system extension cannot be used AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

Greg Earle wrote:

"Can you confirm that this fixes the missing iPhone-as-a-network-connection problem? When I have my iPhone plugged in via USB, it does not show up as a network interface for tethering. I can only use the iPhone for tethering over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi."

No, it does not fix USB tethering.

The AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext that comes with iTunes 11.4 (or "11.4++") is busted, just like every version of the .kext since back to at least 2.3.0 or maybe even 2.2.0. 😟

Yep. Definitely busted. I just tried a reinstall. Killed the kext* first and emptied trash, installed iTunes and then tried to reload the kernel extension. Joy. This is the result on an Early 2008 MacBook4,1 running OS X Lion 10.7.5:

* For those who initially saw 'next', autocorrect has its downside. 🙂

Gaia:~ trane$ sudo kextutil /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext
Password: Warnings: Executable does not contain code for architecture: i386
Can't load /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext - no code for running kernel's architecture

"Gaia:~ trane$ sudo kextutil /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

Password:

Warnings: Executable does not contain code for architecture:     i386

Can't load /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext - no code for running kernel's architecture."

Yep - it means you are either on a 32-bit only Mac or you are (inexplicably) running a 64-bit machine with a 32-bit kernel.

I should mention that I am on a Mac Pro with a 64-bit kernel and even with that, I couldn't load the 2.3.6 version of the .kext - I had to go back to 2.3.0 to get something that would load. But after I load it (manually via kextutil), at some point later it mysteriously gets unloaded!

So I can't fix USB tethering, even on a 64-bit system.

I wonder if those "issues" could have something to do with "protecting" iOS against future JB actions. After all, if you want to JB your phone, you must plug it to your Mac (or your PC) via USB.

What if...?

FastGTR's solution works extremely well with The File Fab11 Posted.

Here's what I did. Rather simple.

1: Download

The File Fab11 Posted

That's very strange. Why would he post the actual AppleUSBEthernetHost binary rather than the entire AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext it's enclosed in?

Without the whole .kext, you lose context like the bundle version and whatnot.

Without the accompanying .kext bundle's version.plist/Info.plist files there's no way to know which version it is from.

(I presume it's either from 2.2.0 or 2.3.0 but the checksum on the Fab11 binary does not match the two 2.2.0/2.3.0 binaries I have lying around.)

In short, it might work but Fab11 really should've posted the entire .kext, as a ZIP file or something.

UPDATE:

I do not know which version of AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext that Fab11 uploaded (I suspect version 2.3.6) but it works in both Snow Leopard and Lion from my experience. However, previously in the above mentioned thread someone purported that a person should use one version for 10.6.8 and another for 10.7 and 10.8. I'd say try the 2.3.6 version with iTunes 11.4 for OS X 12.6 download and if that doesn't work try version 2.2.0. They are as follows:

Version 2.2.0 (Working on 10.6.8) http://db.tt/Fahk9VBe

Version 2.3.6 (Working on 10.7 & 10.8) http://db.tt/U674UcOV

That "12.6" is a typo for 10.6, right? (You keep making it - are you living in the future? 😉 )

The 2.3.6 version isn't from iTunes 11.4, the version in 11.4 is 7.0 (no, I don't get the big version number jump either). It might be from iTunes 10.6.3 but as I recall, that didn't work either.

I think the only prayer of getting it working is with either version 2.2.0 or 2.3.0, but as I've stated elsewhere, if I kextload (or load via kextutil) either one of them into my Mac Pro running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, it doesn't seem to have any effect and then it mysteriously gets unloaded some minutes later. Maybe I need to do a full reboot to see what happens, but I hate to do that because my Apple RAID card setup is fragile and it hates rebooting. 😕

Thanks to you and all posters for documenting this issue, and working to keep this topic alive. The "new" dl solved things for my system.

I'm not even going to TRY to out-guess Apple's servers. After reading your "Wha...?" tried that "main" dl page several times on different browsers - and even got linked to the different dmgs in different tabs in the same browser!

Hi all,

I had this bug some weeks back but decided all the solutions that were being suggested in this discussion were beyond my limited technical abilities to follow. Instead I've decided to wait and see if Apple would come out with a fix.

I'm not sure whether they have, but iTunes 12.0.1.26 and Yosemite have come along. And I've installed both of them, in that sequence.

Does anybody out there know if they cure this bug? I'm frankly confused about what I should be looking for at this point :-)

Hi all,

I had this bug some weeks back but decided all the solutions that were being suggested in this discussion were beyond my limited technical abilities to follow. Instead I've decided to wait and see if Apple would come out with a fix.

I'm not sure whether they have, but iTunes 12.0.1.26 and Yosemite have come along. And I've installed both of them, in that sequence.

Does anybody out there know if they cure this bug? I'm frankly confused about what I should be looking for at this point :-)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)

It does, at least on Windows, because I waited a little while to upgrade iTunes on my PC after the disappointment caused by the botched job in iTunes 11.4 on OS X, and since I had a perfectly functioning iTunes 11.4...

Well, long story short, 12.01 works like a charm on Windows (8.1 Update), so it should too in OS X.

I have the same problem with OSX 10.7.5, so I don't think its the operating system, but the iTunes upgrades. I had the problem for over 6 months now and called Apple Support, paid 19.50 for help on the issue, and after an hour on the phone with them and re installing ITunes twice, dumping the UDB/Ethernet kernel, it still doesn't work. I give up soon.

I've just tried to connect a wireless printer and while downloading the software I got the same message ..and now I'm having trouble with the printer!! Do Apple monitor these forums to see what problems people are having?

I had this problem about a week ago. My computer was giving me the grey curtain coming down saying I needed to restart. That had been happening with some regularity recently. Finally, it would not restart at all. I had to go back and reinstall Snow Leopard (10.6.3) and then run it through every update until 10.6.8. While updating, i got this message at least 3 different times. When I was done, iTunes would not recognize my iPhone 5 or my iPad mini. I found several of these threads on this discussion board. I downloaded iTunes 11.4 and reinstalled it. The problem went away for a day and then the next day it would not recognize them again. Another reinstall of iTunes only and I have not had a problem since then. I read another thread about systematically restoring or reinstalling all your apps one by one. I don't have time for that unless I really have to isolate the problem. I took a chance on my first problem, created a second one that is discussed on this thread, and had a relatively easy, though annoying, fix. I backed up the working version of iTunes so in the future I can replace the defective one from a hard drive.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext error on installing iTunes update

This has the same link for removing the .kext and re-installing iTunes 11.4.

Posted a possible solution here: How I solved my "not-syncing since upgrading iTunes" issue