A7V133 no boot and no work with SanDisk SDDR-88

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Arthur

SanDisk 8n1 flash card reader/writer is supposed to be 1.1 compatible
but they never tested with the VIA KT133. System will not boot with
device plugged and system does not assign drives in My Computer but
does see the Card Reader and says it is using 500ma which does not
seem realistic.

SanDisk SDDR-88 works fine on a cheap Amptron 810 Sis system with
their 7001 USB. I guess it is USB 2 but not positive. I sent them an
email via their web site. I wonder who they will blame? Asus or VIA
Tech.?

Asus BIOS was 1009 and is now 1010 Beta B in the hope that maybe these
Asus people figured out how to resolve the KT133 problems in 4 years.

OS is Win98SE with lots of updates for USB like VIA 4n1 437 drivers
and MS fix for uhcd.sys and AMD / VIA timing problems.

For completeness I should mention that I have had a Fuji camera
attached and working fine. Kodak DC240 that works but hangs
intermittently transferring files, Panasonic camera that refuses to
work. The SanDisk was to resolve these problems which it does if I
want to settle for using it on the Amptron for I/O and copying to the
Asus with the ethernet connection.

Any advice, suggestions, and or comments most appreciated. Yes, I
know, never buy another VIA Tech. based system.
 
SanDisk 8n1 flash card reader/writer is supposed to be 1.1 compatible
but they never tested with the VIA KT133. System will not boot with
device plugged and system does not assign drives in My Computer but
does see the Card Reader and says it is using 500ma which does not
seem realistic.

SanDisk SDDR-88 works fine on a cheap Amptron 810 Sis system with
their 7001 USB. I guess it is USB 2 but not positive. I sent them an
email via their web site. I wonder who they will blame? Asus or VIA
Tech.?

Asus BIOS was 1009 and is now 1010 Beta B in the hope that maybe these
Asus people figured out how to resolve the KT133 problems in 4 years.

OS is Win98SE with lots of updates for USB like VIA 4n1 437 drivers
and MS fix for uhcd.sys and AMD / VIA timing problems.

For completeness I should mention that I have had a Fuji camera
attached and working fine. Kodak DC240 that works but hangs
intermittently transferring files, Panasonic camera that refuses to
work. The SanDisk was to resolve these problems which it does if I
want to settle for using it on the Amptron for I/O and copying to the
Asus with the ethernet connection.

Any advice, suggestions, and or comments most appreciated. Yes, I
know, never buy another VIA Tech. based system.
Click to expand...

Buy a PCI USB card ?

Try groups.google.com and search on "kt133 usb card" as terms.
Watch for any cards that have a history of not working for everyone,
like the Belkin F5U220.

Or, visit usbman.org, for any suggestions posted there.

As for the notion of compatibility, people have this idea that
hardware is "matrix tested". It is not. There are possibly 5000
or 10000 models of motherboards out there, and even a company
that specializes in matrix testing, won't have samples of all of them.

Modular hardware in PCs, is designed to standards, for the express
purpose of avoiding the need for "matrix testing". Sure, a little
representative testing never hurts, but no amount of testing can
guarantee that an amateur design is really compatible. Some of
the standards bodies actually have design checklists to help
improve the quality of things designed to their standards.
Or, in some cases, offer a certification service, where they use
the checklist, specialized test equipment, and review the schematic
etc, to improve the quality of design. But trying to prove a
piece of hardware is compatible, by sticking it into 10000
different motherboards, is a hopeless and pointless task.

Paul
 
Paul, thanks for the links and suggestions. I am not spending on a
USB 2 board for a 3yr old system board when I do have a workaround.

Are you saying that there are KT133 boards without USB problems?
How many chip sets are there that SanDisk couldn't test at least two
of each? Or is ASUS the only KT133 board with USB problems? Are the
problems beyond firmware solutions? Perhaps VIA can not solve the
KT133 problems with firmware. I had not considered that possibility.

arthur
 
Paul, thanks for the links and suggestions. I am not spending on a
USB 2 board for a 3yr old system board when I do have a workaround.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.
Are you saying that there are KT133 boards without USB problems?
Click to expand...

Nope. Nothing I've seen yet suggest that. But I haven't looked
that hard either. Other brands seem to be affected too.
How many chip sets are there that SanDisk couldn't test at least two
of each?
Click to expand...

Probably not that many. Maybe a couple hundred, if you include
server boards from Supermicro and other obscure stuff.
Or is ASUS the only KT133 board with USB problems? Are the
problems beyond firmware solutions?
Click to expand...

Other brands have problems with KT133 too. And yes, at some point
there are bound to be things that cannot be fixed via firmware.
The cynic in me says they knew all along, but hoped it could be
fixed in the fullness of time.
Perhaps VIA can not solve the KT133 problems with firmware.
I had not considered that possibility.

arthur
Click to expand...

I just tried searching in Google, on the terms "KT133 USB".
I got 18900 hits. Looking at the summaries, I didn't have to
go too far before reading:

"I gave up upon the KT133 USB ports and bought an USB 2.0 card"

While my search terms don't specifically look for problems with
the USB ports, they do suggest there were a lot of questions
and posts involving USB.

http://groups.google.com/[email protected]

Your comment "says it is using 500ma" seems to be repeated here.

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagev...adid=2039&highlight_key=y&keyword1=usb webcam

You could have a look here, but you probably have the latest drivers
anyway.

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/VIA Tips and Tricks.htm

Paul
 
Paul, most helpful especially the Google "I gave up ..." line, ha ha.

I've been comparing the M810 and A7V Win98SE Registry in an attempt at
finding a difference that would point me to a possible cause. So far
I have not found anything except that drive letters are not assigned
in the A7V system. I have not finished. I will use Lavasoft's
Reghance which has super Find ability.

I have to conclude that SanDisk did not test with older chipsets like
the KT133 and I agree that it is not uncommon for manufacturers to
ship with known problems thinking they will fix as required.

I received an auto-response from SanDisk saying they will contact me.
We shall see and I will post results good or bad.

I will try some of the things discussed at usbman too.

cheers
arthur
-----------
 
Problem solved. TweekUI had most disk drives hidden in My Computer.
The system will boot with the reader plugged if removable devices are
removed from the boot devices list in the BIOS. This is not a problem
since the Esc key can be used to display a list of 4 bootable devices
if the need arises.

I did install all the current system files mentioned at usbman and
that helped too.

arthur
 
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