MBP retina won't recognize Lexar USB 3.0 reader. Any ideas why?

There are reported problems with the USB 3 ports on the new MacBook Pros. Some do not work with USB 3 devices at all, some work with only USB 2 speeds. I imagine that a firmware update will be necessary to fix the problem.

Sorry,

Clinton

I can confirm having the same issue & asked Lexar support via their live chat facility.

They have confirmed that there is a compatibility issue and that both Lexar and Apple are apparently working on a fix urgently which will be released "soon" hopefully.

Welcome to being a Beta tester but whatever you do call Apple HQ and give them **** for they make a big thing about how their products simply work. Well it does not. I have a problem with USB 3.0 with my PCIe card on my MacPro is a way I do not have with the same card on my HP Z800.

Apple customer support are good but don't let them get off the hook. I cancelled my Retina because I began to read problem with USB 2.0 and other problems.

However I do have an idea there are Thunderbolt breakout boxes that offer USB3.0 and eSATA too. Maybe that will do the trick BUT for Apple to have a USB3.0 issue is disgraceful when my ugly HP simply works. Seriously this is not new technology.

It's Apple not Lexar who need to own this problem. Far to expensive for this and Lexar are hardly unknown.

PeeTee333 wrote:

USB ports mount regular USB devices on MBP Retina but will not recognize cards/reader. Card reder is a Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Dual Slot Reader Reader. Any idea why it is not recognized?

thanks

This is definetly a Lexar issue. I have that reader and it also does not work in my MacBook USB 3.0 port.... however It does connect in USB 2.0 mode and works fine in USB 3.0 mode with my PCs. I also have a Sandisk USB 3.0 card reader that works just fine with my MacBook USB 3.0 port. The fix has to come from Lexar.

I too have a 2012 MBA and a Lexar USB 3 card reader which works fine on a USB 3 PC port.

I spoke to a guy in Lexar advanced tech support on 22 June and he said they would be issuing a fix via the downloads page on their website in a week's time. Obviously they didn't meet their own timescales but I hope it doesn't slip too long. My USB 2 card reader works just fine on the MBA. And is still a million (slight exaggeration!) times faster on this MBA than my 2007 version.

I use Lexar x1000 CF card (Max speed 150MBps), Lexar usb3 card reader (with latest UDMA7 upgrade) and a MBP Retina. I'll suspected there was a problem since the ingest speed was way slower than a USB3 speedlimits/CF card speedlimit. Today a tested the speed and got around 46MBps. So it looks as I get usb2 speeds.

I'm in the same boat MBP Retina and a new Lexar Professional 3 reader, not working or not even displaying, however if i pull out the cable slightly i can see the drive in LR4!!! but the speed is sooo slow, seem's like USB 1.1.

Hope they fix it soon, moving files around is a nightmare at the moment.

This is Jeff from Lexar. I too have a MacBook Pro Retina and our readers (of course). We know about the problem and have a new firmware coming VERY soon and will share the link to download the new firmware in the near future. If you have questions, please feel free to contact our support team at support@lexar.com or 1-877-747-4031 (US and Canada), 1-208-363-5862 (Outside US and Canada).

The firmware is now complete and should be posted online with the next 24 hours. 🙂

I have been testing it and you will love it. I am transfering between 6-7GB per minute, and when using two readers and 1000x cards I was transfering 14GB a minute. I can't wait to use this at the Olympics!

You will find this soon at:

http://www.lexar.com/downloads

I've installed the firmware on my new Macbook Air but it still isn't finding the card reader. You've obviously tested it on a MBP, but did you test on a MBA? Anyone else got it working on the new MBA using the new firmware?

Hi,

I still had issues with the MBP retina installing the driver as it wouldn't find the lexar card reader, these may be applicable to the MBA too.

I unzipped and installed the package, the computer needed to be re-booted.

Then I went into applications and found the Lexar Firmware updater 1.00 and ran that.

This is when I came into issues as the firmware couldn't detect the reader, I pulled the USB half way out of the MBP and only then the firmware updator found a device attached. I then clicked start to update the firmware.

Now when I attach the reader the MBP regonises the reader. It's not a good way to install the driver, but thats the only way it worked, now i need to calculate the speed at which the reader works to see whether it's faster than the USB 2 version.

Hope it helps

You do not need to pull out the cable half way. Once the software is installed, you will need to replug in the reader so that the Mac recognizes it as a device and then the software will let you upgrade the firmware. All should be good from that point forward.

Hi Jeff,

I did try that prior, even re-installing the software and re-booting the computer a few times. Then i remembered how i installed the previous firmware, which was to remove the USB half way until the computer detected a device.

It's all working now, so thats good.

Yeaaaaah! Just downloaded the update (the 5th time today) and this one worked. I suspect that the download version at 10:00 a.m. this morning was changed (after I called to tell Lexar of the problem I was having) to a working version this afternoon (at 2:33 p.m.). Finally have a working USB 3.0 Dual Card Reader!

I've downloaded the firmware update, but it's not showing up in my applications folder? Any ideas why? v0.97 showed up, but 1.0.0 doesn't seem to create a folder with a file to run? Where do I find it once it's installed?