Q: MacBook Pro won't read Sandisk SDHC cards since Lion 10.7.1 update

Like PRBoy30 I also resorted to giving the card slot a huge puff, and it now reads my SDHC cards.  Hoorayy ! :-)

@Supritha: Can you give us any insight as to why this works? I installed XQuartz and my card appeared immediately! How can these two things be related?

By the way y'all: XQuartz is a replacement for X11 which is a subsystem of OSX that is meant to run Unix Apps ported to OSX. It's like Rosetta in a way.. but not exactly. Anyway.. I suspect it contains some updated drivers or kernel code that affect how SD cards mount, but even so.. totally inexplicable to me.

Apparently Apple is dropping support for X11 entirely in OS 10.8 and suggesting people move to XQuartz.

http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/

@Supritha: This totally worked! Can you give us any insight into why these two things are related??

By the way my card is a value brand 32gig class 10 SDHC bought in Japan.

Message was edited by: artsyca : added the type of Card I'm using.

What the bejeesus?

I bought a 32GB Samsung Extreme SD card a few weeks ago and assumed it was faulty when I got it… until I established that it worked fine in a MacBook Air and another MacBook Pro. Assumed it was a faulty slot or etc until I got curious and did a bit more searching just now. I read through this thread with both eyebrows raised, but I installed XQuartz anyway. Rebooted, and the SD card showed up perfectly every time. Truly baffling, but hey, it works!

(This is on Mountain Lion, in case you were wondering. Pretty sure I had the same problem under Lion too.)

okay so ive tried everything that has been posted here and none of it has worked. I'd like to point out that my simcard (SDHC 4gb) worked just fine a few weeks ago, and I didnt do any updating or make any changes to my computer between the time it worked and stopped working. Also, the memory card reads fine in othe computers, and my computer reads other memory cards fine, so its neither the card or the computer but rather the two together (as most of you have already pointed out). I downloaded xQuartz but when I clicked on it it didnt ask for an update, and when it opened it still opens under X11. I went to X11 > check for updates and it said I have the newest available version (2.7.4) but it seems like that worked for everyone else. how do I update it? I've tried everything else people have suggested. I dont know what to do!

Also if this is relevant, im running on OS X 10.7.5.

same issue report:

not working for SONY 8GB SDHC class 10. but okay with another 8GB class6 eagletec SDcard

updating the Xquartz doesn't help either...

p.s. doing it the other way by using a sd card adapter works. weired problem with the sdxc card slot for sure (macbook pro 15" early 2011)10.8.2

Same problem here. MacBook Pro 13" early 2011 Lion 10.7.5. I've installed XQuartz 2.7.4, rebooted, and nothing changed.

I don't know what to do anymore, my card is a SanDisk 32Gb Class 10 and works perfect on my GoPro Hero2 and on my Cannon! Besides that, it worked before I update to Lion some months before.

Really disappointed..

What in the flying bajeesus? Updating XQuartz actually did solve my problem on 10.8.2...

I was trying to use a sandisk SD card (that I know is perfectly functional) and the OS was not picking up on the fact that I was plugging it in. No /dev files or anything, it was like the card was physically broken.

But lo and behold, after I ran the XQuartz updater, it suddenly worked. That should not happen ever. The fact that installing an X suite somehow fixed what seems to be a driver issue is incredibly alarming and warrants more investigation.

While I am glad that this fixed the issue, I now have serious reservations about the operating system itself, as this indicates to me a very poorly done driver.

Edit:

Picked apart the installer package. After a cursory glance, I did not find anything that I would imagine would directly affect USB drivers or do anything USB-related with the kernel. There did appear to be some filesystem library in the installer, but that shouldn't prevent the card from being recognized at all. Still at a loss as to why this did anything.

I'm having the same problem w/ CF cards on my iMac running Lion and my daughter's macbook pro running mountain lion.  All of a sudden neither computer will recognize and mount my camera.  2 4gb Sandisc memory cards, in the camera or in a card reader on 2 computers and suddenly they don't work.  They both work fine on my PC at work.  This is not dust.  So is the fix the same as for SD cards?  Has anybody ran across anything different for CF cards researching this?

I have just got a 4GB sandisk micro sdhc card with adaptor, tryed it in my macbook pro retnia it did not work and tryed it in a 2 year old mac book no joy, i have been reading all the forums with no luck.

Went back to my macbook pro retnia put the card in and out a few times with no luck put it back in and moved it from side to side a few times bingo it worked, every time i insert it i have to move it from side to side to get it to work, i am using mountain lion 10.8.2

Have you installed the latest xQuartz? If not sounds like the reader might need a clean or replacing.

This worked perfectly to me.

Althought the checkbox was already selected I just deselect and selected it again....and...my card showed up like a charm.

VERY VERY THANK YOU....

Its not the LION OS for I have the same problem on Snow leopard

Thanks! This solved my issue.

I'm running the same software on my iMac and having the same problem. I insert the card itself- nothing, use a card reader, nothing. I also seem to have an inoperable USB port, which doesn't make sense since it's a relatively new computer and not had an issue before.