SD card reader not working on iMac

I literally tried all mentioned comments on my late 2012 iMac 21.5, SMC, PRAM, holding command + option + R on reboot, trying the card at different depths, blowing like a mad man into the reader, trying to unstick a switch etc....

I lost a lot of sleep over it, surely as an apple fan boy I couldn't possibly concede to the fact it just didn't live up to my expectations any more...

Then I came across a stroke of genius! A comment by Chard43 about broken plastic had me thinking, I recall an SD card with a section of plastic missing, where had it gone, it must be somewhere right? Yep, in the flippin' reader!!!!! Carefully removed the plastic and bingo, my card mounted!!!

For reference here is the size piece we are talking about......

Yeah, cool solution on my side. This is exactly what I posted back in Feb 8 2012...

"I found the solution to my problem today at this link. Apparently it's a hardware technicality. Check it out guys. It worked like a charm for me. http://cvil.ly/2011/10/30/imac-sd-card-reader-fix/ Hope it works for you guys."

Never had the same problem again since.

Does anyone else actually get an error message on their screen when they insert their SD card? Mine says "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer". Then I get the choices: Initialize, Ignore, or Eject.

I've tried all 15, yes 15 different cards/variations I have. All SD, micro SD/adapters, etc. NONE work, and I get the same message now. They all worked previously.

I do photography. Not to mention just family photos/events (you know, life, like everyone else.) This is insane. There's no toothpick trick for this (I tried). It happens on my iMac, and BOTH my kids' MacBook Pros. So, that tells me (not being too "techy") that it's the operating system, yes? Because ALL, yes, ALLLLLL those SD cards worked previously!

I even dug out my old card reader and cable -- same pop-up window. Done the PRAM reset. So frustrated like everyone else. I can't get my photos onto my computer. Period.

Struggled with this problem for weeks - this was the solution! Thanks!

http://cvil.ly/2011/10/30/imac-sd-card-reader-fix/

While the toothpick trick did NOT work for me....I realized what MY problem was. I had a SAMSUNG MICRO SD Card, and was trying to put it in an adapter and then into my iMac. Also, didn't work in either of my kids' two MacBook Pros.

So, really???? Hardware problem? No.

My son took his Micro SD card out of his phone -- happens to be SANDISK. Puts it in the adapter, puts it in the iMac, and both MacBooks, and guess what -- it reads perfectly.

So....MY problem was that it was the SAMSUNG Micro SD card. Not a hardware issue. Again....MY ISSUE. Samsung just says to hook up my phone to a cable and download my photos that way. Well, yes, now I have to use Kies. That's the only thing that seems to work.

Good luck to you all.....and I'm not EVER buying a Samsung SD card again. AND it's in my SAMSUNG PHONE!!! Sheesh. LOL!

i found that my printer was overriding my internal sd card reader. sd card worked find in printer/scanner, when I inserted the card, the "photos program" opened right away, displaying images. but when inserted in to imac sd reader wouldn't work .

hope this helps

This is NOT a hardware issue!!! If it were, resetting would not work and it does, for a while. This OS is defective in this area and needs a fix.

I too had this issue. I ended up resolving it by looking inside the SD card reader with my iPhone flashlight. I found two very tiny pieces of SD card that had obviously broken away from the card at some stage.

Reader is working fine now.

i have the same problem but i suspect its the new software. I have a 2009 iMac - Yosemite worked fine, but the new on has been a real pain for my aged computer. I recently put in the BETA mk2 and i suspect that this is the problem with the sd card. Other folks with newer models have found the OS stable and problem free - I suspect its not happy with an old machine. Generally i wait for the next cycle before updating the OS but was ill and not thinking properly, now i need to sit down and revert to Yosemite. The answer to the problem tho is to just get a $2 card adapter.

My 2009 imac works perfectly with El Capitan. This thread is five and a half years old......I don't think softwre is the issue.

O well there goes that theory. I can only say i am glad for you ! I wish i was so lucky. But it is curious. Does your sd card reader work?

Actually i just found my card reader and plugged it in and got a 'cant read partition' message. Thisisnt much good so i guess i now have to go up and load it into my old macbook and copy it to a usb etc etc.

perrycas wrote:

Does your sd card reader work?

Yes, perfectly. Have you tried inserting the sd card then restarting your iMac with it in?

yep did that - and then tried using my sd card adapter. nada.

10.11.1 & 2 both had problems with my VPN (now fixed) and one of the torrent sites i use, vuze, that i can't use at al. And generally everything runs a bit slower than Yosemite.

hey interesting i double checked and restarted again and the card showed. As well as this I then ejected the card and put it back in and that also worked. Bewdy!