XD card reader help - nothing seems to happen when inserted

Peter, thank you for replying.  When I put my xd card into the slot in the front of the PC, nothing happens......no lights blinked, no removeable drives showed up.  Eventually I went through to Dell Online Chat support.....and what a saga it became!!!

 

During a 2hr line chat....they made take the side off the tower and disconnect the card reader wire (having disconnected everything except the power from the back of the PC).  They wanted me to reconnect it to check if that made any difference.  HOWEVER, we didn't get to find that out because in doing so, we then found the wireless receiver, keyboard and mouse couldn't be restored so had no control over the PC at all. 

 

The techie then phoned me and for the next 3 HRS!!! he and two of his managers continously chatted me through so many different combinations of which order in which to press the receiver, keyboard and mouse buttons.  God knows how many times I had to power down, boot up, go into BIOS, go into safe mode.  At the end they said they didn't know what to do as they couldn't find anything wrong with the hardware!!!  To cut a long story short, they eventually agreed to send an engineer the next day but only if I could provide another wired keyboard (as apparantly the engineers don't carry them which I think is a bit like a gardener turning up without a lawnmower)!!  Anyway, he got here just as I was about to go pick my 4yr old son from school (typical)...so we both had to talk and work really fast.  I was late picking my son up and I hadn't had the chance to get the engineer to check everything was working...... .  The engineer said it was a mystery as to why the card reader didn't work in the first place (nor when he first reconnected the wire inside but when he tried the second time it did!  AND he got my receiver, mouse and keyboard working almost immediately!  So I spent 5hrs with one techie and two different technical managers and the engineer spent 20 mins under strict deadline pressure!

 

When I next went onto the PC, I had NO AUDIO!!! So, had to contact Dell online support again only this time I was just checking with them my understanding of how to fix this prob myself which I could remember from doing once before.  SO, it seems I've got everything back and working again.

 

If anyone else has the same problem as I first did, they'll tell you to do the same (ie go inside the pc and disconnect and reconnect the PCI card slot cable and make sure it's in TIGHT)!  DO tell them first though if you have a wireless keyboard and mouse....and if you do, DO have a USB wired keyboard available in case you lose control over the wireless one.

 

But at least I've learnt a few processes as a result and as my warranty runs out in a month, I'm glad I spotted the prob now rather than later.

 

Thanks again for replying.....regards.... Celine