DT3500 Smart Card reader problem

ClayL · Post by **ClayL** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 2:56 pm

I installed EncorePro and then plugged the reader in. The New Hardware Wizard came up and asked for the driver CD. I put the EncorePro Cd in and the reader installed.
I used the reader and it worked fine.
The problem is that when the computer has been shut down and restarted, EncorePro does not see the reader.

Device Manager sees it and says it's working properly. It does not show up in the "Safely Remove Hardware" list though.
If I uninstall the card and reinstall it, EncorePro then sees it and it shows up on the "Safely Remove Hardware" list .

When I shut the computer off and restart it, I have to go through the uninstall and reinstall process again to get Encore Pro to see it again.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone have any idea about what might be causing the problem?

I am using Windows SP SP2, EncorePro 1.8 and have a MAKO Infineer DT3500 card reader. I am not using the driver that came with the card but am using the one that came on the EncorePro CD.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:03 pm

Make sure the reader is plugged into the same USB port, not plugged into any hub or is sharing a hub with say a printer or mouse.

The voltage feeding the card reader is critical, when you plug other devices in sharing the port they can rob voltage from the buss the reader was using to read/write to the card.

Try plugging the reader back into the port where the driver was installed and rebooting with it plugged in. Then go into the System Parameters on EncorePro (upper right in the menu) and select the port the reader can be found (should be set for USB).

ClayL · Post by **ClayL** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:37 pm

Snoredog wrote:Make sure the reader is plugged into the same USB port, not plugged into any hub or is sharing a hub with say a printer or mouse.

The voltage feeding the card reader is critical, when you plug other devices in sharing the port they can rob voltage from the buss the reader was using to read/write to the card.

Try plugging the reader back into the port where the driver was installed and rebooting with it plugged in. Then go into the System Parameters on EncorePro (upper right in the menu) and select the port the reader can be found (should be set for USB).

Thanks for the reply Snoredog.

The reader is plugged into one of the two USB ports on the computer. A powered USB hub is plugged into the other one. The mouse and wireless printer dongle are both plugged into the powered hub.

I have tried installing the reader on both computer USB ports and one of the powered hub ports. I have rebooted the computer each time.

I have also tried plugging the reader in after bootup. The odd thing is that there is no indication that the computer sees it when I do this - other than the device manager says it's there and working properly which it isn't. I don't get the little pop-up saying it has found a new USB device.

This one has me puzzled.

WearyOne · Post by **WearyOne** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:04 pm

I have this problem sometimes. What works for me is I unplug the card reader, close down EncorePro, wait a few seconds, plug the reader back in, and start up EncorePro again and it works fine. I don't cut the computer off at all. Don't know if this will work for you or not, but thought I'd mention it. (I have Windows XP and the same reader you do.)

Pam

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:04 pm

ClayL wrote:
Snoredog wrote:Make sure the reader is plugged into the same USB port, not plugged into any hub or is sharing a hub with say a printer or mouse.

The voltage feeding the card reader is critical, when you plug other devices in sharing the port they can rob voltage from the buss the reader was using to read/write to the card.

Try plugging the reader back into the port where the driver was installed and rebooting with it plugged in. Then go into the System Parameters on EncorePro (upper right in the menu) and select the port the reader can be found (should be set for USB).
Thanks for the reply Snoredog.

The reader is plugged into one of the two USB ports on the computer. A powered USB hub is plugged into the other one. The mouse and wireless printer dongle are both plugged into the powered hub.

I have tried installing the reader on both computer USB ports and one of the powered hub ports. I have rebooted the computer each time.

I have also tried plugging the reader in after bootup. The odd thing is that there is no indication that the computer sees it when I do this - other than the device manager says it's there and working properly which it isn't. I don't get the little pop-up saying it has found a new USB device.
This one has me puzzled.

You may not. When you plug it into the USB port, are you putting your card in it before you plug it in? If you haven't, try that and see if the light comes on green (or red).

For 2 years, I was leaving mine plugged into the back of my computer and inserting the card before I turned it on.....sometimes the light came on and sometimes it didn't. If the light didn't come on, it would usually "engage" after unplugging and re-plugging it in again. Awhile back, I started experimenting with other USB ports and either leaving it unplugged (with card in the reader) when I turned it on and then plugging it in after it came up or other variations of these scenarios. On my computer, I have two USB ports on the right side near the front (which are both direct connected to the motherboard) and I found that one of those is very consistent with my card reader. I can leave it plugged in and the light on the card reader has always (so far) come on and things work fine. It also "engages" by plugging it into that port after the computer is up, too. These things CAN BE finicky.

Den

BrensTiredMom · Post by **BrensTiredMom** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:13 pm

Aaaacccckkk!!!! I'm having the same problem now! No problem when I first installed it and have done 2 downloads. Just went to do my third and it says card reader is not detected. But it IS there, listed in the 'safely remove hardware'. I tried deleting the driver and reinstalling it (the EP one) and nada. It's in a USB port and I've checked the preferences to be sure it's still set to USB. Just tried everything in the previous posts and still nothing. Just tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling from scratch. Nada. The red light on the card reader comes on...but it doesn't turn green like it does if all is ok. Any other suggestions?

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:11 pm

BrensTiredMom wrote:Aaaacccckkk!!!! I'm having the same problem now! No problem when I first installed it and have done 2 downloads. Just went to do my third and it says card reader is not detected. But it IS there, listed in the 'safely remove hardware'. I tried deleting the driver and reinstalling it (the EP one) and nada. It's in a USB port and I've checked the preferences to be sure it's still set to USB. Just tried everything in the previous posts and still nothing. Just tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling from scratch. Nada. The red light on the card reader comes on...but it doesn't turn green like it does if all is ok. Any other suggestions?

When do you get that message?.....when you are IN Encore Pro and start ehd donload? If so, have you tried clearing the error message and THEN taking your card out of the reader and re-inserting it? I've had that happen to me on occasions. Usually, it works the next time.

Den

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:15 pm

From reading posts, it strikes me that people get in a panic and start uninstalling and reinstalling stuff.....when in fact it's a quirky connectivity problem or card not not in the reader "just so".

I've experienced many of the things that others have and I've NEVER uninstalled or re-installed any of these software components.

Den

ClayL · Post by **ClayL** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:53 pm

The solution showed up in another thead viewtopic/t21953/CARD-READER-FIXREAD-THIS.html

There are serveral approaches that achieve the same result. I did the following:
Right click on My Computer then "Manage" then "Services and Applications" then "Services" then double click on "Smart Card" and change "Start-up Type" to Automatic.

I don't know why the software didn't do this on my installation, it apparenly does on most.

Mask