X41 Tablet, trying to troubleshoot PCMCIA slot

[manteiv]

I tried to use a Wifi PCMCIA card in the X41t. There is no sign of life, not a single LED on the card. I even tried a second card, no luck. I know for sure both cards are in good working order.

Under the Windows XP device manager, I can see that the PCMCIA Ricoh is present. I even tried to uninstal the driver and do a hardware scan for changes, windows detect the Ricoh PCMCIA slot but still no luck, any PCMCIA card I insert in the slot still do not show sign of life

What else can I try?

[mediasponge]

Go into the BIOS and make sure it's enabled, then reboot.

[manteiv]

Go into the BIOS and make sure it's enabled, then reboot.

hmm I went into BIOS, navigated through the menus, I don't seem to see anything specific to PCMCIA, only serial, parallel, usb, PCI addresses but nothing PCMCIA, are you sure it should be there?

Besides, if the Windows XP device manager can see the Ricoh PCMCIA, it means that the card is already enabled in Bios right?

[mediasponge]

Try plugging some other kind of PCMCIA card into the slot, like a USB hub. Was there a driver for the Wifi card? Perhaps you're supposed to install the driver first, then plug in the card when it asks you to. I've seen that process on some add-ons.

[manteiv]

Try plugging some other kind of PCMCIA card into the slot, like a USB hub. Was there a driver for the Wifi card? Perhaps you're supposed to install the driver first, then plug in the card when it asks you to. I've seen that process on some add-ons.

I tried installing the driver first that came with the Wifi PCMCIA card, still no luck. I also tried an old PCMCIA modem, still no luck. I don't know what else to try. I peeked inside the slot, no apparent damage, all pins seem ok and lined up.

Other than taking the machine apart, what else can I try? even if I take the machine apart, I would'nt know how to fix it.

[mediasponge]

I'm out of suggestions. The slot might be dead, which is a motherboard issue.

[manteiv]

I solved my problem: I took the machine apart and found out that one of the pin on the PCMCIA receptable slot was slightly pushed back and therefore not making good contact. It was just a matter of pushing it forward and now the slot works fine

[mediasponge]

Good to hear. If the pin is loose, it may get pushed back again. A small drop of non-conducting epoxy on the backside may prevent that happening again.