Problems with CF - Card Adapter

[Gerlinde]

I just bought this CF card reader at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/CompactFlash-Adap ... 261&sr=1-1

First time I used it, Windows recognized it and automatically installed the driver. I was happy
But now all of a sudden it won't recognize it any more. I have to restart my computer to get it to show up. That kind of defeats the purpose of the EXPRESS card.

I have also an eSATA Express card to connect my external HD and that one works without a problem.

Any ideas what could be the problem?

[RJ Johnston]

You could try this: With the card inserted into the computer, go into the Device Manager and locate the device in the list, right-click and uninstall the driver. Then "scan for new devices" from the Device Manager menu.

I recently purchased two no-name brand pci cards that I had to return because they were junk. They seemed like a good deal at the time I bought them.

[Gerlinde]

Hi RJ,
thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately, the device does not show up in the Device Manager. The express card came with a small disc, obviously for installation. My notebook would not see the disc in the disc drive, but my desktop did. I copied the files to the notebook HD and installed from there. I should not have done that! Now the express card won't show up even after I restart.
I tried a System Restore, but it comes back with an error message (0x80071a90). I tried other restore points with the same result.
I give up, it is not worth the trouble. I will use the USB cable to transfer files from my camera. Sending the card back is probably as expensive than keeping it.

[RJ Johnston]

Did you do the System Restore from Safe Mode?

[Gerlinde]

No, I have not. I guess I should try that. If all else fails, I think I have a fairly resent disc image. But I would hate to do that. As an added bonus... my eSATA Express Card is now dead too.

[RJ Johnston]

On my computer I must log in to my account in Safe Mode in order to use System Restore. If I don't, then the System Restore eventually returns an error. There was a Microsoft update some time ago where I had to start doing it this way.

Log in to your own account if you have administrator privileges instead of logging in to the Administrator account. At least on my system, that's the procedure I have to use.

[Gerlinde]

Doing a System Restore in Safe Mode worked
My eSATA Express Card works fine again
CF Card Adapter is still not working, unless I plug it in and Restart. The 1th time I did it after the restore, it took a moment to re-install the software for the device. But when I remove the Express Card and plug it back in, nothing happens.

Capture.JPG

I assume the last one in the list is the card reader. You said in an earlier post:

With the card inserted into the computer, go into the Device Manager and locate the device in the list, right-click and uninstall the driver. Then "scan for new devices" from the Device Manager menu.

Should I use the install files supplied with the card? Windows complained about the driver not being signed yesterday as I tried to install those. I ignored the warning and installed anyway. That's where the trouble started.

[Gerlinde]

Here is the latest on my issue:
as I mentioned before, the CF card will not show under My Computer when I plug the card reader into the Express Card Slot. It will however show up in Device Manager under >IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. If I now right click >IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and choose >Scan for hardware changes it will pop up.
This is still kind of annoying but better than a Restart. So, the card reader is working after all.

[RJ Johnston]

When I plug in my USB Kodak card reader to my computer, without any cards in it, "Storage volumes > Generic volume" shows up in Device Manager.

When I insert a card in the card reader, another entry in Device Manger under "Disc drives" appears: "Generic Storage Device USB Device."

I don't have a separate driver to install. One of the Microsoft drivers is automatically used.

If I try to uninstall the Storage volumes > Generic Volume when there is a card in the reader, the Device Manager automatically re-installs the driver.

If no card is in the reader, and I uninstall Storage volumes > Generic Volume, then the item is removed from Device Manager. I cannot get it back by doing a "Scan for hardware changes." I have to unplug the reader from the computer, then plug it in again.


Only my webcam is listed under "Imaging devices" in Device Manager.

[Gerlinde]

RJ are you using the Express Card Slot for your Card Reader? If I only insert the Express Card without the CF card nothing shows in Device Manager. And that is how it is supposed to be according to what the manual says.

Capture1.JPG

Express Card with CF card looks like this:

Capture2.JPG

[RJ Johnston]

I am not using an Express card slot. It plugs into a USB port on my desktop PC.

[Gerlinde]

RJ wrote:

I don't have a separate driver to install. One of the Microsoft drivers is automatically used.

In my case the same thing happens if I plug in my Express card. The only problem seems to be that Windows forgets about it next time I do the same thing.

Express cards are great, because they allow you to connect devices and make them behave like internals when it comes to speed of data transfer. But obviously they are tricky. I had problems with my eSATA Express card too. I don't remember how I solved that issue, but it has been working reliably ever since then.
The solution to the current problem is not ideal, but not too bad. I learned to new things:
How to do a System Restore in Safe Mode and how to get a PCI device to show up if it doesn't.

Thank you for helping me in the process RJ

[RJ Johnston]

You're welcome.