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8 Posts
0
20119
XPS 8700 Windows 7 64 Card Reader Disappears!
Frequently Ill put a SD or CF card in the internal media card reader and it disappears from my computer and device manager. No error just gone! The only way to get it back is power down system and "Unplug" power cord. Works for 2 or 3 times and the same thing happens. Dell tried a few software and settings fixes but that didn't work. Then the sent me a new media card reader but same thing happens. Now they want to replace the mother board and power supply but I doubt that's is too. Any help or ideas would be great.
LJTMesa
3 Posts
2
July 19th, 2015 03:00
Yes, a very common problem with my XPS 8700. Went through many Card Readers, motherboards, etc.
1) Make sure you eject card reader in computer's drives; the old "My Computer". Yes, of course that's elementary, but many times I've just grabbed the card reader out first. Same goes for removing it from your camera. Be sure the camera is turned off before removing.
2) The "fix"
This may be a hassle, but you have to remove the side panel and pull the wire leading from the card reader to the motherboard off where it attaches to the motherboard. Then just reconnect and your card reader's drives will reappear.
Technically you should do this with the machine off and power cord unplugged, but I use one of those long needle nose pliers to reach in and get a firm grip on the connector. Just a quick pull, and a quick replacement. I like to watch the drives reappear which they always have done for me. I'm not sure if it's successful with the machine powered off. You'd have to be very spastic to not be able to unplug and re-plug this small connector without touching anything else. A light is helpful depending on ambient light.
Personally, my CPU is right next to the right side of my desk, so I always leave the left panel off anyway for enough air flow, but removing it is certainly easy enough.
It's hard to say how long that will last; eventually it will fail again maybe every 20 uses or so, but I keep the long needle nose pliers nearby. A 2 minute job.
Good luck!
medic4401
8 Posts
0
March 30th, 2015 06:00
Make a long story short Dell has sent me a new XPS 8700 and guess what? Same issue. this is clearly a design flaw or use of cheep hardware. The only work around seems to be touching the metal side of the computer case with one hand while the other hand inserts the card this seems to ground any static charge.