Avoiding USB removable media bit problems in XP - ThinkPad X41

[JaW]

Hi,

ThinkPad X41 (machine type 2526) utilize Intel i900 GMA platform, Win XP Pro SP3.

Other i900 and i855 systems are also very likely to have similar problems.

Scenario 1:

Removing both old and default video drivers (without integration video drivers) -> BSOD

Scenario 2:

Removing both old and default video drivers plus integrating latest video drivers -> BSOD (if I remember - BAD_POOL_CALLER 0x0000002c).

Scenario 3:

Removing only default video drivers plus integrating latest video drivers -> faulty handling removable media bit in USB portable drives, that is really unpleasant if have more than one partition on it, because XP can see only first partition on removable devices. Very bad to be discovered late.

Scenario 4:

Leaving both old and default video drivers plus integrating latest video drivers -> no more troubles.

Perhaps integration chipset files in Scenario 3 will be proper solution, but I don't want to spend more time only to check such option.

Hope this could be helpful somehow.

JaW

[jaclaz]

faulty handling removable media bit in USB portable drives, that is really unpleasant if have more than one partition on it, because XP can see only first partition on removable devices. Very bad to be discovered late.

Do you mean that *somehow* on that machine the video drivers change the way a mass storage filter driver works ?

I am presuming you are using one of cfadisk.sys or dummydisk.sys)

Maybe they are not "just" video drivers?

jaclaz

[JaW]

I am presuming you are using one of cfadisk.sys or dummydisk.sys

There was no filter drivers.

The USB disk drive was properly discovered by XP as "local disk" (non-removable drive), device class {4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} (location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}) but it appear as "removable drive". Device class for USB removable drives is {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} (location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}).

What is more, the USB disk drive was unable to spin down (normally it stops after 5 minutes).

No warnings in Device Manager or so.

P.S.

If You want to now, I also have checked "cfadisk.sys" with memory card reader and problem was the same: device class was {4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}, while memory card was shown as removable in "My Computer".

I just aware from deleting default video drivers while sliming down XP for ThinkPad X40/X41 machines.

[jaclaz]

There was no filter drivers.

The USB disk drive was properly discovered by XP as "local disk" (non-removable drive), device class {4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} (location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}) but it appear as "removable drive". Device class for USB removable drives is {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} (location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}).

What is more, the USB disk drive was unable to spin down (normally it stops after 5 minutes).

No warnings in Device Manager or so.

P.S.

If You want to now, I also have checked "cfadisk.sys" with memory card reader and problem was the same: device class was {4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}, while memory card was shown as removable in "My Computer".

Yes, the way the filter driver works is that one, more than the Registry device class, it would be interesting to know what happens with dd --list or Winobject.

I.e. if the actual partition/drive gets something like \DeviceHardDiskVolumen or something like \Device\Harddiskm\DP(x)0-0+y

Still it should mean that *somehow* the video drivers include a filter driver for mass storage.

The behaviour you experienced, if I get it right, it is that of the reversedummy.sys, i.e. make an otherwise "fixed" USB hard disk become a "removable" device.

Queer.

jaclaz

[Stormende]

This is weird, I tried with an external HD and it kept spinning all of the time, now I see why. Also I used a PCMCIA - SATA card and the results were the same. XP recognized both as removable devices and won't let them stop spinning but that behavior happens in Win7 as well.