system extension cannot be used AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

Greg,

This (above) worked for me. I don't have an iPad but everything sync's with my iPhone5. I did follow the earlier link in the thread and filed the issue with Apple, but that sounds like it doesn't matter anyhow- your on your own.

Greg Earle wrote:

Someone please tell me under what circumstances

(1) Quit iTunes if it's running, disconnect any USB devices

(2) Open /System/Library/Extensions in Finder

(3) Drag the AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext icon to the Trash

(4) Download iTunes 11.4 from the Apple download site

(5) Open the iTunes .dmg file you just downloaded from Apple

(6) Double-click the iTunes installer and re-install iTunes 11.4 from it

(7) Reboot the system

doesn't work??

For me, the kernel extension was left with missing code signatures. Restoring the pre-11.4 kernel extension and then reinstalling 11.4 from DMG resulted in a fully functional iTunes and no errors whatsoever. If you're not having issues, then don't worry about it. For others who continue to have trouble syncing/backing up their devices, this seems to be a solution.

Personally, I consider wiping and reinstalling overly destructive, especially for those who receive all sorts of e-mail, etc. and cannot afford to rollback without severe consequences.

Paula, you are not alone - my Epson printer would not print after I'd updated to iTunes 11.4 and continually gave "communication error", although the scanner function still worked from my Mac, so nothing wrong with the USB connection. Rang Epson and was sent a new driver, and, yes, I received the same .kext error message when I installed it. Rang Apple Support to report the problem and told the support person to read this forum! He told me he would report this to their senior engineers. (Meanwhile, the printer rather spookily came to life and printed the last file I'd tried to send, while I was on the phone to Apple and opened my About This Mac window to read him my Mac's serial number. Next call might be to an exoricst.)

(P.S. I am in Australia and the support person was in New Zealand. Very helpful.)

Something within your wonderful process doesn't work on my computer. And I've attempted it numerous times. Sorry to disappoint you but your solution is not *the* solution; just another option. The rebooting worked for me. If you took time to read thru this thread, I already explained the other options I explored and how they did not work. I did the deleting of the .kext and reinstalling and deleting and whatnot. No need to belittle those who try your method and have it not work on their system. Thanks.

onychophora said:

"Paula, you are not alone - my Epson printer would not print after I'd updated to iTunes 11.4 and continually gave "communication error", although the scanner function still worked from my Mac, so nothing wrong with the USB connection. Rang Epson and was sent a new driver, and, yes, I received the same .kext error message when I installed it. Rang Apple Support to report the problem and told the support person to read this forum! He told me he would report this to their senior engineers. (Meanwhile, the printer rather spookily came to life and printed the last file I'd tried to send, while I was on the phone to Apple and opened my About This Mac window to read him my Mac's serial number. Next call might be to an exoricst.)"

Well, you may or may not need the exorcist . . . got mine to work, here's how:

I pulled that "blahblahblah.kext" extention into the trash.

Dowloaded and installed the driver for my Epson. The printer didn't work. UNTIL I RESTARTED THE COMPUTER.

I restarted and said a little prayer, and voila!

That's it.

I even put that weird extension back, worrying that maybe I'd need it for something (?). Shut down, restarted, tried the printer again, it works!!

So . . . maybe a restart will fix it? I hope you can get it going without the exorcism. :~)

How maddening is all of this though?

Saw this post on another site (MacResource):

"iOS allows you to share the iPhone's cellular data Internet connection with a computer via WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB. The AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext file is the kernel extension (driver) to enable tethering of the Internet connection of the iPhone via USB.

This has been problematical for many users (including me). It worked for a while and then broke somewhere along the line with an iTunes update since this driver is installed by iTunes.

One recommended solution popularized on the Internet was to replace the newer AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext file with an older one. If you performed this remedy sometime in the distant past, then perhaps this error is the repercussion."

Not really saying anything new, but explains the connection between the errant kext and iTunes in a nice concise way.

Well well well ... lookie here, sports fans ... Time Machine backups from before and after I installed iTunes 11.4:

/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/My Mac Pro/2014-09-09-000548/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleUSBE thernetHost: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures: [i386: Mach-O i386 object] [x86_64: Mach-O 64-bit x86_64 kext bundle]

/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/My Mac Pro/2014-09-10-002510/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleUSBE thernetHost: Mach-O 64-bit x86_64 kext bundle

So that explains part of the puzzle - the new iTunes 11.4 version of the AppleUSBEthernetHost kext appears to be 64-bit only!!!

If you are running a 32-bit machine/Mac OS X then that would explain why you're getting this behavior, and why simply reinstalling the kext doesn't fix it.

(Now, I suppose the installer in the iTunes 11.4 .dmg might be super-smart and just install the version your OS/machine can run, but I'm skeptical ... )

Hi Tevseric,

It seems as though it was more so my iPhone that became corrupted via the iTunes update. Normally, when iTunes recognized my iPhone, it would show the what amount of my storage is being used and by what (i.e. 2 gb music, 0 gb videos, 512mb photots, etc.). After attempting to sync my iPhone, all of that data was erased from my phone and became "Other" storage; in addition, the sync button was no longer available when I unplugged/plugged in my iPhone via USB. I had to restore my iPhone after each sync attempt.

Same with me only I did not Restore my iPhone. I also tried to restore the previous version of iTunes (11.3.1) form Time Machine along with the AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext from that same Time Machine backup date and still can't sync my iPhone...SYNC button is grayed out and all data is showing as OTHER. Next step might be a full restore to a date when all was working right, for me was 9/8/2014. Went to the Apple store and they had no idea what I was talking about and started to read our posts. There suggestion was to insert my Snow Leopard 10.6.8 disc and to a INSTALL not RESTORE. That kinda scared me so I thought I'd try a few other less drastic fixes first. Any thoughts???

Hey Jeff Ree,

Your situation is exactly what I was dealing with. I eventually inserted the Snow Leopard disc and RESTORED (via the Utilities option on the disc) to a previous backup of my computer. My system was restored to the day before I updated to iTunes 11.4 so everything is as it was -- no problems. Pain to deal with? Yes, but it worked fine for me. I described my process earlier in this thread if you dig through the pages.

Just wanted to give an update.

Recap: As some know, yesterday, I called phone support b/c one of our genius bars had never heard of this error Saturday and I got a couple of cold shoulders by my 2nd 1st line phone support call. The senior engineer wasn't too interested either after the 1st suggested fix at 1st call phone support didn't work by reloading os and reupdating iTunes (corruption they thought). The error was thought possibly not a "problem" because throwing an exception instead of causing a problem...though issue in an area they were afraid to play in as I referenced ya'll's thoughts and attempts mentioned.

Surprise! This Apple newbie say thanks for renewing some faith in Apple. Yesterday left me wondering about choice to convert. :-)

Late, this afternoon, the senior engineer called me out of the blue, captured my system information as the error repeated itself via iTunes update, followed by saying to do what some have had luck doing here...1. trashing existing kext and 2. re-installing iTunes 11.4. Success...no error. :-) I understand what they did might seem easy to those of you who understand mac world.

The senior engineer said the ticket would remain open for now. Capturing what is throwing the errors was a worthy attempt...hoping it means they are hearing from more folks and dedicating resources to this issue.

For those who are trying to help others (and even themselves if still broken)... thanks for trying to educate and help others.

Newbie

Thanks for the update, I was hopping you'd get back to us. I previously did what the Apple engineer recommended to you, trash the kext and reload ( I used the dmg file), alls fine so far.

Some have reservations that the old kext (contains some info the new kext lacks) needs to be in place (restored) before reloading again. For this reason I follow along here, there could be more to come. Although, working fine at my end but maybe I'll find a problem yet, I haven't used my Epson printer as yet, nor have an iPad to deal with, working with my iPhone 5 though-

Thanks again

Sounds like we both sort of did the wait and see approach....and I am with you on the its is working so far...time will tell.

It as nice to have Apple take the responsibility yesterday if crashed or caused another problem I just haven't seen yet. The senior engineer says nervous about ever doing anything at the system level with customer because "you break it; you buy it" sort of thought. She didn't want to have to own the break.

I am glad it worked for you so far. Crossing fingers and toes keeps working for all who it happened to work for as I try more things with time machine, iPhone, printer (hardwiring it instead of wifi).

Would be curious to find out if a new release or a support fix for another customer that helps those this didn't work for. Always nice to hear good news after the bad.

I've checked and found out that on my iMac I have the same extension (version 7.0, created/modified the 16 may 2011!) as on the last TimeMachine backup before the 11.4 update (with error message)… strange!

Trane Francks,

After completing this, have you been able to SYNC your iPhone5 and is your data showing something other than OTHER? Wouldn't downloading the 11.4 DMG get us back to what started this problem? Or did Apple fix the 11.4 DMG download? Will a new version of the AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext be included with the 11.4 download?