Problem with expressCard and PCI IRQ

[Chad_Valley]

Hi there,

was there a final outcome to this? Have just experienced the same problem when installing a serial express card. Card appears to function correctly but now have error at startup which I cannot fix.

Alex

[Tarkin]

Hello,

got the same problem here. IdeaPad S10e (4068-4JG) and ExpressCard Delock 66217. I tried the latest bios 14CN96WW and removed the bios backup battery, problem still exists. Just as the IdeaPad went out of the warranty *sigh*

I mailed the c't magazine about it, maybe they have an idea or will contact Lenovo about it.

Regards

Tarkin

[Tarkin]

Called Lenovo Hotline, they said if i would send it in for service, it will cost like 400 EUR. He also mentioned a spare part solution, just the mainboard, that would be around 250 EUR. Well, the IdeaPad was like 300 EUR as i got it one year ago, so that was no solution.

So i needed a solution to get rid of that error. The problem is the ESCD area of the bios, where the bios stores its information about IRQs and stuff. Many Bios have an option like "Clear ESCD", "Clear NVRAM" or "Reset Configuration Data", this option is missing on the IdeaPad. But there is a little nifty DOS-Tool from Phoenix called "nvram.exe" which just does what we need. Boot to real DOS (i used an MS-DOS formatted USB-Stick) and call "nvram -z", it zeroes the ESCD area and the error is gone.

The tool can be downloaded here.

Regards

Tarkin

[RThaden]

Tarkin,

thanks for that solution. Tried that and got rid of the annoying beep. Still, the problem exists that I can not use the card properly. The computer boots without having to remove the card but it doesn't work properly. Seems that the IRQ is not assigned correctly.

Lenovo told you that there is a spare part solution? Does that mean that, in general, there is a solution to that problem? That is, if I buy a new one now, it doesn't have that problem?

Best regards,

Rainer

[Tarkin]

---

RThaden wrote:

Lenovo told you that there is a spare part solution? Does that mean that, in general, there is a solution to that problem? That is, if I buy a new one now, it doesn't have that problem?

---

I dont know, but i guess it wont fix the problem to appear again.

Regards
Tarkin

[Tarkin]

There is a new BIOS release that fixes the problem:

Version 14CN98ww
BIOS: 14CN98ww

• (fix) Fix Bluetooth disappearing in device manager after resume from suspend.
• (fix) Fix some RS232 ExpressCard could system stop boot by IRQ conflict error.

[alans]

thanks,Tarkin

My BIOS is up to date.Unfortunately,the problem exists,it's not be fixed.

[Tarkin]

Really? For me the problem with the Delock 66217 ExpressCard to RS-232 Adapter has been fixed. It is using an Oxford adapter chip.