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The laptop computer I got recently has a built in CF slot. But unlike the USB card reader that I'm used to, the CF slot itself isn't managed through USB, which means that I cannot use the "Safely Remove Hardware" function which are readily available for USB devices.

This makes it impossible for me to eject or insert a CF card while the laptop is powered on. I always have to reboot in order for the laptop to recognize it. Is there something that I'm missing here or is this regular behavior? Do I need a special utility on top of the driver in order to use the slot as plug and play?

Hmm? Why can't you just take out the CF card while it's powered on? I have a CF slot on my desktop and it recognizes the card when it's inserted. It doesn't appear in "Safely Remove Hardware" so I just take it out when I'm done. Should work the same on a laptop, no?

Which laptop is this btw?

yeah, i can take it out but when i insert a card while the computer is on, it will not recognize it until i reboot, an annoying quirk which i don't really understand.

so now i just have a 16MB card stuck in there to block dust ^^ still using the card reader

it is sony AW series, the 18 inch ones

can you re-insert a card and hit refresh in the device manager? system something?
been a while since i did anything with PCs but i remember being able to add components w/o a reboot on older Win OSs

tried searching for hardware in device manager but it didn't work. really odd, maybe it is acting like a ide hard drive or something

It sounds like it's not functioning as intended. Go into Device Manager and delete the reader, then reboot. It should automatically reinstall the drivers for the reader. See if that solves the problem.

hey, that actually does work! if i uninstall the card from device manager then plug it back in, i can search for a new hardware and it will detect & reinstall the driver. but i have to do this every time i add/remove! kinda semi plug and play i guess ^^

thanks for all the replies!

Hey, when you insert the card into the CF reader, does the CF card show up in your list of available drives if you open up My Computer/Windows Explorer? If so, if you right-click on the drive, do you see the EJECT option from the list?

the eject option is there but it tells me that error occurred and nothing happens

Time to read the manual that came with the laptop...or do a Google search (post the whole model number and maybe someone can help you); I know sometimes I've had to click the EJECT menu item twice to make it work.

If all fails, go to the laptop manufacturer's website and look and see if there aren't updated drivers. If you're having this problem, I'm sure they know about the issue and have either new drivers or workarounds. Check their FAQ.

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VGNAW100series.pdf

this is the manual and it only covers the topic generally. since I only installed the bare minimum of sony utilities, I am thinking that might be the issue. but i did install all the latest drivers from site so that nothing is unrecognized.

but I did find the following comment on the internet which I think is relevant to me (since mine is vista 64 as well)



i am assuming control software is separate from the slot driver itself. guess i should just fold and install the sony stuff, btw thanks for the feedback guys, i appreciate it

Likely it is a modification of this adapter built-in

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Reader-Adapter-Lapto ... 387wt_1165

It is not a USB device

For pcmcia device you may pop that out with no problem

I have an adapter like that and a CF GPS unit. I can just plug it in or plug it out no problem

Daniel

I don't suppose it gives you more of a description than just "an error has occurred"? Maybe the device is still busy, or something is automatically started when the CF card is inserted, preventing it from being ejected? Use something like Process Explorer from sysinternals.com to see if there are any open file handles on the device.

got it! the problem was basically what rob and daniel suggested.

the CF drive was indeed a type of PC card adapter. the problem was that windows automatically installed a driver for this device, which makes the CF card show up as its own disc device. so even if i try to install/uninstall the driver for this disc device, it will just install the generic disc driver.

now, when i updated the driver for the PC card controller (JMicron JMB368 ExpressCard CF Adapter for my laptop) the CF slot actually showed up as a drive even if there was no CF card inside, and i can freely insert/remove and windows will recognize it instantly.

funny thing is, sony does not provide the JMicron driver i used above separately. it was available from another AW series user who used a separate utility to rip the entire driver from default install.

it was annoying but all seems to be well now, thanks everyone!

I think we associate mentally this type of device as if they are USB which requires to be ejected with one simple pre-ejection procedure.

Just pop that in or out whenever you have the need.

Daniel

I'm not sure if this is the case, but it is possible that in the device settings you have selected the option that writes automatically to the device (or something like that) and basically allows you to remove it whenever you wish without having to 'eject' or 'safely remove' it.

yeah, like daniel said i think we're just used to safely ejecting the USB from the operating system before physically taking it out. for the CF slot i have, i do not even have the option to eject anymore after the driver update. as the manual suggests, i just wait for the reading/writing light to go off then i just yank it out.