MP3 Player not recognized - No Driver?

Question

I just attempted without success to install an RCA MP3 Player.  My problem as they said was no driver.  The CD that came with this new product only provided a Win98 driver and my WinXP would not let me download it.  Should I not have already had a previously existing driver to work with?  If so can someone advise which driver I should be re-dowloading?  Sorry but my first instance of this and don't want to download the wrong stuff if this is the solution and frustrate myself further.  BTW.  the help people at RCA were NO HELP. Thanks all   buglyh@hotmail.com

bacillus · Answer

normally you shouldn't need a third party driver when using xp.

Carolyn_H · Answer

see that's what I thought.. could I have lost one of my orginal drivers?  One that would make an MP3 recognized?

bacillus · Answer

Did you try using another USB port on your laptop?

Carolyn_H · Answer

I have a Dimension desk top, however, I did and I received the same results. I received something from another person with this link

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310575#XSLTH3141121122120121120120

I am considering doing that however I think that it is more of a driver issue but at this point I am very frustrated after dealing with this for a while and I could be very wrong. Thanks for all the help it is nice to have fresh perspective.

Joe2Shoe · Answer

Carolyn,

I also have an RCA Lyra mp3 player, among others. I am running WinXP Home. The RCA mp3 player works great.....no problems.

I assume you are running WinXP. The RCA CD should have the WinXP drivers included for XP. You MUST install them, as WinXP does not have any native drivers for the RCA mp3 player.

If you are running Windows 98SE, you MUST download the drivers from RCA's website, then install them before Windows will recognize the mp3 player. I put the RCA mp3 player on a PC running Win98SE and installed the Win98SE drivers, it works fine.

The RCA mp3 player will NOT work with Win98 (First Edition).

Always use a Premium USB cable such as Belkin. Cheap cables cause many problems.

Also remember that all USB devices are NOT always compatible with all USB ports.......this is a common industry problem with USB..........I have seen it many times.........If this is the case, you must try another brand of mp3 player.

Good luck.

Carolyn_H · Answer

Thanks for the info... I am running WinXP.. however the CD that came with my player only provided me with drivers for Win98.. arrrrg. I am having someone come by tomorrow for another set of eyes and ideas to see what is wrong.. but could be I may have to get an IPOD Shuffle.

I'll keep you all posted on the progess but any and all thoughts greatly appreciated.

Carolyn

Joe2Shoe · Answer

I bought my Lyra over 6 months ago and it works fine with XP Home and Pro.

I was WRONG (forgive me), XP does NOT require any drivers.

This is RCA's site: http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/Cultures/en-US/DownloadsLanding.html

I downloaded the new firmware updates and the USB updates 6 months ago from this site (RD1022_28_72_76FWUpgrade_v1002). This update is no longer listed on the site. If you want it, let me know, and I'll send them to you. This may help. Just include an email address.

If nothing works, it's a hardware incompatibility issue.

Good luck.

Joe2Shoe · Answer

Out-of-Date Firmware or BIOS (from Microsoft)

The key to all USB devices is the firmware. The USB device's firmware contains all of the information about the device. A port is not reset until all of the descriptors in the firmware have been loaded and verified by the root hub. This is critical because it applies to items such as printers and modems. Make certain that you have the most up-to-date firmware that is available for both your computer's BIOS and each individual device.

The symptoms of malfunctioning or incorrectly configured firmware might be unusual. Typically, when you remove and then re-add a USB device, the device simply becomes available again. However, the device may appear as a second instance of that device, and load itself as such in Device Manager. If you see duplicates of a device, verify that you have the most up-to-date firmware for that device. This issue is common with USB printers and modems. A similar issue that has the same cause occurs when a device loads a device driver and then adds a second device for which there appears to be no driver. The second device is displayed with an exclamation point in a yellow circle in Device Manager. The device may work correctly, but you cannot remove the "ghost" device until you unplug the parent device that seems to have generated the ghost device. Also, you may be able to resolve this issue by updating the firmware or the device driver for that device.

Update the mp3 player's firmware and/or the BIOS for your PC, then go into BIOS setup @ bootup and make sure USB is enabled on IRQ 9 (typically).

If this doesn't do it, try another mp3 player.

Good luck.

Carolyn_H · Answer

Thanks so much for all the help. I will be giving this all a try very shortly when a friend with the knowledge to easily navigate these possibilities stops by. I am pretty good with software issues but when it comes to device drivers and other hardware issues I am truly out of my depth.

I am going to give her a copy of all your suggestions. I did bookmark the page for the firmware updates. I did do that initially but to no avail so it could indeed be a bios problem. Fingers crossed.

I'll update when I know what is what.

Joe2Shoe · Answer

Carolyn, The RCA site does NOT have the firmware update listed anymore (see my previous reply).  They only have the Win98/98SE drivers listed. If nothing else works, let me know; I will send the firmware update I downloaded previously to you via email. Good luck.

Joe2Shoe · Answer

What model is your RCA mp3 player? Is it a Lyra?  I only have the firmware updates for the Lyra 1028. If you have a different model, the firmware updates I have won't work for you.

Carolyn_H · Answer

Thanks loads for all your help. The MP3 player was a 2212. It just won't work and I had help here. The device just will not be recognized. Could be a bad USB cable.. or any number of other things but I'm done with it. It goes back to the store and I am going to get an IPOD Shuffle instead.

This is a great forum though.. great help for people who have exhausted all things and need another set of ideas and eyes to help.

Carolyn_H · Answer

Well futher.  It has to be my DELL.. sad to say.  Again I tried to install the IPOD Shuffle and once I put it in the USB port it would not recognize the hardward and gave me at one point Error 28..for a device driver I believe.   All these computer issues are well and truly beyond me.  My dell

Joe2Shoe · Answer

Carolyn,

The last thing I would do would to be to plug the RCA or IPOD into another PC or laptop to see if it works there. If it doesn't, it's bad mp3 players (which I doubt). If it does, it's your Dell. Could be that your USB ports are dead. Do your USB ports work with any other USB devices you attach to your Dell? If they work, it's not the ports, but probably a hardware-incompatibility ussue with USB.

I am only using this forum because someone GAVE me their Dell. They hated it. I use this forum to resolve issues with this Dell Inspiron 7500 I was given.

I own a SONY Vaio laptop and a Gateway SOLO laptop..........both work fine, without any USB issues.

The person who GAVE me their Dell now has a SONY laptop and they love it, everything works.

Good luck.

Joe2Shoe · Answer

ONe last ditch,

Have you tried uninstalling all USB hardware in Device Manager, then rebooting the laptop so XP will reinstall all USB drivers? Give it a shot. It should fix all USB issues.

If all else fails, repair or reinstall WinXP. Sometimes some program, virus, etc...will screw up the system/hardware files. And reloading XP is the only way to fix it.

Good luck.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

MP3 Player not recognized - No Driver?

Was this post helpful?