H4N Not Recognized by Mac computer

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H4N Not Recognized by Mac computer

Is anyone having trouble using their Zoom H4N as an audio I/O device on MacOS 10.15.7 (Catalina)?

It was working for me great through the pandemic. A recent upgrade in OS has made it unusable; I have to restart the OS to get the microphone to be recognized as a device.

But if I unplug and plug it back in, it will never get recognized.

Changing USB cables didn't make a difference, and I've tried to connect it to other Macs with Catalina and haven't had any luck.

I have the most recent firmware (v 1.90) but I'm reading in this community that Zoom may have discontinued support since 2020.

Posted on Sep 7, 2022 5:25 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

gregbpool Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 14, 2022 7:42 AM in response to gregbpool

Problem solved! The data cable (USB A to Micro-B) I ordered for the H1N works as expected, and I'm able to use the H1N as an audio I/O device.

Understanding the differences between data and charging cables was key.

https://www.utmel.com/blog/categories/cables/what-is-a-usb-data-cable

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Answer 2

Eric_G1

Community Specialist

Sep 10, 2022 2:32 PM in response to gregbpool

Hello gregbpool,

For assistance with the product, you may try reaching out to the manufacturer for guidance on using it with the Mac.

We were able to help locate their help page here: Help Center | ZOOM

This page may also be able to help with issues pertaining to recording audio: If you can’t record audio on a Mac using macOS Mojave or later - Apple Support

Cheers.

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Answer 3

gregbpool Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 10, 2022 3:10 PM in response to Eric_G1

Update: Thanks, Eric_G1. My Security & Privacy settings already were allowing Zoom, Garage Band and QuickTime to use my microphone, which is why my H4N had been working for years until this issue.

Finding that the H4N is discontinued (https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/discontinued-products/), I decided to purchase a brand new H1N as my primary audio input device.

Same issue. I should be able to plug it in with or without batteries and see the USB screen appear when I connect using a USB cable. I can see the H1N is getting power from the USB port when I try without batteries, but that's it; even the H1N won't be recognized as either an audio or storage device. I again tried more than one port on my machine as well as multiple USB cables. I also failed when trying it on another machine using MacOS 12.4 (Monterey).

I'm wondering if any other owner of a Zoom handheld recorder is having similar issues on their MacOS. Thank you in advance!

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Answer 4

gregbpool Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 12, 2022 11:58 AM in response to gregbpool

After a good email exchange with Zoom, they pointed out it could very well be an issue related to my USB cable.

I'm ordering a data cable (USB A to Micro-B) for the H1N to test; all the USB cables I have tested with so far are probably for charging only (i.e. ports 3 and 4 are not active).

https://www.utmel.com/blog/categories/cables/what-is-a-usb-data-cable

It might have been that my old data cable for the H4N (USB A to Mini-B) has shorted on either or both ports and all I had to test with were charging cables. Hence my initial surprise that things had just stopped working.

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H4N Not Recognized by Mac computer

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