System Freeze when using SD Memory card on Inspiron Laptops

Question

I thought I would start a new thread about this topic specifically to better track the progress towards a solution. For a newbie just finding this for the first time, here is the bug this thread is about

Running Windows Vista OS on an Inspiron 9200 if you copy a file to/from an SD card using the built in SD card reader, the system is likely to freeze.

Since I own a 9200, and I would really like to get this working, I am making the effort with Microsoft Tech Support to get this fixed.

So here is what I know so far:

1) The SD card reader is based on the Ricoh R5C841 chip which takes care of the PCMCIA, 1394 and the SD card reader. This is a common chip used by other laptop manufactures, so other brands of laptops may see this problem as well.

2) The SD card reader driver that comes with Vista is the current and correct driver for the Ricoh R5C841. If you browse the sdhost.ini file, you will see the Ricoh R5C841 is listed in the comments section and the PCI/VEN ID matches what the chip reports.

3) If you uninstall and reinstall the driver after logging in. The card reader will function correctly until the next reboot. After a reboot, the system freeze behavior returns. (Note: This gives you a hack work around if you are desperate to use the SD Reader. Just disable and re-enable the SD Card reader in the Device Manager and it will work until the next reboot.)

4) I have swapped out the motherboard in my laptop and the system freeze problem persists

5) Installed a clean copy of Vista on a separate hard drive and the system freeze problem persists.

6) Installed a Check/Debug version of Vista and was able to generate a blue screen of death error when recreating the system freeze. The blue screen error was “An Interrupt storm has caused the system to hang”

7) When researching an “Interrupt Storm”, it appears one of the causes is when a device driver claims the interrupt signal even though it did not initiate from its hardware.

So the current theory is the SDHost device driver is not correctly forwarding IRQ events messages to “downstream” chained drivers for hardware sharing the IRQ line. The SD Card reader is using IRQ 7 which is shared will several other devices including the PCMCIA slot, wifi adapter, etc.

The theory seems to match the behavior where if the driver is uninstalled and reinstalled, it moves the driver down to the end of the chain to where incorrect forwarding does not matter, and the copy to an SD media card works.

Currently uploading a memory dump to Microsoft of the “Interrupt Storm” for further analysis.

More updates as the story progresses.

Monguse · Answer

Well I have Inspiron/E1705 or 9400 and I have a 2gig SD card in the slot right now to use for faster boot-up and storage of the password recovey information. and so far no problems with it at all. E1703 Core 2 Duo 1.83gig 2gig Ram

bkrogers · Answer

Just a glimmer of hope here, I have still been working with Microsoft over the past 2.5 months on this problem.  I finally made it past all the lower levels of support in Bangalor and finally got it up to a real engineer back in Redmond.    It is looking very much like the sdbus driver does have a bug in it and the Microsoft engineer said, if it is a simple fix, they would probably be able to issues one.  Simple being like the code has a  '>' where it needed a '>=' sort of thing.   The sdbus driver is a multi vendor driver authored by Microsoft that supports Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Ricoh integrated SD card readers.  When the sdbus driver is assigned on a shared interrupt level with other device drivers, and one of those devices raises an interrupt, and the driver that should service that interrupt is downstream of the sdbus driver, the sdbus driver will not correctly pass on the interrupt to the downstream driver.    For example, on my system, the sdbus, modem, wifi adapter, usb host buss, and audio are all on the same interrupt.  The modem device driver is the first interrupt handler, sdbus is next, and then all the other device drivers are downstream of the sdbus driver.  If a file copy is occurring on the sdbus, if any of the downstream devices sharing the interrupt raise an interrupt (like a packet comes in on the wifi, or a sound is played), the system freezes.   The sad part here, is Dell could be a hero by asking Microsoft to look at the driver and asking if Microsoft would fix it, just saying it is not supported.  Because it seems there was an intent to support this device, but the driver just has a bug.

bkrogers · Answer

Another step forward.   Semi-good news today.  The engineer at Microsoft has reproduced the problem!  No word yet on if they can issue a fix, but he is still trying to determine the location of the problem in the sd host controller driver.   BK

bkrogers · Answer

Update from Escalation Engineer at Microsoft today...   I think I see what's happening in the sdbus driver, the way it checks the device means that it may claim interrupts for another device in the chain if certain events have been indicated by the device.  I am going to talk to my dev team to see what can be done about this.  It will likely be at least a few weeks before we decide what to do about this.

lailokenZen · Answer

thank you so much for this information bkrogers... after loading vista on my 9200, this has been a perplexing issue.  as I'm unable to connect my camera with the usb cable, the card reader became of more importance.  your advise to disable and re-enable worked for me.   I hope that if M$ does provide a fix for you, that you post it here as well.

bkrogers · Answer

Latest from Microsoft Support...

I [Microsoft Support Enginner] talked to our sustained engineering team and we determined that at this time we are not going to release a hotfix for this issue. We are investigating other options for addressing this, such as making a code change in SP1. I should know more in another week or two.

lailokenZen · Answer

uninstalling & reinstallation of the drivers no longer works for me, after Vista did a series of updates recently.  after doing so, I am able to access the SD card for a few moments before my system freezes up again.  this is getting quite frustrating!  what is the point of having a card reader if it doesn't work?  I am a professional tech and recommend Dell to my associates and friends... my frustrations with this and the fact that they haven't yet released a Vista driver for my touchpad for the 9200 are giving me second thoughts... I did find a Latitude driver that did work... imagine that?  and I still have 3 years warranty left on this machine.

bkrogers · Answer

Hey Zen,   The bad news is, you have to disable/enable the SD host driver after every reboot.   After a reboot, the OS loads the driver in the middle of the interrupt service chain and the freeze problem comes back.  Disabling and re-enabling the driver after each reboot moves the device driver back to the end of the interrupt service chain and temporarily solves the interrupt storm problem until the next reboot.   I wouldn't complete throw out Dell on this one.  Microsoft wrote the driver.  However it was a long road to get the bug looked at by either company.   BK

lailokenZen · Answer

I understand that, however, since the updates, uninstalling & reinstalling isn't working for me... after 5 hard boots this evening, 5 uninstall & reinstalls, and 5 system lock ups.  guess I have to do my digital images on my desktop for now.    thanks for the reply bk, I do appreciate it!

BK Rogers · Answer

Latest Update from Microsoft....

We are still investigating the possibility of fixing this in SP1 for Vista.

The code change to address this properly in sdbus.sys is more involved than I originally thought and getting the details worked out of how complex this fix will be has delayed the decision on inclusion in SP1. There is a risk that if we change this code to make your sd card reader work we may break other sd card readers. This device behaves a bit differently than other sd card readers, there is some variation in early devices that were developed before the spec was final and this is probably one of those devices. This is probably one of the reasons that Dell used their own driver for this device in XP and did not use sdbus.sys in XP.

I will let you know when I have more information regarding this issue.

BK Rogers · Answer

So the sort answer is, there is not going to be a fix for the 9200.

Final update from Microsoft....

BK,

We have decided that it is not feasible to fix this in the next service pack for Vista. The code in question works properly with all other hardware we have encountered, none of our OEM's have reported problems with this code. Any changes we make to help this code work better with your hardware is likely to break the other controllers that currently work properly. This code was largely the same in Windows XP, and this is probably why Dell used their own driver for this device in XP.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this issue. Because there are no other issues to address through this case I am going to close this case today.

Thank you

Taomyn · Answer

I've had this same problem with Vista Ultimate on my Inspiron 9200 until today.

I went into Device Manager and updated the driver. Chose to install manually and to pick the driver myself. I unticked the show only compatible drivers and noticed a signed "Ricoh Secure Digital host controller R5C841" was listed. I chose this one and after a warning about not being able to confirm compatibility, the driver loaded and seemed to be okay.

I then reinserted the 1Gb SD card I was using that always hung the laptop, and voila no hang. The card can be seen and accessed with no problems now.

Hope this helps.

lailokenZen · Answer

interesting.  I had pretty much given up on this, considering M$'s replies to BK Rogers above... did another search and came across this page: http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?s=89775aec4b6eb3d0eba0f8d9aef96731&showtopic=514975&pid=588084130&st=0&#entry588084130   or:  http://tinyurl.com/3cgo3x   go down to post #6 - Edit; first link to 'another download' takes you to a downloadable .exe file [fmworld.net/dowload/E1003075/E1003075.exe] which I took a chance on, and it apparently worked.  after installing the driver using the setup.exe file, and a reboot, I am able to read my SanDisk SD cards and my laptop doesn't freeze up when the card is inserted.  the post is not new, I wonder why I didn't find it earlier!   thx guys.   ~s

BK Rogers · Answer

Holy Driver Batman,   That download fixed the SD freeze problem on my 9200 as well.   BK

lailokenZen · Answer

LOL BK!  imagine that... google and these type groups can beat M$ at their own game... maybe you should send the dude you've been communicating with the link!   I'm just glad to have my card reader back.... thanks to you for starting and keeping this thread up to date.   ~s

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System Freeze when using SD Memory card on Inspiron Laptops

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