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windowsregistry

Smart-card reader programmed to receive a RESET notification from Windows but Windows doesn't send it

I have a smart-card reader that I need to use effectively in my environment but it doesn't work as well as i'd like it to.

I've tested it using a series of Dell laptops and it is programmed to receive a RESET notification when it resumes from S3 state. But whenever it resumes from the S3 state I need to unplug and plug back the USB device

I haven't noticed this on newer laptops so is this a Windows issue or does anyone have info on the RESET notification and whether it is hardware or BIOS related ?

Solution

  • This seems like an issue with Windows and not with the underlying hardware or BIOS.

    When you say that you don't see this on newer laptops, do you mean that it only happens on newer operating systems? ( Vista and post-vista OS's )

    If so, I believe that this is a functionality issue with the smartcard reader where it was built for earlier versions but doesn't work on Vista, Windows 7 and so on. The S3 resume doesn't work as the manufacturer intended because for Windows Vista, the prohibition against entering S3 sleep while USB devices are connected was removed because the newer BIOS's themselves are capable of handling the sleep and wake requirements.

    To workaround this, you could do the following:

    You have to find the USB universal host controller, locate the associated registry subkey and create a new DWORD value called ForceHCResetOnResume with a value of 1 and restart the machine. The registry subkey is as mentioned below:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\

    Add the key ForceHCResetOnResume = 1, reboot the machine and check if S3 resume works.

    Edit: This is the closest article i could find that describes the process in more detail:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/969711

    Let me know if it helps