iMac SD slot and Monterey

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Level 1

4 points

iMac SD slot and Monterey

Any relief to the problem of an iMac SD slot not working after Monterey? I have four classrooms with 21" iMacs and a lab with 21 iMac 27", all 2017-era, and none will read an SD card in the slot - only with a reader. This is a video editing lab and now these iMacs can't take the memory cards from the camcorders without a dongel.

The SD slots on our lab full of iMac Pros work fine with Monterey. Even the Mac Mini can read an SD. It's only the plain iMacs that have the problem.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.4

Posted on Sep 23, 2022 1:45 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 26, 2022 8:33 AM in response to CSU_FMA

Try this:

Install a clean version of Monterey on an external drive. Don't migrate anything.

Use it to boot one of the iMacs.

Can this system access the cards in the SD slot?

Yes? Then something coming from the older system, or something installed afterwards, is causing the problem.

I suppose that if this an outright bug in Monterey, we'd have heard of it in this forum by now.

I am much more inclined to believe in some sort of software conflict.

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Answer 2

CSU_FMA Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 21, 2022 1:56 PM in response to supercondr

I have discovered restarting with an SD in the slot is not necessarily a permanent fix, but repeating the process does start the slot working again.

When the slot is not working - at least when it stopped but before I re-applied the fix - it does appear in the system report.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

215,346 points

Sep 26, 2022 11:15 AM in response to CSU_FMA

CSU_FMA wrote:

The one 27" that was not upgraded is an external start-up drive - the internal has an error preventing Monterey to install. It is one that does not see the SD slot.

It has fresh installs of Media Composer, Creative Cloud, Avid Nexis Client, Pro Tools, Office, Chrome and Zoom.

I have another external Monterey start-up I can try when the lab is available.

I've had better luck from the Safe Mode because I evidently have some 3rd party software that interferes with the installation so try the following:

#1 - boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3-5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

#2 - go to the System/Software Update preference pane and begin the download.

#3 - run the installer from the Safe Mode.

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Answer 4

CSU_FMA Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2022 8:19 AM in response to Old Toad

27" iMacs are 2017, 4.2G i7 with16GB. 21.5" iMacs are 2017, 2.3GHz i5 with 8GB. All but one were updated from Mojave to Monterey 12.4 over the summer. The one was a clean install to 12.4.

They will work with an external card reader but not with the internal. SD cards are Sandisk, formatted FAT32 and ExFAT.

Of the ten 21.5", two work properly. Of the thirty 27", only one works.

They have been rebooted numerous times. Disk utility shows nothing. I have no idea where to start troubleshooting.

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Answer 5

CSU_FMA Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2022 9:48 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

The one 27" that was not upgraded is an external start-up drive - the internal has an error preventing Monterey to install. It is one that does not see the SD slot.

It has fresh installs of Media Composer, Creative Cloud, Avid Nexis Client, Pro Tools, Office, Chrome and Zoom.

I have another external Monterey start-up I can try when the lab is available.

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Answer 6

CSU_FMA Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 30, 2022 8:57 AM in response to Old Toad

Old Toad - The 27" iMac has a failing fusion drive that will not accept Monterey, but the external appears to run just as fast as the fusion.

All - I saw something from a Google search and tried it. It worked! Restart with an SD in the slot. If it doesn't appear on the desktop immediately, pull it out and reinsert it. Worked on every computer I've tried it on.

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

215,346 points

Sep 23, 2022 2:25 PM in response to CSU_FMA

So we don't waste time reinventing the wheel what fixes to the problem have your tried so far and what model year and type are the Macs?

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Answer 8

Sep 30, 2022 9:15 AM in response to CSU_FMA

Try using the About this Mac from the apple menu on left. Then get report and look for the sd slot, it should show the sd card in this slot.

if it doesn’t show there, the system can’t do anything with it.

good luck

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iMac SD slot and Monterey

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