did you reboot the computer?

Susan, I'll bet a pound to a penny or whatever the US equivalent is that you have the standard TEAC Media Reader problem that blights a lot of Dell systems. One day they will come back without you doing anything or you can go through a lot of black magic and perhaps get them back. The basic problem is that Dell have a hardware problem with this device and they just aren't going to fix it. No matter how many updates you do, no matter how many reconfigurations you do, you will end up having to accept that these devices will dispaear from time to time, maybe for extended periods. If you need this functionality its best - for your sanity - to go out and buy a cheap USB plug-in equivalent and it will happily work consistently for you. The multifunction media card reader on my printer stays around 100% of the time, the Dell one comes and goes as it pleases much like a pet cat.

Susan,

My media card reader was flaky from the day I got my computer.  The icons would come and go,  I tried all the fixes thart Dell requested short of reinstalling my operating system.   Recently the icons disappearred altogether.  I had just intsalled Acronis True Image Home 2009.  When I updated the Acronis software to the latest build, the icons reappearred.  The problem was not Dell's.  It was a driver conflict. What recovery are you running?

I have another theory that there might be a slight hardware problem.  I also rerouted the cable to the reader.  The reader now has no problems at all.

Regards

Its interesting you mentioned the latest Acronis True Image Home 2009 build - I noticed yesterday that my 19-in-1 icons has reappeared after an absence of 3 months or so, but I had not made the connection with Acronis. I did the Acronis upgrade just before they came back. However I have to say I never had Acronis anywhere near my system for 9 months and I was getting the icons coming and going as regularly as a London bus, so I'm not convinced there is a connection. Also I've moved the cables around a lot and that does not make one iota of difference. The icons are still here at present but I'm not betting on them hanging around for much longer :emotion-5: Unlike the icons for my 19-in-1, the icon for the card reader that comes as part of my printer stays around like a faithful lapdog without any sign of going off in a fit of the sulks.

Bernard

Bernard,

I didn't just move my cable around.  I carefully rerouted it.  I made sure that  it did nut run  parallel it to any other cable and also routed such that when it had to cross other conductors it crossed at 90°.  The reason that  am so concerned about it, is that I have an XPS 210 and Inspiron 530S with the same reader.  The 530s has given me no problem at all.  It is located much closer to my electrical service entry on a circuit that effectivelly has a dedicated ground.  I also noticed that the cable  is shielded and that the shield is grounded at both ends.  Being grounded at both ends the "shield" could be carrying noise generated else where in my electrical service.  Also the shield could be creating a ground loop if their is different impedance in the two circuits at the ends of the cable.  The "shield" would then be carrying current (noise).

I am convinced it is a root cause of the problems that I observed before I installed the Acronis software.  I will be carefully observing the system  for a reoccurrence of the problems.  I have prepared another cable that is grounded only on on end.  If the problem reocccurs with my present configuration, I will install thta cable to confirm my suspicion.

Regards

I shall await your results with interest - I didn't touch the inards or outards (if there is such a word) of my XPS-420 when I installed the latest Acronis build so my cable didn't move - and I haven't touched the tower for weeks actually, so I'm, not so sure about the rerouting. However in one of the posts many months ago Chris_M from Dell muttered about electrostatic problems (which could have covered a multitude of things) so I guess you could be right about the earthing and/or interference. If you are, then you've been able to get to something that Dell either couldn't fathom out or couldn't be bothered to. Over the past 12 months there have been periods when my icons have been stable for weeks at a time, and periods when they haven't been seen for weeks at a time. Also grounding media cards before inserting them into the machine does seem to improve the ability for them to stay around, again implying an earthing type issue.

Keep us posted on what happens.

regards,  Bernard

Bernard,

Thanks for the complement.  The rerouting was all done inside the computer.  It has been my understanding that grounding a shielded cable at both ends is not good practice.  I have experienced similar intermittent problems on poorly installed production equipment.  They were extremely difficult to troubleshoot.  I will watch my computer closely and let you know the results.

Regards,

Tracy 

Tracy

When you went through the rerouting did you make yourself a new cable - i ask because as I recall (its a few months since I went through the daily unplugging and replugging of this thing) there was very little slack on the cable inside the XPS420 and certainly not enough to do much in the way of rerouting - I think the cable was a fairly stiff one as well, so it didn't take too kindly to being moved to another position. Maybe there's more scope for what you were doing with a Vostro?

Bernard

Bernard,

I used an original cable.  I had an extra that Dell sent with a replacement reader.  I don't have a Vostro.  The system I am working on is a XPS.  The cable is about 15".  It was wrapped around the hard drive fan to reach the motherboard.  That route used up all the slack.  I originally thought that vibration from the fan was causing the connector at the reader to loosen.  Then began to think that the fan motor was introducing interference.  You really shouldn't need to make up a new cable.  I looked on Dell's parts list and they have several slightly longer cables.  Thay are only a few dollars each.

Regards,

Tracy

Bernard,

You have really started me thinking about this issue, particularly your comments about electrostatic problems.  I noticed similar comments in other posts.  I am even more convinced that grounding is the root cause of the problem with these card readers.  Just think about it.  For years we have connected hard drives, dvd drives, cd rom drives, etcetera with unshielded ribbon cables.  Most of these drives were *** tightly the chassis which provides a reliable ground.  My 19-1 is retained by a latch.  It actually wiggles around a bit.  What Chris was describing as discharging an electrostatic charge may actually have been just what I described as "changing of the impedance" of the circuit.  What may be occurring is that the pressure from the card being inserted breaks the ground between the chassis and the card reader and then a small current surge occurs on the shield which for just that instant is the only ground.  Remember that the digital signal being sent is just a rapid series of 1's and 0's that resembles a square wave.  Static (interference) could either interrupt the signal, or "round" the edges of the square wave causing confusion in the processor.  Before I "solved" my problem, I was thinking about replacing the Dell media card reader.  The first place I looked for one was on eBay.  I saw a used Dell oem reader that was in a plastic caddy.  I would bet that it didn't have as many problems.  The reason for this post is that I thought of a slight modification to my earlier suggestion about removing one of the grounds in the cable.  If I have to try it, I am going to also bond my card reader tightly to the chassis with a small copper strap or perhaps a screw.  I may just simply first bond the reader without even removing one of the grounds.  I will let you know what works best.

Regards,

Tracy