USB 2 PCMCIA card hangs my thinkpad r40e, model 2684LA1

[phiji]

Hi!

I bought a new 4-port USB 2 PCMCIA card to add USB 2 functionality to my thinkpad. It is a VIA product (so the sticker on it says). When I plug it into my PCMCIA slot, "New Hardware Found" tray balloon appears. THinkpad appears to begin installing the new hardware, recognising as "VIA Rev 5 or later..." and then in a few seconds, the whole system hangs. I can get absolutely no response from the thinkpad. When I eject the PCMCIA card, the system reboots.

The PCMCIA card is alright. It was installed smoothly and worked perfectly on my friend's hp laptop. Moreover, another friend's THinkpad r51 didn't hang at least when I put the card in that. And the VIA devices showed up in the Device Manager listing. Only, the thinkpad didn't seem to recognise a thumb drive plugged into the PCMCIA card's usb port.

I am really puzzled as to what is happening; more so since I have noticed on one of the posts on this forum that someone with a thinkpad r40e is successfully using a USB 2 pcmcia card!

Any help/advice from anyone will be most helpful and much appreciated!

Thanks!

[hooraysimpsons]

Hello,
I am having this exact same problem. Have you found a fix? Anyone else know what to do?

Thanks

[ttan98]

try these,

1. borrow your friend's USB PCIMA card and try in your laptop. Could be
incompatiblity betwen your PC and Card.
2. Have you updated your PC's Bios?

[hooraysimpsons]

Hello,
I dont think I know anyone else with a PCMCIA USB card. And I assume my bios is up to date. I just reinstalled everything and used the IBM software installer to install all the drivers. I assume IBM would use the latest drivers on their website.. correct?

Thanks

[dsvochak]

This could be more of a Windows/Via problem than a thinkpad problem.

I've got a desktop with a VIA chipset motherboard that requires the VIA cd to install audio, usb, ethernet after Windows XP (or previous versions) is installed. If the PC USB card came with a drivers disk, try installing the VIA drivers from the disk.