M17x: Built-in SD Card Reader Not Working

I seem to remember the SD Card Reader working before I upgraded to Windows 7 a month or so back. But I haven't had opportunity to use it since then. I have a 4GB SD card from a digital camera that I can read when I plug it into my USB All-in-one InkJet printer/scanner, but nothing happens when I plug it into the built-in card reader. This is bad for when I'm away from home because I don't carry my USB all-in-one InkJet printer/scanner around with me.

The Device Manager reports the presence of an "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller" that it claims "is working properly". I think this is the device associated with the built-in card reader. I don't see anything in the BIOS that relates to the SD controller. There are no devices listed in the Device Manager as disabled or having some problem. So far as the operating system is concerned, the built-in SD Card Reader seems to exist and work. But, it certainly doesn't work when I plug my SD card into the reader.

Anyone have ideas? How should I go about troubleshooting this at this point?

 

I would start by removing the driver and trying to re-install it.

 

I've tried this already. But what I'll do is I'll download a fresh copy of the driver from Dell and try it again.

Also, I found these listed under "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" in the Device Manager, all shown as "working":

Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller
Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller

 

No go. I still can't use the built-in SD Card Reader. What should I try next? What's really strange about this is that Windows finds and installs drivers for the card reader, then acts like everything is fine. But when I go to actually use the reader, nothing happens. Just nothing at all.

 

Does anyone know if the M17x Supports SDHC?, I had this on my M9750 becasue it didn't support it.

If its >=4GB its usually SDHC, any chance you could try it with a card <4GB? as I've had no problems with a couple of 2GB SD cards i have laying about.

BTW if this is the case, SDHC support is hardware based so an external reader may be the only solution.

 

That's it. I just tried a 2GB card and it works fine. Thank you for suggesting this. I never even would have considered this a possibility, considering this computer cost umpteen thousand dollars. Who would have thought that they'd charge you all that dough and not even give you an up to date card reader.

 

Thats the exact thing i thought about my M9750.

Good job i still have my external one sat about somewhere...

 

And to think that my 5 year old printer/scanner that I bought used for $50 lets me read from and write to 64GB SD cards without a hitch. It hardly seems fair that Dell/Alienware would cut such corners. There should be a disclaimer posted with the advertisements.

 

If you have no issues in Device Manager, this could be either:

1. A bad SD card, try another if you have one.
2. A reader failure in which case a service call might be in order

To confirm,

1. Uninstall the RICOH R5U8xx Media Driver via the Programs and Features Control Panel
2. Reboot into Safe Mode and run CCleaner's Registry Module to identify and remove any left over registry entries for the RICOH R5U8xx Media Driver. Once done, reboot normally.
3. Windows will load the default driver upon reboot (unless you have automatic device driver install disabled). Once the default driver completes, if prompted to reboot, do so. If no reboot prompt, reboot the system.
4. Once back at the desktop, install this driver (the current M17x W7 Driver), following the prompts. Reboot if instructed. Once this is complete, test the card reader again. If it is still not reading SD Media, its time to contact support. Be sure to test with a different SD Card to rule out a bad card.

Hope this helps.

 

Hi BatBoy. Turns out the SD Card Reader IS working, but not with SD cards with capacities at or above 4GB. I can use the 4GB card just about everywhere else without any problem. I don't actually own any other SD cards. I borrowed a 2GB card from a friend to test Deathcore's idea.

So it looks like I'm going to have to drag an external card reader around with me...

 

Interesting. So it limits to 4GB. Hmmmm... I dont have any SD cards over 4GB so I didn't think of this one. Nice that you located the cause however its a limitation which needs to be addressed.

 

Maybe it's something weird with the 4GB card, since that capacity is available in both SD and SDHC flavors? Have you tried an SDHC of a different capacity?

 

A 4GB Non SDHC card should work as should 8GB Non SDHC cards, However the latter is a rarity and hard to find, The problem could be compared to losing memory when under a 32bit OS, It can't address the rest of the SD card.

Like i said i had the same problem on my M9750, Its supprising how they haven't used different hardware seeing as SDHC is the norm now, Unless it is added merely as an 'Added Feature' as it doesn't really take much to add it to a device.

 

I currently have a SDHC 8G Adata Class 6 card in mine and it works, no problems.

 

Well, that rules out the 4GB limit. Oh well... perhaps its an issue with the actual card he has or the make of the card. IDK.

 

Possible, Happened on an old nokia phone of mine, Only liked certain brandso of SDHC cards.
I thought it was limited to poor hardware on the phone, didn't realise it was more commonplace. =/