does anyone know of a listing for common IRQ and memory address assignments ?

Thanks

for what motherboard?

Thats a good question. Actually I have to take the A+ certification test on Saturady and on the practice tests I have taken they always have questions like. What irq would com 2 normally use. And now that it is adaptive I figure I will get one of those for the first question, get it wrong, then get asked fifteen more of the same type so I am just trying to find some kind of listing so I can memorize them.

Are you on Windows 98? If so, you're in luck.

Right click on My Computer and hit Properties. Somewhere in there is the Device Manager. At the top of the device manager tree, at the root node, is an icon representing your computer. Get the PROPERTIES of that. This will show you a list of IRQs.

com1 is irq 4
com2 is irq 3

that is what they usually are, but they can be changed in the bios. I hope they dont ask a question like that on the test. Ill have to force myself to take the a+ test, Ive finished studying but have been too lazy to take it.

Sean

If you have been messing around with your computer and changing irqs, then its better to go by the a+ book.

What irq would com 2 normally use

IRQ 3.

The A+ tests are moronic when it comes to these questions. If they ask you IRQ for a network card the answer should be 5. LPT1 should be 7. The reason this is moronic is because all the A+ literature I've read also puts the sound card IRQ at 5. A+ makes it seem like IRQ 5 is the only free IRQ after setting up a PC.

You should commit these IRQs to memory only for passing the test. Unless you are working in pure DOS, there is no need to know them anymore.
IRQ 0: System Timer
IRQ 1: Keyboard controller
IRQ 2: Video card? (cascades with IRQ 9)
IRQ 3: Com2 or 4
IRQ 4: Com1 or 3
IRQ 5: Free (or LPT2)
IRQ 6: Floppy controller
IRQ 7: LPT1
IRQ 8: Real Time Clock
IRQ 9 (cascades with IRQ 2)
IRQ 10: Free
IRQ 11: Free
IRQ 12: PS/2 mouse
IRQ 13: Math co-processor
IRQ 14: Primary IDE
IRQ 15: Secondary IDE

Please note that this is from memory, so I may be a tad wrong.

Some memory addresses. A+ is outdated, so this list should be sufficient:

1FO-1F8 - Hard Drive Controller, 16-bit ISA
220 - Soundcard
278-27F - LPT2
2F8-2FF - COM2
320-32F - Hard Drive Controller, 8-bit ISA
378-37F - LPT1
3D0-3DF - Video Adapter
3F0-3F7 - Floppy Controller
3F8-3FF - COM1

This looks like a good resource for these questions:
http://www.vista-net.com/irqs.htm

Are you on Windows 98? If so, you're in luck.

This is a bad idea if you want to pass the test. A+ was written before USB, winmodems with crazy IRQs and COM ports, and PnP network cards that can easily populate any IRQ. The test is counter-productive because everything you learn is dismissed once you work on new hardware or with a PnP OS.

Nah, the A+ was rewritten not too long ago. They finally have quit asking questions about Win 3.1 and Win 95. They moved up to Win 98 and possibly Win 2000. But you're right that a lot of what you need to know for the test you can forget about afterwards.

Good luck on the test. I passed so I'm sure you can too.

I took a course for A+ cert in college. After working in a mom and pop computer store for a few years I knew more than the teacher. The teachers basically go by the texts (outdated) and their knowledge from taking the test (very outdated).

I was kind-of a loser in college and cut a lot of class. Sometimes I would cut a couple days a week. I was always on the Dean's list, so it was no big deal. I actually agreed to assistant teach another A+ class for overlooking my tardiness. That teacher was a moron. I really felt bad for those students when I wasn't there.

Thanks for all the suggestions the vista-net link was really helpful.

Just for fun I checked the resources for many of my devices and they are set to the recommended (by who ?) settings.

Unless the practice tests I am looking at are crap the hardware prortition of the test still looks to be outdated. Like the questions about upgrading 486's.

cut a lot of class, days at a time, dean's list-- that all sounds vaguely familiar...

...wait, it's not really 5:35 AM already, is it?