Luis Santos

Q: USB tethering lost after installing iphone configuration utility

For the longest time I've been surfing on my Mac (on Lion) tethered to my iPhone (on iOS5). The "iPhone USB" service appears normal in the Network section of System Preferences. After I installed iPhone Configuration Utility (v3.4) the "iPhone USB" service just displays a red dot and I get a "Either the iPhone USB cable..." message.

 

I found a tip saying I can reboot my Mac holding down the "3" and "2" keys to run in 32-bit mode and this re-enabled the "iPhone USB" service. But this means I have to run 32-bit every time I need to tether?!? I tried uninstalling iPhone Config Utility but the problem persisted.

 

Is there something I'm missing?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Feb 10, 2012 3:36 AM

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Q: USB tethering lost after installing iphone configuration utility

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  • by M1HG,

    M1HG M1HG Dec 18, 2013 2:35 PM in response to jypsilantis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 18, 2013 2:35 PM in response to jypsilantis

    Thanks, that's an interesting feature. You may also be aware that if one clicks on the ? in the error message it will provide you with a similar workaround (and warning).  Alas, using the now accessable file I have tried DopeyDupe's fix several times and have not solved the problem.

     

    Going to "Networks" still indicates the USB tether is not connected to the iphone. It is an odd problem since I still have limited use of the tether (bluetooth off) via iTunes including music, apps, etc. even while the system fails to recognize the device via USB.  A notable exception is the calendar functions which are now completely isolated on the phone and Mac requiring the maintenance of two calendars (no way).

     

    Thanks again jypsilantis.  My quest goes on.

  • by lichtaffen1,

    lichtaffen1 lichtaffen1 Feb 7, 2014 2:28 PM in response to DopeyDupe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 7, 2014 2:28 PM in response to DopeyDupe

    Nice!

     

    Before could only USB Tether with iPhone 4S (4,1) iOS 6.1.3 but not with iPad Mini (2,7) iOS 7.0.4

     

    Essentially did your fix.

     

    Replaced AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext with The File Fab11 Posted.

     

    Appended the .kext extension.

     

    Repaired permissions.

     

    Power off - restart.

     

    Both USB Tether!

     

    Cheers,

     

    JCxH

     

    MacBook Air 11" Mid 2011 with OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)

  • by obviohazcontacto,

    obviohazcontacto obviohazcontacto Jun 16, 2014 10:21 PM in response to DopeyDupe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2014 10:21 PM in response to DopeyDupe

    Just amazing! Thanks DopeyDupe. It works perfect!

    I have Mac OS X 10.7.5 and iPhone 5 iOS 7.1.1

  • by hartham,

    hartham hartham Aug 9, 2014 4:25 AM in response to Chris45
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 9, 2014 4:25 AM in response to Chris45

    this approach worked perfectly for me, using Fab11's initial instructions and download. Thanks - solved a very annoying problem.

  • by MyKidsDad,

    MyKidsDad MyKidsDad Sep 11, 2014 6:37 AM in response to muellah
    Level 2 (329 points)
    Sep 11, 2014 6:37 AM in response to muellah

    1. Delete iPhone configuration utility.
    2. Do fab11's magic:

    sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/com.apple.pkg.iPhoneConfigurationUtility.*

    rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoneConfigurationUtility.plist*

    3. Delete the whole folder: /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

    4. Reinstall iTunes (just over the previous one)

    5. Restart

     

    muellah and fab11,  this worked for me!  Thank you!

     

    Oddly enough, the error message about this kext file came out of nowhere.  I don't even have the iPhone Config Utility installed.

  • by Dayzer,

    Dayzer Dayzer Oct 13, 2014 12:45 PM in response to fab11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2014 12:45 PM in response to fab11

    Hi Fab11,

     

    I went to mediafire.com and the file I downloaded was a text document. Doesn't look right at all. There was a permission issue downloading it and it looks like the file was converted to text only. Anyway, as you can imagine I am not technical in my skill set. Could you email me the file and at least I can compare it with what I have and try fix this bloody tethering issue. Appreciate the help. By the way, is the file I have to delete /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext/Contents/MacOS or the file://localhost/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext/ or both?

     

    Cheers

     

    <Email Edited By Host>

  • by marcusalexis,

    marcusalexis marcusalexis Sep 29, 2014 2:50 AM in response to fab11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 29, 2014 2:50 AM in response to fab11

    This worked for me, thanks.

  • by Knighstalker,

    Knighstalker Knighstalker Oct 13, 2014 12:40 PM in response to fab11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2014 12:40 PM in response to fab11

    I'd like to thank you fab11, FastGTR, and DopeyDupe for coming up with a fix for this issue. I'm amazed that after over 2 and half years Apple has not yet patched this error. I was forced to update my iTunes to 11.4 to tether my iPhone 5 via USB to my Macbook Pro using 10.6.8. This of course was a broken solution still as of 10/13/14. After following DopeyDupe's amended fix, I was able to connect my iPhone immediately to my Mac and incidentally was able to post this response via that connection! Once again, thank you.

  • by Knighstalker,

    Knighstalker Knighstalker Oct 17, 2014 8:42 PM in response to fab11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 8:42 PM in response to fab11

    UPDATE:

     

    Just to let you know that every time you update iTunes you MUST do the above fix each time. I decide to bump my MacBook beyond 10.6.8 and after doing so iTunes 11.4 reappeared in software update. I hesitantly decide to reload it to see what would happen. What happened was I once again lost my ability to tether my iPhone! So a person either holds off on updating or they must be prepared to reinstall AppleUSBEthernetH each time they do so.

  • by Knighstalker,

    Knighstalker Knighstalker Oct 18, 2014 1:34 AM in response to fab11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2014 1:34 AM in response to fab11

    UPDATE 2:

     

    Okay... Apparently there were 2 versions of iTunes 11.4 and software update could differentiate between OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7+ when it downloaded iTunes to them??? I'm making this assumption because apparently the day after I allowed software update to reinstall iTunes 11.4 on my newly upgraded MacBook Pro from Snow Leopard to Lion Apple came out with iTunes 12.0.1. I only came across this because DopeyDupe's amended fix in fact DID NOT work after I re-downloaded 11.4 on Lion. So I hit the Google trail once again and ran across this Apple Support thread:

     

    system extension cannot be used AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

     

    A couple of suppositions stood out in my mind. First, the main theme of the thread was to solve the issue by deleting the AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext, reload iTunes 11.4 via the downloaded version of iTunes, and restart. Second, Greg Earle on page 4 of that thread discloses that he discovered that "the new iTunes 11.4 version of the AppleUSBEthernetHost kext appears to be 64-bit only." So I went to the Apple Support Downloads page to download version 11.4 to try this fix and low and behold I discovered this:

     

    Apple - Support - Downloads

     

    iTunes 11.4 for OS X 10.6! When I was using 10.6.8, this is the version I must of downloaded and the kext replacement worked with this version. However, after I re-downloaded 11.4 on Lion the kext replacement did not work. So therefore Apple must of been distributing two versions of 11.4. I'm guessing a 32bit and 64bit version??? Whether this is true or not obviously I don't know. However, after I downloaded iTunes 11.4 for OS X 10.6, deleted the kext file and iTunes (http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/06/delete-itunes-mac-os-x/), reinstalled iTunes with the downloaded installer, and reloaded Fab11's kext download I once again was able to tether my iPhone to my MacBook via USB.

  • by Chibi Alois,

    Chibi Alois Chibi Alois Jan 3, 2015 9:18 PM in response to Knighstalker
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2015 9:18 PM in response to Knighstalker

    Is there any possible way this works for Windows computers?

     

    im having the same problem ever since updating itunes and i have Windows 8.1....

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