p2 cards not mounting

Any ideas on this one?

I shoot on an HVX, using 2 16gb p2 cards. My workflow is to use my MacBook Pro as a dumping station. I use a Duel Adapter to get the cards read through the Express slot.

Now my computer is not reading the cards. I've been on the phone with Apple Support and the Duel Adapter people and they both seem to suggest the problem is with the p2 cards themselves. The Duel Adapter, when plugged into the Express slot, only shows up as an icon in the status bar. The card itself never mounts (neither card). I am able to offload stuff through my camera via firewire. Also, the cards won't mount on a friend's MBP via the adapter... we both have the latest drivers from what I can tell. I'm running Tiger... 10.4.11.

That's the basics, but here's some probably relevant backstory. About 6 months ago the cards would mount, but if I opened the folder, it would show "Contents" as empty and nothing in the txt file, when viewed through Finder. This clearly freaked me out the first time it happened. BUT, for some reason, if I use P2CMS it recognizes the files no problem. I've thought that wacky, and have been pleased just using that as a workaround. Until now. I can't rely on using my camera to offload, as that amounts to critical downtime in the field. Another FYI is that the Contents are empty through both the adapter and the camera.

Seems like there is an underlying problem causing all of this madness. I talked the Duel Adater folks into sending me a replacement before I leave, but, as I said, both they and the Apple Support folks tended to think the problem was neither my computer nor the adapter.

So, I am completely and utterly baffled. Any clues that might help solve this mystery would be more than appreciated.