Toughbook 29 MK3 Card Adapter Reader Problems

I have a MK3 (1.4) Toughbook model 29 (CF-29HTQGZBM) i have been slowly upgrading. It still has the factory wireless, get about 3 hours out of the battery, DVD REWRITE drive, 1.5 GB of ram, factory 40 GB hard drive running windows xp, just updated to SP3. I have added a slide in 5 in 1 card reader that i got off ebay. MMC SD MS to PCMCIA CardBus Memory Card Adapter Reader - eBay (item 290447535451 end time Dec-18-10 19:25:53 PST)
When i put it in the first time windows found new hardware and said it was installing. Then reported that the install went good. When i pull the unit in and out you can hear the ding so i know it's reconizing it. But when i put a card in it to read it can't see it / doesn't show up in my computer. I know the card is good (8GB SD CARD) i use in my camera and have used it in a sd card slot many times. Any idea what the problem may be. Thanks.

 

Have you checked for bent pins inside? ESPECIALLY on the old SBC units!

I have seen where one bent pin will allow it to be recognized.... But will not work. They are sometimes hard to spot... Get magnification!

 

EDUP MCR-5A PCMCIA 5-in-1 Card Reader for Laptop (SD/SM/MMC/MS/MS Pro)

"Cons: It doesn't read any SDHC card! I think it's because this product may be older. I have many SDHC cards (4, 8 and 16GB) and I bought this because of them, but isn't DX fault, I didn't read specs carefully. Normal SD cards runs at good speed."

I also found where it's reputed that this card is PC Card (16-bit) and not Cardbus (32-bit).

 

Good catch... I missed that!

 

Speaking of PCMCIA cards... I went into Best Buy yesterday and, just for the heck of it, asked a salesperson if they had or knew when they might be having a PCMCIA to USB 3.0 card --- blank stare in response. I said "you know, card-bus" -- more blank state. After three more attempts to describe such a card, the salesperson called a colleague who called their supervisor -- none of which had a clue what I was talking about. Finally one of the "Geek Squad" was summoned who knew what I was talking about and proceeded to give his friends a lesson in "computer history". By then I had found on their shelves a cardbus to USB 2.0 adapter card. Short answer to my question from the Geek Squad - probably never. Another reason to appreciate this forum!

 

Micro center isn't as bad. They would try and sell you a computer that has more usb ports in the process tho...

 

All 32bit Cardbus cards have the gold strip. The 16bit Pcmcia cards do not.

Cardbus vs Pcmcia

 

Good to know. Now I just need to find the right USB2.0 for my 72. Now I know where I failed.

 

this is the one I got works nice

Amazon.com: SDHC to CardBus PC Card Reader: Everything Else

 

I messed with it more last night and i decided to try a smaller card. The first card was 8GB just to make sure it wasn't a problem with it. Well all i had to try in it was a 2GB mico (cell phone) card in a sd card adapter. Well it worked. Pulled it in and out to make sure. Guess my issue was a size issue on the card. Just going to have to play with it more and find out. Thank you all for your comments.

 

ADOR, What I have run into is that most 'older' devices were made for a pre-SDHC standard. I have several hand held devices and none of them with accept a SDHC card. 2 Gig was the change point and once in a while I will pick up a non-HC 2 Gig card for use in them.
My CF-51 Mk3 has the built in SD card slot and it handles everything I own, but it is HC compliant. Hope this helps... JohnP

 

I bought a $5.00 PCMCIA card like yours from a Hong Kong vendor. Works great, but I've found that it won't be recognized if it is inserted AFTER my CF-29 is powered on and running XP. Don't ask me why, but if the card is in the tray BEFORE the unit is powered on, it works great. If I slip it into the port after XP is running, I get the same issue - drive not recognized..... unless I restart the CF-29. Hope that helps.

 

Mine recognizes fine taking it in and out while the machine is running. It just wasn't recognizing the larger 8GB card, but seen a 2 GB card fine. Going to do some more playing with it when i get a chance.