Firewire readers fail in Win2K?

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer "active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

I use a Mindstor external HD via Firewire. I can't speak for how long it stays connected, because I've never had a reason to leave it of for that long. However, I can say that I've never had an issue with it.

You might want to check your "Power Options" Maybe it won't stay connected thru a "System Standby" or other power saving "feature"? Just a thought.

Nope. Power never goes off automatically (just the monitor). Again, this happens in three different machines. It's not an isolated incident. Have tried two different Lexar firewire readers and another brand, three diff controllers, and three diff PCs.

Jim Davidson said:

I use a Mindstor external HD via Firewire. I can't speak for how
long it stays connected, because I've never had a reason to leave
it of for that long. However, I can say that I've never had an
issue with it.

You might want to check your "Power Options" Maybe it won't stay
connected thru a "System Standby" or other power saving "feature"?
Just a thought.

Click to expand...

I had the same experience. I ended up going back to Win98SE and dumping Win2000 so I could use the 1394 card readers. The Microsoft quagmire of info and issues has some info on it. I think Win 2000 Service Pack 3 was supposed to address these problems, but I haven't heard much about it.

kunza

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

The OS is your problem. I run windows and hate it. Soon I will switch to a MAC (I mac or I book). Maybe you should consider the same.

J. Roberts

Devices can be powered down even if the PC isn’t. I had this problem with a USB modem on a Win 98 machine, the modem wouldn’t work unless I connected to the internet within 10 minutes of switching on the PC. I never found a way round this issue, but the same modem doesn’t have this problem on a Win 2000 or XP machine.

J. Roberts said:

The OS is your problem. I run windows and hate it. Soon I will
switch to a MAC (I mac or I book). Maybe you should consider the
same.

Click to expand...

I wonder if the same type of response can be found on discussion groups dealing with e.g. cars. Imagine a question "I've tried hooking the air freshener to the mirror on three different Ford Explorers and the thing keeps disconnecting after a day or so, what's up?" and someone replying "The car is your problem. I drive a Ford and hate it. Soon I will switch to a Lexus...".

As for the problem F.U. Bee is facing, I searched http://support.microsoft.com for "firewire devices" and the only remotely relevant hit was a KB article pertaining to devices implementing their own powersaving schemes. However, a CF reader has no need for powersaving (or perhaps I'm wrong: A CF reader hooked up to a laptop might want to save power if possible? Or does it run off its own powersource?)?

It might be worth it to give MS support a call... :-/

--
Rune

My Microtech Firewire card reader works fine on XP.

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

Rune Moberg said:

J. Roberts said:

The OS is your problem. I run windows and hate it. Soon I will
switch to a MAC (I mac or I book). Maybe you should consider the
same.

Click to expand...

I wonder if the same type of response can be found on discussion
groups dealing with e.g. cars. Imagine a question "I've tried
hooking the air freshener to the mirror on three different Ford
Explorers and the thing keeps disconnecting after a day or so,
what's up?" and someone replying "The car is your problem. I drive
a Ford and hate it. Soon I will switch to a Lexus...".

As for the problem F.U. Bee is facing, I searched
http://support.microsoft.com for "firewire devices" and the only
remotely relevant hit was a KB article pertaining to devices
implementing their own powersaving schemes. However, a CF reader
has no need for powersaving (or perhaps I'm wrong: A CF reader
hooked up to a laptop might want to save power if possible? Or does
it run off its own powersource?)?

It might be worth it to give MS support a call... :-/

--
Rune

Click to expand...

I did offer a solution, one that will give a more satisfying long term result, and not just a quick fix. Sorry you could not recognize it as such.
J. Roberts

J. Roberts said:

I did offer a solution, one that will give a more satisfying long

Click to expand...

As I tried explaining to you, your "solution" was akin to "I didn't like my left leg when I was wearing red socks, so I had it amputated -- you should do the same thing!".

Or put in a more technical manner: First of all "Windows" is a broad term. You say you have had bad experiences with it, but you don't bother going into much detail (for one thing;was it even FW related?) nor do you point out which Windows version you had problems with (Windows 2000 has as much common with Win98 as MacOS does, i.e. nil).

Further more, Windows runs on a wide range of hardware. I think it's fair to say that only a small percentage of that hardware matches the quality of an Apple Macintosh. You get what you pay for (and you generally pay more for a Mac, so why insist on skimping when it comes to buying a generic brand PC?).

It's also fair to point out that Windows NT/2000/XP are rock solid operating systems. The only way to get to them is through bad hardware device drivers. Unfortunately, most hardware vendors are required to support it (otherwise they'd have 90% fewer customers), and there are only so many developers around knowledgable in the art of writing proper device drivers. (the end result is e.g. Soundblaster drivers that doesn't support dual CPU configurations and unstability -- a bluescreen is nothing but a poke in the eye telling you that the hardware manufacturer most likely goofed) Linux and MacOS doesn't enjoy as wide hardware support, and the hardware that is supported is usually supported fairly well (i.e. less problems, although it took me less than half an hour to find a way to cause a "kernel panic" under Linux once I had the chance to try it out for myself) Again: Buy properly supported hardware.

In short: There are so many factors involved, and it's fair to say that I wasn't too impressed by the insight you provided in your first response.

--
Rune

Rune Moberg said:

I wasn't too impressed by the insight you provided in your
first response.

--
Rune

Click to expand...

Why on earth would I be interested in impressing you?

J. Roberts

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

I have a similar problem (Win2k, Svc pack 1 and 2). I have tried two different firewire card readers (different brands) with the same result. It SEEMS to be related to removing the CF card when the computer says the CF card is "busy" and I should "try again later". (Even though it SHOULDN'T be busy!) After removing the card against the advice of the OS, the CF card is never again recognized. I haven't tried removing the firewire card and reinstalling it, but I know that re-boots don't help at all. I couldn't find any info on the problem on any forums.

My work-around was to get a USB-2 reader, which seems slower, but is trouble-free, and always lets me pull the CF card when I want to. I'd love to know what's causing this. I'd also like to know why the OS won't allow removal of the CF card, even though it's finished transferring files to my HD.

Anybody have a clue about this?

--
Lonnie

J. Roberts said:

The OS is your problem. I run windows and hate it. Soon I will
switch to a MAC (I mac or I book). Maybe you should consider the
same.

J. Roberts

Click to expand...

Now that makes a lot of sense. I suppose if the radio in your car doesn't work do you buy a new car? If your dishwasher acts up, do you buy a new house?

Seriously.

Macs are expensive and to have to replace all your software can be even more expensive then the over priced Macs. Seems to me that a much more sensible and less expensive solution is available. Try USB 2.0 or add PCMCIA slots to your desktop. Both work fine with win2k.

So, lots of bickering. Any solutions?

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

J. Roberts said:

Why on earth would I be interested in impressing you?

Click to expand...

Because I'm easily impressed.

So why did you post your original response? Your "I gave up and so should you" response is hardly helpful? Just trolling on your day off?

(Chances are good that you'll hit rocks with your new Mac too; then what? Install Linux? Go back to Windows?)

--
Rune

F.U. Bee said:

So, lots of bickering. Any solutions?

Click to expand...

Upgrade to Windows XP or Windows XP Pro.

No, oddly, this does not happen with a hard drive - only the firewire card reader. I'm very surprised not more have complained about this - it's easily reproducible and not machine/equipment specific. I guess people are just living with it.

Jim Davidson said:

I use a Mindstor external HD via Firewire. I can't speak for how
long it stays connected, because I've never had a reason to leave
it of for that long. However, I can say that I've never had an
issue with it.

You might want to check your "Power Options" Maybe it won't stay
connected thru a "System Standby" or other power saving "feature"?
Just a thought.

Click to expand...

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

Hi!

My Server (W2K) is running 24/7 for some weeks and my IEE1394-CF-Reader is still accessible! Never had any similar problem!!!
Regards
Hartmut
--
D30, D60

28-70 L, 100-400 L IS, 2x28-135 IS, SIGMA 17-35/2,8, Tamron 90/2.8 MACRO, Tamron 28-300

Hehe. Oh yeah! That will solve the problem allright. :-/

There's nothing wrong with firewire readers and Win2K. Some people don't know how to use card readers. I have absolutely no problems with the one I have. I also have a USB 2.0 reader and have had no problems with that either. They are both hooked up and I can use them both at the same time. People need to read the instructions that come with hardware they buy. One thing that you have to do with a card reader in Win2K (I assume with all Win OS) is to go to My Computer and right click on the drive letter for your card reader and select EJECT before just pulling the card out. I have not had a problem in over a year.

To solve a problem or give advise in this forum without knowing how someone handles/treats/uses their equipment is like being stuck in the sand.

I'm sure someone will read this thread and decide that Win2K will not handle firewire and that is simply not true. It's only true on the persons computer that is having a problem.

Just my 2 cents
Walt

Lev Brylin said:

F.U. Bee said:

So, lots of bickering. Any solutions?

Click to expand...

Upgrade to Windows XP or Windows XP Pro.

Click to expand...

F.U. Bee said:

So, lots of bickering. Any solutions?

Click to expand...

There have been several suggestions. Obviously there is some kind of compatibliity problem with win2k and firewire. Either fight it or work around it. Why don't you re-read the responses and pick one.

Laurie123 said:

F.U. Bee said:

I've tried three different firewire readers, three different
firewire adapters, in three different computers! The same problem
in all (in Win2K). The reader will work when the machine is turned
on, but when left for a day or so, the reader are no longer
"active," and one must pull out the cord in the back on the PC and
reinsert it. Sometimes this works; other times, a reboot is
required.

What's up??????? Scoured the net for this topic. Nothing.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...