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Fujifilm Finepix A210 Camera on Windows 98


owlsnesttoo

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:wacko: Hi!

My neighbor loaned me her Fujifilm Finepix A210 digital camera. I took the picture fine and can view them on the LCD screen in playback mode. However, I'm having trouble getting my computer to recognize the camera's storage device.

I used the software which came with the camera, copyright 2000-2003, and it supposedly loaded the needed drivers along with the Finepix viewer which I really don't need and don't want to use. Yet, when I hook up the camera to my second USB port and turn it on, it is listed as an unenabled and unknown device within the USB tree for the system devices within System Properties. The LCD screen on the camera shows that it is operating in the proper mode for transferring data to a computer.

I'm using the 4-14-2000 software version for my Intel 82801 chipset, which includes the USB Root Hub (USB Standard Host Controller) under the Intel® 82801AA USB Universal Host Controller. My Trackman marble wheel operates off of the root hub and works fine.

Does anyone know what I should do now? Thanks a bunch in advance.

Sharon

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:wacko: Hi!

My neighbor loaned me her Fujifilm Finepix A210 digital camera. I took the picture fine and can view them on the LCD screen in playback mode. However, I'm having trouble getting my computer to recognize the camera's storage device.

I used the software which came with the camera, copyright 2000-2003, and it supposedly loaded the needed drivers along with the Finepix viewer which I really don't need and don't want to use. Yet, when I hook up the camera to my second USB port and turn it on, it is listed as an unenabled and unknown device within the USB tree for the system devices within System Properties. The LCD screen on the camera shows that it is operating in the proper mode for transferring data to a computer.

I'm using the 4-14-2000 software version for my Intel 82801 chipset, which includes the USB Root Hub (USB Standard Host Controller) under the Intel® 82801AA USB Universal Host Controller. My Trackman marble wheel operates off of the root hub and works fine.

Does anyone know what I should do now? Thanks a bunch in advance.

Sharon

Among my clientele this has to be the single most common question that pops up. My standard reply:

Are you computer hardware savvy? If yes the best solution for accessing images from a camera is to obtain a USB based multi-format so-called all-in-one card-reader (like $10). This will allow you to access almost any digital photo in its stored-on-disk state, which more often than not is its highest quality native RAW format (unless the camera owner messed with the menus and set it to store gazillions of low quality images). The memory card is removed from the camera, inserted into the reader and is treated like a giant floppy disk. Most file manager style programs will browse this memory card and let you copy files from it (they will let you do more actually, but I suggest only copying from it and then placing the card back in the camera and use its menu for format/delete to avoid problems).

Then the question becomes internal or external? If you are on Vista, IMHO either works fine. The same goes for WinXP to some extent with some possible USB conflicts on older service packs, stick to external IMHO. On Win9x, although I know there are some members here that do otherwise, I never use internal card readers to help streamline the bootstrap by eliminating un-necessary drive letters (I only let USB devices load when I use them (on-demand)). Stick to external readers on Win9x, which fortuitously are more inexpensive and portable.

To make these readers work in this manner on Win9x you must first fix up the USB sub-system BEFORE connecting the reader (and cameras). Read through and understand the massively enormous NUSB thread here. Download the NUSB package at AXCEL216 / MDGx. You may also need to supplement this with the WinTricks/Lexar package. These updates are best done with no USB devices attached! One optional final step I recommend after USB has been fixed up is to attach your card reader, and then go into device manager and change its extra drive letters to higher ones to like R: S: T: etc, so that in the future the cards will be seen under predictable drive letters.

If you are not computer hardware savvy, those previous steps will be daunting (in this case IMHO you would be better served by being on WinXP or Vista anyway). The only other solution is to fall back upon the camera manufacturer's interface and subject yourself to the likely crappy software that they provide. In this scenario the camera is attached via USB cable AFTER their software is installed (and had made whatever god-forsaken system changes!) and communication is driven by the on-board camera firmware. This is where you appear to be now.

If you want to continue on this path you will need to first uninstall the camera software. Then I would still consider installing NUSB and WinTricks/Lexar. Then if you must, install the camera software again and it should now correctly add this camera to the registry.

P.S. I just thought of one other thing, search your Windows folder and below for occurences of Ntkern.vxd. There should be an updated one in Windows\System\Vmm32 that shows 4.10.2223. If not, you will need to run a specific Firewire update, even before the NUSB and WinTricks packages.

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I don't know about the A210 but my Fuji Finepix works just fine with NUSB as a USB storage device. Remvove the compagny drivers and try NUSB. If this doesn't work, indeed, there's a very detailed topic about Card Readers on win9x somewhere around here.

Edited by glocK_94
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:unsure: Thank you so much for responding!

In April I had a major meltdown of my old Windows 98SE OS, somehow half of the Windows files were "lost." It took a while, but I successfully installed Windows 98 Gold (for which I had a CD and key, unlike the 98SE OEM version). Then I downloaded and installed all of the 98FE updates that I could find at mdgx.com. My computer had never run so well as it does now, it's much more stable with crashes few and far between. Now, to the current problem of the digital camera.

I have version 4.10.2224 of ntkern.vxd in my various system folders. In April I downloaded nusb98fe.exe and apparently expanded it into a folder called UW98FE under my program files. However, I don't seem to remember running the executable from there and possibly I didn't because I didn't have any flash drives or storage devices to worry about. The weird thing is that I seem to have a lot of the updated files in my system folders. However, I know that if I did run it, I did not follow the preparation instructions given in the readme document so it possibly didn't "take." I did so much updating over a couple of weeks, I just can't remember now.

If I ran nusb98fe.exe now and I'd already run it, would this cause an unforseen problem?

The instructions in the readme document as are follows:

------------ Native USB 3.20 ------------

------ For Windows 98 First Edition -------

*Based on Maximus Decim Native USB ver 3.1*

*Credits goes to Maximus Decim for his original work*

Modified exclusively for Windows 98 First Edition English !

*Native USB Mass Storage support (without installation

of additional drivers for each type) for USB flash drives,

digital photo/video cameras and other similar devices.

*Universal Stack USB 2.0 (without installation

of additional drivers for each chipsets) with uninstall.

1.Remove ALL drivers of USB flash drives.

2.Remove ALL drivers of USB 2.0 controllers.

3.Remove ALL unknown USB devices.

4.Install NUSB 3.20 and reboot.

5.If new USB 2.0 controllers are detected

a rebot may be necessary.

--------------

Numbers 1 and 2 are confusing, because I don't know what the drivers would be called if I have any. I've never installed a flash drive before, but I don't know what drivers come with Windows. I can unattach my Trackman USB mouse, but don't know what drivers would have installed for it so how do I know what to remove?

I will first also uninstall the yukky camera software and I read somewhere yesterday that it's not necessary anyway if the camera's storage device is recognized under system devices as a mass storage device (which mine isn't at the moment).

I sure hope you can baby-step me through the rest of this...sigh. Thanks so much for the help.

Sharon

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I have version 4.10.2224 of ntkern.vxd in my various system folders. In April I downloaded nusb98fe.exe and apparently expanded it into a folder called UW98FE under my program files. However, I don't seem to remember running the executable from there and possibly I didn't because I didn't have any flash drives or storage devices to worry about. The weird thing is that I seem to have a lot of the updated files in my system folders. However, I know that if I did run it, I did not follow the preparation instructions given in the readme document so it possibly didn't "take." I did so much updating over a couple of weeks, I just can't remember now.

If I ran nusb98fe.exe now and I'd already run it, would this cause an unforseen problem?

Oops, I didn't realize it was Win98 gold. I have to defer to others in this case. Specifically I would find out if that 4.10.2224 version of Ntkern.vxd is correct (I am not even sure where that number comes from!). I do know that it needs to be located in Windows\System\Vmm32 for it to even be functional. Check out its location and report back here so that the Win98fe gurus know what you have.

I do not know the answer but I suspect you will be re-installing NUSB again and you should be prepared to re-install all your other USB gadgets as well. But to be clear, wait for the Win98fe gurus for better information!

P.S. you may want to pop into the NUSB thread if no-one shows up here.

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1.Remove ALL drivers of USB flash drives.

2.Remove ALL drivers of USB 2.0 controllers.

3.Remove ALL unknown USB devices.

4.Install NUSB 3.20 and reboot.

5.If new USB 2.0 controllers are detected

a rebot may be necessary.

--------------

Numbers 1 and 2 are confusing, because I don't know what the drivers would be called if I have any. I've never installed a flash drive before, but I don't know what drivers come with Windows. I can unattach my Trackman USB mouse, but don't know what drivers would have installed for it so how do I know what to remove?

If you never installed any flash drive / USB hard disk / another camera drivers, then it's ok. Your trackpad isn't a problem, you don't have to uninstall it.

Uninstall any USB 2.0 controllers and remove all USB devices listed with a yellow mark from your device list and unplug them.

Install NUSB, reboot, plug stuff back and cross your fingers.

Installing NUSB over an old one shouldn't be a problem.

But, if you're not in a rush, follow CharlotteTheHarlot's advise and post in the NUSB topic.

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I wouldn't bother with any camera specific drivers, Haven't installed any since 2004 or so when, insofar as cameras were concerned, I was a noob.

Just install a card reader and use it to read whatever card you might have. Get a multi format card reader. As the A210 uses xD cards, you would need that, and since the SD and CompactFlash cards are defacto standards, you will at least want to read those.

We are currently using a Fuji F401, (Released in 2002, uses SmartMedia) S602 (Released in 2002, uses Smart Media & CompactFlash), S9000 (Released in 2005, uses Xd cards and Compact Flash) and an F40fd (Released in 2007, uses Xd and SD cards) plus some other non-Fuji cameras. Between 2002 and 2006 Fuji made some awesome cameras before they got caught up in the megapixel wars in the last couple years - the 6MPixel S602 holds its own in image quality with the later 9.1MPixel S9000!

As this is a borrowed camera, at some time in the future, you might borrow a different camera, or even get one of your own. If you get one of the "reads every Flash card under the sun" type of card readers, you will not have to install camera drivers, or even WORRY about getting pictures from the camera to the computer.

I carry two flavors of Flash card readers, with the cameras. A USB 1.1 version for which I have the drivers for Windows 98 on a floppy disk, and a USB 2.0 version, which does not need drivers for windows XP. I can then transfer pictures from my camera to anyone else's computer as the situation arises - and it has more than once!

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:rolleyes: Thanks all!

I'm sorry that I'm such a newby about flash drives, etc. My 1999 Toshiba mini-tower just keeps chugging along, which is good since I've had to spend my money elsewhere.

After the 98SE meltdown, the AXCEL unofficial upgrades (30 or so) that I used on the version of Windows 98 Gold that I'd installed were supposed to be an "equivalent or better" upgrade to those used for the official Second Edition version of Windows 98. That may be why the version numbers of files are close, but not identical.

There were only a couple of the unofficial upgrades that I didn't use, either I was given a warning that they weren't appropriate for some reason or I decided that I didn't need them, like the NUSB upgrade. The file ntkern.vxd version 4.10.2224 is properly installed in the Windows/System/VMM32 folder, but don't know which upgrade installed it.

By the way, I have to say that the AXCEL unofficial upgrades are fantastic! My computer with it's original 98SE had always crashed at least once a day and often more than that. It drove me nuts, but now with the unofficial upgrades on the 98 Gold it only crashes when I've crammed the harddrive chock full and am trying to keep open 2 large MS Excel files (7000 rows each) at the same time, along with MS Word and a genealogy program. Even then Windows just complains that it's out of memory and I close something. So, high kudos to the creators of those upgrades!

Back to the camera problem: Will using the uninstall procedure on the software for the Fujifilm Finepix A210 camera remove the drivers that it installed? If not, would those drivers contain the letters "usb" in them somewhere so that I know what to manually remove? If no one here can reduce it down enough for the ignorant, I'll post tonight on the NUSB thread.

As to uninstalling the USB old USB 2.0 controllers, does this refer to removing them from the Device Manager? I don't see anything labeled USB 2.0, just (listed by connection) the Intel® 82801AA USB Universal Host controller and underneath it the USB Root Hub.

The only USB device that I've ever tried on this computer besides my Trackman Marble Wheel trackball mouse is this $%*@ camera. It's supposed to be so simple and yet I feel like an id***.

Sharon

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The only USB device that I've ever tried on this computer besides my Trackman Marble Wheel trackball mouse is this $%*@ camera.

That is good news for you as the uninstall/reinstall will be painless (I cannot even begin to count the amount of USB devices passing through my systems, so uninstall will never happen here)!

I researched into that VXD and turned up the most likely source of that file. I had all of these archived away ....

Ntkern.vxd ... 111,662 ... 04-10-97 ... 12:14p ... v4.03.1212 Win95osr_(USB-Supplement-4031212-1996-10-23_4031214-1997-04-10)
Ntkern.vxd ... 111,662 ... 11-20-96 ... 12:12p ... v4.03.1212 Win95osr_(USB-Supplement-4031212-1996-11-20_Taiwan)
Ntkern.vxd ... 111,662 ... 04-22-97 ... 12:14p ... v4.03.1212 Win95osr_(USB-Supplement-4031214-1997-04-22_Russian)
Ntkern.vxd ... 194,494 ... 05-11-98 .... 7:01p ... v4.10.1998 Win98
Ntkern.vxd ... 255,678 ... 04-29-98 .... 3:38p ... v4.10.1998 Win98ddk(Debug_Win98)
Ntkern.vxd ... 195,238 ... 04-23-99 ... 10:22p ... v4.10.2222 Win98se
Ntkern.vxd ... 269,978 ... 04-23-99 .... 8:35a ... v4.10.2222 Win98ddk(Debug_Win98se)
Ntkern.vxd ... 195,262 ... 06-28-00 ... 11:07a ... v4.10.2223 (Q267304-Standby-Error)_(Using)-Vmm32
[color="#800080"]Ntkern.vxd ... 195,262 ... 02-21-01 .... 6:27p ... v4.10.2224 (Unofficial-X-Pachner-Wupg98-Win98se-Pre-Fall-2006)[/color]
Ntkern.vxd ... 203,994 ... 06-08-00 .... 5:00p ... v4.90.3000 WinMe

At some point you installed the WUPG. I have no personal experience with that one myself (hence I did not recognize that version number) so I can only offer this as another point of research for you. Maybe USB will turn up in a search in the WUPG Updated! forum here at MSFN or on the WUPG Homepage on the web.

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