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Level 1

10 points

Odd console messages when ethernet cable is NOT connected

Summary: 3 Symptoms, all recurs simultaneously every minute or so when an ethernet cable is NOT connected:
1) Console: *"Firewall krb5kdc is listening"*...
2) HardwareGrowler *"Ethernet Deactivated Interface: en0"*
3) Network Preference Panel: Ethernet panel flickers. The Status changes from *"Cable Unplugged"* to *"Unknown State"* and then back to *"Cable Unplugged"* in less than a second.

I just bought a new 17" MacBook Pro (2010) to replace my old white MacBook that was running Snow Leopard. I used the migration assistant to transfer everything on the first bootup.

I use Growl and HardwareGrowl, which basically just alerts me to system changes such as mounting drives, connected and disconnected to networks, etc. I noticed that almost every minute I would see two identical consecutive Growl notifications pop up: *"Ethernet Deactivated Interface: en0"*.

Also, at the same exact time as the Growl notification this would print in the Console Log:
-----
4/20/10 11:35:24 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:35:24 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6

Then Oddly enough, if I leave the Network Preference Pane open, I can see the ethernet status go from its normal *"Cable Unplugged"* to *"Unknown State"* then in a fraction of a second, back to *"Cable Unplugged"*.

Weird, right!

The messages will stop if I insert a network cable into the MacBook Pro. The messages appear regardless of whether Airport is on. The messages even appear when there is no network cable and Airport is disabled.

I never saw this behavior on my old Macbook.

I went ahead and uninstalled Growl and a few other apps that mess with the networking (such as VMWare). I also created a 'virgin' test account. I am still having these entries show up in the log.

*I'm concerned that this may be a hardware issue. Does anyone have idea what may be going on?*

Sample log output:
------------------
4/20/10 11:36:35 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:36:35 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:37:46 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:37:46 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:38:56 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:38:56 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:40:07 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:40:07 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:41:18 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from :::88 proto=6
4/20/10 11:41:18 PM Firewall[44305] krb5kdc is listening from 0.0.0.0:88 proto=6

Activity Monitor:
-----------------
Active Memory: 533.2 MB
Free Memory: 2.40 GB
Wired Memory: 738.8 MB
Used Memory: 1.47 GB
Inactive Memory: 235.6 MB
Total VM: 141.14 GB
Number of processes: 54

PID Process Name User CPU Real Mem Virtual Mem
0 kernel_task root 11.1 141.9 MB 2.31 GB
1 launchd root 0.4 1.3 MB 2.36 GB
10 kextd root 0.6 3.3 MB 2.35 GB
11 DirectoryService root 0.0 5.1 MB 2.36 GB
12 notifyd root 0.0 640 KB 2.35 GB
13 diskarbitrationd root 0.0 1.7 MB 2.35 GB
14 configd root 0.0 3.4 MB 2.38 GB
15 syslogd root 0.0 752 KB 2.36 GB
16 blued root 0.0 4.8 MB 2.37 GB
17 distnoted daemon 0.0 1.4 MB 2.35 GB
20 mDNSResponder _mdnsrespo 0.0 2.0 MB 2.36 GB
23 coreservicesd root 0.1 29.5 MB 2.40 GB
26 securityd root 0.0 3.0 MB 2.36 GB
33 ntpd root 0.0 1.1 MB 2.32 GB
34 krb5kdc root 0.0 2.0 MB 2.34 GB
35 cron root 0.0 900 KB 2.32 GB
37 usbmuxd _usbmuxd 0.0 1.2 MB 608.1 MB
38 SystemStarter root 0.0 1.0 MB 2.34 GB
42 RFBRegisterMDNS root 0.0 1.7 MB 2.33 GB
44 mds root 0.0 70.2 MB 2.91 GB
45 loginwindow test 0.0 8.3 MB 2.65 GB
46 KernelEventAgent root 0.0 1.0 MB 2.34 GB
48 hidd root 0.0 1.5 MB 2.34 GB
49 fseventsd root 0.0 2.3 MB 2.36 GB
51 dynamic_pager root 0.0 796 KB 2.32 GB
57 autofsd root 0.0 1,008 KB 2.33 GB
65 socketfilterfw root 0.0 3.8 MB 2.36 GB
67 WindowServer _windowser 3.8 48.9 MB 2.99 GB
80 cvmsServ root 0.0 844 KB 2.33 GB
95 coreaudiod _coreaudio 0.0 1.8 MB 2.35 GB
115 launchd test 0.0 1.4 MB 2.36 GB
119 Dock test 0.0 28.7 MB 2.67 GB
120 SystemUIServer test 0.0 23.9 MB 2.73 GB
121 Finder test 0.0 13.6 MB 2.66 GB
126 pboard test 0.0 852 KB 2.32 GB
138 fontd test 0.0 4.6 MB 2.40 GB
142 UserEventAgent test 0.0 5.9 MB 2.37 GB
144 AppleVNCServer test 0.0 3.8 MB 2.60 GB
149 SIMBL Agent test 0.0 6.6 MB 10.67 GB
150 PenTabletDriver test 1.6 7.9 MB 2.66 GB
153 LMILaunchAgentFixer test 0.0 2.0 MB 630.7 MB
158 CCacheServer test 0.0 1.7 MB 2.35 GB
163 ConsumerTouchDriver test 0.3 6.7 MB 2.64 GB
165 TabletDriver test 0.0 5.3 MB 2.63 GB
192 Activity Monitor test 9.0 24.8 MB 2.74 GB
194 cvmsComp x8664 test 0.0 6.4 MB 2.34 GB
195 activitymonitord root 0.5 1.2 MB 2.33 GB
197 Console test 0.1 21.1 MB 2.69 GB
206 mdworker Patrick 0.0 6.0 MB 2.37 GB
208 mdworker test 0.0 9.6 MB 2.37 GB
218 DashboardClient test 0.0 21.1 MB 4.68 GB
234 Safari test 0.0 162.6 MB 5.02 GB
237 ocspd root 0.0 1.9 MB 2.37 GB
238 WebKitPluginAgent test 0.0 1,016 KB 2.35 GB

Message was edited by: bearboykahlo

Macbook Pro 2.53GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 20, 2010 10:50 PM

109 replies

Apr 22, 2010 5:38 PM in response to jkr801

Until a new HwG is out or some other fix is reached, you can adjust the Growl behavior for HwG in the Growl Preference Pane of System Preferences:

Under Growl -> Applications -> click on HardwareGrowler
Click the Configure… button
Click the Notifications tab
Select the Network Link Down notification
Uncheck the Enabled box

and that should do it for the time being.

Apr 22, 2010 6:01 PM in response to bearboykahlo

This is widespread and it has nothing to with HardwareGrowler. I have wiped my machine cleanly without installing a thing and the problem occurs. So its not 3rd party... its something in SL is the safeboot works (haven't tried that yet).

I have an open issue with Apple as well and I am told it is widespread and they have had many issues opened today.

bearboykahlo Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 22, 2010 6:05 PM in response to m4tr1xn30

Hey Everyone, I just got back from the Genius Bar!

The guy helping me saw the same behavior on 3 of the MBP i5 machines they had in the back. So it looks to be a widespread issue like others have commented. As I said previously I had the same problems with a "virgin" just wiped machine as well, so it is either a hardware/firmware/OSX issue and not related to any software or configurations we may have installed.

He said they'd email me if they had any further updates.

Auctoris

Level 2

178 points

Apr 23, 2010 9:41 AM in response to bearboykahlo

Same problem here. I got my new 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 yesterday. It's been doing the Unknown State on Ethernet every 70 seconds--just like everyone else has reported. I bet it is doing it on all new i5/i7 machines, but only some people are noticing it.

moogoo68

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2010 4:10 PM in response to Auctoris

I would say its widespread. User wouldn't noticed unless they are alerted to it. On that its pretty poor of Apple not to respond. If they are it very slow to do so.

Growl is a great app and it definitely exposed the issue that's for sure. Let's see how long it takes them to fix it. tick tick tick

Auctoris

Level 2

178 points

Apr 23, 2010 4:18 PM in response to moogoo68

It appears that Steve has been reading and responding to a lot of e-mail lately. Maybe someone should let him know there's an issue with all i5/i7s currently shipping. I take my name out of the hat--I don't want to risk the wrath of Steve 🙂.

moogoo68

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2010 4:29 PM in response to Auctoris

If goes to say a lot about quality. You can buy a cheap netbook and the design and functionality is spot on. My point is you get what you pay for. I wanted a premium product and with that I expect quality. This is a bad look and one apple needs to recognise and fix. They probably are...

As most of the people are reporting you wouldn't have know unless you installed Growl or was sitting around watching the Network Application.

It a lot of money to spend and we the consumer have a right to expect it to perform is function.

And Steve should be reading and responding. That's the sign of a very good CEO.

Hopefully he can advance this issue ASAP.

Apr 23, 2010 5:54 PM in response to moogoo68

13" MBP here with the C2D processor. Same issue, so its not just limited to the iX processors.

ciurana

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2010 6:05 PM in response to pricej636

pricej636 wrote:

13" MBP here with the C2D processor. Same issue, so its not just limited
to the iX processors.

Thanks for the infos pricej636. Interesting -- that points at a software issue rather than a model issue as well. These are good news in a way: no need to return the MacBook to the store. Await the patch!

Cheers,

pr3d4t0r
http://teslatestament.com

moogoo68

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2010 6:05 PM in response to pricej636

mmmm...look like it's either 10.6.3 or the actaul hardware. Let's see what Apple do and the time they do it in.

It's frustrating that the end user always finds these issues. I can understand something that is not related to apple such as 3rd party software and hardware but this is straight out of the box.

Get it out the door seems to be the main issue these days.

JavaGeek

Level 1

22 points

Apr 23, 2010 6:29 PM in response to pricej636

Interesting that the Core 2 Duo is also showing the same problem. I'm pretty sure they updated the motherboard, so it might be an issue with some of the other components.

The first one to come to mind is the Ethernet connector. In my case, it is the Broadcom 5764 and this is the info from System Profiler:

Broadcom 5764:

Name: ethernet
Type: Ethernet Controller
Bus: PCI
Vendor ID: 0x14e4
Device ID: 0x1684
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x14e4
Subsystem ID: 0x1684
Revision ID: 0x0010
Link Width: x1
BSD name: en0
Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Firmware version: 3.38
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleBCM570 1Ethernet.kext
Version: 2.3.8b2

I will look at my old mbp and see if the controller is different.

Apr 23, 2010 7:14 PM in response to pricej636

pricej636 wrote:
13" MBP here with the C2D processor. Same issue, so its not just limited to the iX processors.

Is it the new MBP or old? If new its still potentially hardware related...

Apr 24, 2010 1:51 AM in response to m4tr1xn30

Same here (15" i7).

Apr 24, 2010 6:11 AM in response to m4tr1xn30

Its the new model 13".

Apr 24, 2010 1:06 PM in response to pricej636

Same here. New MBP 17 i7.

Please fix!!!!

Odd console messages when ethernet cable is NOT connected