Dell Docking Station - External PCI Card Not Detected

Hi guys,

I have a Dell Latitude D520 laptop and a Dell D/Dock docking station. The
docking station has a PCI slot built in for standard PCI cards so when the
laptop is docked the extra device becomes available. Under Windows XP the
cards work perfectly when you dock the laptop. With Windows Vista they are
not detected at all - even if I reboot on the docking station or force a scan
for hardware changes. I have tried to install the Vista driver packages for
the PCI devices but they fail as no device is present in the system.

I have now tried with a Creative Labs Soundblaster Audigy card and a
Hauppauge PVR150 TV Tuner card. I know both of these devices work in the
docking station because they worked under XP. I also know that they work with
Vista because they were formally both running perfectly in my Vista based IBM
desktop media center. When I look in the BIOS settings of the laptop when it
is docked it shows that the PCI slot is occupied so the laptop can tell
theres something in there but when it boots to Vista nothing happens.

I have spent numerous hours on the phone to Dell and they came up with
nothing except to say that as far as they were concerned the hardware wasn't
at fault as it works fine with Windows XP in the docking station. Any further
troubleshooting wasn't covered by my warranty. I have totally re-installed
Vista twice now in an effort to fix it but that didn't work.

Does anyone have any ideas for things for me to try? I really want to make
this laptop my media center instead of the big noisy desktop machine
currently doing the job. And I've already spent far too much buying the right
accessories and cables to do this I don't want to have to splash some more
cash to get a USB TV Tuner card as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,
Dave Edwards

Just a quick update - I have installed Vista SP1 and this has made no
difference. Still not detecting any PCI cards.

I have formatted the laptop and gone back to XP SP2 and this worked. Until I
ran Windows Update and went to SP3 when it stopped detecting the external
cards again! I think this may well be a driver issues and something that Dell
need to look into.

[Borossima]

Can you tell me what make and model of the sound blaster card you're using on your d/dock? I'm desperately looking for one for my d/dock. The connection location confuses me. How do you install that with the i/o facing out with the connector being like that? Sent me a link where I can buy one.

Originally Posted by DavidEdwards

Just a quick update - I have installed Vista SP1 and this has made no
difference. Still not detecting any PCI cards.

[Borossima]

There is something that you should know with windows and PC in general.
They make them obsolete in a couple of years. They do that on purpose to keep you broke and maintain control of your lives.for example, I had a laser printer that works just fine with windows 95 but it didn't work on anything else like xp.
You see where I'm going with this? That's why you can buy the d/docking dirt cheap on ebay now because they are only compatible with xp. There is nothing wrong with your hardware. It's just the software. Even the laptop is designed to take a dump after a year! It's true and you don't have to believe it. This world is pure evil. By the way, can you sent me the link to that pci sound card?

Originally Posted by DavidEdwards

I have formatted the laptop and gone back to XP SP2 and this worked. Until I
ran Windows Update and went to SP3 when it stopped detecting the external
cards again! I think this may well be a driver issues and something that Dell
need to look into.

[Arkansasguy]

Hello, I have a precision M4300 running XP SP2 connected to the D/Dock. I have been desperately trying to find a PCI video card that will run at least 1 DVI monitor (preferably 2) so that I can run 1 monitor on the D/Dock built-in DVI port, the laptop monitor itself and at least 1 monitor on a video card installed in the tiny PCI slot in the D/Dock. Can someone please let me know which PCI video cards will work with this application (also must fit in the tiny PCI slot).
Thanks!