XPS 8950, SD card reader not working

PS, just checked Updates again and it is showing Killer & Intel Bluetooth driver as a Critical Update (see screenshot below). Very wary of installing this now unless anyone thinks it might help with the SD CArd reader?

I installed the Killer drivers and all is well. As for the card reader, I would look in device manager - Memory Technology Devices - and it should be listed there. Mine is listed as Realtek card reader. If it is listed, right click and select update drivers. If it is not listed try clicking on the "Scan for Hardware Changes" icon in the menu bar.

Thanks for the reply, @kras1. The reader is in the device manager (Realtek PCIE CardReader) as you suggested. I tried updating the drivers which it wouldn't do as it said it had the latest, deleting the device and rebooting which brought them back, then downloading the driver from Dell and installing that. None of that worked.

However, I did discover that if I left the SD card in the reader slot while rebooting the computer, the device was recognised and I could retrieve files from the card. BUT, if I then removed the card and reinserted it, it was not recognised. So, the reader only works if the card to be read is in the reader when the PC is started. 

UPDATE: I have just found that I can get the same effect if, after plugging the card into the reader, I use device manager to disable and then re-enable the reader. It is still not satisfactory, but is a workaround for now. Hope this helps anyone else with the same problem.

I've advised Tech Support of this and hope it'll lead to a proper solution which I'll post here.

Glad you found a work around. Maybe check the Windows auto play settings and also install any Windows updates. 

Might just need changing your Power plan settings...

Reboot PC and open Device Manager. Expand list under USB. Double-click each USB entry and click its Power Management tab, if it has one. Uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...". Repeat for all USB entries. (NOTE: Internal card reader is a USB device.)

Now expand list under Human Interface Devices in Device Manager and uncheck that same box for any HID entry that has a Power Management tab. Exit Device Manager when done.

Next, open the Windows Power & Sleep screen. Click Additional Power Settings. On next screen identify the active Power plan and click Change Plan Settings. On next screen, click Change Advanced Power Settings.

On that last screen, disable Hibernation, Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend, and PCI Express Link State Management. Be sure to save the changes to the Power plan and reboot.

Insert an SD card into internal reader after you're back at desktop and see if it works now...

Thanks, @RoHe for that detailed suggestion. Sadly, it didn't fix the problem - although I could find no way of disabling either Hibernation nor Hybrid Sleep - these options were not offered.

1. Open CMD prompt window, Run as administrator
2. Type in: powercfg /hibernate on and press Enter
3. When it's back at the CMD prompt, close the CMD window
4. Now look for hibernation and hybrid sleep on that Advanced Settings screen and disable them.

Did you look in Device Manager? Click View>Show hidden on the toolbar and look under USB for   "card reader" (or similar). The onboard reader should be listed all the time, with/without a card inserted. If listed, put an SD card into the reader, and look for a new entry in Device Manager under Disk Drives for "SDHC card" (or similar). 

If you see the reader under USB but not under Disk Drives (with card inserted), check to make sure it's enabled on the General tab in its USB entry.

If the reader isn't listed under USB, look for it everywhere in DM.  It may be a grayed out entry, and also look for any "Unknown" device(s) at same time. If you see the reader grayed out and/or an Unknown, right-click and uninstall. Now click Action>Scan for hardware changes on toolbar and see if the reader magically appears under USB now.

I guess it's possible the internal card reader died, but that shouldn't prevent you from using your external reader.

Let us know what happens because there are some other steps to take if this is a software issue...

Thanks, @RoHe. Tried the powercfg command but still no option to turn hibernate off and no sign of hybrid sleep:

Re: The onboard reader should be listed all the time, with/without a card inserted

The reader is always there:

but putting a card in has no effect (after rescan) on disc drives:

nor under USB:

but, by putting a card into the reader and then disabling the device under Memory Tech and re-enabling it, while not changing the USB list, does show the card in Disc Drives:

Ejecting the card removes it from Disk Drives and we're back to the beginning.

Wild guess, but could you have AUTOPLAY off? Search in Settings for it. Has to be on and set to do something and it is for devices that are attached after the PC is booted.

It also would require the device it connects to not being powered off.

It was off but switching it on made no difference. I turned it on and set memory cards to show Explorer. Plugging a card into the reader did nothing and it didn't show up under Disk Drives in DM. Plugging one in via usb stick opened the card in Explorer and showed the drive in DM. I've always had it off in the past, even when the card reader was working.

Good thought... Look on Autoplay screen and see/change how it's set for Memory Card.

Sorry, your last post wasn't visible when I responded.

I guess you could contact Dell Tech Support since PC should be under warranty.

You can also try this:

1. At desktop, open a CMD prompt window, Run as administrator
   
   
2. At the prompt, type in: chkdsk c: /r and press Enter. Accept offer to run chkdsk at next boot and reboot. It runs before Windows loads so be patient. When back at desktop review chkdsk log.
   
   
3. Open CMD prompt window again as in #1
   
   
4. At the prompt, type in: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press Enter
   Be sure to include a space in front of each / and note any error messages when that's done.
   
   
5. Assuming no "unfixed" errors in #4, at the CMD prompt, type in: sfc /scannow and press Enter.
   Be sure to include a space in front of the / and note any errors when that's done.
   
   
6. Assuming no "unfixed" errors in #5, reboot and test reader again

@tonylinde2 

OK, it was just a thought. I had a similar problem with my iPad and somehow Autoplay was off for it? It did work at one time, and turning it back on worked and it has always worked since then.

I am on an 8940 and I tried all my cards, different mfg., memory sizes, and they all work when plugged in... one even came up that it had an error and I had to run the repair on it which it did and I could then read it.

Seems to be possible you've got a defective part or even a lose cable that doesn't trigger something was put into the device (but it will work if the card is in when the device is brought on-line).

Wonder if the h/w test would show that if it were a problem?

May require a Dell Support ticket and visit to correct?

Thanks again @RoHe& @ispalten. Tried all that but still the same.

I had been communicating with Support via private messages here but the suggestions were much less useful or extensive than I've had in this thread. I was offered the option of an engineer replacing the reader but it looks like it is on the system board and might be stuck to it. I don't have enough confidence in Dell tech people (as opposed to 20 years ago when they were little less than gods ) to have them fiddling about at that level for a problem that I can easily avoid.

I'll stick with using USB reader or disabling/enabling in device manager when I need to load new pics for now and hope some future driver updates clears the likely conflict.

Thanks again for all the help.

However, it may never get worse... your call of course... You'd probably get a 'refurbished' board possibly anyway. I never trust those myself.

Exactly. I'm on 4-year premium support so maybe I'll raise the issue again in 2 years time!

@tonylinde2 

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@tonylinde2 wrote:

Thanks again @RoHe& @ispalten. Tried all that but still the same.

I was offered the option of an engineer replacing the reader but it looks like it is on the system board and might be stuck to it.

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Yeah, I checked my 8940 manual, and I'm sure the 8950 is the same.

All part of the motherboard, no cables:

Me, I'd replace the motherboard. If one spot has a problem, either there could be others or a sign of possible later failures.

However, it may never get worse... your call of course... You'd probably get a 'refurbished' board possibly anyway. I never trust those myself.