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Inspiron 17 7000: SD Card Reader Not Working
I took delivery of the sleek Inspiron about two weeks ago and have spent a good deal of this time setting everything up (& upgrading to Windows 10). Not like Pentium/WinXP is it?
Still, nearly done now. Except the SD card reader doesn't. I've updated all the drivers - I'm fairly sure (!) becuase the Dell system scan does not seem to detect drivers, just the system - and have updated the SD (Realtek) SD card reader driver more than once. It shows as 'Installation successful', or similar.
However, there is no SD card reader in Device Manage, but there is an unknown device in 'PCI Slot 3'. I uninstalled this but it reinstalls every reboot in 'Other Devices' as 'Unknown'. I've also tried updating the driver but this fails.
I'm guessing that this unknown is the SD card reader. There is no other entry in Device Manager for the SD card reader.
Any help would be much appreciated,
Thanks,
Chris
philfmay
4 Posts
1
October 27th, 2015 10:00
just found this in another blog posing by charleshking that has resolved an SD card issue
Quote
Just in case this helps anyone, or in case Dell Tech Support want to yell "NO!", I tracked down Realtek's own driver for this integrated card reader, and it seems to be working well for me (Win 10 Home):
Realtek Card Controller drivers
The forum software is monkeying around with my link, so it may not be clickable. Another way to find the driver file: www[dot]realtek[dot]com[dot]tw -> Downloads -> Computer Peripheral ICs - > Card Reader Solutions -> Card Reader Controllers -> Software
Hope that helps. Cheers Charlie
End Quote
I am not with my laptop at this time .. will take a look later
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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September 29th, 2015 05:00
I had hoped that Dell monitored these forums ('like the old days...').
Still no joy - though after two days of searching I have found many others who's Dells cannot make the card readers work. One MS post suggested compatability mode, another to check chipset drivers - and others - but nothing has helped.
I even found this gent who had exactly the same issue as me:http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19608035. He's had no help since November.
?
Chris
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 1st, 2015 07:00
Well, still no joy - or any help at all.
One post on these forums suggested 'the card may have been disabled in the system BIOS':
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19578815
However, in the BIOS (or UEFI, I think) in my Inspiron 7000, there is no option for 'Miscellaneous Devices'. For what it's worth, I have updated the BIOS from 04 to the current 06. I also ran the 'about 10 minute' system diagnostics and, about 20 minutes later, everything reports healthy... But the scan only checks the hard drive, processor & memory - it does not check the ports or that the drivers are working or up to date. Still no help then...
I also updated the driver (above) but now wonder if the old driver might work: the next question is, where can I get the old driver? There are no options I can find in the Dell Download Centre pages for old drivers.
Honestly, I would appreciate some Dell support wtih this!
Cheers,
Chris
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 1st, 2015 08:00
Quick correction: 'There is no option for 'Miscellaneous Devices'. Actually, there is - my mistake - but it only has two options: External USB Ports [Enabled] and USB Debug [Disabled].
I don't imagine the debug option will help, but I'm too scared to try it anyway...
Cheers,
Chris
philfmay
4 Posts
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October 17th, 2015 07:00
I have exactly the same issue with my Inspiron 17 7746
Have been online with Dell support .. update drives, update chipset, update BIOS .. no luck
They have suggested to Refresh Windows 10 .. but that is going to be absolute last resort as i will require re-installation of all the apps etc loaded.
I am running a Windows repair instead (sfc /scannow) and will see what happens
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 19th, 2015 02:00
Morning Phil - nice to know I'm not alone, or completely ignored. :emotion-43: But sorry you're having problems too...
A refresh of Windows 10 will make no difference (as upgrading from Win8 to Win10 didn't) so I doubt Windows Repair will either. Still, I'm interested to hear how you get on.
I wonder if this is a BIOS/UEFI issue as there is no hint that an SD card reader exists there, but in Device Manager it shows as 'Unknown'. I would have liked to try booting from it (by removing all other boot options and using a Ubuntu or Win10 ISO on an SD card) but I really have enough to think about without doing that, so I won't! :emotion-10: At the moment I'm using a USB SD card reader which works fine but it shouldn't be necessary.
Still hoping!
Cheers,
Chris
boppo
4.4K Posts
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October 25th, 2015 12:00
my 17-7746 has a problem with the reader also. it works when it wants to I have tried 3 different cards and they all do the same on the dell but work on all my other computers. all my drivers and bios are up to date. big bummer
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 26th, 2015 10:00
Hi Boppo - just out of interest, did the card reader show up in BIOS with the old driver? I never checked the SD card reader before I udated all the drivers (why would I?) so I have no point of reference, so to speak. (Do you still have the old driver?)
Cheers,
Chris
boppo
4.4K Posts
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October 26th, 2015 10:00
They just came out with a new sd card reader drive for the 17-7746. I installed it and now in the device manager it shows sd device unknown. Maybe some day they will get it right.
boppo
4.4K Posts
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October 26th, 2015 17:00
Hi Chris, I don't see it in the bios, the new driver I installed now give me a error code 28 in the device manager under other devices - pci device. that code is driver not installed. If I use the win 8.1 64 bit drivers it see the sd card but then it works off and on. The problem is dell latest driver is not installing right.
thnks
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 27th, 2015 02:00
Morning Boppo - thanks for replying.
It's interesting that the card reader worked under Win8 (albeit intermitantly). My system also shows the error code 28 ('unknown' PCI device) so I'm still having to use a USB plug-in SD card reader.
I wonder if the new Dell driver will install on a Win8 machine - maybe someone could try it? Other than that, I'd like to try the old driver on my Win10 system...
Cheers,
Chris
philfmay
4 Posts
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October 27th, 2015 09:00
follow up to my earlier post..
sfc did not find any issues .. as expected
The issue is being discussed now with a Dell "Resolution Specialist" for furher research
I will post any inputs from them to this discussion
philfmay
4 Posts
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October 27th, 2015 16:00
Success !!!
1) Downloaded the Win10 card reader drive from the link aboive
2) Unzipped to folder
3) Ran the installer and rebooted - still not working
4) Went to Device manager
5) Selected the unknown PCI device
6) Update Driver
7) Browse my computer for driver software
8) Selected the folder that i had unzipped the drivers to
Card reader now working
Good luck to the rest of you !!
boppo
4.4K Posts
1
October 27th, 2015 19:00
Charlie, That driver seems to work very well so far for me.
Thanks for giving us that info.
ChrisOfTheOT
28 Posts
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October 28th, 2015 03:00
Phil - you're a gem! I followed your link to the Realtek site (it worked perfectly), downloaded & unzipped the file and went straight to 'Update Driver' in Device Manager (where the reader still showed as 'Unknown PCI...').
It worked first time! :emotion-15: I can't thank you enough Phil (and Charles, where ever he is) - you're persistence and guile have helped everyone here. Especially me! Thank you so much – I am one happy bunny :emotion-2: (see?!).
Thank you Phil – God bless,
Cheers,
Chris