USB ports 2017/2018 - 27 inch iMac

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USB ports 2017/2018 - 27 inch iMac

I recently had problems with a USB card reader not mounting on my 3 week old iMac. I contacted Apple Care who despite trying SMC/NVPRAM resets boot in recovery mode etc none of which worked conclusively. My issue was passed over to Apple Tech who went through the same rigmarole again with no success. Though the Techies suggested going to an Apple store, luckily I have one within three miles of my house.

In the Apple store this happened:

A. When the the card reader is connected via USB to a 2017/18 model Mac desktop running High Sierra 10.13.4 the card reader does not mount to the desktop.

B. When the card reader is connected via USB to a current model Apple laptop running High Sierra the card reader mounts on the desk top correctly.

C. A USB C to USB adaptor was then connected to the card reader and then the USB C was connected to the Mac desktop and the card reader mounted correctly on the desktop.

The Apple man was a bit bemused by what he witnessed and even more so when I pointed out that when I connected my old 2008 Apple wired keyboard into the Mac's USB ports and then connected the card reader to one of the keyboards USB ports the card reader mounted and worked perfectly. However I don't see why I should use a 10 year old keyboard with my new iMac.

I am putting this here as I know some people have had problems with USB and High Sierra 10.13.4 which is what I use. I would also add that I do have other USB products that work perfectly with the Macs USB ports, but I have read about issues for some people with the ports in the same way that I have experienced.

So if you have problems with the 2017/2018 iMacs USB ports it's possible, as in my case that a USB C to USB adaptor may solve your problem.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4), Ipad Mini 4, iPad Pro, iPod 160gb

Posted on Apr 27, 2018 4:04 AM

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Answer 1

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Peter Bovis Author

Level 1

112 points

May 2, 2018 1:27 AM in response to Peter Bovis

Update on this USB issue.

I have just received notification to install security update 2018.01 which I duly did. Afterwards, just out of interest I reconnected my card reader to one of the USB ports on the rear of my iMac, it mounted to the desktop as it should have always have done.

So the purchase of a USB C to USB adaptor have proved to be a complete waste of £19 of my pension.

Thanks Apple!

For those of you that have experienced USB issues it would seem that Apple has fixed their problem that was causing problems for a fair few of us.

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Answer 2

Rudegar

Level 10

170,808 points

Apr 27, 2018 4:52 AM in response to Peter Bovis

I don't believe it's default behaviour for mounted removable media to display on the desktop

my iMac 2011 lion never had it by default and I had to enable it, my wifes 2009 MacBook pro with snow leo had it as default

Display Mounted Drive Icons on Desktop

as long as they show up in finder all is well

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Answer 3

Peter Bovis Author

Level 1

112 points

Apr 27, 2018 7:38 AM in response to Rudegar

I can assure you that when the appropriate boxes were ticked in Finder preferences my device popped up on screen.

The Apple checked all of this out over the phone and we confirmed the device did not mount by using disk utility.

The same happened on test in the Apple Store, If you don't tick the boxes in Finder you'll not see anything which sorta defeats the methodology!

Once connected by using the USB C to USB convertor at home the device popped up on screen and appeared in disk utility, as does my other two USB devices, a TM backup drive and a SSD.

If you choose not to tick the appropriate boxes in Finder that is your personal choice.

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USB ports 2017/2018 - 27 inch iMac

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