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Date: Fri, 07 Jun 96 19:57:30 PST
From: "Brett Glass" <Brett_Glass@ccgate.infoworld.com>
Message-Id: <9605078341.AA834195613@ccgate.infoworld.com>
To: sef@kithrup.com
Cc: questions@freebsd.org, freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Which dual Pentium motherboard? Cyrix SMP? 
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> However, EISA requires motherboard and NVRAM configuration for *all* of
> the cards, be they ISA or EISA.

Nope. ISA cards work without configuration in an EISA system, so long as
there are no conflicts. This is because configuration files are not
available for most ISA cards. (Some manufacturers created "generic ISA
device" configuration files, but system integrators tended not to use them.
The systems still worked.)

> If, as Rod suggested, the floppy controller is on an already-configured
> EISA card, and you move it to a different slot or different motherboard,
> you are quite likely to be hosed.

Actually, this is generally NOT true. Even though it's an EISA card, the
floppy controller is usually just an ISA interface that's "coming
along for the ride" on the same physical board. It is usually enabled by a
jumper. Sometimes, the EISA configuration can DISABLE it, but on most
cards, the jumper is the only way of turning it on or off.

If you don't realize this, you can wind up with two conflicting floppy
controllers on the same IRQ, DMA channel, and I/O ports. This can cause
trouble.

--Brett