Mac will not recognize SD card after installing OS X Yosemite.

Question

Level 1

2 points

Mac will not recognize SD card after installing OS X Yosemite.

I use the SD card slot to upload photographs from my camera into either Aperture 3.0 or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5. When the card is inserted, an icon used to appear on the desktop. I could then upload the images on the SD card to either of the programs noted above. After installing Yosemite, inserting the card does not create the icon on the desktop. You can see the SD card in the Disk Utility program, but it is grayed out and you cannot administer any First Aid.

Any help would be very welcome.

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10), SanDisk Ultra 32 GB SD Card.

Posted on Oct 18, 2014 4:52 PM

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Answer 1

AppleJoe

Community Manager

Oct 21, 2014 12:46 PM in response to VK1001

Hi VK1001,

Welcome to the Apple Support Community!

I know it can be frustrating when you can no longer see your SD card on the desktop after you updated the operating system. It sounds possibly like the setting in Finder > Preferences, on the Sidebar pane, may be unchecked to show when the SD card is inserted. Please check that preference and make sure the settings are the way you would like them set.

OS X Mavericks: Finder preferences

Cheers,

Joe

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Answer 2

Oct 22, 2014 6:30 PM in response to VK1001

I'm having the same problem with my mid-2009 macbook pro since installing Yosemite. I've tried several different SD cards and none show up in the finder or in disk utility when I insert them. I checked the system profiler and it's showing the reader but cards don't appear. It was working fine last week.

Built in SD Card Reader:

Vendor ID: 0x05ac

Product ID: 0x8403

Revision: 1.00

Serial Number: 9833

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Answer 3

VK1001 Author

Level 1

2 points

Oct 23, 2014 3:34 PM in response to AppleJoe

Thanks joe_7399.

I used Time Machine to go back to the operating system that was working fine.

I'll wait till they have the bugs ironed out of Yosemite before switching.

It wasn't just the problem with the SD cards not being read, i was also having problems simply logging in - there was no way to do it except through a safe boot. I am happy to be back to where I was because I don't need to transfer my telephone calls to my computer.

VK1001

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Answer 4

VK1001 Author

Level 1

2 points

Oct 23, 2014 3:35 PM in response to sam_abuelsamid

sam_abuelsamid:

I reverted back to the old operating system and everything is fine.

I don't need Yosemite.

VK1001

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Answer 5

Jaleo

Level 1

0 points

Oct 29, 2014 3:32 AM in response to VK1001

Provisional solution.

I have restarted with sd card inside the laptop and now it sees the card and Lightroom can import photos.

Saludos | Jose M.

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Answer 6

Jaleo

Level 1

0 points

Oct 30, 2014 12:51 PM in response to VK1001

Continue to my first post.

After restarting laptop (Yosemite) with sd cards inside a few times, seems that it has learned to see it without restarting.

I hope it works for everybody with the same problem.

Jaleo

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Answer 7

Nov 6, 2014 5:27 AM in response to Jaleo

For what it's worth, I've observed the following.

If under Finder Preferences / General you have CDs, DVDs and iPods checked to show on Desktop, it always appears for me on the Desktop when removed/added etc. Using the External Disks check box has no effect on its appearance on the Desktop.

However, under the Sidebar preferences, it appears to be controlled by the External Disks check box. For me, the box had the horizontal line indicating that it was in some half-way state between being on and off. Once turning off and then back on, it appeared. The CDs, DVDs and iPods box has no effect on its appearance in the sidebar.

Who knows, but I have have the SD card appearing. Perhaps this will help others. MBP Retina with a clean install of Yosemite.

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Answer 8

Dec 17, 2014 12:16 PM in response to TheMeadeiator

Thanks, that did it for me!

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Answer 9

Jan 13, 2015 8:58 AM in response to VK1001

Has anyone found a way to get the card slot to work in Yosemite? I've tried the restarting thing to no avail.

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Answer 10

Jan 19, 2015 8:03 AM in response to alissaauthor

This worked for me:

Go to applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities

The memory card should show up on the left. After I clicked on it, it showed up in Finder.

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Answer 11

benjab

Level 1

4 points

Feb 17, 2015 12:15 AM in response to VK1001

I've got the same problem - tried 2 different SD cards which work fine in my camera and have worked on my Macbook in the past.

MacbookPro 15" Late 2010

OSX 10.10.2

Tried inserting SD card before powering up, inserting and re-inserting again and again, blowing into the SD reader (incase there was dust in there), doing a permissions check / fix on the main system drive (clutching at straws here...)

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Answer 12

Feb 24, 2015 3:34 PM in response to VK1001

I just discovered something odd that may be of some help. I just upgraded to Yosemite on my MacPro Mid 2010 and found out that none of my card readers worked anymore. I have a Kingston and a SanDisk ImageMate reader. I also have a CalDigit USB3 adaptor installed that I bought to use together with the SanDisk ImageMate reader which also is USB 3.0. When I connect the ImageMate card reader to the CalDigit USB3 adaptor it will only work as long as I use an USB extention cable in between. If I connect it directly nothing works. Why - I dont know, but it works.

🙂

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Answer 13

Mar 10, 2015 7:08 PM in response to VK1001

10.10.2 still having USB reader bugs. Card will show up but gets disk errors when trying to copy files. Takes forever to eject. Apple needs to fix this buggy, slow mess.

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Answer 14

Apr 12, 2015 11:14 AM in response to Jaleo

Worked as you said once, then didn't, then did, then didn't. Finally just started putting the card in and ejecting it over and over and now it seems to be sticking.

(minutes later . . . ) Well, I just tried again and it didn't work but second try, did. Third try did. So I'm hoping familiarity will breed acceptance over the long run.

Thanks for your suggestion!

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Answer 15

May 15, 2015 10:19 AM in response to VK1001

Noticed same trouble on my iMac 27" with 10.10.3 - SDcards don´t appear anymore on desktop like any other drive or USB-stick :-( ...

They appear in the sidebar of the windows, they appear in Disk Utility, image import utility automatically starts when inserted - but no icon on the desktop.

Is this a bug or a feature ?!??! For heaven`s sake, Apple, what´s this ? Do you want to keep the system simple for stupid users or what ?

Deleting the DCIM folder on the card doesn't change anything (was only an idea - i thought may be the system detects the folder and prevents appearance on desktop).

So : just another bug in Yosemite ????

😕 :-(

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