Mac OS X users - SanDisk Card Reader Question

[opus]

I just picked up a SanDisk 8-in-1 card reader last week at a Best Buy that clearly said on the back, "Built for OS X". But when I open the CD, the highest folder choice I get is "OS 9 +". And when I try to install, my Classic environment launches.

When I went to their website to look for an updated driver download, I found this:

"Macintosh - OSX, OS 10.1
1. May work on OSX if the reader is plugged into the computer with the card already inserted
2. Otherwise the reader not supported on any version of OSX; may work when booted into classic version 9.1"


So my question is, is anyone using this card reader with OS X and plugging it in with the card already inserted and it's working? (the words "MAY work" scares me.) Should I still install the CD first? How does that work?

OR, do you think I can return this product even though I've thrown away the original packaging? It's clearly mislabeled.

[opus]

This posted in the wrong forum. Please move it...

Thank you,
Kelly

[mjm]

it says it works on OSX but it clearly doesnt, i see no problem with returning it. talk to a manager if you get trouble from the people at the returns desk

[Tin-Cup]

in my experience you should be able to plug it straight in to your usb put the card in and then it will show as a removable drive on your desktop like an ipod or when you mount an idisk, hope this works for you...(it should)

mac osx should have the drivers already..

if you still cant get it working with that give me a shout and i will look into it properly for you... cant have my fellow mac users alone now can i ;)

[kafin8ed]

All the card readers that I have used do not require software to be installed in OSX. They do need software installed to work in OS9 or in a PeeCee, that's why you got the disc, but just do wwhat they say, install your card and then plug in the card reader. I believe your default settings will automatically open iPhoto to DL the card contents. Only do that if you are shooting .jpg and want to use iPhoto, RAW doesn't work in iPhoto. To disable iPhoto from opening automatically you have to go to the preferences in a third program (i hate this, it's so stupid) called Image Capture.

You should see your card in the finder, navigate to the image folders and then drag n drop everything to an appropriate place.

[Tin-Cup]

what macs do you use?

ive got a rev c powerbook, 15 inch 1.5 superdrive

[kafin8ed]

12" aluminum G4 867 with superdrive envy and OSX10.2.8 currently

[Sebastian]

Consider the thread moved. ;)

[opus]

Thanks everyone, didn't realize I had so many responses.

Well I never tried the SanDisk, but I bought a Lexar, where instructions were much more clear. I plugged it in, started transferring, then my computer crashed big-time, and I lost 10 images to corruption. After that it only mounted as a removable disk but never gave me the option to transfer into a program, then when I tried copying my images the copy failed (because of the corrupted images, I found out later), so I ended up just giving up.

I'll try again when I get up the courage.

[Peter_AUS]

Recovery Software, try http://www.datarescue.com/ as a choice, I use it and it works well. It also isn't that expensive to purchase as well. $29 at present but is going up to $39 soon according to their website. Only thing is it is a yearly subscription.

[opus]

Penny,

Thanks for your experience. This past summer I was trying to get my OS9 version of "Finale" to work with my keyboard, and ended up crashing my hard drive to a flashing question mark. I wanted to do a clean system reinstall but my husband insisted on messing around with it first, and he spent the rest of the day doing *something* before he finally got the system up and running again. I think he ended up reinstalling from the disk but since he's a Mac programmer, I suspect he tried other things first.

Anywhoo, it's run fine since then, but every once in awhile I get a black [Must Restart] window, which is no fun. That's what happened on the transfer.

Is it possible that the images were corrupt in the camera already, and that's what caused the crash? Can images corrupt on the card inside your camera?

The pictures weren't important enough to try to recover. Just more "tiny pineapples on pink doilies" type shots.

I can still see an "external drive" when I plug the card reader in, but no helper windows come up at all. I can copy the DCIM folder onto my hard drive just like I'd copy any files from one drive to another, but will that work inside my programs? Doesn't there have to be some sort of "linking" going on during the transfer? Besides, when I copy from my camera I get a chronological numbering system going on, which I like. When I look inside the DCIM folder, I don't like the file names ("CRW_5803.CRW"; "CRW_5803.THM")

[opus]

Penny, I'm not a fan of "wizard" screens or anything like that, unless I'm truly unfamiliar with a program that I rarely use. But I just assumed that, because a window came up the first time I used the card reader before it crashed, that when it stopped coming up after the crash that the card reader had gone bad in the crash too.

I like the naming scheme because the names (actually numbers) give me an idea about when the photo was taken, and allows me to mix and match any files in any folder without conflict or renaming.

I don't open most of what I do in Photoshop. I only open the ones I pick out. I'd be on the computer 8 hours a day if I opened all my files. I don't have Photoshop CS yet so I have to convert them in File Viewer Utility. That takes a lot of time.

I'm giving serious thought right now on creating a better system. Hey, I should make that a Viewfinder question.


Penny, you notice that I'm not posting much? I've tried to limit my posts to one a day so as not to flood the boards. I don't feel like my stuff is very good. I've got a bunch waiting in the wings but it's mostly rather boring, I think.