SD card reader not working on iMac

Hi all

I've got the same problem, but I've SOLVED IT. Are you using some kind of virtual machine software like VMWare or Parallels? In my case, although you have VMWare closed, its kernel extensions are running in the background, freezing the card reader. I have to open a Virtual Machine, connect USB to it, and "presto!", SD stick poping up in Finder inside the VM. Disconnect and pops up in my Desktop

Can anyone confirm that has Parallels / VMWare installed? I've talked with level 2 support of Apple and can report that problem.

I don't have any virtual machine installed on my imac. But I don't know hwy I can't get SD card in the imac card slot. Is there any solution??

I dont have virtual machine installed, and have also experienced the problem. My iMac is one month old.

It happens every time I import images to Lightroom 3. Regardless of wether I let Lightroom automatically eject the SD card after import or when I do it manually.

Only workaround for me is to restart the computer 😟

Anxiously waiting for this issue to be solved!

My SD card reader stopped working too. After reading this forum, I thought about any new software I had installed. I turns out I had in fact installed Glance software (for web conferencing). When I closed Glance, the SD card reader worked again.

ok today i found out that when i insert a card (in my macbook pro) and it does not show up on the desktop, i only have to start iPhoto and then suddenly it is on the desktop and in iPhoto! Even more interesting: when i eject the card and quit iPhoto, all the cards i insert later are recognized immediately! (Probably not after a restart ...)
Hope this helps others too ...
All the best,
Wibo

Have tried uninstalling my most recent applications, have tried the iphoto step suggested above and the problem remains. Tried calling apple support about this, and they had the following suggestions:

1. Resetting the SMC (see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964 for those unfamiliar with what that is). This caused the SD card reader to disappear completely, even after a restart!!

2. Installing OSX again. Still no card reader whatsoever.

3. Backing up my account and doing a clean harddrive installation. This step would take me at least 3 days of backing up to an external hard drive and a lot of hazzle. I dont think I am prepared to go through this step without being quite certain it will fix the issue.

Geez, I'm not happy about this.

ok the iPhoto trick did not work last time ... until i clicked on 'File' and then 'Import to library'. And it took some time. Some additional steps thus may help ...
And no, i would definitely not do a clean installation! Come on Apple ..
Wibo

Hello,

I had the same problem with my iMac 21.5" (Mid 2010) which I own since one month.
At the beginning the SD cards were mounted without problems but suddenly they have only been recognised after reboot.

After wasting several hours with SMC reset and checking for software problems I remembered that most of the readers have a switch inside the slot which "tells" the OS that a card has been inserted. Seems that it failed to work due to dust or it simply got stuck.
In my iMac the switch is located in the upmost back corner of the slot. Carefully moving it slightly several times with a toothpick helped. Now the cards are mounted immediately again.
So this is definitely a hardware problem. I fear you have to call AppleCare to replace the reader if you won't try to fix it like me.
But be warned: There is a high risk to bend the contacts which makes the reader completely unusable and you may loose the warranty.
Don't try it if you have no experience with fixing electronic parts.

After changing two ⚠ iMacs before due to inacceptable quality problems I now want to wait if it fails again before I call AppleCare a third time.

In general I get in doubt if the iMac is worth the money you have to pay for it.

Regards
Andi172

I really wouldn't bother doing a clean HDD installation. I've done it twice and still no SD cards show up.

Don't know that this is your solution and truthfully I hadn't read through this entire thread...however this could be helpful to somebody.

I have BootCamp installed on my machine....I was in my W7 side and could not get my SD card to even show up or to be recognized upon insert. I re-booted into OS X and ejected the card which my machine DID see. Physically took it out of the computer, re-booted back to 7 and inserted the card...voila!!

My conclusion...I must have pulled the card out while in OS X without ejecting from the OS....this tells me the card MUST be ejected via OS on the MAC side...otherwise, even if you take it out physically...in MAC world the "eject" from the OS is still kinda' like pending...know what I mean?

It's also worhty to note I am 3 weeks new to Mac.

I am about to pull the trigger on a new iMac. The SD slot is important to me because I will use my new iMac for photography. I can't believe that there doesn't seem to be a fix yet from Apple since the initial post is several months old.

Is this issue on both mid 2010 21.5' and 27' machines?

Has anyone gotten satisfaction from Apple on the issue?

I just realized why my sd slot is not working, a small piece of plastic broke off the top left of the SD card, just above the lock, opposite the angled corner. So now, there rests a small piece of black plastic on the lower part of the slot towards the back. I found this out because only 1 SD card would work in it and its the one that the piece broke off from. I noticed that this card had a notch where the plastic was missing when comparing it to other cards and thought that it was odd, then realized it must have broken off in the slot somehow. I looked in with a flashlight and sure enough there it was and still is because it just will not come out. Perhaps this is just a freak occurrence for me but you might want to check it out.

OK. One of the above posts suggested ejecting other USB drives, and the two times I've tried that, it's worked. If I eject other USB connected drives, all of a sudden the SD Card Reader starts working again. This includes my TimeMachine drive...
Don't know if it's hardware or software related, but try ejecting other drives and see if it helps you.

That's all I can add at this point. REALLY hoping Apple fixes this soon - such a pain!

My card reader is back up again after a restart today and is now ejecting and remounting fine. I'm not sure what has changed since I last tested it some five weeks ago but the desktop icon that appears when I plug in the card is different from what it used to be (issue solved through a regular osx update? Nah!) I am really puzzled about this but hope that my sd reader stays healthy this time.

I'm having the same problem with my 2 week old 21,5" iMac:
first insert of SD card worked fine. On the second time, the card was not recognised.
After a restart, the SD card was mounted again once.
After that, the card is only mounted when it is in the slot while booting OS X 10.6.5.
I was always unmounting the device before removing it from the slot.

The same card works fine in an external USB card reader.