MacBook Pro won't read Sandisk SDHC cards since Lion 10.7.1 update

Took my MBP to the Apple Store yesterday to investigate the SD card slot. They said the logic board would need to be replaced. It's not dust in the slot, it's not a software issue.

I can get the SD slot to read memory cards but the cards appear to the MBP to be write-protected. USB and FireWire card readers work fine.

Wish Apple didn't go so cheap with the SD card reader being on the USB bus, it's so **** slow. Couldn't they have put it on FireWire 800?

Anyway, MBP will get sent to Apple to get the logic board replaced.

FYI, in December my mother in law got exactly the same mac as mine and the first thing I did was to use an SDHC card that was not working in my mac and put it on hers and IT WORKED ! So I took it to a Apple Store and I was able to claim the warranty on it, so they change the whole SD thingy and voilá. NOW IT'S WORKING!!!

I bought the mac originally through an aurthorized Apple retailer in Costa Rica (iCon) and I took my mac there when I saw that the SD slot was not working and they told me that that was normal!!! These retailer guys really didn't know what they are talking about!!! 😠

But now I am happy with the SD reader!!!😎

Resetting PRAM fixed it for me.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

A few quick squirts of compressed air cleared it right up. The contact points must've been gummed up since that port was open since I bought my Macbook Pro in 2011. It works like a charm now.

I've got the same problem. I've got a late 2010 MacBook Pro unibody running Mac OS 10.7.1 on it. I installed the 10.7.1 updated most likely on 8/17/11 the day after it was released by Apple. Since then I was able to read SDHC cards as I shot a number of photos and videos to my cards and they worked fine.

I'm not sure what has changed since then, it wasn't as simple as the 10.7.1 update then it didn't work. This is the problem I'm having below, just started to experience this on 9/2/11. I tested with two 32GB SDHC cards, one 16GB SDHC card and one 2GB SD card. All cards were manufactured by Transcend.

FAIL:

* SDHC cards (16GB and 32GB) will not mount and isn't recognized by the MBP via the built-in SD card slot

* SDHC cards (16GB and 32GB) will not mount and isn't recognized by the MBP via SanDisk 2.0 card reader connected via a short USB cable.

* If I put any SDHC card into a SanDisk USB 2.0 reader that is connected to my USB hub (I gave it a try in case there was a power problem with the MBP USB system) the card is not recognized either.

* Even Disk Utility will not see the card when inserted via built-in card slot or a reader.

SUCCESS:

* SD cards (2GB) mount fine when inserted either in the built-in SD card slot or via my SanDisk USB 2.0 reader.

* If I leave the SDHC card in my camera (Canon 60D) and connect the camera to my MBP via USB I can import the images via Aperture.

* If I put the SDHC card into the memory card slot reader of my HP inkjet printer (it has multiple card slots for different types) the card will mount normally like it is supposed to via the two failed methods above.

I'm also sending this info to Apple but wanted to post here since there are three inconvenient work-arounds.

I had the same problem.. My MBP did not recognise my SDHC card after installing lion. It worked after installing an update. Goto Applications --> Utilities --> XQuartz and mac automatically asks for an update installation. Download and install the update. Your memory card slot should work fine now.

I was having the same issue with my 32gig SanDisk SDHC card. When I put it in my camera (Canon Rebel XS) it would not format because it was not readable. Same thing in my macbook pro mid 2010 13inch.

I have found a solution thats a little more technical than the "Don't push it in so far" technique.

If you leave it in long enough it will pop up a window that says, "This device is not compatible with this computer." It does take a while so plug it in and wait it out. Mine took about 15-20 min to finally pop up the window. Once that window appears click the initialize button and it will take you to the DISK UTILITY

window. On the left side it will show your MacHD and under it will be the SDHC card. Click on it then click on the ERASE tab. Go to where it says FORMAT: and set it to MS-DOS.....Name your Memory Card what ever you want and hit ERASE

A new device will appear on the left side with your Mac HD and Mac SD card reader

BOOM! ITS FIXED! You can now exit out of the DISK UTILITY go to FINDER and your card will now format in your camera and appear in your "MyDevices" window.

Hope this helps SOMEONE~

@Supritha: Can you give us any insight as to why this works? I installed XQuartz and my card appeared immediately! How can these two things be related?

By the way y'all: XQuartz is a replacement for X11 which is a subsystem of OSX that is meant to run Unix Apps ported to OSX. It's like Rosetta in a way.. but not exactly. Anyway.. I suspect it contains some updated drivers or kernel code that affect how SD cards mount, but even so.. totally inexplicable to me.

Apparently Apple is dropping support for X11 entirely in OS 10.8 and suggesting people move to XQuartz.

http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/

What in the flying bajeesus? Updating XQuartz actually did solve my problem on 10.8.2...

I was trying to use a sandisk SD card (that I know is perfectly functional) and the OS was not picking up on the fact that I was plugging it in. No /dev files or anything, it was like the card was physically broken.

But lo and behold, after I ran the XQuartz updater, it suddenly worked. That should not happen ever. The fact that installing an X suite somehow fixed what seems to be a driver issue is incredibly alarming and warrants more investigation.

While I am glad that this fixed the issue, I now have serious reservations about the operating system itself, as this indicates to me a very poorly done driver.

Edit:

Picked apart the installer package. After a cursory glance, I did not find anything that I would imagine would directly affect USB drivers or do anything USB-related with the kernel. There did appear to be some filesystem library in the installer, but that shouldn't prevent the card from being recognized at all. Still at a loss as to why this did anything.

I have been having this SD card problem ever since I've upgraded to Mountain Lion, but that might just be a coincidence. I was on 10.8.3, SD card was working, had a RAM and HD upgrade, and the installed version on the HD was 10.8.4, SD card stopped working, upgraded to 10.8.5, meanwhile doing all the other tricks mentioned here, like inserting the card slighty all the way,and for a while, it worked. Then it stopped working last night.

My XQuartz was already updated even before 10.8.5, so that wasn't the culprit. I tried resetting PRAM and SMC, upgrading the SMC and EFI firmware (they have been hanging since a few months after I got my MBP Pro 15 late 2011) and tried the other tricks I found here. It's either a software problem or a hardware problem. The System Profiler can see the SD Card Slot, it's just not reading the card right.

I found this googling Mountain Lion SD card slot fix.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4918957?start=0&tstart=0

This is a more intrusive (but still rather safe, so as long as one is really careful) way of doing it. My next move was to get a can of contact cleaner, but I wanted to try other things out first.

It's not just dust, but grime (or oxidation on the copper/brass contacts), that accumulates over time, especially when the card slot is not in use for long periods of time. Contrary to the claim though, toothpick trick actually doesn't do anything but clean the contacts rather than "flick" a switch in the slot. The two "thinner" contact points on the right side of the SD card (facing you) connects the contact points of the slot, powering the card, nothwithstanding, if any of those data contact points become dirty, the card won't be read fully if at all.

I've tried it, and it worked. When it worked previously, it might have been that the SD card I've been using inadvertently "cleaned" the contact points while I repeptitively inserted and removed it. After a while, more grime accumulated so much that not even repetitive insertion and removal did it anymore.

Hope this helps you guys.

Thanks. I thought I posted a retraction. I figured that out. I downloaded XQuartz and updated after launch and sure enough, the card mouinted. We'll see if it works next time I try to mount the card. I am disappointed that Apple hasn't addressed this.

Hi Vivaldi,

could you try the following:

Go to the menu of Finder > Preferences > Sidebar > then check the External Disks box. If it is checked already uncheck it an check it again.

Then try to insert your card again.

That worked for me and solved my problem.

Let me know if that worked out for you too.

Hi Supritha, Just to say THANKS YOU!!
I had the same problem, downloaded X11, installed (did not work), restarted and Voila... allmy SD cards are now mounting perfectly.
I can't explain, how on earth these 2 things are related...
Again, THANKS YOU

After trying alcohol, canned air, updating os etc. without success, I tried your (berkant) method: pull up Finder preferences, uncheck and recheck "External Disks", remove & replace SD card. Worked instantly. Apple is getting sloppy with software, or too rushed.

Thanks for the suggestion. Macbook Pro 15" Early 2011, OSX 10.10.2

it worked perfectly... I just gave the card slot a huge puff, and I got it to work! Thanks again for the advice.