ExpressCard port gets power from zbook, but not detected

[jskier]

We have a couple of zbooks at work (prior to the G series-  I see the G2 series problem posted already). There is an ExpressCard port on the laptop. I put in a Marvell 9128 (ECESAT32) eSATA card (2 port) card. The card powers up fine (green lights are on), but the chipset never gets detected (lspci and listing disks that are connected are missing).

I tried toggling various settings (v1/v2 ExpressCard, hybrid graphics on / off, ExpressCard on / off), and pulling the laptop off off the dock. Nothing I've tried works. I'm going to try and test the other zbook 17 next week (which will have Windows 7 Enterprise on it). 

I tried an EliteBook 8730w, and it works just fine (same linux; live booted to USB). Chipset is listed in lspci and drive(s) connected are present in fdisk. 

Linux info:

ArchLinux 64bit

Kernel: 4.9.11 / 4.4.52 LTS (tried booting seperately to both)

Curious if anyone has any suggestions? 

EDIT:

I've got an M.2 SATA card. Even though this is pre the "G" series, the M.2 cache card probably means the PCIe bus isn't hooked up to the express card. I'll look into it some and see what I can find. I don't need the M.2 cache and haven't for awhile. 

Thank you,

[banhien]

Hi,

Do you have driver for your Express cards ? Please install it on your computers.

Regards.

[jskier]

The driver for the card itself is built in to the Linux kernel I'm using. I apologize, my original post didn't state this, but it is implied, as the device is present in lspci and works just fine on the EliteBook.

The problem with the zbook is, it doesn't even recognize that the card is plugged in. It merely powers on; the OS has no idea it exists. If I load the ExpressCard module (driver) it can't find the device. Hopefully this clarifies things.