Just discovered a 'potential' bug in Vista x64... how unusual is that


I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop, 4gb ram running Vista x64 Ultimate.
I only recently upped its ram from 2gb to 4gb (replaced 1 x 2gb with 2 x
2gb Crucial). I always used the laptop for transferring pictures from a
1gb Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo, without incident.

Yesterday was the first occasion since the 4gb memory upgrade that I
needed to copy new pics from the card, onto the laptop - but it
complained that the card needed formatted before it could be used. The
card is ok though as I tested it in another XP laptop that I have. A
short while ago I removed 2gb from the laptop ram and tried the memory
stick and it worked fine...

To confirm this is a problem, I then tried the memory stick in my
desktop pc (external memory stick adapter - usb2.0) which is a Vista
x64 Ultimate with 4gb ram. Won't work on that either.

To summarise: Vista x64 systems with 4gb of ram will not recognise a
1gb (or greater) Sony Memory Stick Duo.

I also tried a 4gb Memory Stick Duo, same problem. Made by SanDisk.

I found a 32mb Memory Stick Duo lurking in a drawer - it works ok on
Vista x64 4gb.

Anyone have any ideas?


--
n13ldo

Possibly the MOBO in your laptop does not support more then 4GB of memory
and the Memory stick is trying to use system addresses:
The following link has some information that may be appropriate:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

"n13ldo" wrote in message
...

Just discovered a 'potential' bug in Vista x64... how unusual is that


I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop, 4gb ram running Vista x64 Ultimate.
I only recently upped its ram from 2gb to 4gb (replaced 1 x 2gb with 2 x
2gb Crucial). I always used the laptop for transferring pictures from a
1gb Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo, without incident.

Yesterday was the first occasion since the 4gb memory upgrade that I
needed to copy new pics from the card, onto the laptop - but it
complained that the card needed formatted before it could be used. The
card is ok though as I tested it in another XP laptop that I have. A
short while ago I removed 2gb from the laptop ram and tried the memory
stick and it worked fine...

To confirm this is a problem, I then tried the memory stick in my
desktop pc (external memory stick adapter - usb2.0) which is a Vista
x64 Ultimate with 4gb ram. Won't work on that either.

To summarise: Vista x64 systems with 4gb of ram will not recognise a
1gb (or greater) Sony Memory Stick Duo.

I also tried a 4gb Memory Stick Duo, same problem. Made by SanDisk.

I found a 32mb Memory Stick Duo lurking in a drawer - it works ok on
Vista x64 4gb.

Anyone have any ideas?


--
n13ldo

Curious;849270 Wrote:
Possibly the MOBO in your laptop does not support more then 4GB of
memory
and the Memory stick is trying to use system addresses:
The following link has some information that may be appropriate:

'The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog
box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is
installed' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us)


Thanks for the link.

Unfortunately that doesn't apply - both the laptop and desktop PC are
running Vista x64 SP1 (fully legal copies). Desktop PC has an Asus
P5E-VM HDMI motherboard.


--
n13ldo

n13ldo wrote:
Curious;849270 Wrote:
Possibly the MOBO in your laptop does not support more then 4GB of
memory
and the Memory stick is trying to use system addresses:
The following link has some information that may be appropriate:

'The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog
box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is
installed' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us)


Thanks for the link.

Unfortunately that doesn't apply - both the laptop and desktop PC are
running Vista x64 SP1 (fully legal copies). Desktop PC has an Asus
P5E-VM HDMI motherboard.


I am encountering the exact same problem as you have encountered.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1721, with a dual-core 64-bit AMD Turion TL-66
processor. I purchased a 4 GB memory upgrade from Kingston at the same
time as I purchased the system, and when I received the system, I added
a 2nd internal hard drive and wiped out the 32-bit Vista installation,
replacing it with the 64-bit edition of Vista Ultimate. I then
contacted Dell Tech Support and they assisted me with identifying all of
the x64 variants of the hardware device driver installation kits that
were required to get all of the built-in hardware options working
properly under Vista Ultimate x64.

It wasn't until a month or two after I had the system configured that I
needed to get some pics & video off of a memory stick that I use in my
Sony HandyCam, and that was when I discovered that the card reader
wouldn't read my MemoryStick PRO Duo cards, both 1 GB and 2 GB models
made by Sony.

My external SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 card reader plugs in via USB, and
it has no problems reading either of my MemoryStick cards.

I contacted Dell about this problem back in June after having exhausted
all other means of solving the problem, including trying all of the
various versions of the x64 builds of the Ricoh R5C83x card reader
drivers, and they did a motherboard replacement, thinking that it must
be a hardware problem. That did not fix the problem.

I ran across your posting on Google Groups yesterday, and noted that you
had the problem only after upgrading to 4 GB of memory, while I've had
my system at 4 GB of memory from the very beginning. I removed 2 GB of
memory as a test, and was able to successfully access both of my
MemoryStick PRO Duo cards using the internal card reader. After
returning to the usual 4 GB of memory, I was once again unable to access
the cards using the internal reader.

When the problem is occurring, I see a drive letter appear for the
MemoryStick device, and the properties of the device show a volume
present, but there's no file system visible on it. Attempts at
formatting it fail immediately, and the existing data on the card is
unaltered.

I should also note that the SD and xD memory card functionally works
properly regardless of how much memory I have installed in the system,
and I routinely access a 4 GB Micro SDHC card fitted into a full-sized
SD adapter.

At this point, I think I'm going to contact Dell again and re-open the
support incident. Perhaps this additional information regarding how the
amount of installed memory on the system affects the problem will allow
them to identify what's going wrong.

Chuck Chopp;864753 Wrote:


I am encountering the exact same problem as you have encountered.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1721, with a dual-core 64-bit AMD Turion TL-66
processor. I purchased a 4 GB memory upgrade from Kingston at the
same
time as I purchased the system, and when I received the system, I
added
a 2nd internal hard drive and wiped out the 32-bit Vista installation,
replacing it with the 64-bit edition of Vista Ultimate. I then
contacted Dell Tech Support and they assisted me with identifying all
of
the x64 variants of the hardware device driver installation kits that
were required to get all of the built-in hardware options working
properly under Vista Ultimate x64.

It wasn't until a month or two after I had the system configured that
I
needed to get some pics & video off of a memory stick that I use in my
Sony HandyCam, and that was when I discovered that the card reader
wouldn't read my MemoryStick PRO Duo cards, both 1 GB and 2 GB models
made by Sony.

My external SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 card reader plugs in via USB,
and
it has no problems reading either of my MemoryStick cards.

I contacted Dell about this problem back in June after having
exhausted
all other means of solving the problem, including trying all of the
various versions of the x64 builds of the Ricoh R5C83x card reader
drivers, and they did a motherboard replacement, thinking that it must
be a hardware problem. That did not fix the problem.

I ran across your posting on Google Groups yesterday, and noted that
you
had the problem only after upgrading to 4 GB of memory, while I've had
my system at 4 GB of memory from the very beginning. I removed 2 GB
of
memory as a test, and was able to successfully access both of my
MemoryStick PRO Duo cards using the internal card reader. After
returning to the usual 4 GB of memory, I was once again unable to
access
the cards using the internal reader.

When the problem is occurring, I see a drive letter appear for the
MemoryStick device, and the properties of the device show a volume
present, but there's no file system visible on it. Attempts at
formatting it fail immediately, and the existing data on the card is
unaltered.

I should also note that the SD and xD memory card functionally works
properly regardless of how much memory I have installed in the system,
and I routinely access a 4 GB Micro SDHC card fitted into a full-sized
SD adapter.

At this point, I think I'm going to contact Dell again and re-open the
support incident. Perhaps this additional information regarding how
the
amount of installed memory on the system affects the problem will
allow
them to identify what's going wrong.

Interesting. I'm glad it wasn't just me.

I brought home my work laptop (HP 8710w Vista x64 with 4gb ram) and it
has no problems reading the memory stick.

Thanks for your post and looking forward to hearing the outcome...


--
n13ldo

You might want to review the following KB article again since there is
information in the article relative to BIOS settings for Vista 64 bit
systems with 4GB or more of memory.
"n13ldo" wrote in message
...

Chuck Chopp;864753 Wrote:


I am encountering the exact same problem as you have encountered.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1721, with a dual-core 64-bit AMD Turion TL-66
processor. I purchased a 4 GB memory upgrade from Kingston at the
same
time as I purchased the system, and when I received the system, I
added
a 2nd internal hard drive and wiped out the 32-bit Vista installation,
replacing it with the 64-bit edition of Vista Ultimate. I then
contacted Dell Tech Support and they assisted me with identifying all
of
the x64 variants of the hardware device driver installation kits that
were required to get all of the built-in hardware options working
properly under Vista Ultimate x64.

It wasn't until a month or two after I had the system configured that
I
needed to get some pics & video off of a memory stick that I use in my
Sony HandyCam, and that was when I discovered that the card reader
wouldn't read my MemoryStick PRO Duo cards, both 1 GB and 2 GB models
made by Sony.

My external SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 card reader plugs in via USB,
and
it has no problems reading either of my MemoryStick cards.

I contacted Dell about this problem back in June after having
exhausted
all other means of solving the problem, including trying all of the
various versions of the x64 builds of the Ricoh R5C83x card reader
drivers, and they did a motherboard replacement, thinking that it must
be a hardware problem. That did not fix the problem.

I ran across your posting on Google Groups yesterday, and noted that
you
had the problem only after upgrading to 4 GB of memory, while I've had
my system at 4 GB of memory from the very beginning. I removed 2 GB
of
memory as a test, and was able to successfully access both of my
MemoryStick PRO Duo cards using the internal card reader. After
returning to the usual 4 GB of memory, I was once again unable to
access
the cards using the internal reader.

When the problem is occurring, I see a drive letter appear for the
MemoryStick device, and the properties of the device show a volume
present, but there's no file system visible on it. Attempts at
formatting it fail immediately, and the existing data on the card is
unaltered.

I should also note that the SD and xD memory card functionally works
properly regardless of how much memory I have installed in the system,
and I routinely access a 4 GB Micro SDHC card fitted into a full-sized
SD adapter.

At this point, I think I'm going to contact Dell again and re-open the
support incident. Perhaps this additional information regarding how
the
amount of installed memory on the system affects the problem will
allow
them to identify what's going wrong.

Interesting. I'm glad it wasn't just me.

I brought home my work laptop (HP 8710w Vista x64 with 4gb ram) and it
has no problems reading the memory stick.

Thanks for your post and looking forward to hearing the outcome...


--
n13ldo

Woops forgot link.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

"Curious" wrote in message
...
You might want to review the following KB article again since there is
information in the article relative to BIOS settings for Vista 64 bit
systems with 4GB or more of memory.
"n13ldo" wrote in message
...

Chuck Chopp;864753 Wrote:


I am encountering the exact same problem as you have encountered.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1721, with a dual-core 64-bit AMD Turion TL-66
processor. I purchased a 4 GB memory upgrade from Kingston at the
same
time as I purchased the system, and when I received the system, I
added
a 2nd internal hard drive and wiped out the 32-bit Vista installation,
replacing it with the 64-bit edition of Vista Ultimate. I then
contacted Dell Tech Support and they assisted me with identifying all
of
the x64 variants of the hardware device driver installation kits that
were required to get all of the built-in hardware options working
properly under Vista Ultimate x64.

It wasn't until a month or two after I had the system configured that
I
needed to get some pics & video off of a memory stick that I use in my
Sony HandyCam, and that was when I discovered that the card reader
wouldn't read my MemoryStick PRO Duo cards, both 1 GB and 2 GB models
made by Sony.

My external SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 card reader plugs in via USB,
and
it has no problems reading either of my MemoryStick cards.

I contacted Dell about this problem back in June after having
exhausted
all other means of solving the problem, including trying all of the
various versions of the x64 builds of the Ricoh R5C83x card reader
drivers, and they did a motherboard replacement, thinking that it must
be a hardware problem. That did not fix the problem.

I ran across your posting on Google Groups yesterday, and noted that
you
had the problem only after upgrading to 4 GB of memory, while I've had
my system at 4 GB of memory from the very beginning. I removed 2 GB
of
memory as a test, and was able to successfully access both of my
MemoryStick PRO Duo cards using the internal card reader. After
returning to the usual 4 GB of memory, I was once again unable to
access
the cards using the internal reader.

When the problem is occurring, I see a drive letter appear for the
MemoryStick device, and the properties of the device show a volume
present, but there's no file system visible on it. Attempts at
formatting it fail immediately, and the existing data on the card is
unaltered.

I should also note that the SD and xD memory card functionally works
properly regardless of how much memory I have installed in the system,
and I routinely access a 4 GB Micro SDHC card fitted into a full-sized
SD adapter.

At this point, I think I'm going to contact Dell again and re-open the
support incident. Perhaps this additional information regarding how
the
amount of installed memory on the system affects the problem will
allow
them to identify what's going wrong.

Interesting. I'm glad it wasn't just me.

I brought home my work laptop (HP 8710w Vista x64 with 4gb ram) and it
has no problems reading the memory stick.

Thanks for your post and looking forward to hearing the outcome...


--
n13ldo

Curious;864829 Wrote:
You might want to review the following KB article again since there is
information in the article relative to BIOS settings for Vista 64 bit
systems with 4GB or more of memory.
"n13ldo" wrote in message
.../QUOTE]

Not the problem in this case as the 1720 supports more than 4gb:
'Inspiron 1720 with 6GB RAM Tested - Notebook Forums and Laptop
Discussion' (http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=305464)

My 1720 does have the latest A09 firmware as mentioned in this thread.


--
n13ldo

Found a solution :geek:

On my work laptop (which I had installed Vista x64 Ultimate) I had
obviously downloaded all the drivers from HP's site. Since the laptop is
for enterprise, they provided x64 drivers. Luckily for me, the card
reader on the HP is the same Ricoh chipset family as my Dell. So not
thinking it would install, I tried installing the HP branded driver
installer anyway - it succeeded.

A reboot and came the moment - insert the memory stick and woohoo
instant recognition of the files on the card.

Problem solved thanks to HP. So if you have this problem on your Dell
Inspiron 17nn series laptop, grab 'sp36762.exe' from HP's drivers
downloads. Its for the 'Compaq 8710w' laptop in the Vista x64 section
but a google will probably find it. Just make sure its hosted on an HP
server and not some driver affiliate site.

If a problem I could shove the file up somewhere.

neildo.


--
n13ldo

n13ldo wrote:


Found a solution :geek:

On my work laptop (which I had installed Vista x64 Ultimate) I had
obviously downloaded all the drivers from HP's site. Since the laptop is
for enterprise, they provided x64 drivers. Luckily for me, the card
reader on the HP is the same Ricoh chipset family as my Dell. So not
thinking it would install, I tried installing the HP branded driver
installer anyway - it succeeded.

A reboot and came the moment - insert the memory stick and woohoo
instant recognition of the files on the card.

Problem solved thanks to HP. So if you have this problem on your Dell
Inspiron 17nn series laptop, grab 'sp36762.exe' from HP's drivers
downloads. Its for the 'Compaq 8710w' laptop in the Vista x64 section
but a google will probably find it. Just make sure its hosted on an HP
server and not some driver affiliate site.

If a problem I could shove the file up somewhere.


I was able to find & download the install kit w/o any problems. Before
I could get it to properly install the updated driver, I had to remove
all of the older versions of the driver that were present on the hard
drive and then tell the driver update wizard to only look at the
location where the install kit had unpacked the files.

After rebooting, the memory stick reader functionality is working
properly under Vista Ultimate x64 with 4 GB of memory installed.

The significant difference between the most recent driver kit from Dell
and the one from HP/Compaq is that the file "rimspx64.sys" has been
updated from v6.00.01.11 to v6.00.01.12. That's the memory stick
driver, and it's produced by Ricoh as the OEM, then redistributed out to
computer manufacturers that use Ricoh's card reader chipset. I would
suspect that eventually Dell will get the same driver update into their
download system.