Compact Flash Read Problem

I'm a digital photographer, and for the past year have been successfully using a CF card reader connected to a FireWire port on my Hewlett Packard computer. Today I tried to copy some .jpeg image files from a CF card and my Windows XP (Home) system could not detect the presense of the card reader. I could not get an icon for the card reader to appear in the My Computer window.

I have 2 (identical) digital cameras, which are equipped with FireWire and USB2 connections. I tried connecting each camera directly to the FireWire and USB2 ports on the computer. Each attempt caused an icon (Drive G) to appear in the My Computer window, which is normal and expected. But when I double-click on the Drive G icon, another window immediately opens and says "Insert a disk in Drive G." It seems that my Windows XP system can detect the presense of the digital camera connected through both the FireWire and USB2 ports, but can not detect that there is a Compact Flash memory card in the camera.

I have tried using 4 different CF memory cards containing .jpeg images, and all of these have worked with no problems in the past. Since I last copied image files from the CF memory cards to my hard drive about 2 weeks ago, I have downloaded and installed some Windows XP system security updates from the Microsoft website. Suspecting this may be the problem, I did a "System Restore" back to April 1st. The System Restore had no effect, and my system is still unable to detect or read my Compact Flash cards.

I'm stumpted, desperate, and have no idea how to proceed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Put the security patches back on (needed these days). One of them may well have broken things but easier to fix all of it.

Then try start~run~sfc /scannow . You will probably need your install CD in the drive for this. It may not fix things but will at least give you a cleaner starting place.

 

Still Not Working

Thanks for the suggestions.

When I tried to undo the System Restore, the procedure processed for awhile - then finally gave me a message saying it was not able to undo the System Restore. So I downloaded and again installed the latest security patches from the Microsoft website, and re-booted the computer.

Next, I followed your advice and did the Start ~ Run ~ sfc / scannow procedure, and this was successfully accomplished. Then I tried the FireWire Compact Flash card reader, and found the same problem persists. Next I tried connecting a digital camera directly to the USB2 port. The same problem persists. When the camera is connected, an icon for Drive G appears in the My Computer window. But when I click on the Drive G icon, another window pops open saying "please insert a disk in Drive G." I again tried several different CF cards which I know have .jpeg image files on them, but my system just can't detect there is any CF card there at all.

Any other ideas about what could be going wrong?

 

Have you tried connecting to another USB port?

Johanna
hoping you just have a loose wire or something!

 

Thanks for the input.

My computer has 1 FireWire and 2 USB2 ports on the front, and 2 FireWire/2 USB2 ports in the back. I'm assuming the front/rear ports are on different expansion cards in different slots. I have tried them all, and they all respond the same way. When I plug in and turn on the digital camera, an icon appears for Drive G in the My Computer window. But when I click on the Drive G icon to open a directory, another window pops up saying "Please insert a disk in Drive G. "

My Drive E is a DVD burner, and Drive F is a CD-ROM reader. They both are working fine, and are able to read .jpeg image files.

Are there any other ideas or suggestions about why my computer can't detect the presense of a Compact Flash memory card?

 

If you haven't done so, I suggest you reinstall the software for the cameras.

 

Thanks for the input.

Actually, there is no camera software to install. My OS is Windows XP (Home), and I have never installed any software to get my digital cameras or FireWire CF card reader to function as peripheral storage devices. In the past, I have simply plugged the cable into the FireWire (or USB2) port on the computer and a tempory storage device icon appears in the My Computer window. Unplug the cable, and the icon disappears. I was thinking Windows XP has the drivers for doing this built-in, and no other driver software was required.

I wonder if the Windows XP drivers which enable the OS to detect the presense of the Compact Flash memory cards have gotten corrupted? As I've said, the computer can detect that the digital camera is connected - but it can not detect that a CF memory card is in the camera. I have tested this with 2 different digital cameras which are identical, connecting them to all of the different FireWire and USB2 ports. And I've tried using 4 different Compact Flash memory cards. The result is always the same - the OS can detect the camera is connected, but can not detect there is a CF memory card inside the camera. Same results with my separate FireWire CF card reader - the OS can't detect there is a memory card inside the card reader.

I've thought about using the FireWire CF card reader to format a CF card using the computer's OS, to see if I could write to or read from that. But I can't get that far. The computer OS doesn't give the option of formatting a menory card if it can't detect that a memory card is in the card reader.

 

Is there some kind of diagnostic software I could buy and run on my computer which would isolate and perhaps repair this problem?

Any suggestions?

 

If the camera mfg. has a web site, see if there are drivers to download.

I have a kodak 6340 and it's seen by "raw" xp, and i can download pics from it, but on my own computer with kodak software installed, I can see both the built-in and card memories and upload and download pics, and files of any sort, like a "thumbdisk ".

 

Yes, I have a LaCie 160 gig external hard disk connected to a FireWire port and a flat-bed scanner and a printer connected to USB ports - they all are working fine.

 

The cameras are Olympus E-1 dSLRs. I have 2 of them. They have connections and cables for both FireWire and USB2. My separate FireWire Compact Flash card reader is made by ADS Industries, Model # API-702-CF.

Based on my techniques for for isolating the problem, it would seem that my compact flash memory cards have all gone bad - and they went bad all at once. But they were all working fine in the past, and they still record and display images on the LCD display panels on the cameras. These are good quality, name brand cards, all less than 1 year old. I have a Sandisk Ultra II, a Ridata, a Lexar and a Transcend - all 1 gig or 512 mb capacities.

 

Cf Reader

I had a problem just like this one and I fixed by doing the following.

If you card reader is connected to a pci firewire card remove the card and start up XP and let it boot to your desktop, then shut down and re-install the card but make sure your card reader is not plugged in.
Then when Xp has loaded try inserting your reader and see if this works.

Or.

Go in to device manager and delete your usb tree and reboot and let XP rebuild your usb tree.


Both these meathods have worked for me.

Also what driver shows up in Device manager when your firewire device is connected. I ask this because I have an external h/d in a caddy thats usb and the driver/ chip make is Oxford Micro's . But if I shut the drive down before windows it then(XP) does not recognise my drive and pops up the error you are seeing and also shows the wrong maker up for my driver/chip manufacturer.
The only way I can get it up and running again is to use the two methods above.

Flack

 

Thanks for the input.

>>Go in to device manager and delete your usb tree and reboot and let XP rebuild your usb tree.

That sounds kind of scary to a novice like me, but I'm desperate and may be willing to give it a try. But first, can you provide more detail on what you mean by "delete your USB tree?" In Device Manager, under the Action Menu, there are 2 options which may be appropriate: "Disable" and "Uninstall." But there is no command for "delete."

Also, can you explain what you mean by USB Tree? In Device Manager, I have a line that reads "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." When I click on that, 8 sub-lines appear which list USB Host Controller numbers and such. Are you saying I should "disable" or "uninstall" all of that.

 

Hi Bud

Yes thats what you need to remove... sorry if I mislead you but just click on all the usb entries under USB controllers and select uninstall, you might have to do this a couple of times and make sure you have a ps2 mouse plugged in otherwise you will have trouble selecting lines to uninstall. In fact unplug all usb and firewire devices when you reboot and then try the k/board first and then insert one at a time to see if they work and install the drivers.


Flack .

 

Hi Gene Windell,

Some more things to try:

A google search reveals:

1) You should have a cd with "OLYMPUS Studio/OLYMPUS Viewer ", and directions for firmware update. See:
http://dl01.olympus-imaging.com/en/esoft/detail/inf001a.html

If you do not, the software (or possibly just an upgrade?) can be downloaded from:
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/#firmware update for e-system
as:
OLYMPUS Studio 1.0/1.01 to 1.1 and OLYMPUS Viewer 1.0/1.01 to 1.1
by clicking "Click here (English)" in each box for model E-1

2) There is also a firmware update for model E-1 (updated: Apr. 8 2004)
Description can be found at the bottom of this page:
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/#driver
However I can't see a place from which to download it. Maybe further search or contacting the dealer or olympus is necessary?

 

I tried using Device Manager to un-install the USB entries, and then re-booted the computer.. The good news is, the system rebuilt the USB tree so it is just like before. The flat-bed scanner and the printer which I connected to their USB ports are working perfectly, as before.

The bad news is that the problem with reading my Compact Flash memory cards persists. When I connect the camera to a USB port, a new icon designated Drive G pops up in the My Computer window. When I click on the Drive G icon to open a directory, another window pops up saying "Please insert a disk in Drive G."

I tried my separate ADS FireWire CF card reader again, and it still doesn't work either.

Since I can't get "either" USB "or" FireWire devices to detect the presense of my CF memory cards, in spite of the fact that my other USB peripherals (scanner, printer) and FireWire peripheral (external hard drive) are working fine, I think the problem must lie elsewhere. My thinking is that there is nothing wrong with my Compact Flash memory cards, and nothing wrong with my digital cameras, and nothing wrong with my ADS FireWire CF card reader. I also think there is nothing wrong with my USB and FireWire software drivers.

The last time I successfully copied digital images from my Compact Flash cards to my hard drive was about a month ago. At that time, I used my ADS FireWire CF card reader - as I have habitually done for the past year.

About 2 days ago, I shot 3 images at a publicity event (for my wife), and attempted to use my ADS FireWire CF card reader as usual. This CF card reader will not produce the Drive G icon in the My Computer window unless a CF card has been inserted into it. On this occasion, no Drive G icon was being produced even though the CF card was loaded into it.

Next, I broke out my USB cable and connected the digital camera to a front-side USB port. Immediately, the Drive G icon poped up in the My Computer window. I clicked on the Drive G icon and opened a directory. Picture icons for all 3 images on the CF card were displayed. I opened the directory window for my external hard drive (Drive H), and created a new folder for the images I was about to copy. I then selected all 3 images on the Drive G, clicked on the copy command, switched to the window I was copying to, and clicked on the paste command. The first 2 files copied fine - the last file did not copy. I went back to the Drive G directory and selected only the 1 file which did not copy. When I clicked on the copy command, a new window poped open saying the file could not be read.

At this point, Windows XP could not detect the presense of the CF card in my FireWire CF card reader. And through the USB port with the digital camera c2C I used my ADS FireWire CF card reader - as I have habitually done for the past year.

About 2 days ago, I shot 3 images at a publicity event (for my wife), and attempted to use my ADS FireWire CF card reader as usual. This CF card reader will not produce the Drive G icon in the My Computer window unless a CF card has been inserted into it. On this occasion, no Drive G icon was being produced even though the CF card was loaded into it.

Next, I broke out my USB cable and connected the digital camera to a front-side USB port. Immediately, the Drive G icon poped up in the My Computer window. I clicked on the Drive G icon and opened a directory. Picture icons for all 3 images on the CF card were displayed. I opened the directory window for my external hard drive (Drive H), and created a new folder for the images I was about to copy. I then selected all 3 images on the Drive G, clicked on the copy command, switched to the window I was copying to, and clicked on the paste command. The first 2 files copied fine - the last file did not copy. I went back to the Drive G directory and selected only the 1 file which did not copy. When I clicked on the copy command, a new window poped open saying the file could not be read.

At this point, Windows XP could not detect the presense of the CF card in my FireWire CF card reader. And through the USB port with the digital camera connected, only 2 out of 3 image files could be read. My next step was to switch to my second (identical) digital camera, load the CF card into it, and connect to the USB port. As usual, the Drive G icon poped up in the My Computer window. But this time when I clicked on the Drive G icon, a window I had never seen before poped up saying "Please insert a disk into Drive G." At that point, I figured it was just a matter of the CF card having gone bad - as it was the only memory card I had been working with during this troublesome session. So next I tried inserting my 3 other Compact Flash memory cards into the camera, and I got the same result with each one of them. A window pops open saying "Please insert a disk into Drive G. "

Next, I tried connecting the digital camera to 3 other USB ports which I have open - and got the same results. I tried all 4 of my CF memory cards, and got the same result. Because my digital cameras have both USB2 and FireWire connectivity, I next tried connecting the camera to all of my open FireWire ports, and tried all 4 CF memory cards again. Same results. Windows can detect that the camera is connected to the port, whether it be FireWire or USB, but Windows can not detect that a Compact Flash memory card is inside the camera.

I'm stumpted. Naturally, thoughts have gone through my head about throwing this computer into the trash and simply buying a new one. But what are the less extreme remedies?

 

I am very thankful to all you guys who have contributed possible remedies and solutions to my Compact Flash memory card reading problems.

My computer system has another anomoly which may or may not be related to the CF card reading issue, so it may be helpful if I describe that.

I have 2 printers connected to my system. One is a Minolta B&W laser printer, which is connected to the parallel port. The other is a Kodak Model 8500 digital photo printer, connected to a USB port. Both printers have provided me with trouble-free operations since I've installed them.

About 6 months ago, I switched from a dial-up Internet connection to a cable modem. The cable modem is connected through a router to the Ethernet card in my computer. I have only 1 computer, and nothing is connected to the router except the cable modem. I use the router only because of the firewall protection it provides.

After I got my cable modem internet connection on-line, I thought everything was working fine - until I tried to print a document. To make a long story short, I discovered that both of my printers had stopped working. After many hours of troubleshooting to no avail, quite by accident I learned this:

If I boot up the computer with the router cable plugged into my Ethernet card, both of my printers will not work. But if I unplug the router cable to my Ethernet card before i boot the computer - both printers work fine. So after the computer has booted - I then plug in the cable from the router to my Ethernet card, and then I have both Internet connectivity and working printers.

Now, I've been told by many experts that there is no relationship between printers connected to a parallel port or USB port - and the Ethernet card or router. But be that as it may, my story is true.

I was wondering if a fouled-up Ethernet card could be preventing my operating system from detecting the presense of my Compact Flash cards?