8 year old laptop suddenly "found new hardware" - any clue on what's going on?

[Black Panther]

It's a "mass storage controller", however this laptop has been unused for some 4 months. Around a year ago I had done a clean install of XP, and it functioned fine.

If I try to install whatever is missing, the installation fails.

The last tiime my dad used it, he said the dvd drive no longer worked (apart from him tearing off the "i" key with a fingernail). But in device manager the dvd drive "is workng properly" or so it says. I don't know if it's related - when I insert a disk its light lights up but it seems not to know when a disk is inside or not.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Right click on it, go to properties, switch to Details tab, select Hardware Ids under Property, copy and paste it here (e.g. PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6898&SUBSYS_E140174B&REV_00)


DVD drives like to fail. It might have just died. It is likely unrelated unless wires are getting crossed in the motherboard.

 

[Iceni]

check in your device ID's. this should give you the hardware code for the devices that are missing.

Start> Programs> Accessories> System tools> System information.

look in components, You should have a device ID like this one.

PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6719&SUBSYS_0B001002&REV_00\4&7768020&0&0008

Goggleing that ID should send you towards drivers and software.

here's a link to how pnp ID break down.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms913235(v=winembedded.5).aspx

If the search reveals nothing use part of the sting to identify your hardware.

The example above DEV_6719 can be googled to reveal your dealing with a HD6950/70


^^^ lol too slow :S

 

[Champ]

oh god, it's learning self-preservation. Its improving itself. This is the start of judgment day lol

 

[Black Panther]

Not sure exactly where to look but:

Under Storage, IDE I get:

PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_266F&SUBSYS_00201170&REV_04\3&B1BFB68&0&F9

And under components, CDROM I get:

PNP Device ID IDE\CDROMSONY_DVD_RW_DW-D56A_____________________PYS1____\5&45C1AB9&0&0.1.0

 

[Iceni]

http://www.airissupport.com/SupportHome2.aspx?Codigo=N840

there's your laptop... and a list of all the drivers with download links...... all i did was google the laptop name and model number.....

You want the chipset drivers.... There the ones that should have the IDE controller driver. You may find the CD works after you install them

 

[qubit]

Yeah, I've seen stuff like this. Unfortunately, it's hardware failure. It's eight years old which is pretty suggestive and the fact that you can't install drivers for it clinches it. If you're lucky, it's just a bad connection inside the laptop - try reseating any connectors related to storage.

I had something like this on an Asus Socket 7 mobo (remember them?) that was under a year old and hadn't been used all that much. The onboard gigabit network card had failed.

It showed up under XP as a network card with the little yellow exclamation mark. However, the driver off the install disc wouldn't recognize it although it had when it was new and nor would the latest driver off the Asus website. I even updated the BIOS. Basically, I pissed around with it for hours, including reinstalling XP from scratch, but that damned card would not be recognized and doesn't work to this day. I was royally pissed off by the end of it, I tell you. In the end, I had to plug a network card into a PCI slot.

For some reason, I still have this mobo and 1GHz Athlon CPU plugged into it. :shadedshu

 

[Iceni]

eah, I've seen stuff like this. Unfortunately, it's hardware failure. It's eight years old which is pretty suggestive and the fact that you can't install drivers for it clinches it. If you're lucky, it's just a bad connection inside the laptop - try reseating any connectors related to storage

I think he was trying to install the DVD drive without the IDE controller been installed. Get the IDE controller working first. Then it just may work.

 

[Frick]

I had something like this on an Asus Socket 7 mobo (remember them?) that was under a year old and hadn't been used all that much. The onboard gigabit network card had failed.

Off topic, but a socket 7 with onboard gbit NIC?

 

[1Kurgan1]

Sounds like you got a T-800 there, proof that Cyberdyne is real!

 

[qubit]

Off topic, but a socket 7 with onboard gbit NIC?

Yes! lol It's the Asus A7V600 and here's an AnandTech review. They quite liked it, but I didn't and regretted buying it.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_266F&SUBSYS_00201170&REV_04\3&B1BFB68&0&F9

VEN_8086 = Intel Corporation
DEV_266F = ICH6 audio device.

Try to install the Inf Utility for the computer and it just might go away:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx?lang=eng

 

[qubit]

VEN_8086 = Intel Corporation
DEV_266F = Sound Driver, specific ICH6.

Try to install the Inf Utility for the computer and it just might go away:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx?lang=eng

That reminds me I've not installed the latest chipset driver for my Intel mobo in over a year. It's not suffering for it, though.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Eh, on second thought, the Hardware Id isn't matching up with the description (Mass Storage Controller). I wonder if some wires got crossed (see "whiskers") that is electrically tying the DVD drive into the sound device. Windows sees that it can hold data but it doesn't fit the profile of anything else so it is calling it a mass storage device. Not impossible, but very improbable. If that is true though, it means the motherboard is on its way out. Given enough time, something might fry and it will simply quit working.


Edit: Screwed up again. It belongs to: Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers

Well that done don't make no sense. You'd think windows would have loaded its default Microsoft PATA driver in order to boot the system. Conflicting information... same driver link above though.

 

[xBruce88x]

its normal for your dvd drive to show those properties (0kb)... mine does it too anyway.

are there any media card slots of any kind on the laptop? im guessing if there is one its probably memory stick pro or w/e it is (the kind the orig sony psp uses)

it could be w/e it is wont work anymore... my grandmother's laptop (see my specs) dose the same with the sound and wifi.

 

[OneMoar]

might be that the cd drive is faulty and is "popping in and out of existence" causing windows to "redetect" it

 

[xBruce88x]

^ this is likely if the connector to the cd drive is worn as well

 

[Iceni]

Well that done don't make no sense. You'd think windows would have loaded its default Microsoft PATA driver in order to boot the system

Windows probably has installed generic PATA drivers. The trouble shooting requires that you do a work through tho for this sort of problem.

Chances are windows has done an update and replaced the aspi layer. Or in playing with the CD drive driver the incorrect aspi layer has been installed.

So the work-through becomes this.

Sort the IDE controller first. i already posted a link to the manufacturers IDE controller drivers.

If the drive still fails to work Update the aspi layer and CD drivers.

If the drive continues not to work start looking at hardware failure. Could be as simple as a pushed in pin on the device, Or it could be a dead drive at this point.


Regardless there is something a-miss with the drivers that have a direct influence on the CD drive. The ATA drivers probably do nothing for the general running of the machine, or enable unused features like raid. But it's always worth sorting minor problems to rule out hardware failure. You have to remember this is XP not win7 and XP makes mistakes, and you can force drivers onto a component that wasn't designed to use them without actually noticing.

A simple test would be to set the bios to CD bootable, and drop an XP disk in there.... If it tries to boot off CD then your problem is windows Not hardware.

 

[Black Panther]

A simple test would be to set the bios to CD bootable, and drop an XP disk in there.... If it tries to boot off CD then your problem is windows Not hardware.

It tries to boot but doesn't manage.

I'll reinstall the chipset drivers, I have all the laptop's drivers on USB... I had installed them all some months ago.

 

[qubit]

It tries to boot but doesn't manage.

I'll reinstall the chipset drivers, I have all the laptop's drivers on USB... I had installed them all some months ago.

This also confirms that the problem is hardware, as I explained above. Unfortunately, reinstalling the drivers won't fix this. Try opening the laptop and reseating connectors and see if it fixes it. If not, then it's time for a new laptop.

 

[Black Panther]

Installing the Card Reader and PCI modem drivers got rid of the ? in device manager.

But the DVD still doesn't work...
(And there I was wanting to do a fresh install)..

Exploring the dvd drive with the XP disc inside shows up like this:

 

[qubit]

Ok that's something. It's still suspect how Windows suddenly "redetected" hardware that was always there though.

Is the DVD drive easily removable? I'm thinking that reseating it in its connector might just resolve this.

To remove it, some models have a simple latch that you pull back with your finger and then pull the drive out. Others are held by a screw, which isn't always properly identified.

Also, your drive might be a standard fit, so buying a spare from a PC retailer would be possible for reasonable money. Note that the styling on it may clash with the rest of the laptop, as it would be a generic drive.

 

[Widjaja]

When I see a ! with mass storage controller I usually find it is the Card reader, when reinstalling windows on laptops.

As for the drive that may possibly be had it.
It most probably will read CDs but not DVDs
That's what I've seemed to have found with failing DVD drives.
Those laptop DVD drives aren't cheap over here.

8 years is a long life for a laptop too.

 

[Red_Machine]

Ok that's something. It's still suspect how Windows suddenly "redetected" hardware that was always there though.

Is the DVD drive easily removable? I'm thinking that reseating it in its connector might just resolve this.

To remove it, some models have a simple latch that you pull back with your finger and then pull the drive out. Others are held by a screw, which isn't always properly identified.

Also, your drive might be a standard fit, so buying a spare from a PC retailer would be possible for reasonable money. Note that the styling on it may clash with the rest of the laptop, as it would be a generic drive.

+1

Try reseating or cleaning the connector.

 

[Black Panther]

Is the DVD drive easily removable?

Apparently not. I once tried to dismantle this laptop, removing the entire bottom isn't enough, I'd have to remove the keyboard and all the top parts too...
Trouble is I don't have a backup pc to use now, so if I'd need to look up something on the net while dismantling I won't be able too. Also, if I muck up something I'd end up with no pc whatsoever so I guess better use this thing as it is for now, since the trouble's not software..