up something else in doing this). I used many features and could find no problem. The only thing that made me unsure is, after changing the interrupt for com1, I got a message that told me that because I manually configured this, I would not be able to just put something else in and have it automatically installed. It said that I wouyld have to manually install everything from here on out. OK, fine with me. I'm glad to have my computer back. I thank you so much for your help and information. This is a great resource to help people fix thier problems. God bless each one of you, and have a Merry Christmas.