petermaine

Q: USB port fails to recognize devices...

In general, Macbook's recognition of USB devices has been poor. My phone (not an IPhone - I'm suspicious) worked for a limited number of times (I suspect until an update of some sort was installed, but didn't keep close track...) then failed. Devices that seem to mount flawlessly on other computers (Windows - even XP - and Linux) are not even recognized when attached... but the ports appear to be working (SOME devices work flawlessly...) and all the questionable devices and cables have worked fine on several additional computers without the addition of any 'special' software.

 

Does anyone know of any manner of fix?

 

Of particular interest is my HTC phone... it occasionally has been useful in the field for both GPS locations (a real GPS, not only AGPS, so it can get a location even outside of cell coverage) and photos, but downloading anything to the Macbook has been impossible... I need to find a Windows or other machine, then use a thumbdrive. It's not impossible, but it is a pain in the rear end and is sometimes impossible to perform when needed (want to store and clear old data in the field, but don't want to drag around two computers...).

 

Help! And thank you for any suggestions...

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 17, 2011 6:40 AM

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Q: USB port fails to recognize devices...

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  • by Sonicray,

    Sonicray Sonicray Aug 17, 2011 6:51 AM in response to petermaine
    Level 4 (1,470 points)
    Aug 17, 2011 6:51 AM in response to petermaine

    Most devices that work "great" in Windows do not work well in Mac OS X due to the file format used in them. Are you sure these devices were made for mac or are compatible with the mac? Have you checked the manufacturer's website for software updates and firmware?

     

    You don't need to drag two computers you can run bootcamp in your mac and have windows in a partition:

    http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

  • by petermaine,

    petermaine petermaine Aug 17, 2011 9:01 AM in response to Sonicray
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2011 9:01 AM in response to Sonicray

    I appreciate the reply, but file compatibility is not the problem. This incompatibility occurs long before the file system is detected and explored. There are no files on the phone (they were downloaded to the Windows machine), the card has been formatted (by the phone) and clean before being connected to the Mac. Another device also has failed with and without files (again, works in Windows and Linux). The phone worked briefly, but then stopped working (on the Mac only... while still working on Windows and Linux).

     

    Repartitioning is not an option at the moment, and booting into Windows to download USB-based data is really not an answer (although it is a work-around). USB is a relatively open standard and is implemented well in both Windows and Linux... why not Mac OSX? A better question is why it seemed to work sometime this past spring, but then stopped (again, only on the Mac) working... and how to get it working again...

     

    Thanks, though... I do appreciate the thought and response... I think I'm a bit 'cranky' at having been trying with several USB devices to get (seasonal and time-sensitive) work done and finding (on my first Mac of just about a year old) that I can't work on it and haven't a good option of solving the problem other than this list!  ;-)  Had I thought about it all and had time, I should have tried all this prior to needing the work done, so it's my assumptions and failing as much as the Mac... I just didn't forsee this kind of problem...

  • by Sonicray,Helpful

    Sonicray Sonicray Aug 17, 2011 4:23 PM in response to petermaine
    Level 4 (1,470 points)
    Aug 17, 2011 4:23 PM in response to petermaine

    Wow! you went on a complete slant there...

     

    Synchronizing your HTC with a Mac:

    http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/htc/articles/77154.aspx

  • by petermaine,

    petermaine petermaine Aug 17, 2011 5:35 PM in response to Sonicray
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2011 5:35 PM in response to Sonicray

    Sorry... thank you. The article you referenced at least explained some of the software I'd seen mentioned in the forums I'd read... and I did try the suggestions (attempting to use the phone as a disk drive... I think I've tried them all before) but with no success... I'm about to give up on it! :-(

     

    The Mac doesn't recognize that the phone is plugged in... no acknowledgement of any sort. The phone senses the connection and does what it should (sets the drive up, prompts for connection type, charges...). So there's no way to do anything with the drive. Know of any 'resets' that can be made on the Mac USB ports to possibly have them refreshed or scanned again?

     

    This seems to be a more recalcitrant problem than most I've found on-line. The 'fixes' suggested don't seem to work. Maybe there's something wrong with the USB, but it mounts half the devices I plug in... it's the other half that I would think would work (some are supposedly Mac compatible at least as a drive, like the phone) that don't. ;-)

  • by Sonicray,Solvedanswer

    Sonicray Sonicray Aug 17, 2011 6:46 PM in response to petermaine
    Level 4 (1,470 points)
    Aug 17, 2011 6:46 PM in response to petermaine
  • by petermaine,

    petermaine petermaine Aug 19, 2011 3:52 AM in response to Sonicray
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2011 3:52 AM in response to Sonicray

    And we have a BIG winner!

     

    Thank you very much... I'm 'on the road' at the moment, so don't have all those little gadgets that I'm going to try again, but the phone has just worked fine!

     

    If half the gizmos that didn't work do now (I'm fairly understanding that there can be compatibility issues when some manner of more complex functionality is involved), I'll be ecstatic! Even with just the phone, I'm a pretty happy - and appreciative - guy!

     

    Thank you!

  • by Mark D Larsen,

    Mark D Larsen Mark D Larsen Aug 21, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Sonicray
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 21, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Sonicray

    Sorry to say that these suggestions did not work for me --after several attempts.

     

    The USB device I am trying to mount is an SMA Sunny Beam monitor that tracks the output of my solar panels. For several years it mounted just fine, including with Yosemite, but... no longer mounts with El Capitan. The only way I can access its data is to connect to an older Mac running Yosemite, and then transfer the data via our home Wi-Fi network to the Mac running El Capitan.

     

    When I open the System Report, the Sunny Beam does show up under the USB category, so El Capitan recognizes it, but does not mount it:

    Screen Shot 2016-05-17 at 6.37.55 PM.png

    However, Disk Utility in El Capitan does not show the device, yet in Disk Utility on the older Mac with Yosemite it shows up as a hard drive "MSDOS (FAT12)" format.

     

    I have tried contacting SMA, but they do not have any solutions. Obviously, the problem lies with El Capitan, since the Sunny Beam mounted without any problem with previous systems. I have also submitted feedback to Apple, but so far the system updates do not fix the bug.

     

    Any help would be highly appreciated!