Aurora R4 - Media Card Reader not working consistently

Question

Good morning,

Having difficulty with my Alienware Aurora R4 multi-card reader. Some days it works fine, others it won't work at all. I have been unable to determine a cause for this intermittent malfunction. I have no idea what brand it is. There's virtually no markings on the device itself. I did see a dell part number and that's about it. O7X1CF which returns no results anywhere I can find. I've tried various combinations, in case the "o" was a zero, or the "1" was an "I", etc... no luck. Dell support system doesn't offer anything. Has anybody else had and overcome these problems?

When it wants to work, it's all great, nothing's wrong. But like today, it refuses to recognize anything I insert into it. I'm certain I'm not running the proper drivers, but as I said, Dell support offers nothing on this. Can anybody help?

DigitalFarns

Tesla1856 · Answer

Remove all external USB Devices from machine (to help narrow it down).

Device Manager:

- 4 entries at "Disk Drives"

- 4 entries at "Portable Devices"

Device and Printers

- USB2.0-CRW (or similar if model changed between R1 and R4)

Delete all that and reboot.

DigitalFarns · Answer

Ok, what is it called in the Device Manager? I have looked for it several times in there, to help troubleshoot it, and I'm not sure what I"m looking for because I've never found it listed.

Do I need to delete the drivers I have installed trying to fix it? How does one do that?

Tesla1856 · Answer

No special Dell drivers are required for AW Card-Reader. It uses only Windows USB Storage drivers from OS or WindowsUpdate.

Try deleting all parts of it from Device Manager (I think in 2 places) and reboot and let Hardware re-Detect (Plug-and-Play).

If it still fails:

1. It might be defective

2. USB Cabling or other wiring problem

3. Problem with USB-Hub circuit on MIO-Board. That's where the Flex-Bay connector is (where this connects).

Tesla1856 · Answer

1. none of that shows up at all in my device manager. Only the 3 hard drives i have in the system show up under disk drives, nothing under portables, and only my one printer shows up under devices and printers.

2. Does this indicate that machine doesn't even see the device at all?

1. Weird. This points to problem.

2. Correct.

Is yours (on Aurora R4) just a reader, or does it do BlueTooth also internally?

Are you under warranty?

How are you working inside machine? Have you checked physical wiring connections? Is your MIO-Board working (fans, lights, etc.)?

DigitalFarns · Answer

none of that shows up at all in my device manager.  Only the 3 hard drives i have in the system show up under disk drives, nothing under portables, and only my one printer shows up under devices and printers.  Does this indicate that machine doesn't even see the device at all?

DigitalFarns · Answer

I believe it is just a reader, I do not know what my bluetooth options are. IT is under warranty, just bought the system about 2 months ago.

I did disconnect it from the flex board on Monday, restarted (so computer would know it wasn't there), then shut it down, plugged back in, and booted back up. Still didn't see it. Later on in the day, until I did something else (I think I tried a Realtek driver I got from dell) and it worked fine at that point. Then we left for Christmas and came back now it doesn't work again.

But that is another question I have about the system, maybe the two issues are related. I've noticed sometimes, the AlienFX is what I set it to (presently red on all nodes) but then sometimes it goes it some other color scheme on it's own, and then switches back randomly. I don't understand this. Also, I did notice when I was in there Monday, that the internal white LEDs were not on the first time I opened the case, but they were on the next time I opened the case. There seems to be other intermittent things, like sometimes the vents won't close all the way upon shutdown, but sometimes they will. I don't know what the deal is with all of that. Maybe it's related.

DigitalFarns · Answer

Also, I failed to mention... I'm running Windows 8.1 pro.

Tesla1856 · Answer

1. IT is under warranty, just bought the system about 2 months ago.

2. I did disconnect it from the flex board on Monday, restarted (so computer would know it wasn't there), then shut it down, plugged back in, and booted back up. Still didn't see it. Later on in the day, until I did something else (I think I tried a Realtek driver I got from dell) and it worked fine at that point. Then we left for Christmas and came back now it doesn't work again.

1. Getting to the point where you will have to call and use it.

2. Good that your found the FlexBay USB Hub connection and re-seated it. Sounds like a bad Card-Reader to me. Or Second USB Channel isn't getting from Motherboard to MIO-Board (so it's available at FlexBay port).

MIO-Board is still USB-2 (as likely is the Reader), but I'm pretty sure some of those motherboard headers are now USB-3, so not sure how Dell is wiring that or do they have MIO-Board connecting in USB2 compatibility mode?

Since you are Windows-8.1 could also be (chipset) driver issue.

Tesla1856 · Answer

But that is another question I have about the system, maybe the two issues are related. I've noticed sometimes, the AlienFX is what I set it to (presently red on all nodes) but then sometimes it goes it some other color scheme on it's own, and then switches back randomly. I don't understand this. Also, I did notice when I was in there Monday, that the internal white LEDs were not on the first time I opened the case, but they were on the next time I opened the case. There seems to be other intermittent things, like sometimes the vents won't close all the way upon shutdown, but sometimes they will. I don't know what the deal is with all of that. Maybe it's related.

MIO-Board is independent machine and has it's own CPU/memory/config. It's ASKED to do things by motherboard and CommandCenter software (not told or directly controlled) via USB. Occasional strange behavior is not unexpected as long as it does what it's suppose to do when asked.

MIO-Board behavior at Startup and ShutDown is unpredictable because it's running it's own programs and then Windows is asking it to do things ... all while the OS is starting-up or shutting-down (not a good time).

Machine should ALWAYS be shut-down, un-plugged, and power-switch "power-dissipated" before opening (yes, even removing side panel). The only lights you see inside are run from AAA batteries and there is a door switch somewhere.

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Aurora R4 - Media Card Reader not working consistently

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