Major issues installing Windows 7 x64 on Dell Inspiron 1525

[Bollard]

Hey,

Im trying to get all my hardware working with Windows 7 Ultimate x64. But im having loads of issues. When i installed, all seemed good. But i quickly found out there were problems with the integrated SD card reader (Ricoh R5C833) was not working.

On installation, Windows Update downloaded some Ricoh updates (great i thought) but when i put in the SD card, the system completely locked up (couldnt even move the mouse). Tried using Dell drivers (R166188) and now the card is recognised in my Computer, when when i open it the screen goes black and the laptop shuts down! Ive tried installing with Admin privileges, updating chipset drivers and finding more recent Ricoh drivers - nothing works.

Ive tried following THIS guide, but it just doesnt help.

I have similar issues with my integrated webcam being recognised in device manager, but not actually working. The device can not be accessed? SImply shows a black image...

Any ideas? Cheers

[zeke009]

That stinks Bollard, but you might be at the mercy of Dell's driver release schedule while they prepare for the general release date.

[Gotenks98]

Have you tried using vista specific drivers?

[SMELTN]

Have you tried using vista specific drivers?

That is what I was going to say. Try the vista drivers, because I had the same issue with my HP laptop. They said they aren't supporting 7 at all yet on the drivers side, and that some of my hardware might not be supported at all, but my laptop came with Vista..

I used vista drivers for some things and it worked like a dream, no issues.

[salamanca]

boot once in safe mode, do nothing, then restart. this should fix it.

win7 still has some nasty bugs!

[Bollard]

Thanks for all the ideas... but i have tried Vista drivers (all the drivers from Dell are Vista anyway).

Interesting new update. Upon inserting the SD card, the laptop now instantly blue screens - what a useful feature...

[mad_onion]

sounds like you will have to wait for official windows 7 drivers. I don't know anything about how long that will be though, if ever...

[jakem1]

Have you tried installing the driver in Vista compatibility mode?

[kingroach]

I am running win 7 rtm x64 in 1525. Only driver I had to install was the touch pad drivers. My SD card slot works fine although with Windows 7 drivers it says "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller". Try uninstalling SD card reader and delete all the drivers too. Restart computer and scan for new hardware and see what happens.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

That's unfortunate. I have a Dell Studio 1535 and I had no problems with the built-in SD card reader. Windows Update detected all the components that required drivers and installed them accordingly. Anyway, the best [possible] solution I can think of is to install the drivers in Windows Vista compatibility mode.

[9UnknownMen]

That sucks. I also own a couple of Dell Laptops and almost always its the Ricoh MMC reader drivers that pop up on Windows Update on first boot but they've always installed with no incident. Having the screen go blank and hard shutdown is downright puzzling. I did have issues with my biometric scanner on x64 as well as the webcam.

[Bollard]

Thanks for the replies.

I tried installing again, not connected to the internet, and then installing the Dell drivers manually. Starting from the oldest, and moving up to the newest (all Vista x64). Every time i would check the Ricoh entries updated in device manager, and then insert the card. Every time Windows would detect it, Safely remove hardware appears and an SD card appears in Device Stage. I checked Computer Management > Disk Management, and the card is there! But no drive letter. When i click on it i get an error saying:

"The operation failed to complete becuase the Disk Management console view is not up-to-date. Refresh the view by using the refresh task. Is the problem persists close the Disk Management console, then restart Disk Management or restart the computer."

Restarting doesnt do anything. I even got a BSOD for clicking around too much with "Hardware Malfunction".

kingroach - Can i ask what driver versions you have for the 3 Ricoh entries, and the one SDA entry in Device Manager?

Ill try the safemode approach, and installing in compatibility mode. I feel im so close... why wont the damn thing work. Especially if others do work, like kingroach and the Technet article imply. Grrr.

Cheers.

[Bollard]

Anyone else with an Inspiron 1525 got the card reader and webcam working? Id really appreciate the driver versions... this is so frustrating.

[Heliosintrism]

im having the same exact problem i have an inspiron 1520 with a ricoh card reader ive tried every single driver from dell and im still having problems. mine are somewhat different though mine will read micro sd cards and regular sd cards but if i put in a ms pro or duo it freaks out and asks me to format it. and occasionally in my frustration of inserting and removing the card to try to get it to work i get a bsod...any ideas

ohh btw when it asks to format it i went ahead and clicked format once just to see and it said it couldnt access the disk

Edited November 13, 2009 by Heliosintrism