Latitude E6500 SD card reader not working?

I was looking for an answer to this issue with no solution at this moment. I have an e6500 too with the same problem, Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bits installed fully updated. My system can read any SD Card with a USB Multi Card Reader but with no results using de SD Card Reader. I understand this is a Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller (IDE ATA/ATAPIControllers) with a rimptsk.sys driver version 6.0.2.3 provided by REDC. Despite everything looks good with software and hardware it does not recognize any SD or MMC card (I did not try others) withou regards the brand I put into.  Reinstalling OS is not a solution anlymore. Solution approches maybe: 1)  Hardware replacement 2) Waiting for a new driver capable to manage this because is clear it's not a problem with SD or MMC card but Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller or SD Card Reader Adapter. 3) SD Host Controller in doing wrong bridge with Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller or.............................

Well, I've now got a drive with a fresh install of XP Pro, so in total I've tried XP Pro, Vista 32, Vista 64 and the card reader shows the driver installed properly, no problems, etc, but the thing does nothing no matter which SD card I put into the slot. Shows nothing in explorer or drive manager.

So, for the folks here that work at Dell.. any ideas? Any known issues here?

Hey tung_mobi, if you want it lets try these steps with WVista 32 bit just to take some reference points.

1) Can your system read any card (SD, SDHC, MMC, MicroSD, etc..) using USB port (i.e. MultiCard Reader to USB Adapter) ? It would be a good idea to isolate these problems. If your system can read any above mentioned cards from USB Adapter make a comment on this thread. 

In any case this could be your last resource to check on this moment. Go to step 2 to isolate this condition.

2) Did you try the intallation sequence recommended by Dell Re-Image Guide (reimageA00)? If not try download pdf document from Support Dell  E6500 Manuals. Make an installation sequence check. If your intallation sequence agreed with the guide make a comment too.

Anyway, whatever the step you take make comments over the step you took and results you get.

Regards,

batiscafo,

I have done several cycles of re-imaging now, twice with Vista 64, twice with Vista 32, and about four times with XP Pro 32. I've used the re-image guide, and before I found that, there was another, more general Dell laptop drive installation guide that I followed.

I'm still having the problem - nothing happens when I put in an SD card, and I can't see it in Explorer or Disk Manager.

I haven't tried a USB SD card adapter yet, but I've got a USB flash drive and several USB hard drives that are connecting and working fine. I'll try the USB SD card reader when I can find one (or when I get a new one).

My guess is that something is losing physical contact somewhere (open circuit).. but that's just a guess.. I don't know too much about how these card readers detect the cards.

tung_mobi,

1) if you followed the intallation sequence as reimage guide procedures shows we can discard at all as a possible logical incidental condition( this is the way should be for a system can perform a task whithout skip anything). So forget about this as a problem. 

Let's go for the meat.

2) As I can see your Flash Card Memory is working fine. So USB Adapter is fine. Try to get a borrowed SDHC Card and SDHC Card Reader to USB Adapter just for testing porpouses. SDHC Cards are different from Flash Memory Cards and SD. So SD Reader cannot read a SDHC (this one is a High Capacity and comes with new cameras for high resolution and fast transfer rates. SDHC are backward compatible with SD Card not viceversa. If you want read more about go wikipedia). If this works in your systems you will discard a driver condition on each system you use. If not working on at least one of your systems an hotfix maybe needed or driver condition is present.

In case you can Discard step 2, everything looks as physical problem. Maybe a) a loose cable or connector . b) Card Reader Adapter malfunction. The "a" condition is easy to fix is you have some technical skills with hardware. The "b" condition will need a hardware replacement (SD Card Reader Adapter Cage) from Dell. This second one is not a big deal if you have a good warranty agreement cover.

At this point I hope at least this could help to make a good diagnostic before to talk with Dell Tech Support. Look for your system Service Tag, Express Service Code and Warranty Agreement before call Tech Support requesting for a hardware replacement to make your phone call cost effective. In my case was necessary a successful Card Cage replacement. Some hardware problems not always shows error messages or evident failures despite of all it is a good practice before jumping to a conclusion isolate the condition to avoid  big mistakes.

Anyway we appreciate you post what was the way you took to solve this issue. It will help other people.

I'm eager to hear an outcome to your problem.  I have the exact same problem on my E6500 and the SD Reader stopped working last month.

Hi, batiscafo,

     I am sorry to mispost and reply to you, but I just joined the community.  I wanted to post a new thread, but I could not find any button to click to start a new post on the Laptop General Hardware forum.  I looked everywhere with my eyes widely open, but there is no button I could click, except the little orange thing at the bottom of all the topics. 

     The only way I could do is use the REPLY button to someone's post and try to find out HOW to post my own post.  Thanks

E4300 with similar problem?

Sorry, not E6500 - but maybe some of you can help?

Have a rather new E4300; apparently there is an SD-Card slot - but nothing of it shows up in the system.

May I need a special driver for it - or is its support included in any other device driver? Is it simply not working - or a fake?

(a similar thing happend with the bluethooth module... The company I am working for preferred to reformat the disk with their "personal" WinXP-SRII release....  Nothing remained of Dell....)

Any suggestion appreciated!

Hi Tung_Mobi,

I own a Precision M4400 and my SD card reader failed to pick up a SD Card every time I inserted one in...that's from new.  It just ding when you insert it and then a couple of seconds it ding again, but no SD in explorer.  I check my control panel Device Manager and all devices are installed.  I did some research to my M4400 and found out it had gone through a repair and it had me thinking something under the hood may not be connect correctly...Dell relies on thrid-party companies to do all their repairs and my experience is their effort are always poor.  They don't follow strict quality control as they do from Dell labs.  So I strip it down (all the way to the Palmrest) and notice the cable from the SD housing wasn't completely connected to the mainboard (about a millimetre).  So I push it all the way in, reassemble it and ta-da!...it works!!  It isn't the driver and believe it's the cable from the SD housing to the notebook motherboard isn't fully inserted.  Obviously Windows pick up the SD controller chipset...but if the cable isn't completing a fully circuit, you get zip.

Hope this helps everyone based on my encounter and experience. :)

Ken,

Thanks for your reply. I may do that - take it apart, and check the connection, if I can get some time to work on it soon. I'm glad that worked for you. Thanks for posting!

hi,

i have dell inspiron e1505 with windows XP, but it's doesn't read my memory card SD 8 GB. Should I install some drivers for it or it's just impossible to read that kind of memory.

Thank you in andvanced.

This HAS to be a driver problem. My E6500 worked fine until last week when I started to uninstalled all the security overhead. Today, trying to use the very same SD card no longer worked. If I take the same card, put it in a usb adapter and it read ok via the usb adapter. Depend on how I tried to view files on the SD card, I received errors such as "Semaphore timeout", "Path is too deep".

HELLO DELL - Where can I find a driver for my built in card reader????

I am anxious to hear if you got this problem solved. I still have DELL support. After several hard drive failures and reinstalls through CTRL F11, I installed a new HD and reinstalled the system by CDs. Somewhere in this process my SD Card slot stopped working. I spent an hour and a half on line with DELL, reinstalling all of the drivers, without success. They indicated it was a hardware problem and sent out someone to replace my motherboard (the SD card slot is integrated into the Motherboard). He came out, replaced the board -- no change. My SD Slot still beeps when you put in the card but it does not show up when you open "My Computer". If you go to the Device Manager, it shows up as a "Generic Volume" with a yellow "!" warning. Opening Properties indicates "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".  I guess I have to call DELL back but I am not expecting better luck than last time.

Did you get your problem fixed. If so, how ? Any info appreciated.

Did you get this problem solved ? I have an XPS 140 laptop with the same issue. Beeps when the card is inserted (appropriately) but you cannot see the card when opening "My Computer" and in "Device Manager" it shows up as a generic volume with a yellow "!" warning beside it. When you select properties it says "This device cannot start. (Code 10)." All drivers have been reinstalled with the help of DELL support. After an hour and half of on-line troubleshooting, they sent someone out to replace my mother board (SD reader is integrated into the MB). That was done today and the problem is still there.

Did you ever get your problem solved ?