Topic: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

First, love the driver packs, great to slipstream with.

But, using almost any board I've tested, if I use the Mass Storage Driver Pack, I run into a strange issue: USB Card Readers become non-functional.  They show up within My Computer, etc. it's just no matter what is in them it's "unrecognized" and will not function.

Booting into XP64 or anything else shows the card readers are connected.  Have tried with six different kind of card readers and installs on six different motherboards (mostly Nvidia SLI or 6150 MBs).  If I don't use Mass Storage Driver Pack, I don't run into this issue.

Any thoughts?

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

I've never run into this problem myself and off the top of my head I can think of four different computers I've done installs on recently that use USB multicard readers and none of them have had issues.  I do integrate DP mass storage into the install source, however none of those computer has a need for DP mass storage as their controllers are supported by XP natively.  I don't know if that's the difference or not.

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

I used the DriverPacks back in March (including MassStorage) on an nForce4 AMD system and my USB 2.0 Sabrent 42-in-1 Media Card Reader works in it using the standard Windows driver.

Which card readers are you using?  Do they require special drivers?

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

No special drivers.  I've used the Mitsumi combo drive (3.5" floppy/card reader) and the Vantec card reader.  I've also tried a few externals.  They all show up, but when you put a card in them, nothing happens.  I've run into this numerous times no matter how I use the driverpacks.. but if I don't slipstream them in (I use method 2) then the card readers work fine (?)  They are all NF4 chipset boards.

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

I was considering that Mitsumi until I realized it wouldn't accept xD cards.

But, anyway, have you tried disconnecting the card reader to install Windows then connecting it when finished?  I'm considering doing this because the existence of my card reader's four drive letters throws all the others out of whack.  My Windows/system drive is I:. sad

Last edited by 5eraph (2006-06-13 16:39:11)

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

5eraph wrote:

I'm considering doing this because the existence of my card reader's four drive letters throws all the others out of whack.  My Windows/system drive is I:. sad

In that case, changing the boot sequence in the BIOS might be enough to do the trick.

I don't have problems on my primary system since it does not allow me to boot from the reader (or I just don't have boot from USB enabled, dunno).
On a second system, they will show up after the HDDs (hence starting with E) but before the ODD, which is accordingly to the boot sequence I set.

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

Yeah, my problem was that my boot sequence is a bit screwy.  When I upgraded the BIOS before reinstalling Windows I forgot to change the sequence.  Drive C: is my storage array (which contains BOOT.INI and other bootfiles); drive I is my Windows array.  Currently neither drive letter can be changed.  I'll be changing the boot sequence and reinstalling Windows as soon as RyanVM releases the next Update Pack and I tweak the latest DriverPacks. smile

It'll be a while, though.

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

5eraph wrote:

I'm considering doing this because the existence of my card reader's four drive letters throws all the others out of whack.  My Windows/system drive is I:. sad

I have to do this for several computers at work.  I also get the systemdrive as letter I if the reader is connected during setup.  In my case it's a bit of a PITA because the card readers are mounted in a 3.5" drive bay, so I have to open the case up (or disable USB completely in the BIOS).  You'd think after almost 30 years we wouldn't have to worry about silly things like this anymore with PCs.

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

I don't have this problem, but I have an other one with a USB card reader. I posted this a long time ago in the MSFN forums, and didn't test it with the new versions (will do that when the exams are finished)

When I install windows, he will copy the necessary files, but when he goes into the 'graphical' setup, he can't find my windows CD. But when I disconnect my card reader, everything goes fine.

EDIT: btw: for me too it's a PITA, cause it's also inside the pc

Last edited by maybeme (2006-06-14 03:55:44)

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

RogueSpear wrote:

You'd think after almost 30 years we wouldn't have to worry about silly things like this anymore with PCs.

Agreed.  Mine is also installed internally in a 3½" bay, but the card reader came with a USB dongle that connects to the motherboard for internal use.  Makes it that much easier, i guess, since i don't have to remove half of my PCI cards to connect the card reader.

Of course, the pinouts on the dongle didn't match up with those of my motherboard when I received it. wink

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

I have also a many-in-one reader in a 3.5 bay. The usb cable goes inside the chassis and out on the back, and then is connected on a USB 2.0 port on the back of the motherboard.
Before installing any OS, I unplugg the cable ... install the OS ... and plug it after.
Otherwise ... it's a mess : the reader consists of 4 drive letters that comes before any hard disk .. sad

Last edited by maxximum (2006-08-05 23:04:31)

Re: Mass Storage and USB Card Readers = No Joy

Yep, thats how it works smile