Cheers for that! I did read some threads on other forums where some people had the same problems yeah. They didn't say if they managed to install all of the drivers or not though.
I integrated Service Pack 2 on the install cd too so that's installed. I think I installed DirectX 9.0c first too. I can't quite remember. I'll double check later. I'm probably gonna install XP and run through everything again anyway cos I tried a few different Conexant Audio drivers which were really buggy. Installing the Intel INF file last did fix the Sm Bus Controller but nothing else. I've been looking at the Vista Device Manager too but I don't really know what type of device a "Base System Device" is. It's too vague! I know the Card Reader hasn't had any drivers installed on XP yet so it could be that. Is a Card Reader a Base System Device though? Doesn't really sound like it! I may have everything I need installed anyway... I just don't know. I need the XP installation for audio work. I have an external soundcard which I'm sure will install fine. I'd like to have the Conexant card available too but it's not necessarily crucial. I'm just worried that leaving these unknown devices driverless will cause instability.

I found the best trick is to install xp with sp2
update your direct x as soon as possible.
then fully update windows using windows update.
then install your motherboard drivers .
then move on to sound, gfx, cardreaders, bluetooth, wifi, hotkeys e.t.c

a system base could be anything built on the motherboard, even a wifi if windows xp does not fully understand , it can be classed as unknown system base device.

it won't really make the system unstable you will just go to use something one day and think oh thats what it was lol

I have done a two hp's myself now and you do run in to problems with that sound but the best way to match up the driver is look over the old models and try to match your chipset+cpu+sound

i will give you another tip as well that hp keep in a nice dark place.
if you look over there business end laptops they are still supporting even the brand new ones with xp.
its worth a look to see if any are a close match to yours.

davey6 Wrote:I found the best trick is to install xp with sp2
update your direct x as soon as possible.
then fully update windows using windows update.
then install your motherboard drivers .
then move on to sound, gfx, cardreaders, bluetooth, wifi, hotkeys e.t.c

a system base could be anything built on the motherboard, even a wifi if windows xp does not fully understand , it can be classed as unknown system base device.

it won't really make the system unstable you will just go to use something one day and think oh thats what it was lol

I have done a two hp's myself now and you do run in to problems with that sound but the best way to match up the driver is look over the old models and try to match your chipset+cpu+sound

i will give you another tip as well that hp keep in a nice dark place.
if you look over there business end laptops they are still supporting even the brand new ones with xp.
its worth a look to see if any are a close match to yours.

Yeah I would normally install things in the order you suggested but because i'm in somewhat unknown territory here, I kind of planned this install as a testing ground for all the different drivers. I don't mind if anything breaks at this point so I'm just trying each driver as I get it. I think the three Base System Devices are related to the Card Reader after all. I ran a program called Unknown Device Identifier (catchy eh?) and in this program under each of the three Base System Device entries, it says "Chip: Ricoh Co. Ltd." I know the Card Reader is made by Ricoh so I think that probably solves that. I suppose it could be the webcam too seeing as Ricoh is a camera company. At least I know it's not an essential device anyway. I'll scour the HP sites (and the net in general) for close matches for the audio card and card reader. Perhaps the Vista drivers might work in some cases? Thanks for all your help!

vista drivers work for somethings if installed by device manager , don't use the self install.
card readers do load that way as does, bluetooth and some built in cams.

that Ricoh card reader is very common in laptops and i know the so called vista driver does have the files needed for xp, its just the self install that stops it.

what i would do if you have the time that is.
download what drivers you want now, make a load of empty folders on your desk top.
try installing the spXXXX drivers for what ever device , just take notice of where its being unpacked.
change the default to one of your own folders so it unpacks all the driver files.
rename that folder to what ever you just tried , then save it to cdrom.

if you do it that way you won't mess up a clean install of xp by trying install after install.
update driver from device manager will pick any files it feels it can use.
keeps the system clean if it don't work.

Success! I downloaded the Vista drivers for the Ricoh Card Reader and extracted them to a folder. Within this folder, there was an x86 folder. In the x86 folder, there were MMC, MS and xD folders. These correspond to the three Base System Devices with missing drivers. You just need to go to Device Manager and choose Update Driver for each of the three Base System Devices and point it at the MMC, MS or xD folder. Like you said, it won't install anything if you choose the wrong folder. Just try each one until it finds the right one. Then repeat the process for the other two. I might try the same with the audio driver. Thanks again... you've been very helpful.

the sound driver should install from device manager, just as long as you load up the microsoft unversal driver first.

Ok I finally got everything working. Here's how to dual boot XP and Vista on the HP dv2550se...

Download the Intel floppy creation utility which includes the SATA driver you'll need:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_D...8&lang=eng

Make the floppy and extract the drivers, then integrate the driver on a custom XP install cd using nLite (http://www.nliteos.com). There are plenty of guides on how to do this.

In Vista, right click ?Computer? and choose ?Manage?. Here you can resize your Vista partition and create a new NTFS Logical partition in the empty space. Install XP on the new partition.

When it's installed, in Windows Explorer go to Tools - Folder Options - View and choose to show hidden files and show protected operating system files. Then copy the boot folder, boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, bootmgr and ntldr from the root of your Vista partition to the root of your XP partition.

Now download and install Microsoft's .NET Framework 2.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai...laylang=en

Next download and install Vista Boot Pro:
http://www.vistabootpro.org/

Open Vista Boot Pro and make a backup of your BCD file as instructed. Now go to ?System Bootloader ?and check "Windows Vista Bootloader". In the "Install Options", choose to install to a "Specific Drive? and choose your "C" drive. Click "Install Bootloader"
Next go to "Manage OS Entries" and add an entry for XP, choosing "D" as your "Boot Drive". Click ?Apply Updates?. Now XP and Vista should be bootable. You can set which is the default to boot and how long you should have to choose an OS here too.

Next, download and install Microsoft's DirectX 9.0c.
http://filehippo.com/download_directx/

Now download and install the Intel GM965 Chipset Driver, GM965 Graphics Driver & the Matrix Storage Manager. You can get them all here (top row):
http://support.intel.com/support/graphic...025753.htm

Reboot if needs be.

Get the Marvell Ethernet Adapter driver here:
http://www.marvell.com/drivers/driverDis...=175&pId=6

Get the Intel Wireless Adapter driver here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_r...bmit=Go%21

Install the two network adapter drivers.

Next, download the Ricoh Card Reader drivers for Vista:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softw...93&lang=en

Extract them to a folder, then use the drivers in the x86 folder to install each "Base System Device" manually using Device Manager... Right click "My Computer", go to the "Hardware" tab and choose "Device Manager". Scroll down til you see the three "Base System Devices".
Right click the first "Base System Device" and choose to ?Update driver?. Choose "No, not at this time" and click next, then choose ?Install from a list or specific location? and click next. De-check ?Search removable media? and check ?Include this location in the search?. Browse to the MS folder within the x86 and install click next. Now repeat this process for the second ?Base System Device?, this time choosing the MMC folder as the search location. Now do it for the third, choosing the xD folder as the search location.

Download and install the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture before installing the audio driver:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33501-34000/sp33867.exe

Download and install this Conexant HD Audio Driver:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp34001-34500/sp34386.exe

Download and extract the Vista Conexant Modem drivers and run the ?Setup.exe? in the V32 folder:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softw...93&lang=en

Download and install the HP Quicklaunch Buttons:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softw...28&lang=en

That should be the final missing device in Device Manager:

The Lightscribe Software and the HP Software Updater and Wireless Assistant aren't really necessary but you can get them at:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softw...53&lang=en

Hope that helps!

thanks for that may help others.

one quick note anyone downloading from hp ftp site please make sure you virus scan the files i have seen virus attacks come from hp ftp server.

Really? That's interesting! How does that happen do you think? Thanks for your help too by the way. Hopefully having all of the information in one place will help some others.

some people just like to find a hole , the fact hp don't check that ftp server that much does not help.
even this site was hacked , i noticed it straight away and got rid of all files in fact i deleted the whole forum folder from host and loaded up a backup just to be on the safe side.

sometimes people will find the odd post or member missing thats where i have downloaded the whole forums and virus checked them and spyware checked it and uploaded it back to site.
i feel much better doing it that way , i know its not really needed but i like to know my members and help site are safe.

thats another reason why the email and pm system is shut down fully on here, i have seen the search engine bots try and send a email or pm, i know some people think its a pain having that shut but i feel its better that way to stop spam or worse.