Not able to mount SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CF Card to MacBook Pro Retina Display? But no problem with a Ultra II CF Card?

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Level 1

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Not able to mount SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CF Card to MacBook Pro Retina Display? But no problem with a Ultra II CF Card?

Hi,

My MacBook Pro runing Mountian Lion is not able to mount my SanDisk Extreme III CF card, a pop up message says it's not recognize and give me option to Ignore, Eject or initialize the CF Card. I use a SP Silicon Power (USB 3.0) card reader to read those cards, have been trying all sorts of ways to sort it out but without success. I'm able to mount the card to my desktop for a moment after i've partition it and reformat it, but not able to use it on my camera (Canon 40D). My cardreader is not faulty as interestingly, I'm able to mount my other lower grade CF card (SanDisk Ultra II 2GB) without problem and transfer photos to my MacBook. What is wrong here? Because I'm using a 3.0 USB Card reader? Extreme III CF card is not usable on MacBook Pro? Card storage size issue? Have anyone with the same problem solved it? Any help would be great, thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Aug 22, 2012 8:04 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 22, 2012 2:57 PM in response to Calvin S.

You don't say if your MacBook Pro is the new version that supports USB 3, if not the card reader will default to USB 2. The Ultra II is listed as 10Mb/s on old cards and 15MB/s on new cards, both within USB 2 specification. Extreme III are listed as 20MB/s old cards and 30MB/s new. These 30 MB/s maybe a bit too much for USB 2, not sure. see http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1111

If the Macbook Pro as USB 3 support it could be that it does not recognise the card reader as USB 3 and default to USB 2.

See Apple URL http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5172?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Bullet point 11 may help.

Of course the card reader could be faulty and not read the Extreme III cards unless you have verified it working in other situations.

regards

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Answer 2

Aug 22, 2012 3:03 PM in response to rack0 tack0

Sorry did not see the Retina display in the title, but still worth Checking the links.

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Answer 3

Calvin S. Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 22, 2012 6:51 PM in response to rack0 tack0

The card reader shouldn't be faulty as I've tested it on my PC and it works without issue, but that's running on a USB 2.0 interface. I think it could be a USB 3.0 issue or a software bugs on Mountain Lion. A search on the net shows that some people are having some problem with higher end CF cards and SD cards while no problem with the lower ends ones, some having this issue after upgraded to Mountian Lion. Have anyone found a solution to this problem?

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Answer 4

Aug 23, 2012 12:47 AM in response to Calvin S.

OK, I had not looked at USB 3 on Apples website and thought that page interesting. I have heard of some external hard drives having problems with USB 3 both with Lion and ML, with different outcomes, some finding success with Apples drivers and others with the HDD makers drivers. Looks like some sorting out to to get USB 3 as stable USB 2.

It would be interesting if you had a USB 2 Hub to plug into the Mac and then plug the card reader into the hub forcing a USB 2 connection through the circuit and see if that gets you working for now. Not the solution you need but maybe a workaround?

hope you get sorted quickly.

regards

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Answer 5

Calvin S. Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 23, 2012 2:29 AM in response to rack0 tack0

I've a USB 2.0 card reader. The reason for 3.0 is for faster reading and writing speed, it'll make no sense to me if I am to downgrade the speed when my intention is to upgrade in the first place... But thank for your help anyway. :)

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