PCMCIA Device Requiring an Upper Memory Area May Not Work

ID: Q129327


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 98


SYMPTOMS

The PCMCIA card device in your laptop computer may not initialize properly.


CAUSE

Some PCMCIA devices require an upper memory area mapped to the PCMCIA socket for data buffering. If this memory region is in use by the computer's BIOS or a built-in device, the PCMCIA device does not respond when the Windows protected-mode socket driver tries to allocate the memory.

For example, if the computer's BIOS allocates memory for ROM shadowing in the upper memory area (UMA) and the socket driver tries to reallocate this memory, the PCMCIA device fails to initialize. A sample failure code for a PCMCIA network card experiencing this problem is "Problem 10."


RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, reserve the region of memory that is already in use. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.


  2. Double-click the System icon.


  3. Click the Device Manager tab, then double-click Computer.


  4. Click the Reserve Resources tab, click the Memory option button, then click the Add button.


  5. In the Start Value and End Value boxes, enter values for the start and end of the memory range you want to reserve.


  6. Click OK.


After you restart your computer, Configuration Manager avoids using the reserved memory range when it allocates PCMCIA resources.

Keywords : kbenv kbhw win95 win98
Version : WINDOWS:95,98
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: January 15, 1999
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