This device cannot start (code 10) (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I;m not holding my breath with this one as it seems fairly complicated.

OS: Win XP SP2
Laptop: Dell Latitude C400
Problem Device: Wireless LAN PCI Card (realtek 8180)

This laptop is fairly old, which I happily use for web browsing and not much else. Due to it's age, I use the Wireless card in the PCMCIA slot (Only 1 slot available). Recently, it failed when I inserted the card. When checking Device Manager I get 9 occurences of the same device under "Unknown Devices". PCI Device with #2 to #8 after each duplicated occurence.
All have the message above.

I have thoroughly searched the internet and have found other topics, but none mention the multiple occurence under unknown devices that I could find.

Attempted fixes include re-installing the driver, failed.
Changing permisions in the registry, failed.
Restoring registry to a prior date, failed.
deleting registry keys, Which changed the (#2 to #8) to (#9 to 15#), failed.

I have also found suggestions of clearing the driver cache, and also checking msinfo32 to no avail.

BTW: The card works fine in another machine.
I also have a PCMCIA USB 2.0 card which does not even register when pushed into this slot. Other suggestions include IRQ settings which I now nothing about.
When checking the resource tab, it states the device is not using resource because it has a problem.

Can anyone think of a way I can revive my PCI Device in this PC, or is the PC slot completely stuffed? Is there anyway to check the PC slot is OK?

Software?/Hardware? I don't know.

Many thanks
Kempes

I found this, it seems to fit your problem but it's related to ME and 98 . You've said the card works in other PC's so we can rule that out and that a USB doesn't so it does point to a hardware problem as you've mentioned and is my first instinct as well or it still could be an O/S problem but quite an odd one especially because it's XP....so here's what I'd do (possible quick fix at the beginning as I'm a bit of nerd so would try and find out the exact problem )

possible quick fix 1

Have you done a system repair ? or a more drastic full reinstall ?

possible quick fix 2

Buy a new laptop

the short winded semi-nerd version

I know you've reinstalled the drivers but did you uninstall the device from device manager as well then reinstalled the drivers once Windows has found it as a new device ?

a short nerd version

You could check the connections and the connection block on the PCMCIA slot but you do need to take the laptop apart WARNING screw driver and care required ! There is a chance the connection to the PCB are loose/ broken which can be fixed if your good with a soldering iron

a long full on nerd version

IRQ is related to your hardware and is automatically assigned by Windows, you shouldn't mess around with this unless you know what you are doing (the option of changing them for most devices are greyed out)

You can check the current IRQ assignments by going into control panel > sytem > hardware > device manager click view and chnage to Resources by Type, expand the IRQ tree.

Now where where it can get tricky - your PCMCIA card should have a question mark or error assosiate with it it [/]can[/i] share an IRQ with something else because it not working (confusing or what) take a note of it for now.

Reboot into your BIOS (delete or F2, F5 or F8 when the laptop starts up) and check in there for the IRQ settings, you should have an entry for PCMCIA.

If I noted anything wrong I would reset the BIOS by turning off the laptop and removing the BIOS battery for about 20 mins - 2nd WARNING screw driver and care required !

This should ensure the BIOS IRQ allocation is 'refreshed' and there's no possible conflict with Windows it's a long shot but hey as I've said Windows should pick this up fine.

If your brave enough you could try all of those but backup all your important stuff first ! If not you could take it to be fixed but you might pay more than the laptop is worth and it might not be economically repairable.

Phew all typed out for now - go as far as your comfortable with for now, post back any more info (I love a challenge) It's probably the slot that's knackered anyway but hey why not try everything

Thanks for the response.

I forgot to mention that I did take the laptop apart completely trying to find something loose or damaged. The PCMCIA slot is fixed to the motherboard, and looked fully intact.

I had checked the Resources tab in device manager, but unfortunately it says the device is not using resource because it has a problem, and there is no other option to choose from here.

I also did uninstall each occurence in device manager and reinstalled from scratch, but no good. Even when plugging in before installing the driver, it shows 9 PCI Devices. When installing the driver, they change to Realtek 8180 ....NIC #no, still under Unknown devices.

I have downloaded the latest version of the bios and will try re-installing this as it is the same version as what I have, hopefully it will reset anything that is wrong.

I haven't tried a system repair yet, so will try this too, otherwise a full re-install.

I personally think a new laptop is required, but still worth a try.

I'll post back when I have attempted all of the above.

many thanks
Kempes

UPDATE!

OK, I have now tried the following.

Using a different PCI card = This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system. (Code 12)

restore registry from prior date backup = Same problem.

booting up in safe mode and deleting ghost instances in Dev Manager = Same problem.

Doing a full O/S Repair = (which incidently took a lot longer than the countdown timer suggested it would) = No difference at all.

I am convinced it's something to do with the IRQ settings thinking it has more devices attached than what is actually there, or something!

The only options left is to reinstall current BIOS (which is actually the same version as what I have), and/or re-installing XP from scratch.

Kempes said:

I am convinced it's something to do with the IRQ settings thinking it has more devices attached than what is actually there, or something!

Click to expand...

I have to say I have never come across any IRQ conflicts with the later versions of Windows especially from 98 onwards though faulty hardware could I suppose cause a problem.

Kempes said:

The only options left is to reinstall current BIOS (which is actually the same version as what I have), and/or re-installing XP from scratch.

Click to expand...

Did you try resetting the BIOS by removing the battery ? It will detect your hardware again and you might not need to reinstall Windows but if you do both at least you've eliminated everything