need help with card reader

[jeslynmo]

Hi there
I'm a newbie to the forum and pretty new to the Mac community in general.
I'm having trouble getting my Macbook Pro to read my Compact Flash card reader. I can put it in my windows machine and it reads fine, so it's not the card. I reformatted the card in my camera the last time this happened and it worked fine for a few weeks. Now it's not working again, and this time it is full of pictures from my baby's first birthday party. I don't want to reformat and lose those pictures (isn't that what will happen?)
And I don't want to use my dinosaur (slow) windows computer to upload and edit the pictures and then transfer to the internet.
Even just getting them off the card and copying them onto a CD would take all day with that thing!
Any suggestions for getting Mac to recognize the card reader?
Thanks for any help you can give
Jessica

 

[Phrasikleia]

Strange. Have you tried moving it between USB ports on your Mac? Is the card reader connected to a hub and not directly to the Mac?

You might also try uploading the photos through your camera instead of using the card reader.

 

[bdj33ranch]

In my experience with card readers on Mac and Windows I have had mixed results. It may have something to do with the phase of the moon. Anyway, do you have access to another card reader? Some work better than others. Or, can you hook your camera up directly to the Mac and bypass the card reader? Also, Make sure you hook directly into a computer based USB port - not to the keyboard USB and not to a USB hub. And some computer USB ports seem to work better than others. It's all magic.

 

[jeslynmo]

need help with card reader

Thanks for the replies!
So far I've tried putting the card reader into both USB ports on the left side of the Mac. It doesn't even light up.
This is a brand new card reader, my other one got broken. But I had had the same troubles with it.
I also just bought a brand new memory card and tried putting it into the card reader. It doesn't work with the new card or the old one.

Let's see, what else...

Oh, you asked about bypassing the card reader. I hooked up my camera directly to the Mac using the cord that came with it and the camera just flashes "busy" and the computer doesn't recognize that it's there. Again, I tried both USB ports in the side of the Mac.

I realize this doesn't make my problem any easier to solve, but just some more info to go on...

I really appreciate your thoughts!

Jessica

 

[Afterthecalm]

You didn't state what camera it is. I have a Nikon D80, and in order for me to connect directly with my computer via USB cord, the settings on my camera for USB is set to Mass Storage (for transferring) and not PTP (for tethering)

Check your USB settings on your camera to see if something is not set right