ACPI computer and standard computer?

what's the difference between the two? if you go into device manager and click the + symbol on the computer tab it'll list one or the other or something similar...but what's the difference between the two? I decided to figure out once and for all what causes my audigy blips and pops when I use the keyboard while sound is playing...and when I searched creative's knowledge base it said to switch your computer from acpi computer to standard computer...did that...restarted...windows had to reinstall all montherboard drivers...video card drivers and sata controller drivers...restarted again and then reinstalled sound card drivers and now it's fixed...so now my question is...what exactly has changed now?

Hmmm. Intresting. I had problems like that with an older Audigy gamer on a XP1600+ rig.

I always thought ACPI was just some kind of power management thing.

*edit* I guess I was right. Read the Wiki article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acpi I wonder why that fixed the Audigy problem. :confused:

this can get quite complicated - and before i start , let me say i think creative labs gave you the 'all-in-one-fix' answer rather than having each person fiddling about in their BIOS and Device Manager.

allow me to just throw out some articles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APIC
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...f/IO-APIC.mspx

Basically ACPI, together with APIC allows for 24 Hardware Interrupts, or IRQs (00-23), rather than the typical older 16 IRQs (00-15) from previous APM designs.

(sidenote; IRQ 08-15 are squeezed/jumped to, in between 02 and 03, so they get a "higher" priority during IRQ assignment during the setup phase - kinda like the way Cable TV, when 1st introduced, squoze all those extra channels (up to 39?) in between channels 6 and 7)

If viewing Device Manager using "View devices by connection" - you'd notice immediately
"Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC"
if configured properly (most 686 and better PCs ~1999-2005).

ACPI is the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) that NT chooses to interface with the Mobo BIOS...
Choices include and explained a bit more;
http://theeldergeek.com/clean_instal...windows_xp.htm

I wished you had shown us your BIOS config BEFORE going through all that. I hope you have more than 00-15 IRQs available - check Device Manager (use View menu options)

there's a precursor for you to absorb, to start with anyway ;)

*EDIT 1
in light of seeing Ima's comments - IRQs CAN be shared and play very nicely "most" times - however with all the newer peripheral techs, an APIC was needed as newer MCH/ICH mobo designs were introduced, as MS and Intel articles will attest to. I see that you and Ima have/had the OLDER Designed Athlons (not AMD64) - perhaps they is/was a flaw since both those chips and the newer mobo designs (first via Intel) kinda sprang up at the same time. Note the Venice/SanDiego revision "fixes" as an example.

also note in the asus a7n8x_deluxe PDF in
Section 4.4.1 -- pg 53 "APIC Mode" [Enabled]

98 screenie using ACPI (no APIC on this mobo - nor does Win98/ME support APIC).
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ne/iydotyf.png
Selecting "Computer | Properties" yields all the IRQ assignments
-- but so does --> start | run MSINFO32
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../outfoutfg.png
and much more - here you can easily see the IRQ "sharing" - and clicking "Conflicts/Sharing" will list them as well

*EDIT 2
a little correction to self -- IO APIC was actually invented around the time of the 2nd Gen. Pentium (586) to handle Dual Processors. This is basically the Chipset of one PC i own, but mine is not Dual PII's, as you can see circled in purple (hence no APIC on mine, but uses ACPI 1.0 spec - brand new at that time) - IO-APIC is circled in Red
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...igflkjluly.png

http://www.rojakpot.com/showFreeBOG....ang=0&bogno=47

Quote:

---

APIC Function

Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

Quick Review

This BIOS feature is used to enable or disable the motherboard's APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller). The APIC provides multiprocessor support, more IRQs and faster interrupt handling.

However, it is only supported by newer operating systems like Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Older operating systems like DOS or Windows 95/98 do not support this feature.

It is recommended that you enable this feature if you are using a newer operating system like Windows XP. Disable it only if you are using an older operating system like DOS or Windows 95/98.

In addition, if you notice clicks and pops when you are listening to music or working with audio files, try disabling this BIOS feature. Some PCI audio cards work better with APIC disabled.

---

Basically, you switched Windows' HAL (hardware abstraction layer). You replaced the HAL with ACPI support for the HAL meant for systems without ACPI support. Basically, going to the older-style non-ACPI HAL means Windows has a bit less control and interaction with the BIOS for system resource and power management functions.