SD card reader on my Mac Mini mid 2010 no longer reads SD cards. Can it be replaced?

Cheaper to just get one of the many USB card readers that are available.

Repairing the reader on the Mac would be $$$$$.

Just page 1 on an Amazon search:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords= usb+sd+card+reader

I've spent the last two days gathering info on this problem. I have a 2010 Mac Mini and cannot get SD cards to appear on the desktop with High Sierra. However I have learned the following:

1. Don't panic and start jamming things into the slot. This reader trouble is a common issue and, as yet, among all of the various cures and fixes posted by some users on youtube, (i.e. opening the Image Capture app or reinserting a card or various cleaning methods), none have resulted in the card reader behaving normally for me, although I can get the slot to behave predictably in useless ways.

2. Don't panic and start jamming things into the slot. Just once more on that. In my view it's a software issue.

3. My internal card reader appears in the System Info under Card Reader- most of the time. Messing with the slot eventually leads to this info suddenly reporting that no card reader is installed. Even when the card reader info appears in the System Report, It has never in any my attempts related here, ever appeared in the Disk Utility App.

4. Normal rebooting with or without a card in the slot will usually result in more of the same, with the card reader info showing or not showing a card reader present. Mostly though, it shows the reader's presence.

5. Shutting down, unplugging the Mini for 30 seconds or so, plugging in back in and waiting 30 seconds, then inserting a card and then restarting results in some of the strangest behaviors. After a restart is completed, the card reader info in the system report shows both the card reader info, and the SD card info below that. But, alas, not disk icon yet appears on the desktop. The oddest, and possibly most telling thing about this type of restart is that running launching Disk Utility results in and endless spinning beachball while the utility goes on an endless quest. I let this process continue about 2 minutes before quitting the app, and restarting without a card installed. Here I get back to the normal bad behavior of the system acknowledging that a reader is installed, but won't respond a card being inserted.

6. So there I let things be. Plugging in an external reader gives all the normal functions I would expect from the internal reader. including appearing in both the system reports and the Disk Utility App. I'm waiting to hear or see of an update or some other trickery to get the reader working again.

7. Don't panic and start jamming things into the slot.

-tc

Thanks for a detailed and succinct summary of all that I am also experiencing and for listing in one place all the various suggestions I too have come across. At the moment, an SMC reset has at least led to the admission that the card reader is actually there, and lo and behold it now even gives details of a specific card below, but only in system report - nothing shows up under devices, and it seems fixated on just the one card - removing it does not make it disappear, even if system report is refreshed, and inserting another does not alter the details.

What I do find puzzling (perhaps because I am new here) is the complete silence of Apple on the problem, which seems to be widely acknowledged by users with varying degrees of frustration. (and yes I know that there are other ways I can read my SD cards, but that does not address the problem, which is why the method built in by Apple does not work and behaves so oddly)

But thanks again for your efforts. I'd be glad to hear of any advance.

try

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht204063

Does it show up using Disk Utilities, show all? If it does it may need to be reformatted. I assume you tried more than one card?