Internal memory card reader not detecting anything

I've got an internal memory card reader that has 4 slots for accessing MS, SD, CF, and SM memory cards from digital cameras and the like. You already what these do, sorry for the definition.

My problem is although the power light is on and Windows is detecting it as a Mass Storage Device - SPRING is the manufacturer, it will not detect any memory cards I throw at it! I uninstalled and reinstalled several times to no avail. Even physically unplugging (then replugging) the device from the motherboard and still nothing. The thing is that a few months ago, I was able to use both MemoryStick and SD cards just fine with it before I restored it back to factory spec. Is there something else I might be missing? Maybe the restore affected it somehow?

Hope you guys can help because that power light is just sitting there, mocking me. Thanks in advance.

 

Yep, they show up in Windows Explorer: G,H,I, and J; but not in Disk Management. That one only shows the C and D drives. When I insert my SD card, it still does nothing.

 

I can confirm Pete's statement, I have 2 internal combo card readers doubling up as a USB Hub, and they show as Pete states in My Computer, Disk Management, and Device Manager. One is a Apacer and this model has a power light that remains on with a red LED when it is working, the other is a no brand and has no permanent power light.
I do not understand what you mean when you say you restored it back to factory spec are you referring to the PC.
Have you tried to plug the reader into a different USB connector on the mobo that is if you have more than one, it appears to me more of a USB issue. You can also uninstall your USB in device manager and reboot to let windows reinstall.
But I would first as Pete suggested place a Memory card into a external card reader and plug it into a USB port to test and also if your internal reader serves as a USB Hub test this also.

 

Probably a silly question - but you haven't changed to using a SDHC card by any chance?
Many older card readers can't read them.

Roger

 

Alright, alright, alright......

Pete - I don't seem to have a Policies tab when I right-click USB Mass Storage Device(SPRING-Rev1.1) from within the Device manager. But I do think I played around with it beforehand somewhere and believe it was set for quick removal. Yea, I've also tried powering down, inserting card, then rebooting. It still won't come up. Also of note, this is an Internal memory card reader, one that is plugged into the motherboard.

hawk - Greetings, I too have a similar setup with a green light that shows it's powered on, and red one for Access. I got a nasty virus on my computer and had to wipe my hard drive back to its original state, just so my PC would run. I started a thread about this last month and am a little lazy to link to it (good ol' search). I am wondering if this might have affected it somehow though, as it was working fine late last year. And yes, I've uninstalled/reinstalled and unplugged/plugged the reader in more ways than you can shake a flash card at(per my first post). Still no reward.

r.leale - Greetings as well, I'm only using a standard 1 GB SD card right now from my sister's "donated" Kodak digital camera. Lexar is the make.

At any rate, I might take most of your suggestions and just man-up and buy one of those USB memory card readers, that will obviously work with SD. Until I can figure out what's wrong with my internal one, this might be the best way to test and get my pics onto my PC.

 

One more question Devil Z, when you changed USB connectors on your Motherboard for the reader did windows greet you with a Found New Hardware box.
This is probably a dumb question but did you install SP2 or 3. (just fishing)

 

Sorry for the late reply guys, but I ended up getting a cheap little USB Targus SD Card Reader, and it does the job so far. It's also the best way right now to get the pictures from my sister's camera(sans cord) onto my computer, until I figure out what's wrong with my internal reader.

It sure did Hawk! The plug is black with four little slots that plug into (you guessed it) four little prongs on the motherboard. Even after all this, my SD cards still won't read though.

Yea, I installed SP2 by using Windows Update. There is one thing I should note, I had to uninstall SP2 once because of my Restore Points somehow disappearing all of a sudden. I must have aquired yet another virus, so I then reinstalled SP2 via WU again after clearing things up. Then downloaded and installed SP3 right after that. Still wondering if any of that had any effect on the reader though? Hmm.....

 

(Before I catch some ZZZ's) I was dreading that was the case. Just when I had it working last year too! Is there an easy fix, or should I chuck it and just use my USB ports?

 

Agree with Pete Devil, I have the the 2 internal readers but I would say 99% of the time I use the plug in especially since my internal is not HC.
But if you do prefer your internal one they are pretty cheap anyway, not worth the hassle fiddling around with them.
One thing though I would like to mention is that I have found the cheap and nasty Card Readers are not worth getting, I have bought a few of them and they have all ended up in the Garbage. Buy a good one for a few more bucks and it will last you for years and make sure it is HC compatible.
happy shooting

 

Thanks for the advice guys! I might just be better off buying another one if I really need it.

BTW, the Targus card reader I bought is SDHC compatible. Should I be looking at better brand later on down the line though? The only reason I got this one, was to have it as a cheap fix since my sis' lost the usb cable from her older camera. Hence all this runaround!
Guess I'll toss this one with my non-working 3.5 drive as well.

Now onto the Firefox forums....

 

Just as I figured!

 

I have been fighting the same issue for 3 weeks now

Hi all,
I have been fighting the same issue with the missing card reader/card reader doesn't read problem in XP. I had a generic reader in it, went to load Acronis and do BU on my wifes 4 yo P865/P4 3.4 ghz system (used to be mine, but I built a Q9550 one), and she tells me the card reader is gone. I ordered a new one from amazon, got it, and windows went through the whole found hardware thing, but stopped with all the drives reading as "generic volumes" and with yellow question marks. I have searched hi and low looking for an answer and have come to the conclusion that about a million people have had similar, but not quite the same issues. Most of the proposed fixes invlove deleting all the usb drivers and rebooting to rebuild the usb stack, but the weirdest (and about 50% of the time works) is to unplug the machine, or remove battery, let it sit for up to 12 hours, and pluf it back in! About half the people seem to get results from this, with most of the "experts" advising it, chanting some voodoo about power, capacitors and the like. I don't know, but if it works, fine. In fact I plan to try that when I get home tonight. I have also seen some success with cleaning your usb sockets, and checking all the wires, etc and the motherboard. Another fix claimed to work is to unplug all usb devices, deleete all drivers and hubs in windows, and reboot, inserting 1 device at a time . Yet another one claims there are miswired plugs/motherboards/cases that have pin 10 of the plug with a wire in it and it grounds the bus. They reccomend that you clip the wire and it seems to fix a lot of issues. It appears to me to be a problem with the USB2.0 hot swap software/spec, or the windows drivers. I reinstalled SP2 and did all the updates and no change, still have generic volumes with yellow question marks and "device failed to start" message for each drive on the reader.

I can tell you another reader will not fix the problem, nor a "branded" one. I bought mine for 13.00 on amazon a 62 in 1 reader, and it had the issue, and I just built another machine, loaded xp, and it worked fine. Then I bought an AZTEC ZM5-U well rated one, on the oft chance their driver package wi=ould fix it (to make pretty icons) and I created a pretty icon for my partition on my harddrive instead. So, replacement will not fix this issue, it's in the machines soul.... Apparently this issue can come up at anytime, if you remove a usb device (or maybe plug one in) and something in the usb software in windows goes buggy. Just need to see what. Any ideas/suggestions welcomed, I have built systems now for about 15 years, so I have some idea of what I am doing, I hope...