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    SD card reader not working on Inspiron 9300

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Jane, Mar 12, 2006.

  1. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    This is my first post so hi to everyone.

    I tried the built in SD card reader on my Inspion 9300 for the first time today and nothing happened when I put the SD card in. I thought it might be the drivers because I had reformatted and reinstalled the drivers when I got the laptop back in December. But none of the drivers from the download page look like they're for the reader. Can someone help me get the reader working?

    p.s. Is the card reader supposed to show up in Device Manager. After I did the reformat putting on Windows XP Pro instead of MCE, I have an unknown PCI device under 'Other Devices' that I could never get rid of or fix. Everything I've checked works so far (except the SD card reader which I just checked).
     
  2. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    Welcome to the forums,
    the unknown PCI device in the task manager is your card reader.

    It doesn't haven its own driver. I had the same problem, but can't remember how i fixed it.

    Try redownloading and installing the chipset driver.
     
  3. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    I agree with Southerngirl...redownload the driver for it and see if that works...I lost it too. :)
     
  4. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    Do you remember if the driver is the chipset? I know the 9300 doesn't have a specific driver for it like the 9400 does, so I'm 99% sure that it was the chipset driver that controls it.

    If updating the chipset driver doesn't work, let us know and I'll try to find the right driver.
     
  5. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    Thanks for the welcome. I reinstalled the chipset driver but nothing changed. I deleted the unknown pci device from Device Manager and rebooted and it detected something but still couldn't find the software for it so I still have the unknown pci device.
     
  6. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I looked around, and it is the Chipset driver.

    I would uninstall your chipset driver, then redownload and reinstall (don't do update driver), and it should detect the new card. This has happened a few times before with other users.
     
  7. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    I downloaded and reinstalled the driver (I guess installing on top of the previous install). How do you uninstall it? It doesn't come up under Add/Remove programs.
     
  8. bigmo

    bigmo Notebook Consultant

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    In device manager you can right click and uninstall!
     
  9. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    I tried uninstalling the device and then reinstalling the chipset driver but nothing more happened that usual: new hardware is detected but it doesn't install because it can't find the software.

    How does the SD reader appear in device manager? What driver is listed under properties? I've gone through all the .inf files in the chipset driver and none of them look like they belong to the reader. According to the readme file for the chipset driver, these are the things that are updated:

    - Core PCI and ISAPNP Services
    - PCIe Support
    - IDE/ATA33/ATA66/ATA100 Storage Support
    - SATA Storage Support
    - USB Support
    - Identification of Intel(R) Chipset Components in
    the Device Manager
     
  10. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    On my system it is listed as Secure Digital host controllers (should be between processors & sound/video/game controllers).

    Have you updated windows yet?

    I'm about to reformat my laptop in a few minutes, so I'll try to see which driver it is.
     
  11. JustJimDelany

    JustJimDelany Notebook Consultant

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    isn't that one of the devices supported by the Dell System Software?
     
  12. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I don't think it is. When i reformatted mine (twice today), both times it was already installed. So now i'm wondering if it might be the BIOS.

    It's weird, cause on the 9400 system, the driver is located under the chipset driver.
     
  13. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    Well, since I was out of ideas, I reinstalled the NSS (System Software) driver. When it rebooted, it did detect a pci device but it still couldn't finish installing it (same error message about not finding the software). But, now I have Secure Digital Reader listed if I try to install the device manually (I don't think I had it before) although it still won't install as it says it can't find the device :confused: .

    In Device Manager Properties for the reader, isn't the driver files for the reader listed? Couldn't I install the device and point to those drivers manually. I don't know which of the Dell patches actually contain the driver files though as none of the patches seemed to fix the problem.
     
  14. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    It almost sounds like your sd card reader isn't connected right or damage. What is the message saying?

    If you stick an SD card in it, can you access the card at all?

    You could try right clicking on the SD card in device manager, and select update driver (which i'm sure you've tried before). You could try manually pointing it to the driver, but you'll need to know the location of the driver.
     
  15. Jane

    Jane Newbie

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    I didn't even know I had an SD card reader when I got the laptop :eek: (I had no SD cards at the time) but I checked device manager to make sure everything was ok and only saw the unknown pci device after I reformatted so I assume it was working before. The card reader doesn't show up in device manager but Secure Digital reader is listed if I try to add new hardware but ultimately I can't add it as it can't find the 'software for the device'. Is the driver some proprietary Dell driver or would the reader manufacturer (whoever that is) have the driver?

    When I stick in the SD card, nothing happens. It's not detected or anything but then again, according to device manager, no reader is installed.
     
  16. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    Just so i have this straight, when you go to the device manager, the card reader isn't showing up at all?

    Yet if you tell it to detect new hardware, it does see the SD card reader, just can't find the software?

    I think i might have good news. I just found out where the driver is located. Go to C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS . Once you are in that folder, look for a file called sdbus.sys

    If you don't have that file, let me know, and I'll email it to you or something.
     
  17. JustJimDelany

    JustJimDelany Notebook Consultant

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    The driver for mine is a standard MS driver sdbis.sys. Apparently this is some kind of pci bus thing. Is is possible that you have created / encountered some kind of plug and play problem. I think you might be able to play with this in the bios somewhere.

    If you see the thing in the control panel uninstall it and then scan for hardware changes and see if this fixes it. Windows can sometimes place a stub driver on things it doesn't know about. You need to uninstall to remove this and then scan and hope the driver is there.
     
  18. NLaw

    NLaw Newbie

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    I have a Dell 700M Inspiron, and the SD card slot doesn't work for me either. If I even put a card in it, the machine crashes immediately.

    I've gone through lots of technical support, and also had the motherboard replaced, and still no good. The slot is made by Texas Instruments; they don't offer a fix.

    I've basically given up on this, even though I have an extended warranty and in-home technical support. I will keep reading your thread, to see if you find an answer! Good luck.
     
  19. gkurcon

    gkurcon Notebook Geek

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    Be sure to download the Ricoh 5C832 Chipset drivers. I had some "System Base Device" that were unknown when I reinstalled XP on my E1505. Once I installed the Ricoh chipset everything was fine.
     
  20. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I wished the ricoh drivers were available to all the users, but it looks like it is only available to the dual-core users.

    The chipset won't work for single core users.
     
  21. JustJimDelany

    JustJimDelany Notebook Consultant

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    On my machine it does not look like there is anything other than the SDBUS.SYS driver. It is apparently not a usb device. Interesting.
     
  22. jordansport

    jordansport Notebook Consultant

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    did you get it working? I am chatting with Dell's support right now trying to get it to work.
     
  23. arehurek

    arehurek Newbie

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    Hey, I've been having the same SD card reader probelm with my I9300 after my reformat.
    You can check for file name R103058.EXE on Dell's Small Business: Drivers and Downloads section

    That one worked for me.
     
  24. jordansport

    jordansport Notebook Consultant

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    when i tried to install that driver it tells me that my OS doesnt support it. Im running XP PRO SP2. I am currently on my 5th dell rep -_-
     
  25. jordansport

    jordansport Notebook Consultant

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    went through about 8 reps. they are offering me a mobo replacement. dont know if i want to take the time to replace my mobo just becasue of the SD reader..
     
  26. dsm95hybrid

    dsm95hybrid Newbie

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    Thanks a lot. This worked for me. I think I read that this works on SP1 which is why it worked for me.

    Very happy I finally found the answer to this here. WooHoo! :)