Memory Card Reader Unexpectedly Ejects the Media

Your Memory Card Reader unexpectedly ejects the media after 10 minutes of inactivity

Potential causes

The firmware on your card reader may be identifying the reader to Mac OS X has a hard drive. When Mac OS X power management attempts to put this "hard drive" to sleep, this may result in the card reader ejecting any mounted media.

Solution

1. Open the System Preferences > Energy Saver > Sleep tab.
2. If the Put the hard drive to sleep when possible option is selected, then deselect this option.

This should prevent the card reader from ejecting the memory card for up to three hours of inactivity.

Related links

• "Mac OS X 10.2: Volume or Flash Card Does Not Appear in the Finder."
• This FAQ is from our book Troubleshooting Mac OS X. In the book, the "Hard Drive Sleep" chapter provides additional information on problems such as the memory card reader issue, which are related to how peripherals identify themselves to Mac OS X and how they interpret power management requests from the operating system.