SD card reader not working on iMac

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the advice, I've had a look in the slot using a torch and i can't really work out what i need to prod, I could really do with some photos of what a working one looks like, and then I might be able to see what is wrong with mine, I'll see if I can hunt some down online.

I don't really want to go poking around there randomly, I do have Applecare on the iMac so I could take it to an Apple store to have them sort it out, but its a quite a big beast to be lugging around.

Julie

My built in SD Card reader isn't functioning either, however I was wondering if my IMac would recognize the sd card by use of an external card reader plugged into one of the USB ports?

I'm pretty sure an external USB reader will be fine, my internal one is not working, but my external USB card reader works perfectly.

Well I found how to solve this on my iMac 27 i5 bought in OCT 2009

I had this issue back in june last year and took it to apple who chnaged the SD slot and said it must have been faulty.

But now its happning again and I noticed that the only thing I have changed is im back using VM Ware and that was the thing i was using last time the SD card slot was giving me issues.

So once again im f00ked by windows!! no matter how far you try to stay away they get you hahah,

Opening VM ware clicking on the little USB sign on the bottom right corner and selecting connect to Internal Memory Card Reader and then click again and disconect will enable it again. Even when i switch between many cards.

Now when can apple read this post find a FIX and give people who have same issue as me a break!

DID this work for you give me a LIKE so we know how many people have this issue and the solution is what i did.

I once again inserted my sd card in the built in card reader, but this time I wiggled it up and down until contact was made, at which time I was able to open the sd card files.

SOLVED!

I had the same problem that overnight osx stopped mounting my sd card and also by connecting the camera itself (solved on the image capture preference setting to no application)

Just unninstall Clean my Mac software..just did here on a iMac 27"

This thing just messes up with the computer and doesnt give me a lot of benefits.

like it to let apple and the software developer solve this.

This is how I get the sd card reader to reinitialise.

Open up Parallels VM and from the devices menu select usb and then check Apple internal card reader, repeat process and uncheck card reader. SD card volume then re-appears in finder.

Don't know if this is caused by Parallels or if this is just a handy way of reinitialsing the internal usb port. It would be nice if Apple could come up with a fix regardless because this has been going on for years!

Seems a shame to have to have a 10 year old copy of Windows on my Mac just to get it to work the way it should...

This works. After reseting SMC and removing mouse from USB my card is visible again. Dude, you rock!

And some words for Apple. Guys, are u normal: I bought this macbook for $1300 and need to do some magic to make regulat things work? U maybe kidding me.

I had the same problem with my 21" iMac...SD card was only recognized after reboot or wake from sleep. I tried the toothpick trick I found in this thread and it seems to have fixed the problem, at least for now. I've been swapping cards in and out and they are recognized each time.

Here's another description of the problem and solution I found:

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

Reaching in with a toothpick and poking the switch seems to have done the trick on my 27" i5 iMac (2010).

We have a 27" iMac almost two years old. We've had this prob about a year now. No fixes yet =( At first we thought it was VMware but still happens when nothing is mounted. At any rate, you don't have to reboot just put it to sleep and wake it up, its better than completely rebooting...

Reached in and poked around with half of a plastic bread clip - seems to work now. I had to restart my computer before it would recognize the SD card.

This isn't a fix, but a work around, assuming you don't have a mechanical problem with the reader itself.

I had the same problem after installing (and removing) the GoPro software. It, like other camera maker's software) assumes that you only have one camera (theirs) and always want their software to download from your SD card --- rather than letting you drag and drop from the card. To do this I assume they hook the address of the card reader so their software gets 'firsties" to know when something is plugged into the reader.

Even after removing their software my SD card reader wouldn't recognize the card. If I leave the card in the reader and do a normal restart, the card is sensed when the mac does its initial polling of peripherals, before it passes the focus to the finder. Yes, it's a nuisance, but it works for my machine.

Same issue here, 27" iMac mid 2010 model running lion

Just got a new 4gb sandisk sdhc card. Card is recognised if inserted prior to boot / inserted then entered into sleep then awake.

However if it is just inserted the iMac refuses to recognise/mount it.

Why has this issue not been addressed by apple?

Why has this issue not been addressed by apple?

You might want to bring it to Apple's attention by either calling them, visiting your nearest Genius Bar, and/or sending feedback here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

These forums are user to user, so we can't answer for Apple.