Generic Texas Instruments Lappy Card Reader - Problem with 4GB Cards

[VinDSL]

Anybody tried THIS WORKAROUND yet?

I bought a 4GB Lexar Memory Stick Pro Duo, to use as a ReadyBoost drive.

I got tired of the USB drive hanging out the side of my lappy. I'm afraid I'm gonna hit it (or somebody will bump into it) and bust the mobo!

The Memory Stick Pro sits flush with the case, inside the reader. :thumbsup:

The ^%$* generic POS T.I. card reader and/or drivers they use in all these multimedia lappys evidently don't recognize 4GB sticks!

Once again, I guess I'm gonna have to use a driver from a different manufacturer... like the Dell touchpad driver that I'm using with my Toshiba.

Bwahahahaha! I can't believe how generic all these lappys are becoming!

 

[VinDSL]

WoW!

This is great!

I'm the only guy on AnandTech that uses 4GB memory chips...

I kinda suspected that, but...

 

[corkyg]

No, I have a 4 GB CF card, but I use it in my DLSR. Don't need it in the lappy. I don't hang big things out of my USB ports - I use short 6-in cables for that purpose. And, I have no need of a ReadyBoost drive.

Anyway - it's a bump until more guys wake up.

 

[VinDSL]

Thanks for the bump!

Yeah, it's an odd situation... and hard to describe.

The first time I stuck it in the reader, it *saw* the 4GB card, but it thought it was only a 1GB stick. Since then, it knows there's a card in the reader, but doesn't know it's a 4GB stick, or what to do with it. If you try to "Explore" the 4GB card by left-clicking the disk, it's tells you to insert a card into the reader. If you right-click the disk and look at the properties, it says 0 bytes used/0 bytes available, yada, yada, yada...

BTW, my 32MB & 1GB sticks work just fine in it, so I'm *assuming* it's a driver problem... based on my past experience, and the experience of others.

The card reader in my W2K Pro desktop handles the 4GB stick with no problem - dittos for my Sony digital camera, and my Sony LCD HDTV, so I know the Memory Stick is good.

If nothing else, I'll just use the 1GB Memory Stick in my lappy... but, I would prefer to make 4GB flash cards compatible with the reader.

Hrm...

 

[corkyg]

I think you can probably use a 2 GB Lexar Pro card just as well. It may be just the HC part that doesn't work. Looks like the work around will do the job driver wise. Have you tried it?

Pro

I think it would also work with a 4 GB C/F card. C/F has greater bandwidth than SDHC.

 

[VinDSL]

Here's THE 4GB LEXAR STICK that I bought.

I'm primarily using it for a ReadyBoost drive, so 'access time' is le mot du jour...

I installed the lastest Texas Instruments Media Card Reader drivers yesterday (2.0.0.8) but no dice!

I'll keep looking...