dradd

Q: iMac won't read SD cards

Hello,

 

I have a mid 2010 27" iMac, and I use Aperture for my photos.

 

Recently it has stopped reading SD cards from my camera (Canon EOS600D) via the SD card slot.

 

I have re-formatted the card via the camera but wiht no success.

 

What else is weird that it won't even see the card via an external SD card reader, and yet the camera has no problems saving photos onto the card and playing them back from the card.

 

The only way I can get the photos off of the card is to connect the camera via USB to the iMac, and then Aperture sees the pictures on the card fine, and imports them.

 

I have tried other cards, and get the same problem.

 

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be here - it's driving me nuts.

 

Many thanks in advance.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 1:17 PM

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Q: iMac won't read SD cards

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  • by dradd,

    dradd dradd Apr 27, 2012 2:29 AM in response to dradd
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Apr 27, 2012 2:29 AM in response to dradd

    Just to update this, I have re-set the iMac's PRAM, and tried different cards, all with no success.

    Help.

  • by dradd,

    dradd dradd Apr 29, 2012 2:24 AM in response to dradd
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Apr 29, 2012 2:24 AM in response to dradd

    Anoter update (by the way, I cannot believe I'm the only person in the world having this problem...?): I have tried a third party USB 2.0 card reader, and despite the card reader recognising an SD card, the iMac still refuses to see them...


    Weird..

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 29, 2012 5:20 AM in response to dradd
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 29, 2012 5:20 AM in response to dradd

    No, you're not the only one, there are several of the same type threads going on. Fortunately (for me) I don't have this problem. I found this

     

    I put the card in the slot, but it did not mount.  What should I do?

     

    Remove the card and insert it again. Sometimes, if you put the SD card into the slot too slowly, it may not mount properly.

     

    On this page, give it a look.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3553#2

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 29, 2012 5:25 AM in response to dradd
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 29, 2012 5:25 AM in response to dradd

    And I found this

    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4460

     

    Is it even possible to insertthe card in the wrong orientation? I'd have to go to my office where my iMac is to try and right now having morning coffee I'm too lazy to do that.

  • by dradd,

    dradd dradd Apr 29, 2012 5:35 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Apr 29, 2012 5:35 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Many thanks Mike for finding those documents. Sadly, no change despite making sure I'm putting the card in not too slowly.

     

    As I'm having the problem via external USB card readers too, I'm, guessing it might be a firmware issue... maybe?

     

    Hope you've enjoyed your morning coffee.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Apr 29, 2012 5:49 AM in response to dradd
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 29, 2012 5:49 AM in response to dradd

    In another thread about this not seldom problem, I read someone stating that he sprayed a little bit contact spray into the sd slot, and after that the sd card was read OK everytime. ?!

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 29, 2012 6:47 AM in response to dradd
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 29, 2012 6:47 AM in response to dradd

    Run software update to see if anything needs to be brought up to date. Have you tried insertingthe card and starting Disk Utility to see if DU recognizes it?

  • by dradd,

    dradd dradd Apr 29, 2012 7:22 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Apr 29, 2012 7:22 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    All up to date Mike.

    Disk Utility won't see the card either.

     

    I'm no Mac noob, have been using Macs for over 15 years now, and been into digital photography for over 10, so I know my way around kit... just in case anyone was wondering.


    It's why this issue bothers me so much, as there seems to be no logic explanation to it.

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 29, 2012 8:46 AM in response to dradd
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 29, 2012 8:46 AM in response to dradd

    Never meant to imply that you didn't know your way around.....you camera choice and the fact that you use aperature led me to believe otherwise :-)

    Have you tried resetting the SMC? I'm out of ideas after that.

  • by Mt.Osc,Helpful

    Mt.Osc Mt.Osc Aug 4, 2012 3:42 PM in response to dradd
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 4, 2012 3:42 PM in response to dradd

    I've had the same issue for a while. Stumbled accross something that worked for me by accident.

     

    Leave the SD card in the slot and restart your computer. When it boots up again, it should automatically be mounted.

  • by jaroc,

    jaroc jaroc Oct 9, 2012 5:10 AM in response to Mt.Osc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2012 5:10 AM in response to Mt.Osc

    have just experienced the same problem, my imac is only 4 months old!! after sitting on the phone to Apple support for half an hour then running through a whole lot of techy rubbish that didn't help the situation, I was put onto a "senior support officer" (almost an hour and a half later) only for him to tell me I need to MOVE closer to a city to get a technician to come and help me. I was quite relaxed and obliging until this comment lol perhaps their resellers need to have a bit of technical/service training provided. anyways enough of my rant, I decided to investigate further myself, tried a few things others had suggested, then tried your way...tadaaaaa there it is THANKYOU Mt.Osc!!!!!!!! wish I had've read this 2 hrs ago!!!!!!!!!

  • by Didjeridooo,

    Didjeridooo Didjeridooo Dec 13, 2012 7:03 AM in response to dradd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2012 7:03 AM in response to dradd
  • by Mike Osborn,

    Mike Osborn Mike Osborn Dec 13, 2012 9:10 AM in response to dradd
    Level 4 (1,209 points)
    Apple Pay
    Dec 13, 2012 9:10 AM in response to dradd

    I think Apple's fix for this is shown in the new iMac design:

     

    Put the SD card slot on the rear of the computer where nobody will want to use it. Reported problems with the computer not reading SD cards will drop dramatically. Problem solved.

     

    (LOL....sorry....couldn't resist).

  • by vincent from castro valley,

    vincent from castro valley vincent from castro valley Jan 8, 2013 1:31 PM in response to dradd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 8, 2013 1:31 PM in response to dradd

    I have the same problem.  I tried EVERYTHING, Verifying the disk, resetting the PRAM, rebooting with the SD card in the slot, rebooting without the SD card in the slot, full power down with unplugging the power for minutes, and the best I get is one SD card will mount with a reboot, but the images all are locked (there is a lock icon next to each image) and once you eject them correctly, you still can't mount a second SD card until you reboot with the new card in the SD slot.

     

    This is definately an widespread and longstanding problem with the SD slots on multiple Apple computers (desktop, laptop), which has not been addressed.  This is especially frustrating becuase I purchased a Mac specifically for the editing, managing, and publishing of my photography.  I'm now hampered by not having a functioning SD card slot. 

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