Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

> Learn more

> Add to your calendar 

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

how does Brother LOGINserver, etc. auto-load at login?

I want to find out how Brother's LOGINserver, NETserver, and USBserver are launching automatically whenever a user logs in (so as to stop them). I have seen other solutions on the forums which involve deleting those applications, but that's a Mickey Mouse solution to me. I want to know how to fix it by undoing whatever was done to make them start up automatically in the first place. I'm picky, I know. Really, though, I'd like to know how to do it just to know more about how the whole system works.

A new set of the processes launches with each user login - it's not that there's one set for the whole system.

I tried looking in Login Items in System Preferences, as well as cron, /Library/StartupItems, and launchdb, but I couldn't find anything relevant (and with launchdb I just got lost). I even tried looking through the shell scripts in the installer, but I couldn't decipher them enough to figure it out.

I have been trying to get the answer from Brother's support people, but they've been useless. Their latest communication to me insists that those apps are a part of OS X and that I'd have to ask Apple. (Never mind the fact that the software has the "Brother" logo all over it.) Whether older versions of them are included in OS X or not, I don't know, but I do know that they didn't used to start up automatically. That only started happening after I used Brother's installer, so it has to be something that the Brother installer changed. (I have an 8660DN, which is why I used the installer in the first place.)

Any gurus out there who can tell me how I might find out what is launching these things automatically?

PowerBook G3 (Pismo 400), Mac Mini 1.33 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Aug 30, 2008 2:32 PM

Reply
19 replies
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 1, 2008 10:25 PM in response to SillyWilly

I just looked there in Terminal, and there's nothing in the folder. However, I did figure out that it has something to do with launchd. If you type

launchctl list

in the Terminal (assuming you have this situation), in the list that shows up, you'll see the following items:

{quote}
.ControlCenter
\[0x0-0x96096].com.brother.utility.USBserver
\[0x0-0x97097].com.brother.utility.NETserver
\[0x0-0x92092].com.brother.LOGINserver
{quote}

The numbers between the brackets may be different on your system.

I was able to successfully remove them from the list, and I thought I had solved the problem, but to test it, I logged one of my accounts out and logged it back in, and the problem still exists. ControlCenter launches automatically (despite having turned that off in its preferences), as well as the other three. I saw via launchctl that they had also been re-added to the list.

I have yet to figure out what is causing those items to be re-added to launchd's list or how to kill this thing completely. Again, if anyone knows how this might be happening, please chime in!
Reply
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 4, 2008 2:17 PM in response to orangekay

I ran it, but unfortunately, it didn't show anything from Brother. It showed launch agents and daemons related to Little Snitch, and the startup item for Sleepwatcher, but nothing from Brother. No login items, either. I ran it both as an administrator and using sudo.

Another strange quirk I've noticed. I have two accounts on my system - an administrator and a regular account that I use for watching videos. On the administrator account, the Brother Control Center no longer pops up, but LOGINserver, NETserver, and USBserver still start up automatically. On the regular account, the Brother Control Center starts up automatically on login (as do the others), but the Control Center won't pay attention when I tell it to not start up automatically. As soon as I close the preference window and open it again, the option is checked again. Strange.

This is so frustrating. Could it be that Brother is using one of the older methods of starting up processes as well as launchd? Like RC or cron or something? What is the matter with these guys that they make the changes that they make to your system so difficult to track down?
Reply
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 10, 2008 11:57 AM in response to orangekay

I didn't see anything with a question mark next to it. I just ran it again to check. Here are the results:

Consultant's Canary Report:
Wed Sep 10 11:40 AM
Mini: ~
greg $ sudo python "/Applications/3rd Party Apps/Utilities/Consultant's Canary.app/Contents/Resources/Scripts/cc.pyo"
Password:

KHI Consultant's Canary Report v2.7.8

Model Name......................................... Mac mini
Model Identifier............................... PowerMac10,2
Processor Name............................. PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Processor Speed.................................... 1.33 GHz
Number Of CPUs............................................ 1
L2 Cache (per CPU)................................... 512 KB
Memory................................................. 1 GB
Bus Speed........................................... 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version.................................... 4.9.4f0
Serial Number................................... xxxxxxxxxxx
System Version....................... Mac OS X 10.5.4 (9E17)
Kernel Version................................. Darwin 9.4.0
Boot Volume..................................... Mac mini HD
Boot Mode............................................ Normal
Computer Name.......................................... Mini
User Name....................... System Administrator (root)
Time since boot................................ 3 days 15:15

---

Login Items

/Applications/Stickies.app
/Users/greg/Documents/Lists
/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app

---

Overly Privileged Processes

/Library/Little Snitch/lsd
/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/Resources/pmTool

---

Foreign System Augmentations


Address Book Plug-Ins

/Users/greg/Library/Address Book Plug-Ins
FS Name: Bundle ID:
BTGoogleDirections.bundle com.briantoth.addressbook.btgoogledirections
BTGoogleEarth.bundle com.briantoth.addressbook.BTGoogleEarth
BTGoogleMaps.bundle com.briantoth.addressbook.btgooglemaps
BTGooglePreferences.bundle com.briantoth.addressbook.btgooglepreferences

Automator Actions

/Users/greg/Library/Automator
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Add Google Analytics.action com.echoone.Automator.Add GoogleAnalytics

Contextual Menu Items

/Library/Contextual Menu Items
FS Name: Bundle ID:
WSContextMenu.plugin com.fribi.WSContextMenu

/Users/greg/Library/Contextual Menu Items
FS Name: Bundle ID:
DesktopPictureCM.plugin com.azinesoftware.DesktopPictureCM
FinderIconCM.plugin com.pixture.FinderIconCM
Google Notifier Quick Add CM Plugin.plugin com.google.GoogleNotifierQuickAddCMPlugin
ScanWithClamXav.plugin uk.co.markallan.clamxav.ScanWithClamXav

Frameworks

/Library/Frameworks
FS Name: Bundle ID:
DivX Toolkit.framework com.divx.divxtoolkit

Input Managers

/Library/InputManagers
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Inquisitor org.xlife.InquisitorLoader
SIMBL net.culater.SIMBL

Internet/Safari Plug-Ins

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
FS Name: Bundle ID:
ContentUploaderPlugin.plugin com.divx.DivXContentUploadPlugin
Disabled com.adobe.acrobat.pdfviewer
DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin com.divx.DivXBrowserPlugin
Flash Player.plugin com.macromedia.Flash Player.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin net.telestream.wmv.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.webplugin net.telestream.wmv.webplugin
RealPlayer Plugin.plugin com.RealNetworks.RealPlayerPlugin
VLC Plugin.plugin com.netscape.vlc

iPhoto Plug-Ins

/Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/PlugIns
FS Name: Bundle ID:
PicasaWebAlbums.iPhotoExporter com.google.maciphotoexporter

Kernel Extensions

/System/Library/Extensions
FS Name: Bundle ID:
EPSONUSBPrintClass.kext com.epson.print.kext.USBPrintClass
EyeTVAfaTechHidBlock.kext com.elgato.driver.DontMatchAfaTech
EyeTVCinergy450AudioBlock.kext com.elgato.driver.DontMatchCinergy450
EyeTVCinergyXSAudioBlock.kext com.elgato.driver.DontMatchCinergyXS
EyeTVClassicDontSeize.kext com.elgato.eyetv.ClassicNotSeizeDriver
EyeTVEmpiaAudioBlock.kext com.elgato.driver.DontMatchEmpia
EyeTVVoyagerAudioBlock.kext com.elgato.driver.DontMatchVoyager
LittleSnitch.kext at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch

Launchd Jobs

/Library/LaunchAgents
FS Name: Bundle ID:
at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor
at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent

/Library/LaunchDaemons
FS Name: Bundle ID:
at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist at.obdev.littlesnitchd

System Preferences Plug-Ins

/Library/PreferencePanes
FS Name: Bundle ID:
DivX.prefPane com.divx.divxprefs
Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane net.telestream.wmv.prefpane
WinShortcutterPrefs.prefPane com.fribi.WinShortcutter

/Users/eyetv/Library/PreferencePanes
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Perian.prefPane org.perian.PerianPane

/Users/greg/Library/PreferencePanes
FS Name: Bundle ID:
ASM.prefPane de.vercruesse.cocoa.asmpref
Perian.prefPane org.perian.PerianPane
Stoplight.prefPane com.fluoridatedcode.stoplightpane

QuickLook Plug-Ins

/Users/greg/Library/QuickLook
FS Name: Bundle ID:
HetimaWebThumbnail.qlgenerator jp.hetima.webthumbnailquicklookgenerator
HetimaWebThumbnail.qlgenerator jp.hetima.webthumbnailquicklookgenerator

/Applications/3rd Party Apps/Skim.app/Contents/Library/QuickLook
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Skim.qlgenerator net.sourceforge.skim-app.quicklookgenerator
Skim.qlgenerator net.sourceforge.skim-app.quicklookgenerator

/Users/greg/Library/QuickLook
FS Name: Bundle ID:
HetimaWebThumbnail.qlgenerator jp.hetima.webthumbnailquicklookgenerator

/Library/QuickLook
FS Name: Bundle ID:
QuickLookEyeTV.qlgenerator com.elgato.eyetv.quicklookgenerator
QuickLookEyeTV.qlgenerator com.elgato.eyetv.quicklookgenerator

QuickTime Plug-Ins

/Library/QuickTime
FS Name: Bundle ID:
DivX Decoder.component com.DivXInc.DivXDecoder
DivX Encoder.component com.DivXInc.DivXCodec
EyeTV MPEG Support.component com.elgato.mpegsupport
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component net.telestream.wmv.advanced
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component net.telestream.wmv.export
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component net.telestream.wmv.import
XviD_Codec v0.5.1.component ch.rafz.naegeli.christoph.xvid_codec

/Users/eyetv/Library/QuickTime
FS Name: Bundle ID:
AC3MovieImport.component com.cod3r.ac3movieimport
Perian.component org.perian.Perian

/Users/greg/Library/QuickTime
FS Name: Bundle ID:
AC3MovieImport.component com.cod3r.ac3movieimport
Perian.component org.perian.Perian

Screen Savers

/Users/eyetv/Library/Screen Savers
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Ciao.saver com.lorenb.ciao

/Users/greg/Library/Screen Savers
FS Name: Bundle ID:
BasicBlack.saver de.monkeybreadsoftware.screensavers.BasicBlack
BigClock.saver com.enigmarelle.bigclock
Ciao.saver com.lorenb.ciao
Dog.saver org.joostmarkerink.flashsaver
QuartzClocks.saver com.cskent.quartzclocksscreensaver
Red Pill.saver com.ath0.redpill

Cocoa Application Services

/Users/greg/Library/Services
FS Name: Bundle ID:
TidyService.service com.ahtenindustries.TidyService
WordService.service org.grunenberg.WordService

Startup Items

/Library/StartupItems
FS Name: Bundle ID:
SleepWatcher SleepWatcher

Dashboard Widgets

/Users/greg/Library/Widgets
FS Name: Bundle ID:
Blindtext.wdgt com.rihs.widget.blindtext
Cicero.wdgt com.rahji.loremipsum
craigslist 1.1.4.wdgt nz.net.stanton.craig.widget.craigslist
Gas.wdgt com.andrethegiant.widget.gas
Gmail.wdgt com.google.widgets.gmail.GmailWidget
HTML - Checkpoint 2.2.wdgt de.dirkeinecke.widget.Checkpoint2.2
HTML - ColorBurn.wdgt com.firewheeldesign.colorburn
HTML - ColourMod.wdgt net.teevio.widget.ColourMod
HTML - CSS Tags.wdgt com.PatrickPatoray.TagsCSS
HTML - CSS Typography Calculator.wdgt com.attila.widget.CSS-Typography-Calculator
HTML - Entities.wdgt com.remy.widget.Entities
HTML - Tags.wdgt com.PatrickPatoray.TagsHTML
HTML - Tidy.wdgt com.PatrickPatoray.HTMLTidy
iCal Events.wdgt com.benkazez.widget.icalevents
Sleep Display.wdgt com.kdh.widget.Sleep Display
The Weather Channel.wdgt com.theweatherchannel.dashboardwidgetr




End of Report

Consultant's Canary Copyright © 2008 KHI Ltd. Co., LLC
Unauthorized distribution is prohibited
http://www.khiltd.com


(Sorry the formatting died. I don't know how to force it to look the way it originally did in Terminal.)

Yes, the installer is publicly available. It's located here:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/dlf/downloadindex.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=mfc8660dnus&type2=-1&os=81&flang=English&dlid=

It's the one in the section called "Scanner Driver":

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/dlf/dlf/000000/003200/d lf003207.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=mfc8660dn_us&type2=1&os=81&flang=4&dlid=d lf003207

If you can figure out what it's doing to cause this nonsense via the installer scripts, my hat's off to you.
Reply
User profile for user: orangekay
orangekay
User level: Level 5
4,085 points

Sep 10, 2008 12:21 PM in response to elgrego

Well this is frightening. Look to see if this file exists:

/private/etc/mach init_peruser.d/BRLaunch.plist

You can get there by hitting command-shift-G in a Finder window and entering "/etc" for the path.

If not, then that's good.

Their installer script calls out to a compiled binary named "LoginItem" (which I assume executes with escalated privileges) so I can't tell exactly what it does without running it. Judging by what I've seen it looks like somebody named "ysawada" wrote some kind of private login item munging garbage rather than using the public APIs they were supposed to so.

The utilities it launches seem to live in /Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities and I imagine that deleting them should at least address the symptom.

I'm going to setup a sandbox to run it in and see what exactly it writes where, but in the meantime you might want to look at /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist and see if it's done anything unsavory in there.
Reply
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 10, 2008 1:42 PM in response to orangekay

Thankfully, there is no BRLaunch.plist. I checked in both the Finder and the Terminal (in case it had the invisible bit set).

I checked /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist as you suggested, and it does have something unsavory in it!


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" " http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd ">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>privilegedlist</key>
<dict>
<key>Controller</key>
<string>CustomListItems</string>
<key>CustomListItems</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Alias</key>
<data>
AAAAAADaAAMAAQAAw2T2IQAASCsAAAAAACXlsQAl5bIA
AMKJeHIAAAAACSD//gAAAAAAAAAA/////wABABQAJeWx
AAKrAwACpusAAGHfAAAAHAAOACAADwBMAE8ARwBJAE4A
cwBlAHIAdgBlAHIALgBhAHAAcAAPABgACwBNAGEAYwAg
AG0AaQBuAGkAIABIAEQAEgA5TGlicmFyeS9QcmludGVy
cy9Ccm90aGVyL1V0aWxpdGllcy9TZXJ2ZXIvTE9HSU5z
ZXJ2ZXIuYXBwAAATAAEvAP//AAA=
</data>
<key>CustomItemProperties</key>
<dict>
<key>com.apple.loginitem.legacyprefs</key>
<dict>
<key>Hide</key>
<false/>
<key>Path</key>
<string>/Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities/Server/LOGINserver.app</string>
</dict>
</dict>
<key>Icon</key>
<data>
SW1nUgAAABwAAAAAU1lTTAAAABAAAAAAQVBQTA==
</data>
<key>Name</key>
<string>LOGINserver</string>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>


Also, based on what you said about "LoginItem", I executed "locate LoginItem", which found a copy of it in /Library/Receipts/BrotherTWAIN.pkg/Contents/Resources/

Using the commands list embedded in the executable, I executed "./LoginItem print" which produced this result:

Wed Sep 10 01:33 PM
Mini: /Library/Receipts/BrotherTWAIN.pkg/Contents/Resources
greg $ ./LoginItem print

Index: 0
Full path to App: /Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities/Server/LOGINserver.app
Hide on launch: No
Executable Name: LOGINserver.app


Which would seem to correspond to the item in com.apple.loginitems.plist.

What now? At this point I'm in over my head, so I don't want to do something incorrectly and hose something that I don't want hosed.
Reply
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 10, 2008 3:15 PM in response to orangekay

Sadly, that didn't fix it. I tried moving it via the Finder and restarting as well as restarting into single-user mode and moving it from there. Nothing bad happened, but the file was automatically regenerated on each restart, and it includes the entry for LOGINserver. LOGINserver, USBserver, and NETserver were all running after each restart. Something else must be running at startup to re-create that record if it's missing. Ugh.

Any luck with running it in the sandbox?
Reply
User profile for user: elgrego
elgrego Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Sep 10, 2008 3:38 PM in response to orangekay

I just found something else: /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" " http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd ">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>AutoLaunchedApplicationDictionary</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Hide</key>
<false/>
<key>Path</key>
<string>/Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities/Server/LOGINserver.app</string>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>


I'll try moving both and see if that does it.
Reply

how does Brother LOGINserver, etc. auto-load at login?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up