Built-in SD card reader suddenly stopped working!

[Jellybeans27]

Hi all,

 

I have a Dell Inspiron 545 with Windows 7 Home Premium that I bought last July, never had any problems with it until yesterday. For some reason my SD cards have stopped being recognised, even though I use them all the time to transfer photo's from my DSLR.

 

When I insert any SD card Windows does not recognise it (no sound, no autoplay), and the drive does not pop in My Computer anymore. I checked Device Manager and there are no warning signs/errors etc, it says it's working fine.

 

I tried the thing to stop hiding empty drives but that doesn't work either - when I click one it just says there is nothing to read from. I've also uninstalled the drivers so they automatically reinstall, and checked that they are up to date - this hasn't worked either. I've searched it on Google quite a lot now and can't seem to solve the problem....

 

Any idea what it could be?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated,

 

Will.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Will, most of these readers are usually connected through the USB system, so go back to device manager, then open up the Universal serial bus controllers.

Any red or yellow marks there?

Also have a look at "Portable devices" and open that too.

If everything shows as OK there, turn the power off, and remove the cover, check the wiring is OK, remove then replace any plugs associated, to make sure one hasn't come a little loose.

Let us know how you get on please.

Nev.

[Jellybeans27]

Hi Nev,

 

Firstly thank you for the response, much appreciated!

 

I have checked the device manager yes, and there are no warnings/errors/signs, and it says that the drive is fully working. I also uninstalled the drive so that the drivers would automatically reinstall on reboot and that did nothing to help either. I haven't tried this for 'portable devices' though so I shall do this now.

 

I also tried system restore (slim chance I know but worth a try), and this did nothing to help either.

 

I was going to have a look at the wiring but the green LED shows on the drive when I insert the SD card so I'm guessing the wiring is OK?

 

Not sure how to go from here and it's quite frustrating because it should be something I should be able to fix easily - am I missing something?

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Will.

[Plastic Nev]

A daft question perhaps, but do you have a cable to directly connect the camera to the PC's USB and read the card while still in the camera?

If so does it work OK?

If it does work, it may well be the reader is duff, even though it doesn't show up as faulty in device manager, it could be as simple as one of the contact tongues that contacts those on the SD card may have got bent or broken.

Not something you may see easily as the contacts are down at the bottom of the slot. The only way to be sure is to try a new reader I am afraid.

Nev.

[Jellybeans27]

I do have a cable, I haven't tried it yet so I'll try it in a minute! I'm pretty sure it will work as my card is read by my other half's laptop.

 

I've only had the computer brand new from Dell in Sep 2009 and I bought a 3 year home service extended warranty with it so I'll get on the blower to them tomorrow...I tried using their support centre program on my computer but it's rubbish!

 

I'll keep you posted :D

 

Thanks

 

Will.