Cannot install PCMCIA card

Hi All,

I'm posting this in the Asus forum since I think the OS (XP) seems to be out of the equation.

Basically my issue goes as follows:

I purchased the following: http://www.lycom.com.tw/PC112R5.htm to use with a HD enclosure I bought that requires an eSATA connection.

I simply CANNOT get this card to work!

My laptop is the Z70Va - fairly standard with the following: 100GB HD, 1GB RAM, WinXP Pro, integrated wireless, integrated Bluetooth, DVD-RW.

There's only 1 PCMCIA slot which I assume is working because once I insert the card in, XP detects and attempts to install the new hardware. It seems to go.. but then I get "there was a problem with the hardware" Device manager shows that the Silicon Image SiI 3124 SoftRaid 5 Controller is installed, but with error code 10 (This device cannot start)

I used the drivers that came on the CD with the product, downloaded the drivers from the Lycom site, downloaded drivers from the Silicon Image website, all with no luck. Uninstalled, reinstalled multiple times using the above drivers I just mentioned - always the same error.

Just for kicks, I tried inserting the card in an HP laptop we have at work, using the drivers on the CD - boom, installed successfully in less than 5 minutes!

I figured perhaps XP's registry had gone funky (I've also tried deleting the SiI3124 registry entries), so I popped a new 100GB drive in the laptop, and installed XP freshly, with the latest drivers/BIOS from the ASUS website - STILL THE SAME THING.

Any one have any ideas? I've been wrestling with this for 3 days now, every day after coming home from work and I think I'm going nuts...

If you have ANY ideas, please let me know, or ask for any clarification on anything I've done.
If you have any other forums you suggest would be more appropriate for this question, feel free to say so as well.

Thanks in advance,
NJ

I've continued researching, still with no luck.. I'm wondering though, if perhaps the issue might lie with the Ricoh controller? http://www.notebookforums.com/thread120950.html

Does anyone know where I can look for more recent drivers for the Ricoh controller (already using the latest off the Asus website). I wish the BIOS gave more options as well..

Or any other thoughts?

I wish it were that simple, but as I mentioned:


The card itself appears to be fine - it's looking like an incompatibility with the Ricoh controller perhaps? Hence why I asked if anyone has any ideas where to look for updated Ricoh drivers (the Ricoh homepage has no mention of the fact that this company even creates card readers!

Of course I could be wrong, could be something else entirely and I'd be grateful for any other suggestions! Kind of desperate now..

Hi Djembe, good to hear from you again

Thanks for the link, but I have already tried the drivers that were available on the Asus website (sorry, I should have specified that earlier). I was hoping that there would be newer Ricoh drivers available than the ones Asus offers.

Here's the error message:


Of course, I'm not 100% sure that updating the Ricoh drivers would help, I was just thinking that perhaps there were incompatability issues with the Ricoh controller and the Silicon Image card.. but if there are other ideas, please let me know!