iTunes 10 kills Personal Hotspot via USB?

Question

iTunes 10 kills Personal Hotspot via USB?

I've been using Personal Hotspot via USB every workday for more than a year. Today, the USB connection dropped in mid-use. I can't reestablish it - OSX says that the cable isn't plugged in or the iPhone is not configured for tethering.

iTunes sees the phone over the USB connection - syncing works correctly. The phone charges up over the USB cable.

Bluetooth works, but I prefer not to broadcast in an office environment.

This happened immediately after downloading & installing iTunes 10 (over the USB link!)

Reboot of the mac and/or iPhone doesn't help

Tech specs: Macbook Pro 8,2 with OSX 10.6.8 and my iPhone 4 (not "S"), iOS 5.1.1. USB cable was supplied with phone. I tried a different cable: no effect.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.6.8), iPhone 4, 5.1.1, iTunes 10

Posted on Sep 17, 2012 10:24 AM

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Answer 1

KC7GNM

Level 4

2,904 points

Sep 17, 2012 10:29 AM in response to billfromstittsville

Since you are still running snow leopard I really can't help you there. I know with ML (10.8) it works fine.

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Answer 2

Sep 17, 2012 10:45 AM in response to billfromstittsville

Missing detail: iTunes update was actually 10.7

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Answer 3

Sep 17, 2012 3:07 PM in response to billfromstittsville

Found this post in the discussions:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3787866

It identifies the file /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext as the source of a similar problem.

Tried the connection once more, just to verify the problem still existed.

Restored the file from my Time Machine backup (an effortless task) and presto - problem solved.

Interesting note: file size, and creation and modification dates, had not changed - but the restore worked.

Why iTunes 10.7 affected this file is a question for an iTunes guru.

Vote of thanks to David Empson for the research!

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Answer 4

Sep 21, 2012 12:25 PM in response to billfromstittsville

I am using OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and just applied the latest security updates for the OS and iTunes 10.7. After I have installed iTunes 10.7 I can no longer use USB tethering.

I have tried to follow the steps here and in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3787866 to reinstall the "right" AppleUSBEthernetHost.ktext with the universal binary 2.3.0 so that I can have my USB tethering back.

Even though I could take a copy of that from Time Machine, it turns out that I couldn't install it because iTunes 10.7 uses a higher AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext version called 2.3.6for Intel binary only (as iTunes 10.7 only supports Intel machines). This meant my effort of fixing this has failed, even worse I have deleted the iPhone connection option on Network Preferences so I can not even test whether I can connect through USB tethering!

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Answer 5

jiijiim

Level 1

0 points

Sep 23, 2012 11:38 AM in response to alancylai

I'm on Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and iTunes 10.7. Tethering didn't work on my iPhone 3GS with iTunes 10.7 or the previous version installed. After trying every possible thing I could find in the forums, including deleting AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext and reinstalling iTunes, to no avail, I finally simply replaced the file AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext with version 2.2.0 using Time Machine, which seems to have fixed the problem.

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Answer 6

Sep 27, 2012 5:49 AM in response to billfromstittsville

Hello guys,

I am facing same problem with my:

Mac BookPro - iOS 10.6.8;
iPhone 4 - iOS 6
iTunes 10.7

Does someone can help me?

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Answer 7

Sep 28, 2012 1:33 AM in response to jiijiim

Jiijiim...? You're saying you used 2.2.0 instead of (written by someone above you) 2.3.0 and it worked? Or is the .2 a typo that should be .3?

I couldn't find 2.2.0. The 2.3.0 made my iphone show up in network connections again, but still would not recognize the phone (usb will power the phone, and itunes sees it, but not for tethering). Seems there should be an easy solution, but still haven't found it.

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