"PCMCIA UNKNOWN_MANUFACTURER" driver issue

[thinkpadlover07]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I've posted, but a problem has come up where my CompactFlash PC Card adapter is no longer being properly recognized by WinXP.

Before, the card would pop up like a removable drive in My Computer, but now every time I insert the PC Card, the Found New Hardware wizard pops up and in the tray, an new hardware icon appears with the message "PCMCIA UNKNOWN_MANUFACTURER."

This PC Card has never needed any software or drivers to function because it's worked until now. So, obviously, the Wizard fails saying that no drivers could be found and the hardware cannot be installed i.e. "A problem occurred....this hardware might not work properly"

In Device Manager, I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Texas Instruments PCI-1510 CardBus Controller, but that has not worked.

So, my question is - for those of you who use a PCMCIA card, what driver is actually used by WinXP for it?...because right now, in Device Manager, under Other Devices, all I see is an exclamation point next to "PCMCIA UNKNOWN_MANUFACTURER" - Code 1 (this device is not configured correctly) with NO DRIVERS loaded for it!

Thanks,

-John

[phool@round]

Couple of things come to mind......

Do you have a CF card installed in the PCMCIA adaptor and is it formatted in FAT/NTFS?

Have you checked for bent pins in the laptops PCMCIA slot?

Normally it installs as an IDE/ESDI Hard Disk Controller.

[thinkpadlover07]

Yeah, no pins are bent in the PC Card slot. I also checked whether the PCMCIA CF adapter might have been fried, but after trying a brand new CF adapter, the same problem comes up.

The problem is not the CF card either because I have three different CF cards and none of them can be recognized properly.

I have not recently installed any new hardware, but I have recently installed some HP printer software. I cannot really pinpoint whether the problem started before or after I installed the HP software. But, I cannot fathom that being the cause for the problem. Unfortunately, I've always had System Restore off..

Any other ideas from anyone out there? Thanks.

[tselling]

Does the Device Manager show the IDE controller when the card is inserted? I think its something like PCMCIA IDE Controller. If you have a controller there with a ! I would uninstall that one as well. Then remove the card and reinsert to see if drivers reinstall.

FYI, I recently had a similar problem under Vista... I had to install a hotfix because uninstalling the drivers in Device Manager didn't work. But under XP it should. The problem in Vista was caused by removing the card while in suspend or hibernate mode.

[thinkpadlover07]

Thanks tselling, I've tried what you've suggested and it doesn't work because when I reinsert the card, the Found New Hardware wizard pops up asking for me to locate the correct driver. It cannot find the correct driver even though I've directed it to look in the system32/drivers directory and the XP install CD. I have no idea what's happening!

Aren't PC cards supposed to be plug-and-play and hot-swappable without drivers? At least this CF adapter was until recently...

Thanks for your suggestion though.

Next?

[thinkpadlover07]

Oh, and one more thing, get this...

I did a fresh install of WinXP on another 2.5" hard drive of mine (the one I just replaced) to see if maybe my XP installation is mucked up. When I inserted my PC card, this exact problem still occurs!

[Brad]

Sorry to say it does sound like your motherboard may need to be replaced.

Brad

[thinkpadlover07]

Maybe Brad, thanks for the suggestion but my machine's out of warranty. I'll just get a CF-USB reader instead.

[tselling]

Do you have any other type of PCMCIA cards to test? That would probably let you know if its a motherboard/slot problem.

[thinkpadlover07]

Thanks for the tip, tselling. I don't actually, though I suspect it is a hardware issue because a fresh install of XP didn't rectify it.