The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 02, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 07, 1997
Doron Gan, Austin, TX (US);
Jeff Savage, Austin, TX (US);
Dell USA, L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of a semi-compliant PCI device in a secondary expansion slot of a PC and instructing the user to reinsert the device into one of the primary slots are disclosed. In one embodiment, upon detection of a semi-compliant PCI device in a secondary slot, a video image instructing the user to reinsert the device into one of the primary slots is displayed on a display of the PC. Operation remains suspended until the device is relocated to a primary slot. In a presently preferred embodiment, a hardware enhancement to a PCI-to-PCI bridge connecting a primary PCI bus to a secondary BCI bus enables the device to operate flawlessly on the secondary PCI bus, such that the user remains unaware of the otherwise undesirable situation.