Card reader problems

[PassnThru]

I have an internal card reader (In-Win cri-500) on a Gigabyte 7VT600 1394 that fails intermittently. The OS is XP SP1. It took a firmware flash to get it operating to begin with but lately after working for a few days it will stop being recognized by XP - it will see the device but will install as a "Unknown device". All updates current - all VIA drivers current. Funny part is I finally figured out how to make it work. If it isn't working, I delete the unknown device out of the device manager and shut down the PC and turn the power supply off. I then press the power on button to bleed the power and wait about 30 minutes. Upon reboot, the reader is there and functioning properly. This was a fresh XP install and the card reader was not hooked up until windows was up and running. Anybody had anything similar they were able to resolve permanently?

[Peter M]

Give the PC updated USB controller drivers. Windows's USB drivers, particularly for Intel/VIA "UHCI" programming model controllers, have a long standing tendency of being not quite so good.

[PassnThru]

Again - and I quote - "All updates current - all VIA drivers current."

[Peter M]

Check the MS knowledge base for unpublished USB driver fixes and patches. These are not part of the regular Windows Update program.

[PassnThru]

I did see several USB issues on the MS site but nothing that looked close to my problem. Most are related to the computer coming out of hibernation or suspend - neither of which are set up on this comp. All other USB ports are fine. Probably a hardware problem but it didn't really cost enough to justify paying shipping back to RMA it. Was just wondering if anyone else had that reader and had any problems with it.

[pelicanman]

Try the solution outlined in this scenario

Onboard card reader issues

[Kimbo]

I had a similar problem with a new USB digital camera on XP SP1 with all updates and latest 4-in-1 drivers. Sometimes it was recognized correctly and other times it was listed as an unknown device. Did some research on the net and found this is a common USB problem with motherboards using the VIA chipset, as does my Gigabyte board.

There's a Microsoft USB patch I learned about on the Via forums that might help with your problem. It's not part of the regular updates. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ and enter "KB822603" in search to find the patch.

Camera has been consistently detected properly since the patch, so maybe it's worth a try since yours is a VIA chipset-based motherboard.

Kimbo

[DallasDon]

Yes, I had a similar problem with an internal card reader. Fixed it by installing the driver from the Cd that came with the reader, even though Windows detected the device and installed it initially.

As others said, Windows USB drivers seem to be intermittent with USB devices that are not digitally signed by Microsoft.

Try tracking down drivers from the card reader manufacturer.

[PassnThru]

Pelicanman - tried to follow the link but apparently registration is required to access the boards.
Kimbo - KB822603 has been installed. It was one of the few fixes I found that was even remotely connected to my problem. Didn't seem to help.
DallasDon - I also ended up installing the drivers from the supplied CD a day or so ago. Wanted to just install the 'icons' but didn't have a choice - it installed everything.
As of now, the reader has been working since I reset it 3 days ago. It could have been because I did install the drivers even though they are not required. Then again, there have been several times that I thought it was fixed, only to lose it again.
I still suspect the hardware in this case. When I initially had problems with it I hooked it up to my ME machine and it didn't recognize it either. We have been using a external reader with this box so that didn't seem right. In fact, to flash the firmware originally I had to do it on the ME box - it was the only one that would let me force Windows to recognize the device. Also, the firmware itself had a note that it was to solve a problem with the OS kicking off the card reader.

[pelicanman]

Originally posted by PassnThru
Pelicanman - tried to follow the link but apparently registration is required to access the boards.

Sorry, here is quoted info

astroboy

My ZD 7000 system with XP Pro seems to recognize the insertion of a Sandisk USB 128 meg mnii-cruzer thumbdrive, but will not display it as a drive. The "J" and "O" drive letters are set to mapped NT network drives and the Sandisk seems to want to use the "J" drive, as diagnostics show it sitting out there as "J" with 124 megs. It just won't display as a drive on the drive chain and "J" is shown the mapped network drive.

Smart Media cards also seem to be giving the built in card reader a bellyache, as an inserted SM card shows on the drive chain as removable disk "K ", and the system keeps asking "Please insert a disk into Drive K:" when the SM disk is already in place.

The SM card is fine as it reads perfectly in the Sandisk USB 2.0 multi media card 6 in 1 reader attached to one of the ZD 7000 USB ports. I really would like the onboard reader to work as well.

Any suggestions appreciated.

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robN8R

In Computer Management, select Disk Management. Right click on the volume and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths...". Select Change. Change the drive letter and the next time you insert it, the drive letter assignment should different.

Robin
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astroboy

Worked brilliantly. Thank you!