Help: problem with pcmcia card

[shooter]

I don't know if this is the right group but could use some advice with my
Dell laptop. The other day while I was using it windows quit and I got the
blue screen that said there was a hardware problem and windows was shutting
down. It shut down but would not start until I took the linksys pcmcia
card out. I tried the dell solutions fix which was a registy tweak. The dell
diagnostic cd found nothing wrong. I've tried 4 linksys cards and one
cisco wireless card. All worked before, none work now?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Shooter

[Charles Howse]

Previously shooter <shooter@oneshot.com> wrote: I don't know if this is the right group but could use some advice with my Dell laptop. The other day while I was using it windows quit and I got the blue screen that said there was a hardware problem and windows was shutting down. It shut down but would not start until I took the linksys pcmcia card out. I tried the dell solutions fix which was a registy tweak. The dell diagnostic cd found nothing wrong. I've tried 4 linksys cards and one cisco wireless card. All worked before, none work now? Any help would be appreciated.

In my laptop (and one other at work) some of the contact pads of the
pcmcia socket had come loose from the PCB. It would result in crashes,
erratic performance and finaly complete non-performance.

It seems that the reason is that the contact wires are not fixated
strongly enough in the pcmcia socket, since in my case the problem
was mostly with the power-contacts, which are longer. (Don't know about
the other one, the owner fixed it himself.) If the pcmcia card does not
get power, it looks to the computer just as if it was not inserted.
I re-soldered the contacts under a magnifier with a fine soldering iron
and the problem vanished. Same with the other laptop.

Mine is a Vaio SR11k, the other one was Dell as far as I recall.

Arno
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[shooter]

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:04:09 -0700, Arno Wagner wrote
(in message <bsptr9$6jev$1@ID-2964.news.uni-berlin.de>):
Previously shooter <shooter@oneshot.com> wrote: I don't know if this is the right group but could use some advice with my Dell laptop. The other day while I was using it windows quit and I got the blue screen that said there was a hardware problem and windows was shutting down. It shut down but would not start until I took the linksys pcmcia card out. I tried the dell solutions fix which was a registy tweak. The dell diagnostic cd found nothing wrong. I've tried 4 linksys cards and one cisco wireless card. All worked before, none work now? Any help would be appreciated. In my laptop (and one other at work) some of the contact pads of the pcmcia socket had come loose from the PCB. It would result in crashes, erratic performance and finaly complete non-performance. It seems that the reason is that the contact wires are not fixated strongly enough in the pcmcia socket, since in my case the problem was mostly with the power-contacts, which are longer. (Don't know about the other one, the owner fixed it himself.) If the pcmcia card does not get power, it looks to the computer just as if it was not inserted. I re-soldered the contacts under a magnifier with a fine soldering iron and the problem vanished. Same with the other laptop. Mine is a Vaio SR11k, the other one was Dell as far as I recall. Arno

Thank You Arno for responding. I believe you may have hit it on the head. Its
sure looks like a hardware issue instead of a software or IRQ issue.
Why else would the computer freeze then reboot itself when the card is
pulled out?. This laptop is only 2 months old, I was hoping it was a
software issue, something I could fix, but I think I'll let Dell
take care of it. Thanks again for the help.
Shooter

[Charles Howse]

Previously shooter <shooter@oneshot.com> wrote: On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:04:09 -0700, Arno Wagner wrote (in message <bsptr9$6jev$1@ID-2964.news.uni-berlin.de>):

[...]
Thank You Arno for responding.

No problem.
I believe you may have hit it on the head. Its sure looks like a hardware issue instead of a software or IRQ issue. Why else would the computer freeze then reboot itself when the card is pulled out?.

Yes. That is suspicous. In my case the card would spontaneously
re-initialize or vanish.
This laptop is only 2 months old, I was hoping it was a software issue, something I could fix, but I think I'll let Dell take care of it.

If it still has warranty, that is definitely the best solution.

Arno


Thanks again for the help. Shooter

--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus