Realtek PCIe Card Reader disappears from PCIe device tree when SD card is removed – WHEA-Logger Event ID 17

Question

Realtek PCIe Card Reader disappears from PCIe device tree when SD card is removed – WHEA-Logger Event ID 17

Alberto 10

System configuration

Laptop: HP OMEN 15-ax001np

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ

Operating system: Windows 10 Home 22H2, 64-bit

Build: 19045.7807

BIOS: HP F.52

Card reader: Realtek PCIe Card Reader

Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_522A

Parent PCIe Root Port: Intel PCI Express Root Port A114

Description of the problem

I have been investigating recurring WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings associated with Intel PCI Express Root Port A114.

During this investigation, I discovered an unusual and reproducible behaviour involving the Realtek PCIe card reader.

The card reader disappears from the PCIe device tree whenever the SD card is removed.

The observations are as follows:

With an SD card inserted, the Realtek PCIe Card Reader appears in the PCIe device tree as a child device of Intel Root Port A114.

When the SD card is removed, the Realtek card reader disappears from the PCIe device tree.

When an SD card is inserted again, the card reader reappears under the same PCIe Root Port.

This behaviour has been confirmed through Device Manager and HWiNFO monitoring.

This is not simply a case of the SD card disappearing from the Windows storage devices list. The Realtek PCIe controller itself disappears from the PCIe device tree.

Relationship with WHEA-Logger events

I have also established a consistent correlation between the presence of the SD card and the occurrence of WHEA warnings:

SD card inserted: the Realtek controller is visible under Root Port A114 and the WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings stop occurring.

SD card removed: the Realtek controller disappears from the PCIe device tree and WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings start occurring again.

The WHEA events report corrected PCI Express errors on Root Port A114.

The Correctable Error Status values recorded in different events include:

0x2040 – Bad TLP and Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

0x2080 – Bad DLLP and Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

0x0001 – Receiver Error.

0x0080 – Bad DLLP.

0x2000 – Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

I understand that these errors are reported by the Root Port and do not necessarily mean that the Root Port itself is defective.

Questions

I would appreciate clarification on the following points:

Is it normal, according to the Windows PCIe and SD bus driver architecture, for a PCIe SD card reader controller to disappear completely from the PCIe device tree when no SD card is inserted?

Could this behaviour be an intentional hardware or firmware power-management implementation, for example involving PCIe D3cold, ACPI power resources or link power management?

If the controller is intentionally powered down when no card is present, how is it supposed to be detected and re-enumerated when an SD card is inserted?

Could an incorrect PCIe power-management or link-state transition explain the WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings, particularly the Receiver Error, Bad TLP and Bad DLLP indications?

Are there any Windows diagnostic tools, event logs or commands that could help determine whether the controller is being intentionally powered off or whether PCIe communication with the Realtek device is failing?

What I am trying to establish

My main objective is to understand whether the disappearance of the Realtek PCIe controller is expected behaviour in this particular hardware configuration, or whether it indicates a problem involving the Realtek controller, PCIe link, motherboard firmware or power management.

I would also like to understand why the removal of the SD card is consistently associated with corrected PCIe errors on Root Port A114.

I have not yet established the root cause and would prefer to understand the underlying behaviour before attempting driver changes or BIOS modifications.

Thank you for any technical insight or suggestions.

System configuration

Laptop: HP OMEN 15-ax001np

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ

Operating system: Windows 10 Home 22H2, 64-bit

Build: 19045.7807

BIOS: HP F.52

Card reader: Realtek PCIe Card Reader

Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_522A

Parent PCIe Root Port: Intel PCI Express Root Port A114

Description of the problem

I have been investigating recurring WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings associated with Intel PCI Express Root Port A114.

During this investigation, I discovered an unusual and reproducible behaviour involving the Realtek PCIe card reader.

The card reader disappears from the PCIe device tree whenever the SD card is removed.

The observations are as follows:

With an SD card inserted, the Realtek PCIe Card Reader appears in the PCIe device tree as a child device of Intel Root Port A114.

When the SD card is removed, the Realtek card reader disappears from the PCIe device tree.

When an SD card is inserted again, the card reader reappears under the same PCIe Root Port.

This behaviour has been confirmed through Device Manager and HWiNFO monitoring.

This is not simply a case of the SD card disappearing from the Windows storage devices list. The Realtek PCIe controller itself disappears from the PCIe device tree.

Relationship with WHEA-Logger events

I have also established a consistent correlation between the presence of the SD card and the occurrence of WHEA warnings:

SD card inserted: the Realtek controller is visible under Root Port A114 and the WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings stop occurring.

SD card removed: the Realtek controller disappears from the PCIe device tree and WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings start occurring again.

The WHEA events report corrected PCI Express errors on Root Port A114.

The Correctable Error Status values recorded in different events include:

0x2040 – Bad TLP and Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

0x2080 – Bad DLLP and Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

0x0001 – Receiver Error.

0x0080 – Bad DLLP.

0x2000 – Advisory Non-Fatal Error.

I understand that these errors are reported by the Root Port and do not necessarily mean that the Root Port itself is defective.

Questions

I would appreciate clarification on the following points:

Is it normal, according to the Windows PCIe and SD bus driver architecture, for a PCIe SD card reader controller to disappear completely from the PCIe device tree when no SD card is inserted?

Could this behaviour be an intentional hardware or firmware power-management implementation, for example involving PCIe D3cold, ACPI power resources or link power management?

If the controller is intentionally powered down when no card is present, how is it supposed to be detected and re-enumerated when an SD card is inserted?

Could an incorrect PCIe power-management or link-state transition explain the WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings, particularly the Receiver Error, Bad TLP and Bad DLLP indications?

Are there any Windows diagnostic tools, event logs or commands that could help determine whether the controller is being intentionally powered off or whether PCIe communication with the Realtek device is failing?

What I am trying to establish

My main objective is to understand whether the disappearance of the Realtek PCIe controller is expected behaviour in this particular hardware configuration, or whether it indicates a problem involving the Realtek controller, PCIe link, motherboard firmware or power management.

I would also like to understand why the removal of the SD card is consistently associated with corrected PCIe errors on Root Port A114.

I have not yet established the root cause and would prefer to understand the underlying behaviour before attempting driver changes or BIOS modifications.

Thank you for any technical insight or suggestions.

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

There is one aspect of this behaviour that I find particularly puzzling.

If the Realtek PCIe Card Reader is intentionally entering D3cold when no SD card is present, as you suggested, why does this coincide with recurring WHEA-Logger Event ID 17 warnings on the upstream Intel Root Port A114?

The reported Correctable Error Status values include:

0x0001 – Receiver Error

0x0040 – Bad TLP

0x0080 – Bad DLLP

0x2000 – Advisory Non-Fatal Error

The correlation is consistent: when the SD card is inserted, the Realtek controller reappears in the PCIe device tree and the WHEA warnings stop. When the card is removed, the controller disappears and the warnings resume.

My question is:

Should a correctly implemented transition to D3cold generate these PCIe Correctable Error reports on the upstream Root Port?

Or would Receiver Error, Bad TLP and Bad DLLP indicate that something abnormal is happening during the power-down or link-state transition, even if the disappearance of the controller itself is expected?

In other words, could the controller's disappearance be normal while the associated PCIe errors are not?

I would appreciate a technical explanation distinguishing an expected D3cold transition from a faulty PCIe power-management or link transition.

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