ExpressCard/34 not working in BootCamp Windows 7 64-bit. Apple's BIOS emulation does not give enough resources.

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ExpressCard/34 not working in BootCamp Windows 7 64-bit. Apple's BIOS emulation does not give enough resources.

MacBook Pro unibody, 15" 2009

ExpressCard/34 (Card is by Transcend TS-RDF1, JMicron chip for SD card) is not working in BootCamp Windows 7 64-bit. Windows reports:

"This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)

If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system."

Other data points: Card works fine in Mac OSX, worked under Windows XP 32-bit (initially reported same problem, but works after reboot).

Checking the forums there seems to be no actual device suggested to actually remove that would help the problem. And even if it was, the concept is ridiculous. What other device would you like to remove? Display adapter? Network adapter? No way. I use all available devices and don't want to compromise.

It seems like BIOS emulation does not allocate enough resources to ExpressCard.

Are others having the same problem?

Does anyone have a fix for this?

Is there anyone at Apple who cares to provide a solution?

MacBook Pro, Windows 7

Posted on Sep 4, 2011 6:01 PM

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Answer 1

25Albert

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Dec 9, 2012 2:14 AM in response to iva2k

Is there anyone at Apple who cares to provide a solution?

Obviously not ...

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Answer 2

Dec 9, 2012 2:30 AM in response to iva2k

Can you identify the port in device manager under Windows - If its broken it will have a yellow triangle against it.

Under Device Manager Windows may be able to find and download suitable drivers.

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Answer 3

25Albert

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Dec 9, 2012 4:51 AM in response to Keith Doherty3

It is not a driver problem, but a problem in the BIOS emulated by bootcamp on some (not all) MBP models. So unless Apple fixes it in bootcamp, there is no real solution. And obviously, Apple doesn't care. They are dropping the Expresscard slot anyway.

Unfortunately, this poster seems right: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=912259 :

The 2008/2009 Macbook Pros don't allow to use the ExpressCard slot because of EFI/Bootcamp errors (Windows Vista/7 cannot allocate an IRQ to the slot). You don't need any drivers for using an ExpressCard slot on Windows, you only need the drivers for the corresponding card you are using.

Bootcamped XP allowed to use the slot, but you could not use hot-plugging.

And from the Sonnet site ( http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_express34.html ) :

Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 not supported under Windows 7 or Windows Vista when running on unibody MacBook Pro computers. The problem is caused by the MacBook Pro's BIOS emulation, which doesn't allocate enough resources to support certain kinds of Expresscard/34 devices, such as a SATA controller, in these operating systems.

(added link to Sonnet's explanation)

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