USB device installation problem (yet another one)

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Guest

So I have a MobileMate SD+ card reader that refuses to be recognized on vista
ultimate 64...

I tried changing the driver path in registry

I tried forcing it to look for a driver in c:\windows

I even tried deleting the infcache

All to no avail...

When i Plug it in, the name comes up correctly in device manager, only it
appears under Other Devices and has the yellow warning next to it.

Device status shows
"The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)

There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.


To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver."

I Know its on a working USB port because both my MP3 player and digital
camera are able to run off it.

When I try to install a driver manually, it does something but not what I
need... it tells me Windows encountered a problem installing the driver
software for your device. It even tells me it found a driver for the device
but encounter a problem installing it. It even shows it supposed to install
the USB mass storage device drivers. Yet right below it says the system
cannot find the file specified????

What is that supposed to mean?? It knows where to find the driver... what
more does it need?? How can I fix this??
 
Vlad,

One thing you can do to try to resolve this problem, is to conduct more
involved troubleshooting. HP established the following site to assist its
customers in resolving just the kind of problem you are having. Since USB is
a universal standard, the steps involved at the site can apply to anyone.
Take a look, if you're so inclined, to see whether you can identify something
to resolve your problem, here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c00820197

I've directed others to this site, and some have responded that they found a
solution. Let us know whether you find something.
 
I have the exact same problem as Vlad. Tried the exact same things to
solve the problem too, but the problem remains.
I have also followed the advices on HP:s site that freddy posted a
link to, but that didnt solve the problem either.

The weird thing is that the devices that i connected to the computer
just after i installed Vista works (mouse, camera, phone), but new
devices that I connect now doesnt. Its been a few weeks since i
installed vista, so i think something has happened to the system
during the time that has passed since I installed Vista until now. I
got a blue screen once when i tried to install Alcohol 120% and had to
revert the system to the last known working configuration (pressing F8
on startup) and I have also added and removed partitions on the hard
drive (d and e partitions). Havent done anything else, except
installing standard applications such as office and anti virus
programs (anti virus is vista ready).
 
moparstreet,

As you know by now, there are numerous variables associated with USB
connection problems. After you have performed all the more common
troubleshooting tasks and still have problems, the issue behind all this
could be anywhere or anything. This condition makes it hard to diagnose.
The following site has a lot of additional information and you may find a
lead to solving your problem. Anyway, who knows, but take a look:

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/USBProblems.htm
 
moparstreet,

I've not seen that before. I'll put that is my file for possible future
use. Thanks.
 
I tried deleting the files that were described in the link I posted,
and it worked! Or, almost worked. Im now able to install my devices,
but Vista doesnt immediately install them, i have instruct Vista to
look for drivers in C:\windows first. After that it works...

One strange thing happens after the device is installed though. After
I have installed a device I get another message dialog that says
windows has found an unknown device and must install drivers, much
like the dialog I get when I first plug a device into a USB port. When
I instruct windows to look for drivers in C:\windows for this unknown
device no drivers is found. But the devices i plug in still works like
a charm.
 
Update.

1. After drivers for a device have been installed, all subsequent
connections of the device doesnt require drivers to be installed
again. Still gets the unknown device message though (pops up after the
device that i plugged into the computer is up and running).
2. Windows actually finds a driver for the unknown device (after I
click on "search for drivers") but cant install it. Error message is
the same as before when i tried to install devices.
3. The unknown device is "microsoft wpd filesystem volume driver"

Im thinking maybe i shouldnt have deleted the DRVINDEX.DAT file. All
the other files have been recreated but not this one.
Or maybe I should try to remove all files again and see what happens.
 
moparstreet,

OK, keep us posted. When all else fails, this could be a significant fix,
if you can manage to get it to work.
 
moparstreet,

OK, keep us posted. When all else fails, this could be a significant fix,
if you can manage to get it to work.
Click to expand...

Ok, I think everything is solved now. I dont get anymore unknown
device messages, everything just works!

I had to plug in each and every device I have ever plugged in to the
computer and let windows search for and install the drivers. Sometimes
I had to point to C:\windows\system32 and sometimes it installed
drivers automatically (after I clicked on "search for drivers"). I
think that the messages about unknown devices related to the devices
that I hadnt plugged in yet.

Hopefully I wont have to instruct windows to search for drivers if I
buy another USB-device and plug it in, but I bet it would work now :)

I still dont know if the DRVINDEX.DAT file has to be deleted (it still
hasnt been recreated). But I guess since everything worked out in the
end, i think it can safely be removed.
 
Deleting files from %windir%\inf is a bad idea, since the system ends up in
an unpredictable state.

I am guessing you installed some software that deleted the cache and index
files (infcache.1 and *.dat) from the %windir%\inf directory (probably a
bluetooth stack) which resulted in your system being in that state.
Basically, Windows lost the ability to automatically look at the DriverStore
for drivers already present there and hence you had to point it specifically
to that directory (with recursive search, you can just point to the root).
 
Deleting files from %windir%\inf is a bad idea, since the system ends up in
an unpredictable state.

I am guessing you installed some software that deleted the cache and index
files (infcache.1 and *.dat) from the %windir%\inf directory (probably a
bluetooth stack) which resulted in your system being in that state.
Basically, Windows lost the ability to automatically look at the DriverStore
for drivers already present there and hence you had to point it specifically
to that directory (with recursive search, you can just point to the root).
Click to expand...

Why would the system end up in an unpredictable state and what is it
that would become unpredictable/instable? Everything works now, so I
cant say the system is in such a state right now.

The only thing I have noticed is that the UAC controls that pops up
now and then, is a couple of second slower than before. First the
screen goes dark as it should but then it takes about 2 seconds before
the actual confirmation dialog pops up. It came up immediately when
the screen went dark before. But I dont know, maybe im just
remembering things wrongly.
 
moparstreet,

Well, he did say that he's guessing, which we all have to do sometimes, and
I'm not criticizing guessing. Facts on which to base one's conclusions
aren't always obvious in these situations. Regardless of what one thinks
about this approach (of deleting those files), it's hard to criticize the
results. It works! Not only here in moparstreet's case, but also in those
situations on which it's based. That is, on the website reference
information provided by the earlier post.
 
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