SCx35xx USB card reader requires restart of Macbook Air?

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SCx35xx USB card reader requires restart of Macbook Air?

Using: SCx35xx v2.0 USB smart card reader in USB 3.0 bus of a Macbook Air 6,2 running Yosemite.

The card reader works, however, only after a full restart. Any time I plug in the card reader and my smart card, the red light comes on solid and then turns off after a couple seconds. The device is recognized in the System Report, but the keychain is not receiving the login details when I try to access the websites.

If I restart the computer and reinsert the card, it begins by blinking and then the red light remains on and I'm good to go. All credentials are recognized by the websites. So my question is: why do I have to restart in order to use the card reader? And can I accomplish the same thing without restarting? (Like resetting the USB driver?)

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Aug 20, 2015 3:21 PM

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Answer 1

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Aug 21, 2015 3:38 PM in response to dtork

Hello dtork,

Thanks for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

It looks like you need to restart your MacBook Air before your SD card reader is recognized by OS X. Since the reader works sometimes, it may take a few steps to figure out the cause of this behavior.

First, reset the PRAM and System Management Controller (SMC) on your MacBook Air:

OS X Yosemite: Reset your computer’s PRAM

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

If the card reader still only works intermittently, see if the same thing happens in a new administrator account you create using the steps in OS X Yosemite: Set up users on your Mac. This step can help rule out conflicts with other software or drivers. For more information, see Isolating issues in Mac OS X.

Sincerely.

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Answer 2

Jan 26, 2017 2:16 PM in response to jeremy_v

This all requires restart of the system. We're looking for a solution that address either the smart card middle ware or keychain access unable to connect with the middle ware. such as Centrify or CACKey.

There is something when the system wakes up from a sleep state that the middle ware is not working.

In the system report the smart card reader shows up.

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Answer 3

Feb 17, 2016 7:57 AM in response to dtork

Also having this issue, but with an ACR29U card reader (though I have an SCx as well with the same problem) on a Macbook Pro 11,1 running El Cap. Did you have any luck with these steps in identifying the problem? As a side note, I *was* able to get the card reader in this state to work without reboot by using a Windows 8 VM, worked every time I tried when the reader wouldn't work properly in OS X. And I usually have the issue after the machine wakes from sleep, though I haven't really solidly identified it as a straight correlation yet.

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