How to put this driver on our computer

I feel dumb about this, because I'm guessing the solution may be easy, but I'm stumped.

For Christmas, we bought each of our daughters a little clock that displays electronic photos. Bought it from Pennys. It transfers photos from the computer to itself through a supplied USB cable.

On my 2 year old XP Pro (sp2) computer, when I plugged it in through the USB, it recognized the device as a "Photo Viewer" but could not find a driver. The included CD has the application software, which we installed, but no driver.

I then tried to connect it to my other college-age daughter's 6 month old Dell laptop. This time it did find a driver, and the whole setup (hardware and software) works just fine there.

So the problem then was how to get the right driver onto the older XP computer. The only identification I can find on the display device is a label on the back of it that says Model No. ED04D Xiang De Electronic Tech Co. Ltd. Somewhere in my search for drivers, I came up with something that indicated the guts of this photo viewer might have something to do with a MarsCam made by Mars Semiconductor.

So I searched for drivers based on Xiang (unsuccessful) and Mars Semiconductor. At first the only drivers I could find for Mars Semiconductor were ones for wireless devices, until finally I found one at a site that was described as a camera driver. But that only came with a setup.exe file. I ran that file on the XP, and then tried to force a hardware setup on the older computer, but XP still reported not seeing the right driver.

Can anyone give me a better suggestion on how to find the right driver? Or even better, how to identify it on the Dell Laptop, and then move a copy to the older XP computer? I tried looking through the Settings / Control Panel / System / hardware / Device folder folder on the Dell laptop, but could not see any obvious device for this, even though it is working correctly there.

Any help or suggestions on this would be appreciated. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels here.



Terry Quinn

 

Just a shot in the dark here, but in device manager, click open the Universal Serial Bus controller tree on the laptop. Then plug and unplug the USB cord and see if you can identify which part of the USB tree the device is using. It should disappear and then reappear when you unplug and replug the USB device into the laptop.

Just a shot in the dark, but maybe it can be of some help.

 

James,

That seems like a reasonable idea. I'll try it later today. If I do identify a particular device, is there a way to copy that device information from the laptop to the desktop, or will I just need to use the information to try and find that driver on the internet?

Terry

 

There should be a way to copy it over, but right now I'm drawing blanks on how to do it. TonyT might be of more help in this area than me, or you could try a Google search to locate it.

DriverAgent can do a free scan after downloading an activeX control on your older pc...It might be of some help in locating the proper Windows driver.

It directed me to a missing driver just two weeks ago without having to pay for the service.

 

This doesn't sound like it applies to you but I thought I would add it anyway...

Some USB devices need to have their drivers installed prior to attaching the device (e.g. the wi-fi adapter I use). And, if the device is attached before drivers are loaded, you will never, ever, ever get it to work (did I say ever?). I.E. you'll need to reinstall Windows XP or go back to a restore point.

 

Jim, that was helpful. I did as you suggested, but it did not show up as a change to the USB list. But it did show up in a newly formed "Imaging Devices" list as a "Photo Viewer ", that was not there when the device was disconnected from the laptop computer.

So I did a properties on that device, but the Manufacturer was listed as "unknown." So I went through and screen-copied everything that the properties listings provided, and copied them to the attached Microsoft Word files. I tried Microsoft's site and Google with some of these numbers. In the case of the version number, it got lots of hits, which suggested to me it was a Microsoft release of lots of drivers at once, probably sometime after my desktop XP SP2 system was released in 2004, since the date of the driver is June 2005.

I also tried some names that were in the properties lists, but again they either matched too many things or nothing at all.

I'm sorry to waste people's time, but can someone familiar with the driver properties screens suggest which of these names I should focus my search on?

Terry

 

Tony, yes it is SP2, and see other reply about the driver info I found.


Terry

 

I don't think it does apply in this case, because when the device successfully installed on the laptop, it found the driver after the device when the device was attached to the laptop.

Terry

 

Hi Terry,

For some reason the "Plug and Play" system on the laptop works correctly and identifies the device properly. This is not happening on the older computer.

First thing I would do is to look for updated drivers for the chipset of the old machine. These will include updated information for the USB controller system. You will need to look up the model of the motherboard at the manufacturer's website or the model of the chipset at the chipset manufacturer's website.

One other area I can think of is to go into the BIOS settings at startup and look for a setting "Plug and Play OS installed ", set this to Disabled/No (it should only be enabled for DOS based systems [Win 98, ME, etc]). That will make Windows identify and install the device "manually" and hopefully, correctly.

Matt

 

Matt,

I think you are onto the right idea, but could it simply be that the right driver was produced after my computer was built? The computer was purchased in June of 2004. The date on the driver is June 2005.

So I keep thinking that I just need to find the right driver somewhere, either on the newer (2006) laptop, or on the web, or at Microsoft, and then put it on the 2004 computer. But so far, I've not been able to identify it on the web, even with the screenprints of the properties of the driver that is on the laptop.

Is this something that I can search for in one of the system folders on my daughter's 2006 laptop? I know it is there somewhere, because the laptop set up correctly with the same device.

Terry

 

Terry, Win XP (and 2K) should identify and install "basic" USB devices automatically. The setup CD came without any specific drivers for Win XP, it should, therefore, be automatically detected and installed by Windows (which is what happened on the laptop). What I am saying is that, because the device is not automatically being identified by Windows on the old machine, you probably have problems with drivers further up the driver "hierachy ", which will be the USB controller drivers and maybe even the main chipset drivers. It is not that the device drivers are not working, it is the drivers further up the "tree ". No specific drivers means that Windows should identify and install it automatically.
That is why I suggested finding updated chipset (motherboard) drivers. The chipset drivers will have updated USB controller drivers included with them.

One general problem that can occur with USB controller drivers is that the USB 2.0 "Enhanced" driver is not installed. The enhanced driver is required to run the (new?) USB system. Check in Device Manager under the heading Universal Serial Bus Controllers on both machines and compare them. A 2004 machine should have USB 2.0 and an "Enhanced" controller listed (BUT, that does still not mean that the drivers are working correctly. Windows may say they are working, but that does not mean they are functioning correctly ).

If the manufacturer does not supply drivers for the device I would start looking at drivers further up the line.

Matt

 

Matt,

I have an MSI board, and they do offer BIOS updates. I also know from past experience that sometimes when you try to update the BIOS, you can end up with a dead BIOS chip. Even the MSI web site warns against updating the BIOS, "We suggest users to keep their current BIOS unless they feel it is absolutely necessary to perform the upgrade and you have the technical expertise to do so."

On the other hand, some of the updates do say that they update the USB code. I'll have to look at my version on reboot and see how old my BIOS is.

I sure wish I could get this to work without messing with the BIOS.

Terry

 

Matt,

On further examination, I think the 2004 computer recognizes the device, because it brings it into the Device Manager as a photo viewer, just inoperative. Windows just says that the driver is not installed.

I went back to my daughter's 2006 computer and gathered all the files that were listed in the MSWord file that I attached to the other message. I put those on a jump drive and a floppy, and tried to access those during the driver install process, but Windows refused to recognize them on the drive or otherwise did not find what it wanted.

I went to Windows Update and looked for any driver updates, and the only one there referred to some video hardware I have.

If nobody can think of anything else relatively easy to do, I'm giving up on this. I don't want to risk updating the BIOS and end up spending the rest of the weekend fixing that if it goes wrong. Worst case scenario is we'll use my daughter's 2006 computer to put the photos on when she is in town.


Some decade, Windows will be easy enough to use for the general public, but probably not in my remaining lifetime.

Terry

 

Terry, I don't think I mentioned BIOS update, anyway, I would be very certain it will not help. Only consider a BIOS update as a last resort.

Please post the model number of the MSI motherboard, or do you have a link to the download page at MSI? Another possiblity is to use drivers CD that came with the computer. Install any of the drivers you find there.

Please do not get updated drivers from the Windows Update website. They have caused me many hours of reinstalling drivers when the wrong ones were installed. Get updated drivers from the hardware manufacturer's website.

Did you get to compare the listings for Universal Serial Bus Controllers in Device Manager?

You seem to be getting frustrated. All I would like to do is find an update for the chipset/motherboard and USB drivers. If you can tell me the model number of the motherboard I will be able to find some for you.

Everest in my signature is a good tool for identifying hardware. You may find the model under Motherboard -> Motherboard -> Motherboard Name and the chipset under Computer -> Summary -> Motherboard Properties -> Chipset Model.

Have a break from it if you like. I suppose you have spent many hours looking for a driver for the device, whereas I would be certain that you will not find one, it is purely a Plug and Play device.

The problem suggests to me that some of the base drivers are not working correctly, you can leave it that way if you like, many people shy away from driver issues. Me, I would believe that the hardware was not working correctly and take steps to rectify it. I can't guarantee that updating the drivers will fix the problem, but I would be happy to know that it is not the cause and my drivers were functioning correctly.

Matt

 

Matt, the motherboard in my computer is an MSI P/n 6758-050 NeoP FISR version 2. I checked the BIOS version (had to videotape the computer on reboot so I could read it in slow motion) and I have the latest available BIOS anyway.

Terry

 

An easy one (I hope).

Just check that this the specs page:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=875P_NEO-FIS2R
It refers to a 875P not a NeoP.

Here is the update for Intel chipset drivers (or as they call it, the "Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility "):
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scr...XP+Home+Edition&lang=eng&strOSs=45&submit=Go!
It will be download #1.

After you run it and reboot a few times, if there does not seem to be change installing the USB device, go to Device Manager, go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click and uninstall any devices under that heading labelled "Controller ". They will be automatically reinstalled when you reboot.

This should update and reinstall the your USB drivers and also make any future driver installations work correctly.

PS: I looked at the BIOS upgrades for that model. There are USB "code" updates mentioned in some. Your "revision 2" is what they call "PCB 2 ", so don't use a PCB 1 upgrade. The latest version is 3.6, but as I said, only use it as a last resort. You seem to think that you have the latest version anyway. BTW, if you tap the Pause key during those startup screens you should be able to look at them one at a time by pressing Pause/Enter/Pause/Enter...

Matt

 

Matt, I think it is slightly different than the one you called up. This is the link that matches the MSI part number on my board:

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=875P_NEO-FISR&class=mb

Perhaps mine isn't the version 2 board. What is a little confusing is that on the processor side of the board it has "875PNeo-P MS6758 ver: 2" on it, but notwithstanding that, I can tell you with certainty that the board I have looks like the one in this latest link, not the one in the first link you sent to me. Plus I got that link by entering the MSI part number of my board.

I guess the other question I have is: If I do install the correct Intel chipset drivers, is there any risk of a setback, as there can be with a BIOS upgrade?

Thank you for your ongoing help.

 

Hi Tony. I did try that. See message #14 in this thread. I would not work whether I told it to look for removable media (with all the files on a floppy), and it did access the floppy drive, it just didn't like what it saw, apparently. And I also tried to point it specifically at a folder, the floppy, and a jump drive when I used the option to browse for a location, and it still did not use the files that were at any of those three locations.

Terry