Help with Dell, USB2.0 PC Card and Win XP Pro incompatibilities...

odoush · Jul 17, 2002, 05:18 AM

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue ?

Notebook: Dell Inspiron 7500 , PIII 650, 256mb RAM, 30G, XP Pro

I just recently installed XP Pro to the notebook, after a clean install of a new hard disk with Win98SE, applied all the XP Pro patches et al.

I was going to migrate my backup stuff (on a 40G 2.5" IBM travelstar) back to the I7500 and to do this, I have a USB2.0 PC Card, plug it in, auto detected the card and installed the driver. However, it took 1 minute to register the portable HDD (usually this takes 1/2 sec when it was fully working on my Win98SE). I tried to copy using about 400mb of data off the portable HDD and it was crawling along with a USB1.1 speed.

I reinstalled the driver (for Win2k) and this time I got the 1/2 sec detect and copy speeds were much faster. However, if I try and copy the 400mb it would copy about 250mb and then the whole notebook would freeze. Also, this inconsistent, sometimes it would copy about 2/3 and then die and 1/3 and then die.

What the heck ?!?!?!?!

I know the card and slot works perfectly using Win98SE as I have this as my backup hard disk, but can't get this running correctly with XP Pro.

Any ideas/solutions would be greatly appreciated.... ?

Officially the drivers from XP Pro *should* work but not in this case. It also doesn't matter which slot(1 or 2) I use, does the same thing each time...

Thanks in advance

feedback · Jul 17, 2002, 08:21 AM

if it's all compressed into one backup file, then segment it into 2 or 3 peices. If it isn't, just move everything bit by bit.

Yeti · Jul 17, 2002, 09:25 AM

Quote:

applied all the XP Pro patches et al.

Why?

Despite the urge to install XP patches like the newest NEDs or LADs its important to remember that these BETA releases are designed to solve current problems with XP. If you installed any Service Packs for XP... well i'd say that might be the problem.

Try to reinstall the XP driver and go through this again. (just a guess). Also plug your backup harddrive into a different computer and make sure everything is up to par.

Capt Ron · Jul 17, 2002, 03:08 PM

We're sure the portable hard drive supports
USB 2.0 protocols, right?

odoush · Jul 17, 2002, 11:19 PM

..thanks guys. I did install the XP patches via the Windows Update as per MS recommendations. At the time, I was thinking that installing all the patches would resolve any issues. Last thing I want to do is to re-do the install/upgrade again...we'll see.

I have an Inspiron 8200 (the replacement for the 7500) and it works fine there - the USB2.0 card and portable HDD.

On top of this issue, I also found that the Addonics CDRW (also a PCMCIA interface) could not be started with an error code 10 on the I7500. Again, this was something that "use" to work on the I7500 on Win98Se. I contacted Addonics and this morning they pointed to an article on the MS knowledge base (Q310772) and it seems it may be the pcmcia.sys that is deployed with the XP Pro build (5.1.2600.0).

Contacted MS this morning and now I am waiting for MS to email me the updated pcmcia.sys (5.1.2600.34)...I'll have to see if this stops the issues I am having with the PCMCIA. Did a diagnostic and it all checks out as well.

My gut feel is that this is related...sheez, its a pain to upgrade but I need the networking functionality in XP Pro. I posted the same message on Dell Talk but no one there seems to be experiencing this issue and there are a few 7500 owners there.

Cheers all and thanks the help...fingers crossed the hot fix from MS will work....!

odoush · Jul 23, 2002, 03:56 AM

Well, after 4 days, I received the XP Pro hot fix from MS: pcmcia.sys Build 5.1.2600.34

Applied the hot fix and my issue with the crash'n'burn USB2.0 and large data copy "seem" to have been more or less fixed. I say "seem" because it crashed once in the 4 test copies but at the time of the crash, 2 PCMCIA slots were filled (one with USB2.0 card and the other, the modem). I pulled out the modem and retested, and it seemed fine. Bloody finicky...

On my other issue, the Pocket CDRW still would not be recognized when plugged into the PCMCIA slot and kept coming up with an error code 10 - could not start device.

Tried 3 different drivers (2 from Addonics and one from Shining) but to no avail. I tried a Win98 driver and it loaded fine but XP Pro would not list the CDRW under DVD/CD-ROM under Device Manager. I noticed under Win98SE, it would list as CD-R/RW RW8040A. Anyone has any idea why or should this be a auto "add feature" ? How do I "add" a CDRW or is that only possible to be done via the IDE/Atapi driver ?

Anyway, one last option left is to use the USB cable but its an additional AUD$135 including shipping, too damn pricey for my liking as I'm not willing to invest this laptop anymore. Still waiting for my 3com ethernet card to come back from my mate and see if that works with XP Pro. If it doesn't then I'll reinstall to Win98SE where eveything works and turf out XP Pro.

Cheers all....

vaiouzer · Oct 21, 2002, 01:24 AM

I had the same issue when I installed XP Pro on another partition.
I inserted the card and didn't realize until later that Windows installed
it as USB 1 instead of 2.
I had to uninstall the driver and then install the non-Windows certified driver
from the CD that came with the USB 2 pcmia card.

Jul 17, 2002, 05:18 AM	#1
odoush DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Help with Dell, USB2.0 PC Card and Win XP Pro incompatibilities... Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue ? Notebook: Dell Inspiron 7500 , PIII 650, 256mb RAM, 30G, XP Pro I just recently installed XP Pro to the notebook, after a clean install of a new hard disk with Win98SE, applied all the XP Pro patches et al. I was going to migrate my backup stuff (on a 40G 2.5" IBM travelstar) back to the I7500 and to do this, I have a USB2.0 PC Card, plug it in, auto detected the card and installed the driver. However, it took 1 minute to register the portable HDD (usually this takes 1/2 sec when it was fully working on my Win98SE). I tried to copy using about 400mb of data off the portable HDD and it was crawling along with a USB1.1 speed. I reinstalled the driver (for Win2k) and this time I got the 1/2 sec detect and copy speeds were much faster. However, if I try and copy the 400mb it would copy about 250mb and then the whole notebook would freeze. Also, this inconsistent, sometimes it would copy about 2/3 and then die and 1/3 and then die. What the heck ?!?!?!?! I know the card and slot works perfectly using Win98SE as I have this as my backup hard disk, but can't get this running correctly with XP Pro. Any ideas/solutions would be greatly appreciated.... ? Officially the drivers from XP Pro should work but not in this case. It also doesn't matter which slot(1 or 2) I use, does the same thing each time... Thanks in advance

Jul 17, 2002, 08:21 AM	#2
feedback thing what kicks Join Date: May 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 97 Rep Power: 0	if it's all compressed into one backup file, then segment it into 2 or 3 peices. If it isn't, just move everything bit by bit. __________________

Jul 23, 2002, 03:56 AM	Thread Starter #6
odoush DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Update 2002 07 22 on issue... Well, after 4 days, I received the XP Pro hot fix from MS: pcmcia.sys Build 5.1.2600.34 Applied the hot fix and my issue with the crash'n'burn USB2.0 and large data copy "seem" to have been more or less fixed. I say "seem" because it crashed once in the 4 test copies but at the time of the crash, 2 PCMCIA slots were filled (one with USB2.0 card and the other, the modem). I pulled out the modem and retested, and it seemed fine. Bloody finicky... On my other issue, the Pocket CDRW still would not be recognized when plugged into the PCMCIA slot and kept coming up with an error code 10 - could not start device. Tried 3 different drivers (2 from Addonics and one from Shining) but to no avail. I tried a Win98 driver and it loaded fine but XP Pro would not list the CDRW under DVD/CD-ROM under Device Manager. I noticed under Win98SE, it would list as CD-R/RW RW8040A. Anyone has any idea why or should this be a auto "add feature" ? How do I "add" a CDRW or is that only possible to be done via the IDE/Atapi driver ? Anyway, one last option left is to use the USB cable but its an additional AUD$135 including shipping, too damn pricey for my liking as I'm not willing to invest this laptop anymore. Still waiting for my 3com ethernet card to come back from my mate and see if that works with XP Pro. If it doesn't then I'll reinstall to Win98SE where eveything works and turf out XP Pro. Cheers all....

Oct 21, 2002, 01:24 AM	#7
vaiouzer DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Do you have the CD that came with the card? I had the same issue when I installed XP Pro on another partition. I inserted the card and didn't realize until later that Windows installed it as USB 1 instead of 2. I had to uninstall the driver and then install the non-Windows certified driver from the CD that came with the USB 2 pcmia card.

Jul 17, 2002, 03:08 PM	#4
Capt Ron DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2002 Location: Albuquerque NM Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	We're sure the portable hard drive supports USB 2.0 protocols, right?

Jul 17, 2002, 11:19 PM	Thread Starter #5
odoush DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	..thanks guys. I did install the XP patches via the Windows Update as per MS recommendations. At the time, I was thinking that installing all the patches would resolve any issues. Last thing I want to do is to re-do the install/upgrade again...we'll see. I have an Inspiron 8200 (the replacement for the 7500) and it works fine there - the USB2.0 card and portable HDD. On top of this issue, I also found that the Addonics CDRW (also a PCMCIA interface) could not be started with an error code 10 on the I7500. Again, this was something that "use" to work on the I7500 on Win98Se. I contacted Addonics and this morning they pointed to an article on the MS knowledge base (Q310772) and it seems it may be the pcmcia.sys that is deployed with the XP Pro build (5.1.2600.0). Contacted MS this morning and now I am waiting for MS to email me the updated pcmcia.sys (5.1.2600.34)...I'll have to see if this stops the issues I am having with the PCMCIA. Did a diagnostic and it all checks out as well. My gut feel is that this is related...sheez, its a pain to upgrade but I need the networking functionality in XP Pro. I posted the same message on Dell Talk but no one there seems to be experiencing this issue and there are a few 7500 owners there. Cheers all and thanks the help...fingers crossed the hot fix from MS will work....!