Leonidas Kalantidis

Q: "USB Devices Disabled" notification always showing

Hey guys! Some help would be much appreciated.

 

A few months ago my macbook pro (early 2011) took a fall and ever since the USB ports are not working and every time I try to connect something the usual message "USB Devices Disabled - Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices" appears. I took it to be serviced, they asked for more money than I could spend to change the logic board. Instead I found a Thunderbolt to USB adapter and moved on like this.

 

Recently, I installed El Capitan and ever since the installation the "USB Devices Disabled" notification does not go away. It pops up, I click "Close", it goes away and a few seconds later it's back on. It stays there for EVER.

 

Any ideas as to how to solve this?

 

Many thanks!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 11:04 PM

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Q: "USB Devices Disabled" notification always showing

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  • by sydrek,

    sydrek sydrek Oct 7, 2015 10:46 PM in response to zegomesjf
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2015 10:46 PM in response to zegomesjf

    Doesn't work in my case either

    Using MBP mid-2011, with El Capitan my USB port are disabled (can't get any USB device connected) and I had to switch the Notification center to DND to avoid the permanent popup...

     

    Anyone heard of any other solution?

  • by vermontbill,

    vermontbill vermontbill Oct 8, 2015 4:17 AM in response to vermontbill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iBooks
    Oct 8, 2015 4:17 AM in response to vermontbill

    I decided to make a Genius Bar appointment in a large Apple Store believing that one of their techs might be able to come up with a fix. None of their techs could solve the problem. They ended up advising I should stick with turning off notifications and hope that a future El Capitan version fixes the problem.

  • by fiftymillimeter,

    fiftymillimeter fiftymillimeter Oct 12, 2015 6:04 AM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2015 6:04 AM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis

    Adding my name to the list. MacBook Pro 8.1, no USB devices attached, and the problem began when I upgraded to El Capitan.

  • by risbov,

    risbov risbov Oct 14, 2015 1:40 PM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 1:40 PM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis

    I've been having this problem for weeks now. I have a two months old Macbook pro which has seen next to no use. The problem occurred when i first plugged in a memory stick and took it out. In my case this has nothing to do with El Capitan as I was, and still am, on Yosemite (my wife's laptop I'm talking about). But the strange thing is that both usb ports are working perfectly fine. (They are not disabled though the message says they are.) I've been to a Genius Bar and they reinstalled the OS from scratch in the hope that would solve the problem. It didn't. Nor did the SMC reset. System diagnostics performed at the Store found no fault. Yet the message keeps popping up 80% of the time after the machine wakes up from sleep. I'm finding it impossible to get a new appointment at the Apple store due to them being swamped with bookings...

  • by MaccMann,

    MaccMann MaccMann Oct 15, 2015 10:48 AM in response to zegomesjf
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 10:48 AM in response to zegomesjf

    Not sure about why it isn't working for others, but the "Command-Option-P-R" reset appears to have worked for me on my Mid 2012 MacBookPro i7 system.

  • by Jackemuk,

    Jackemuk Jackemuk Oct 17, 2015 10:50 AM in response to MaccMann
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2015 10:50 AM in response to MaccMann

    I JUST upgraded to 10.11 (15A284) on my MacPro 3,1 and I'm having the same USB nag issues with my IOGEAR KVM GCS1644. The Dual View KVM works great with Mavericks and Yosemite. As soon as I upgraded to 10.11, it started the nagging....

     

    Initially the USB keyboard and mouse connect (an Apple keyboard... btw) worked for about 2-5 minutes, then they stopped. I even plugged them into a USB 3.0 card I have installed which has supplemental power provided to the card, and the nag is there.

     

    There is something messed up with their USB driver that isn't behaving correctly on 10.11. Initially I love the speed and performance, it's GREAT on my MacPro3,1, but I have 3 other mac's connected to this KVM, so not having this working is not an option so I'm going back to Yosemite till Apple get's off their but and fixes things...

     

    </-Gary>

  • by Nikita Chegodaev,

    Nikita Chegodaev Nikita Chegodaev Oct 21, 2015 10:19 PM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 21, 2015 10:19 PM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis

    I have faced with the same problem on El Capitan - after several seconds my USB-midi device has stopped. I can see it in USB-settings, but there is no signals from it. On 10.10 everything was working well.

    And new update OS X 10.11.1 doesn't resolve my problem.

  • by Nikita Chegodaev,

    Nikita Chegodaev Nikita Chegodaev Oct 22, 2015 10:55 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 22, 2015 10:55 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev

    I wrote to the apple support about this problem, and they told me to restart SMC Controller on my macbook.

    And it helped me!

  • by ZPagon,

    ZPagon ZPagon Oct 23, 2015 1:12 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2015 1:12 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev

    i too have the same issue. reverted back to yosemite on my 2008 iMac.. hope Apple comes out with a solution soon.

  • by appleaday8,Apple recommended

    appleaday8 appleaday8 Oct 26, 2015 10:11 AM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 10:11 AM in response to Leonidas Kalantidis

    Had the exact same problem with my 2010 Mac Mini. Upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan 10.11.1 and immediately saw the USB error message--even with all my peripherals disconnected including a USB monitor. After reading some forums found that resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) fixed this problem on some Macs. Go here to do this: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support. I added to this by resetting the PRAM (or NVRAM) when my mac was booting up from the SMC reset. How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support.

     

    When my mac booted up, the system preferences was open and I had a notifications error (null error). I then quit system preferences, started it back up, selected notifications and the error was gone with all the notifications options available. I then connected all my peripherals and no more USB errors appeared. Everything seems to be back to normal. Will update this post if things change. Good luck!

     

    On a side note, El Capitan seems to be run a bit snappier than Yosemite. We'll see.

  • by Nikita Chegodaev,

    Nikita Chegodaev Nikita Chegodaev Oct 26, 2015 10:16 AM in response to appleaday8
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 10:16 AM in response to appleaday8

    Unfortunately reseting SMC and NVRAM doesn't helped me. 

  • by appleaday8,

    appleaday8 appleaday8 Oct 26, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Nikita Chegodaev

    You posted earlier it worked. Did it not last for long?

  • by Nikita Chegodaev,

    Nikita Chegodaev Nikita Chegodaev Oct 26, 2015 10:57 AM in response to appleaday8
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 10:57 AM in response to appleaday8

    Yes, it was working for 15 minutes, and I was very happy, and I thought that problem was solved..

    But on 16-17 minute problem was reproduced.

  • by Bigwest12,

    Bigwest12 Bigwest12 Oct 28, 2015 4:58 PM in response to 1GuyInWisconsin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 28, 2015 4:58 PM in response to 1GuyInWisconsin

    Add me.  Only one USB port functions since Yosemite.  Just upgraded to El Capitain and still getting USB Devices Disabled message also.

     

    Add my name to this list.

     

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

    Upgraded to OS X El Capitan (10.11) on 09/30/2015, first login, and every login since.

     

    USB Devices Disabled

    Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices.

     

    Nothing is plugged into the USB ports.

     

    Currently, using the "Do Not Disturb" workaround.

     

    This behavior did not exist prior to the El Capitan upgrade.

  • by risbov,

    risbov risbov Oct 30, 2015 4:50 PM in response to Bigwest12
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 30, 2015 4:50 PM in response to Bigwest12

    Well, for me the end of this road has finally been reached. I'd got an appointment at the Apple Store and they performed a couple of hardware tests on my machine. The first one was passed with no error found. But when they tried to erase the SSD they couldn't which pointed to the fact that the SSD was at fault. (The guy told me that in this case my SSD would sooner or later fail to reboot completely). This was a new machine still under warranty so they promptly suggested a replacement and, of course, I accepted it. So... If you are having this message don't get palmed off by any work-around but insist on them getting to the bottom of it. Despite what they like to tell you in the beginning this not at all unlikely to be a hardware issue. In which case, depending on how old your Mac(book) is you might qualify for a replacement.

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