Problem connecting digital camera

**Chris** · 30-10-2003, 13:04

My computer is driving me mad! I have a Minolta DiMage F300 camera, which connects without complaint to my desktop PC in the office (Win2k) my mother-in-law's laptop (Win XP home) and my home computer (Mac OS 10.2.8)

However, I'm sitting in front of my old work laptop (also Win2k, but almost certainly not with any of the latest patches/service packs, etc) and the camera will not connect properly.

Well, I say won't connect properly ... what's actually happening is, the camera plugs in (USB), the computer detects new hardware, and a 'USB Mass Storage Device on drive F:' becomes visible in the Unplug or Eject Hardware icon next to the clock in the taskbar. However My Computer will not display any Drive F: icon. I can successfully transfer files from F:\ to a folder on my hdd partition D:\ from the command line but this is a pain! This same laptop used to be used to take photos from a Sony Cybershot, and was never a problem.

The System Propertes Hardware Tab Hardware Wizard sees no problems with the camera. I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the camera to no avail.

What's happening?!!?

Tricky · 30-10-2003, 13:46

Anything to do with usb standards? v2 vs v1.x?

**Chris** · 30-10-2003, 16:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricky

Anything to do with usb standards? v2 vs v1.x?

Nope, my home computer doesn't have USB2 and yet works fine with the camera ...

I can transfer files just fine via the command line, the only thing going wrong is the camera should show up in My Computer as Removable Disk F: but it doesn't.

Jon M · 30-10-2003, 16:14

i would find out if the USB drivers are up to date on the laptop. there have been several hotfixes issued over the last few months. i presume this laptop is running win2k sp4?

**Chris** · 30-10-2003, 16:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

i would find out if the USB drivers are up to date on the laptop. there have been several hotfixes issued over the last few months. i presume this laptop is running win2k sp4?

The OS was installed about 12-18 months ago and has had no updates of any kind since. Could a driver issue allow the camera to connect fine in every way except for it not showing up in My Computer?

rogercruse · 30-10-2003, 17:14

I suggest you check this site - www.dpreview.com - for lots and lots of info about cameras, etc

dobbin · 05-11-2003, 14:19

I had the same problem with my Fuji camera and windows XP, I reckon it happened as result of my installing the drivers whilst the device was attached.

Plugging the camera back in after the installation produces exactly the same effect you've had. So, how to fix? well, I removed the drivers and tried again and it still didn't work, so I'm heading down the slippery slope towards flattening it!

**Chris** · 05-11-2003, 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobbin

I had the same problem with my Fuji camera and windows XP, I reckon it happened as result of my installing the drivers whilst the device was attached.

Plugging the camera back in after the installation produces exactly the same effect you've had. So, how to fix? well, I removed the drivers and tried again and it still didn't work, so I'm heading down the slippery slope towards flattening it!

Hi Dobbin ... welcome to nthellworld!

Knowing I'm not alone makes me feel a little better! Like you, I have yet to find a solution. Since I got home I haven't had time to try to plug it into my Mac or my work PC, but when I went away it was fine on both of them. I think in my case there's something very wrong with the specific laptop I plugged it in to.

Jon M · 07-11-2003, 11:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by towny

The OS was installed about 12-18 months ago and has had no updates of any kind since. Could a driver issue allow the camera to connect fine in every way except for it not showing up in My Computer?

yes, definately.. i would get it up to date ASAP mate

albone · 07-11-2003, 20:02

had a simular problem with a le espion camera a while ago but downloaded the up to date driver and all was well. I can only wish you well! but look on the camera's site to see if they give you any fix's, is another way of tackling it. They may well have had simular problems and made a fix for it.

Lee · 16-11-2003, 20:17

I have a slightly similar problem with my Sony camera. However I assumed it was because I had a network drive mapped as drive f: - so whenever I connected the camera the camera drive never appeared.

I did find a workaround though.

Try this:

Once you have your camera connected - and it is detected ok, go to control panel, system, device manager and find the entry for you camera.

There will be a tab called 'volumes'. If this tab is empty, click 'populate volumes' - it then should pick up your memory card size.

Its a pain... but it seems to work for me!

latham · 14-12-2003, 21:19

I Realise that your post was some time ago. You have probably solved your problem or gone mad. I had the same trouble downloading my f300 as you describe. The answer in my case was to have a live connection from camera to the computer BEFORE opening the viewer software.
Best of luck