SD card reader problem

Hi Mark,

Can you explain in a bit more detail how to locate and delete de cache.db file?

Folks - similar problem here. Purchased 15inch MacBook Pro in DC a few weeks ago, now in Africa so not really near a helpdesk. Sandisk 45mb/s card... first try nothing. Only when I had both Photo Mechanic and iPhoto open did the card activate. Photo mechanic downloaded 1200 photos but forgot the last 200, so I inserted again - nothing. Tried lots but so far nothing has worked...

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I'll try. Assume that my user account on my Mac is Mark. Open a finder window, I open my home folder called Mark (with the house icon), then Library, then Caches then com.apple.imagent. Inside this last folder is a file called Cache.db. I drag this file to the trash. I can't empty the trash yet as this file is in use, so I log out, then back in again. Now I can empty the trash and the file has gone forever.

So whatever your user name is, you will find a home folder in the sidebar of any finder window with that name.

Does that help?

*REPOST FROM EARLIER THREAD*
I had this issue for months and I solved it by doing the following...
(Firstly, this is a list compiled by information from many threads and isn't all my own.)

1) Check the class of you SD card and make sure it is appropriate for the medium you are using it for.
eg. SD video/Jpegs=class 2+ HD video/RAW+Jpeg L=class 6+

2)Open disk utility and format your card to MS-DOS(Fat)

3) Clean your ports, with compressed ait or just blow on them, dust causes a lot of the communication problems and accumilates quickly.

4) Do a PRAM reset (google it)

5) If all else fails hold the power button for 2 mins with out letting go. Wait for the sleep light to blink and the computer to restart befor letting go.

*If all else fails, and apple support is of no help, plus you have no more guarantee then take a toothpick and fiddle with the SD port(at your own risk)

Or if nothing of the above makes a differents and you have not apple care of guarantee then

I had this issue for months and I solved it by doing the following...
(Firstly, this is a list compiled by information from many threads and isn't all my own.)

1) Check the class of you SD card and make sure it is appropriate for the medium you are using it for.
eg. SD video/Jpegs=class 2+ HD video/RAW+Jpeg L=class 6+

2)Open disk utility and format your card to MS-DOS(Fat)

3) Clean your ports, with compressed ait or just blow on them, dust causes a lot of the communication problems and accumilates quickly.

4)Delete cache. Go to library>cache>scroll all the way down and delete whats inside the bottom folder.

5) Do a PRAM reset (google it)

6) If all else fails hold the power button for 2 mins with out letting go. Wait for the sleep light to blink and the computer to restart befor letting go.

*If all else fails, and apple support is of no help, plus you have no more guarantee then take a toothpick and fiddle with the SD port(at your own risk)

There are no other solutions I found on the net. Personally steps 1-6 worked for me+plus i fiddled with the port.

With all the in mind. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. I bought an apple product to expand my creative and the ease of use. What did I get... I pain in the ***, and around 3 hours of lost footage because the computer before the above process currupted 2 sd cards and erased data permemantly!!!!.

FIX THIS....its obviously an issue if only this post has almost 16,000 views..............................

I think I may have found a quick fix: Insert the SD card all the way in, and then pull it out, only slightly, and re-insert it a few times. Don't pull the card all the way out, just pull it out slightly and quickly re-insert it. Do this a few times and it may work. I've tried it twice with two different cards that didn't work and after trying this method, it worked.

I also found tis very annoying. Bought a brand new macbook and a brand new nikon with high speed sd cards - amazed this caused trouble.

However, all the temp stuff is not good enough of course. I also tried inserting an sd card with less speed. I also wiggled the card, etc. But the one thing that did help, so far permanently (fingers crossed) was to just install the latest software updates. See also post of someone before me in this thread.

Good luck, this was indeed a big annoyance but as far as I can teel it has been solved.

One more solution was found. On MBP 13" mid 2009 sd cards were not seen by card reader. After looking inside the port with the lamp I noticed, that the right pin, that touches the pin on the card, that is near the cut corner, was very low and slightly deformated.

The solution is:

I took the SD cart itself, and inserted a little part of toothpick between the card cover and the pin, that is on the side with cut corner, so it became a little but higher than all other pins on the card. After that, the card reader was able to read the card.

Hi Guys,

I ran into this problem a few months ago and found it really annoying. I tried a few different cards and it never seemed to work, tried taking it out and putting back in again, reset the PRAM, still no effect.

I started having a look at this again today and was still getting the same problem, however, I don't know if I have been really stupid or something but I can now get the various different cards to all consistently read (at the moment, will update at a later date if this changes) by using the following method:

• Insert the card into the SD reader, and hold the card in as far as it will go (not too forcefully obviously but with a little bit of pressure).
• After holding the card for 5 seconds the disk appears on the desktop and in Finder consistently.

The weirdest thing is now that I have done that a couple of times with different cards to check them, I no longer have to hold the card in, it simply works!!! Crazy!

I'm not stupid enough to think that I've come up with the amazing solution to everyone's problems but this actually did work for me so maybe give it a go, you've got nothing to lose!!

Have fun 🙂

well ... i hate to admit it but i tried everything i read here ... and wouldn't ya know ... i put my mouth to the drive and blew in ... noticed the keyboard light up ... tossed in my two SD cards that weren't working and ... voilá! Both cards work! (I did use 'dust destroyer' only because I just happened to have some on hand, but I was actually afraid that I might have done some damage after I used it - that's why I then blew into the drive).

Thanks for all the tips - hope this one works for you guys, too!

This worked for me: I just blew really hard into the SD card slot a few times and my card is now detected every time.

Jeez, I feel like we're back in the days of Nintendo where you had to blow on the cartridges

I had the same problem, and blowing the slot worked!!!

I would NEVER recommend blowing into the card reader slot BUT I did and, after trying everything else that has been recommended, it worked! Why? I have no idea. I had no compressed air available so I took the chance. Will it continue to work? I have no idea. Come on, Apple, let's hear from you on this issue. Don't you think we might be telling other potential customers about this "non-problem"?!?!

It's obviously better with compressed air...

I had the same issue with a camera not reading my SD cards after going to a desert in Tunisia...and I finally solved the issue (after a LOT of research and trials) with compressed air... I guess these cards are very sensitive to dust.

suddenly had the same problem now. mbp with snowleo. have read all the pages and tried several things: resetting SMC made everything boot faster, blowing, rebooting and other things didn't help.

I've noticed that yesterday had an update of iPhoto and Apperture. So I went to {HDD_name}->Users->{User_name}->Library->Caches and removed Cache.db file in the com.apple.imagentcom.apple.imagent

and same file for iphoto and aperture. emtied trash, rebooted and it worked!

of course I understand that this problem has not only this reason, but for some occasions this will help!

I have a nifty solution to add to the list, but first a bit-o-history for the sake of thoroughness. . .

SD reader stopped working (after warranty expired, of course). Thinking that the problem was likely due to a driver issue that might be resolved with the next update, I simply waited several months until last week, after installing Lion, SD cards were still not showing up in Finder. I took my MBP to the Genius Bar and, after booting from an external drive to eliminate a corrupted driver as being a cause, I was told that the solution would be to replace the logic board at a cost of $310. "No thanks", I said and proceeded home to take matters into my own hands.

After blowing out the slot with compressed air (yes, a considerable puff of dust was emitted) and cleaning the contacts with some folded paper soaked in rubbing alcohol, the problem still existed. I then discovered that my SD card would mount if I lifted up on the end after it was inserted fully into the slot. When I released the pressure the SD card disappeared from Finder and a notification appeared chastising me for not properly ejecting the device and advising me to do so in the future. Thinking that these symptoms indicated a simple mechanical problem, I devised a method to automatically apply downward pressure on the SD card so that it would make a secure connection to the contacts. So far this method has been fool proof with several SD cards!

It is sad that such an exquisitly-engineered product as a Macbook Pro should have such a simple weakness, but based upon reading the numerous complaints in this and similar threads it sure seems that the contacts are a common source of the problem of an unrecognized SD card.

OK! Enough long winded explanation!!! Here is the solution:

Apply three strips (3/4" long) of scotch tape on the top of the SD card, starting from the edge that inserts first. The thickness of the tape serves to add to the thickness of the SD card and securely press the contacts against the ones in your MBP.

Simple, aint it? 😉

Of course, if your MBP is still under warranty, you might not feel good about resorting to such a cheesy fix. Still, I would think twice before having a technician of unknown qualification perform major surgery on your machine for something that can be so easy remedied.

Is it me or are all of these various solutions and "fixes" sounding like we are dealing with a pathetic, no name, cheap company's lousy product. This is obviously a widespread problem and Apple, for all of its notoriety of being a quality company with quality products, is simply ignoring us and this problem. I challenge you, Apple, to step up to the plate and do the right thing by addressing and solving this problem. This is NOT a minor issue but a significant function and use of this computer that renders the owners unable to do what many, many people do with their machines--work with photos from their cameras! No one likes to admit it when they make a mistake or something they do doesn't represent their best effort but stonewalling customers when there is an obvious problem borders on cynical. Ignore us and hope that we just go away. Well, maybe some of us will go away--to some other company that cares about their customers and their products.