Realtek Card Reader driver installation

Support Kernel
1

So I have a laptop from 2012 running manjaro linux. It has a card reader from realtek. But when i put an SD Card in it, linux does not recognize it. This was not an issue when i was in Windows 10. Here is some information about it -
Running ‘sudo lspci -v’ gives this

`03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 166f
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 25
        Memory at c1500000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
        Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, IntMsgNum 0
        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
        Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number 00-00-00-01-00-4c-e0-00
        Kernel driver in use: rtsx_pci
        Kernel modules: rtsx_pci`

I did find some drivers online for it but they all required me to compile them, and the precompiled ones were for freeBSD and openBSD

But when running ‘make’ to build drivers, it gives this error -

`sed "s/RTSX_MK_TIME/`date +%y.%m.%d.%H.%M`/" timestamp.in > timestamp.h
cp -f ./define.release ./define.h
make -C /lib/modules/6.12.28-1-MANJARO/build/ SUBDIRS=/home/advik/Downloads/rts_pstor modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/home/advik/Downloads/rts_pstor'
make[1]: *** /lib/modules/6.12.28-1-MANJARO/build/: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/advik/Downloads/rts_pstor'
make: *** [Makefile:37: default] Error 2`

I have this linux kernel installed and running - 6.12.28-1-MANJARO

Mhwd from manjaro settings manager does say it is present but only recognizes it as ‘Unclassified Device’.

Mod edit: Please use proper formatting: How to format :footprints:

2

Are you sure that this is the correct device?
It appears you are looking at a PCI Express Card Reader, not a SD Card Reader.

For me, `lspci` shows: (click to expand) 
lspci
...
...
02:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller (rev 07)
02:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e232 (rev 04)
...
...
and `sudo lspci -v` for these same two lines: (click to expand)

…
…

02:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Sony Corporation PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
	Memory at f7d01000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [78] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [80] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
	Capabilities: [800] Advanced Error Reporting
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
	Kernel modules: sdhci_pci

02:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e232 (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Sony Corporation Device 9095
	Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 255
	Memory at f7d00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=256]
	Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [78] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [80] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting

…
…

You would need to have the kernel headers installed in order to be able to compile kernel modules.

1 Like
3

Have you tried an older lts kernel, like 6.1 for example?

4

Did you remember to install the kernel headers for your system’s running kernel?

Based on your initial topic

sudo pacman -Syu linux612-headers

And remember that you may need to compile the driver when kernel is updated…

EDIT

I have an older laptop with a similar card reader - not the exact type but RTL8411B which displays similarly using lspci.

3a:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8411B PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)

The card reader work as expected - and mounting the card’s partitions work as expected

NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL  UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
mmcblk0                                                                             
├─mmcblk0p1 vfat   FAT32 bootfs F781-C387                             411,8M    19% /run/media/nix/bootfs
└─mmcblk0p2 ext4   1.0   rootfs c5583856-6226-4aa4-b8ce-3dc9b364c82d  302,9M    78% /run/media/nix/rootfs
nvme0n1                                                                             
├─nvme0n1p1 vfat   FAT32        44CD-4BE4                              65,1M    32% /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2                                                                         
├─nvme0n1p3 ntfs                9254CEFE54CEE3D7                                    
├─nvme0n1p4 ntfs                F896D6E696D6A502                                    
├─nvme0n1p5 vfat   FAT32        C7B2-D79E                                           
└─nvme0n1p6 xfs                 9da50b87-4acd-4b5b-ab5d-e98cf3aa9769  254,8G     5% /

The device should work with current kernels according linux-hardware.org

→ Search results for 'RTS5209'

It could be other than driver issue - perhaps the card has failed?

2 Likes
5

SO in my last post i had an issue with the card but i have now fixed the issue. The problem is that when i used to put my card in when i was in windows 10, it would recognize it and also read it. ALSO i would hear a Click sound when it was inside and when i would want to take it out i would push the card in and it would eject it. Now that i am on manjaro however the reader does get recgnized but it wont read the card and when i would try to eject it, it simply wont come out. Is it a software issue or is the card reader just broken. BTW i havent had my laptop fixed or opened ever.

7

Ejecting a card is not controlled by software :wink:

8

The sound is provided by the operating system; it is configurable.

Yes, some card readers for micro SD cards has a spring operated ejecting mechanism as you describe.

This has nothing to do with the operating system

No - not a software issue - this is mechanical.

Whether it is completely broken - one can only guess.

One can speculate if some kind of dirt or general dust-fluff-thingy has entered the system somehow. and is now blocking the spring mechanism. A flashlight and a toothpick may be able to save the reader.

3 Likes
9

@Alexdex06
The same type of issue often occurs with headphone ports and the small USB charging plug holes in mobile phones … - careful manipulation required as to not to damage/bend the actual spring loaded connector pins.

The SD-card retaining / ejecting mechanism in my laptop is definitely … mechanical.
It does “click” when it engages/disengages - and I can feel it, too.
And also hear it - that faint noise is mechanical in nature, though.

1 Like
10

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