Internal 9 in 1 card reader (mmc..): read only

[hogfish]

I have an Ultranote ii with an internal mmc/sd card reader. It seems to be a Realtex device. It has been working for a couple of years
without problems, but now it is treating all cards (sdhc or micro SDHC with adapters) as read only regardless of how the write tab is positioned.

My first thought was that dust had built up and blocked the led or sensor (or whatever reads the position of the write tab) so removed part of the rear panel (taking antistatic precautions) and vacuumed what dust there was and also used a small brush inside the reader to try to remove any obstructions. But this has not helped.

I have an external usb2/mmc card reader which confirms that all the cards (and adapters) are working properly, but it is too slow to replace the internal reader. Maybe there are usb3 readers with decent speed, but obviously I want to get the internal interface working again.

The Realtex card seems to be a surface mount soldered device, so if it has failed I suppose that I need to return under warranty.

Does anyone have any experience or advice?

 

[hogfish]

Replying to myself because I now have more information.

1) If I slightly move the lock tab by perhaps 0.2mm then cards are usually read/write mounted properly. Perhaps the cards were being seated a little too far into the reader as a result of wear in the socket, but trying to insert slightly incompletely normally fails, although I think it worked at least once. So it looks as if the sensor and emitter are working but depend critically on the exact position of the write tab. Anyway, this may help if anyone else encounters the problem. Treat the socket with care and do not push the cards home too hard.

2) I now have a USB3 mmc adapter which is excellent and very fast. It cost less than £3. So fi your built-in reader fails, an external reader like this will be a much more economic option rather than repairing the built in unit.