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Level 1

1 points

SD card reader problem

Hoping for some help with this one... I have a mid-2009 13" MBP (2.26, 4 gigs, 1TB HDD, SL 10.6.4) and the SD card reader is not recognizing any of my SD cards (won't mount and also not seen in Disk Utility). The cards are recognized when using a USB adaptor, and also work fine in my wife's MBP SD card reader, so I know it's not the cards. System Profiler recognizes the internal card reader on my system:

Copied from Apple System Profiler:

USB High-Speed Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built-in USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBEHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x0aa9
PCI Revision ID: 0x00b1
PCI Vendor ID: 0x10de
Bus Number: 0x26

Internal Memory Card Reader:

Product ID: 0x8403
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 98.33
Serial Number: 000000009833
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple
Location ID: 0x26500000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500

Also, the card reader is recognized in Windows, but still doesn't detect the card when inserted.

This one has me stumped, so any help is very much appreciated.

MBP, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 24, 2010 1:40 PM

172 replies

Dec 8, 2010 4:27 AM in response to Shalkydri

Apparently the software update, I mentionned earlier didn't do much.

I guess, it was just a coincidence as my reader doesn't work anymore :/

Jan 2, 2011 11:28 AM in response to nwbusa

I've managed to find a solution! After months of fighting with my SD card reader, that one day just turned irresponsive... I've found a solution!

I am using VMware Fusion to run virtual windows machine on my mac. I suspected that my sd card could be "stuck in windows". So today I started up virtual windows, connected Internal Card Reader (through settings for USB in vmware) and after a couple of tries - managed to mount SD card in windows. Then I "Removed Safely SD Card" in windows and just in case disconnected internal card reader from windows (settings in vmware again).

And voila - after turning windows off - SD card appeared miraculously in Mac again!

Hope that helps!

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Jan 2, 2011 12:22 PM in response to Nalfeindo

Ah, yes. The simplicity and convenience of Windoze at work again. 😉

Jan 18, 2011 10:12 AM in response to nwbusa

Hi guys !

_*I have just fixed the whole problem with the SD card*_, the only thing you need to do is to start iPhoto and the card will appear on the desktop and in iPhoto.

I had the same problem with my iphone when i wanted to use theathering and my computer didn't find my iPhone so the only thing i needed to do to solve the problem was to open itunes and teathering started.

It's almost like you need to wake the SD reader up with iPhoto, really weird but true.

Jan 19, 2011 3:36 AM in response to nwbusa

I've got the same problem and starting iPhoto doesn't work, and i'm not using some virtual machine for windows or something..

But I won't doubt it hasn't got something to do with iPhoto, because it used to work fine and somehow for many of us it stopped working at a particular moment (that we probably have in common).

Hope somebody got the answer soon!

DOCSILO

Level 1

9 points

Jan 21, 2011 8:26 AM in response to dorusdevries

Hello,
I was having same problem with my Imac not finding SD cards. Seem to have found this out by accident.
I inserted the card at a slight angle, holding the cut off corner against the top of the SD slot and then pushing card in. It has loaded every time.
Hope this works for everyone.

Jan 24, 2011 1:05 PM in response to adamab123

Yes, it works!!

You should open iPhoto first then insert your SD card. This way your SD card will appear in iPhoto and desktop. The root cause for this issue may be about OS considering our SD cards as photo devices.

There must be better fix letting us see the card without iPhoto. Hey Apple! Can you hear me?

Feb 26, 2011 5:48 AM in response to Ali Kerim

Bizarre! Mine does this too. I have to insert the card while applying an anti-clockwise force and it pops straight up. The iphoto thing makes no difference.

Highspin

Level 1

0 points

Mar 20, 2011 3:18 AM in response to nwbusa

I have the same issues with my SD card reader. Sometimes my Mac finds the card at the first time, sometimes after 10 or 15 times trying.

The above described trick with iPhoto is not working on my Mac.

The System Profiler recognizes the card reader. If a card is recognized, the Disk Utility shows that 42MB are used, but 0 files on the disk. The photos on the card using approx. 31MB.

Message was edited by: Highspin

JLF SC

Level 1

0 points

Mar 31, 2011 2:31 PM in response to nwbusa

Same problem (which is new in last month) with SanDisk CompactFlash. Only after removing card reader completely for a good while do I sometimes (still intermittently) get the Card Reader to appear in Finder.
I do a lot of photo editing in Photoshop, Lightroom and Photmatrix so this is a real pain. I wish someone could offer a real fix other than things like rebooting, plug it in again, etc. I personally think its a recent bug in OS X 10.6.7. Never had this issue before. I don't use iPhoto, though did try that idea to no avail.

JLF SC

Level 1

0 points

Apr 1, 2011 6:24 AM in response to JLF SC

I'm pretty sure this is a Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.7 problem. I tested my card reader on my wife's iMac, which is still using OS X 10.5.8. Thankfully have not upgraded her's to Snow Leopard yet. The card reader with a SanDisk CompactFlash is immediately recognized on the earlier 10.5.8 op system. I ejected and re-inserted the card numerous times.

Apr 28, 2011 6:59 AM in response to nwbusa

Apple: fix this! None of the above ideas have worked for me, this is a real pain. I also think it's a problem with 10.6.7

Apr 28, 2011 8:52 AM in response to super geck te

The compressed air worked like a charm! Thanks!

KCM_SAT

Level 1

0 points

Apr 30, 2011 10:33 PM in response to nwbusa

Compressed air + opening iPhoto and then inserting the SD card worked for me.

DWFaust

Level 1

25 points

May 13, 2011 10:44 PM in response to nwbusa

This is incredibly maddening. I spend over $2000 on my new Macbook Pro and I can't read a $60 Sandisk SD card?

Sorry to all of you who claim to have "fixes"... nothing works...

One thing that I have noticed is that it seems to be related to the size of the card. It seems to reliable recognize 2GB cards... but not consistently recognizing anything larger. The specs say the card reader is compatible with SD ( => 2GB), SDHC (2GB > 32GB) and SDXC (32GB > 2TB)... but that would indicate that it's only functional at the SD spec. Huge Apple fail.

Now, what is our recourse?

SD card reader problem