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Base System Device: finding the right driver

DeviceInBox editorial team · Last updated September 17, 2026

"Base System Device" is the name Windows uses for a device in the base system peripheral class when no driver is installed. It shows up under Other devices with a yellow mark. The class covers a lot of hardware, but in practice it nearly always turns out to be one of these:

  • a built-in SD or MMC card reader (O2 Micro/BayHub, Ricoh, JMicron, Broadcom);
  • an Intel chipset or processor component, such as the Gaussian Mixture Model device, power management or Serial IO controllers;
  • the VMware VMCI device, if Windows is running inside a VMware virtual machine.
Three Base System Device entries under Other devices
Three entries with the same name are three different devices.

Find out what it is

Right-click Base System Device, choose Properties, open the Details tab and select "Hardware Ids". Then look at the VEN and DEV codes (how to read hardware IDs):

  • VEN_1217: O2 Micro or BayHub card reader, see card readers below
  • VEN_1180: Ricoh card reader
  • VEN_197B: JMicron card reader
  • VEN_14E4 with a card reader name: Broadcom card reader
  • VEN_8086: an Intel chipset or processor component, see Intel devices
  • VEN_15AD: VMware. Install or repair VMware Tools inside the virtual machine.

When there are several Base System Devices, check each one. They can be completely different components.

Table of Base System Device hardware IDs and what each one is
The ID says which device hides behind the generic name.

Card readers

This is the most common case. Install the driver for your reader's hardware ID; afterwards the device moves to SD host adapters or Memory technology devices.

Hardware IDDeviceDrivers
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8621Integrated MMC/SD controller18
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8620Integrated MMC/SD controller20
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8520SD/MMC Card Reader Controller18
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8420Integrated MMC/SD controller(Generic)18
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8421Integrated MMC/SD controller(Generic)14
PCI\VEN_1217&DEV_8720Integrated MMC/SD controller(Generic)14
PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_E822MMC/SD Host Controller2
PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_E823PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller2
PCI\VEN_197B&DEV_2381Standard SD Host Controller2
PCI\VEN_197B&DEV_2382SD/MMC Host Controller1
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_16BCBCM57765/57785 SDXC/MMC Card Reader1

Recent O2 Micro and BayHub packages:

You will find more in our card reader drivers. On laptops it is also worth checking the manufacturer's support page, where card reader drivers are often filed under Chipset or Storage.

Details tab showing the hardware ID of a Realtek card reader behind a Base System Device entry
One line decides which package the entry needs.

Intel devices

Intel Chipset Device Software identifies most of Intel's base system devices:

A few need a separate package from the laptop or motherboard maker:

  • PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1911 is the Intel Gaussian Mixture Model device, used for low-power voice wake-up on Skylake and later. Install the chipset package first; if it stays unknown, the audio or chipset driver for your specific model will cover it.
  • Intel Serial IO controllers (I2C, UART, GPIO) need the Intel Serial IO driver. On some laptops the touchpad and sensors don't work without it.
Hardware IDDeviceDrivers
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1911Skylake Gaussian Mixture Model7
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_9D21Sunrise Point-LP PMC6
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_9D64Sunrise Point-LP Serial IO I2C Controller #46
Optional driver updates in Windows Update with chipset and card reader drivers ticked
Optional updates cover most of these devices.

Restart and check again

Restart after installing drivers and open Device Manager again. If the device is still there, right-click it, choose Update driver and then "Search automatically for drivers". As a last resort, look under Settings, Windows Update, Advanced options, Optional updates, where Windows lists drivers from hardware makers.

Related: PCI Device without a driver, SM Bus Controller, PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Processing Controller.

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