Compatibility issue with Dell Laptop E series Models

Product: Magma 2slot PCI and 4slo PCI, with PCMCIA and Ec54 card
Computer: Laptop Dell E series

Operating System: Win dows XP and Windows 7 (32bit and 64bit)

Question:Is there any compatibility issues using the Magma 2slot + Ec54 with Dell Laptop E series Models?

Answer:Yes, there is. It wont see the chassis. This information was based on the customers feedback / report

Using the 2slot chassis + ec54 (or PCMCIA) with Dell laptop E series models laptop, in Windows Device Manager it only detects the Magma expresscard or the Cardbus card and not the Expansion chassis.

Customers were able to fix the problem by switching to Dell model 6500 series.

Or Different brand of Laptops.

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Permalink Reply by Magma on October 21, 2011 at 11:02am

Another customer have reported a problem using Dell Laptop with Magma expansion chassis and Cardbus card.
This time the customer is using a Cardbus Card ( PCMCIA host card).
After checking the Device manager it only detects the Magma cardbus card. It is not detecting the chassis.

We have another customer who reported having issue with Dell 54XX, 55XX and 56XX series. It is exactly the same problem, it is not seeing the chassis. The customer tried reformatting the hard drive, re-install the Operating System and flashed the BIOS and yet it still exhibited the same issue.

But when tried with another brand of Laptop such as HP, it worked. HP running Windows XP, Windows Device Manager detects the cardbus card and the chassis, it also recognizes the PCI cards installed in the chassis.

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Permalink Reply by Magma on March 29, 2012 at 4:15pm

Dell E series / models runing Windows7 (32bit and 64bit) or Windoes XP are not compatible.
When connecting the Magma expansion chassis via Cardbus Card it won't see the chassis but it will detect the cardbus card.

Although computer via device manager detects the cardbus without any problem (i.e no yellow exclamation mark) it is unable to recognize the Magma chassis. Regardsless of how many times you updatethe BIOS or tried different combinations and permutations of troubleshooting it won't work at all.

The solution is to use a different model / brand of laptops.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Logan on April 2, 2012 at 7:21am

I had the same issue. Using an old 2slot and 4slot expansion units that was built 7 yrs ago.
My magma works with my old Dell Laptop running WIndows XP. And after switching to new Dell E 5220 my Magma didn't work. Windows Device Manager only detected the first bridge, which is the magma PCMCIA card. It did not detect the Magma expansion chassis. We called Magma Tech Support and spent a lot of hours troubleshooting it and still unsuccessful.
I bought a new hp 8540w running Windows 7 (64bit) and using a new Ecard and new 2slot expansion chassis ( 64bit), and it finally worked.