Thunderbolt CFexpress readers not recognized after macOS Golden Gate

Thanks, neuroanatomist.

It appears to be a Thunderbolt-specific issue.

When I connect the OWC/Sabrent readers using a USB 3.2 Gen 2 cable, everything works perfectly.

I also have a third reader, a Delkin USB 3.2 Gen 2 model, and it works without any issues as well.

So far, the problem seems to occur only when using the OWC/Sabrent readers over Thunderbolt.

Hi,

1) Check MacBook Pro bus power supply good enough to two readers if you connect two readers at the same time.

2) Check two controller chips of CF readers which probably made by ASMedia or Intel are compatible with Golden Gate driver.

3) Check each sites if they provide firmwares for new macOS Golden Gate.

andre_sena wrote:

Hi,

I downgraded my system back to macOS Tahoe 26.7.1, and now all of my CFexpress card readers are working normally without any issues.

This confirms that the problem I was experiencing with the readers appears to be related to macOS Golden Gate and the Thunderbolt connection.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

Change your "Allow accessories to connect" setting in the "Privacy & Security" System Settings to "Always when unlocked" or whatever it may be called these days (only applicable for Apple Silicon laptops). I have seen cases where the pop-up notification to approve a device connection doesn't always appear, or it may be hidden behind other open windows. I don't feel this configuration lessens security since most people are going to be clicking "Allow" anyway when they connect external devices while actively using the system.

If you disconnect the adapter, wait a minute before reconnecting it. I have seen macOS take a little time to "forget" a previous device connection.

You should check the OWC support site to see whether there is a firmware update available for you device (or maybe it requires using the OWC app to check & update the device firmware).

Same goes with Sabrent if it also has the issue.

If others are not having the problem, then I would wonder whether you have some third party software installed which is interfering with the normal operation of macOS. The usual culprits are anti-virus software, cleaning & optimizing apps, and third party security software.....none of which are needed on a Mac. Also Finder extensions could be at fault as well.

This is for future reference for you since you already downgraded the OS and for any others who are encountering this issue.

Hi,

I downgraded my system back to macOS Tahoe 26.7.1, and now all of my CFexpress card readers are working normally without any issues.

This confirms that the problem I was experiencing with the readers appears to be related to macOS Golden Gate and the Thunderbolt connection.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

Having similar issues with a Thunderbolt network adapter. Post upgrade it wasn't properely recognized by my MacBookPro. It would show as the unit was connected but he network cable wasn't plugged in. uGreen unit itself was working fine.

Resolution was deleting the Network interface and re-adding. Interestingly, as soon as I tried to add the interface it knew the unit was there, but it now has a completely different name...

Very odd.

neuroanatomist wrote:

If the first card inserted into the reader is recognized normally, and only the second card inserted in that connected reader is not recognized, then it seems unlikely to me that the Allow Accessories to Connect is going to affect that. The accessory (card reader) is already successfully connected when the issue occurs.

I don't have any Thunderbolt devices to test to confirm one way or another. The system may still see a different cards as a different device...after all a Thunderbolt connection is a more direct connection to the core system as well as proving daisy chaining those devices.

Besides, macOS may sometimes need to reapprove an already approved device. I've seen some Apple laptops all running the same exact version of macOS behave differently when I connect my external USB3 drives directly to them. Some systems won't ask to reauthorize permission for the drive & it mounts immediately, while another system will prompt me the next time I connect that same drive. Usually this occurs after a day or two. I would not expect this with identically configured systems with the same drive connecting to the exact same USB-C port.

It may be a long shot, but this is definitely something that could have been easily overlooked. I've been burned by this multiple times before I realized it. Plus having this setting as "Always when unlocked" can allow the use of a wire USB keyboard & mouse just in case something happens to the built-in keyboard & trackpad. It has saved me a number of times.

While replying I also began to wonder if the Thunderbolt cable could be at fault. Since that OWC device has a single USB-C port which supports both Thunderbolt & USB protocols.....I wonder if it may even be having trouble deciding which protocol to use. Maybe something is causing it to "disconnect" & "reconnect" or it ends up having trouble maintaining the connection. We do know that the quality of the cables do matter a lot more ever since the release of macOS Tahoe. I would even try using a different high quality Thunderbolt rated cable making sure to keep it less than one meter.

It may take a little time for third party hardware manufacturers to realize there may be a problem & to determine the cause before being able to alert users and suggest any fixes or even temporary work arounds.

I wonder if anyone knows of an easy way to identify the communication between macOS and the newly inserted card. This is very easy to do on Linux, but I am not sure if there is an easy way to do this on macOS so only those logs entries are shown. I have never tried to monitor such communication on macOS.

Thanks HWTech,

Change your "Allow accessories to connect" setting in the "Privacy & Security" System Settings to "Always when unlocked"

It's definitely not this setting that is causing the problem. I have tested this.

If you disconnect the adapter, wait a minute before reconnecting it.

Also tested this. And didn't make a difference.

I would wonder whether you have some third party software installed which is interfering with the normal operation of macOS. The usual culprits are anti-virus software, cleaning & optimizing apps, and third party security software.

No anti-virus software, cleaning & optimizing apps, and also no third party security software installed on my computer.

Also Finder extensions could be at fault as well.

I have DXO PureRAW finder extension installed. I disabled it and the behavior was the same. Also on Mac OS Tahoe (and previews OS) this extension never impact thunderbolt connections.

Same goes with Sabrent if it also has the issue.

Sabrent told me that they don't have a separate firmware update or dedicated driver for the CR-T3CF, as it uses native macOS Thunderbolt driver architecture.

OWC, Sabrent and Apple are aware of my problem.

Interesting. FWIW, my USB 3.2 reader is connected via a TB cable to a Thunderbolt dock that is connected to my Mac (also via a TB cable). So as long as the signal starts as or is constrained to USB 3.2, it works.

Hopefully someone else with a TB reader will chime in.

Thanks Kaz-k.

I don't believe this is a power supply issue. I am able to use three SSDs connected to my Mac simultaneously without experiencing any problems. However, I will verify this possibility as well.

I’ve contacted each manufacturer to let them know about the issue.

HWTech wrote:

Change your "Allow accessories to connect" setting in the "Privacy & Security" System Settings to "Always when unlocked" or whatever it may be called these days (only applicable for Apple Silicon laptops).

Note what the OP stated:

• I insert a CFexpress Type B card, and the Mac recognizes it normally.
• After ejecting the card and inserting another CFexpress Type B card, the second card is not recognized.

If the first card inserted into the reader is recognized normally, and only the second card inserted in that connected reader is not recognized, then it seems unlikely to me that the Allow Accessories to Connect is going to affect that. The accessory (card reader) is already successfully connected when the issue occurs.

While replying I also began to wonder if the Thunderbolt cable could be at fault.

I tested the readers with three different Thunderbolt cables, and the issue occurred with all of them. So I can rule out the cable as the cause.

I also tested the readers using a USB-C cable, and they worked perfectly.

Based on these tests, the issue appears to be specifically related to the Thunderbolt connection.

We do know that the quality of the cables do matter

The cables I tested are all high-quality cables from OWC, Sabrent, and Kondor Blue.

Besides, macOS may sometimes need to reapprove an already approved device.

Maybe macOS Golden Gate is somehow messing things up.

I forgot to mention that I also have an OWC ThunderBay 6 connected to my Mac via Thunderbolt, and it has worked correctly every time without any issues, including when running macOS Golden Gate.

I wonder if OWC SoftRAID, which is compatible with macOS Golden Gate, might be using a different driver or a different part of the Thunderbolt stack for the connection. This could potentially help narrow down where the problem is occurring.

I don't have a USB-4 / TB CFe reader to test, but I can confirm that my ProGrade USB 3.2 Gen 2 reader (model PG05.5) mounts successively inserted CFe cards just fine.

I’m seriously considering downgrading back to macOS Tahoe.