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SD card not mounting or seen in Disk Utility

N

nwbusa

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 29, 2010
155
2
BC, Canada
Hoping for some help with this one... I have a mid-2009 13" MBP (2.26, 4 gigs, 1TB HDD, SL 10.6.4) and the SD card reader is not recognizing any of my SD cards (won't mount and also not seen in Disk Utility). The cards are recognized when using a USB adaptor, and also work fine in my wife's MBP SD card reader, so I know it's not the cards. System Profiler recognizes the internal card reader on my system.

I've tried resetting the SMC and reformatting the cards but nothing has worked so far. Any help is appreciated!

EDIT: The SD card reader isn't working under OSX or in Windows, btw.
 
I have had the same thing in my mid-year MBP i7. It seems that I have to re-seat the card a couple of times for the card to be seen by the system....

I dont know if it is the card, ill try a different brand, and see if the results are similar.:D
 
I've tried a couple of different brands of cards, it doesn't work with any of them. It used to work fine, it's just recently that I tried to use it and it wasn't working.
 
"I've tried resetting the SMC and reformatting the cards but nothing has worked so far. Any help is appreciated!
EDIT: The SD card reader isn't working under OSX or in Windows, btw."

My _guess_ is that perhaps there is a hardware problem with the card reader itself.

Do you have AppleCare or are you "out of warranty"?

Try this:
1. Don't put a card in the reader yet
2. Open Apple System Profiler
3. Does it "show the presence" of the card reader? (should be under "USB")

If it doesn't "show", could be something wrong, either hardware, or the OSX software that controls the hardware.

If it DOES show up, try this next:
1. Put a card into the reader
2. Again open Apple System Profiler
3. Does it show something a bit differently now? That is to say, does ASP indicate that there is media in the card reader (even if the card isn't mounted on the desktop)?

Just some thoughts...
 
Fishrrman said:
"I've tried resetting the SMC and reformatting the cards but nothing has worked so far. Any help is appreciated!
EDIT: The SD card reader isn't working under OSX or in Windows, btw."

My _guess_ is that perhaps there is a hardware problem with the card reader itself.

Do you have AppleCare or are you "out of warranty"?

Try this:
1. Don't put a card in the reader yet
2. Open Apple System Profiler
3. Does it "show the presence" of the card reader? (should be under "USB")

If it doesn't "show", could be something wrong, either hardware, or the OSX software that controls the hardware.

If it DOES show up, try this next:
1. Put a card into the reader
2. Again open Apple System Profiler
3. Does it show something a bit differently now? That is to say, does ASP indicate that there is media in the card reader (even if the card isn't mounted on the desktop)?

Just some thoughts...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply -- I do in fact have AppleCare, just trying to avoid taking it in unless it's the only option.

I tried your suggestion, and ASP does recognize the card reader (see below), but nothing changes when an SD card is inserted.

I'm puzzled!

Copied from ASP:

USB High-Speed Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built-in USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBEHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x0aa9
PCI Revision ID: 0x00b1
PCI Vendor ID: 0x10de
Bus Number: 0x26

Internal Memory Card Reader:

Product ID: 0x8403
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 98.33
Serial Number: 000000009833
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple
Location ID: 0x26500000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
 
Try creating another user account to see if it works, if so, it's something wrong with your current account and not the hardware.
 
So, problem solved... sorta.

I tried all of the suggestions offered (thanks!), nothing worked though. Reset the PRAM and SMC (again), no joy. Finally, I blew really hard into the slot and tried the card, and it mounted right away! So I'm thinking, must have been some dust in there or something... but then when I wiggle the card slightly, the card will unmount, so there is either still some particulate matter in the slot that needs to be cleaned out, or some type of intermittent connection internally. I am thinking the former is more likely, so I'll use some compressed air later and possible a little isopropyl alcohol with an acid brush to clean the contacts, and see what happens.

Thanks again to all who replied with suggestions!
 
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Reactions: TexasTopModel and MacInTO
That worked for me too! So you're right that the SD card is prone to collecting dust. It is wide of course.
 
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Reactions: MacInTO
Woow, after trying a lot it actually helped to blow compressed air into the socket. thanks alot
 
I'm also having the same problem. No luck trying any of the above solutions.:(
Mid 2010 21.5 in. iMac. Latest version of Mavericks.
 
SOLVED SD Card MBP

Hi there,

the SD-card won't show up in finder / iPhoto etc. on my 15" MBP early 2011.

Solution: while pushed in completely into the slot I slightly pushed the end of the sd-card upwards (so that the contacts inside the slot obviously are now able to touch the sd-card's contacts) --> it works!

i recon the card is too "thin", so for permanent access i would try and support it with a credit-card from underneath.

that is no permanent fix but better than nothing….

hope someone comes up with a improved fix.
 
cacho509 said:
I press the command key+ r and restarted it at the same time, it worked for me.
Click to expand...

Wow. Thank you. I just got a Macbook Pro (2011). SD card didn't show up. I read through the threads and nothing was working for me until I tried what you posted. It worked immediately. What exactly does that do? Thank you!
 
nwbusa said:
So, problem solved... sorta.

I tried all of the suggestions offered (thanks!), nothing worked though. Reset the PRAM and SMC (again), no joy. Finally, I blew really hard into the slot and tried the card, and it mounted right away! So I'm thinking, must have been some dust in there or something... but then when I wiggle the card slightly, the card will unmount, so there is either still some particulate matter in the slot that needs to be cleaned out, or some type of intermittent connection internally. I am thinking the former is more likely, so I'll use some compressed air later and possible a little isopropyl alcohol with an acid brush to clean the contacts, and see what happens.

Thanks again to all who replied with suggestions!
Click to expand...

Yes, compressed air worked for me. SMH it's 2016, I can't believe I had to google to find this fix. Thanks.
 
TexasTopModel said:
Yes, compressed air worked for me. SMH it's 2016, I can't believe I had to google to find this fix. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem. I tried blowing it out but no success. To 'solve it' I had to pull up on the card while it was in the slot. This put more pressure on the contacts inside the reader. If I let go it ejected, so I had to import all the photos off the card whist pulling it up (bending it slightly, though not permanently!). Not an ideal solution but at least I have the contents now.
 
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