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AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext error on installing iTunes update

OK I'm starting to think there is a problem deep inside my computer's main brain. I have had a problem with an external drive and Time Machine and today I'm getting weird errors regarding this ethernethost thing when I back up iTunes.

The thread for the Time Machine thing is here: Re: Time Machine fails - cannot make backup folder

I think the repair keeps failing and the computer doesn't know it because something is "missing". Please excuse my ignorance on this subject. I'm just relating as best I can.

OK so up until today, I've had NO issue updating iTunes. Today I get this error:

Now, this looks familiar because just this morning I had to look up how to tether my iPhone 5 to the laptop (macbook pro). I had to go out and needed to make sure I had internet somehow in case there was none where I was. WHY did I need to look this up you ask? Because I've never been able to tether my phone on the iMac and thought I would have a problem so I did research before a test. It's easy-peasy. plug it in and turn it on and there you go. On the laptop anyway.

Now, the iMac was originally Snow Leopard and I really regret updating to Mountain Lion. It's slow and piggy now and take ages to wake up. Yes, I turned off allowing hard disks to sleep too. Did my research on that.

Anyway, while looking for the instructions to tether the phone, I found a site with familiar string of wording and I recognized it when the error popped up:

http://blog.iphoting.com/blog/2012/09/04/fixing-broken-iphone-usb-tethering-on-o s-x/

So I followed the instructions on the page and here is a copy of what the info in the terminal says:

Last login: Wed Sep 10 13:50:19 on ttys000

computer:~ me$ $ sudo rm -Rf /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

-bash: $: command not found

computer:~ me$ $ sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

-bash: $: command not found

computer:~ me$

I changed the computer name and my name for my own peace of mind.

So when following the steps and installing the iTunes like it says, after I ran the command they gave, I got the same error in the screenshot above.

iTunes installer said the thing installed correctly as well as the install on the App Store in the updates tab.

Could these be connected?

My phone still does not show on the iMac and nothing showed like they said in that link.

Any ideas Mac people?

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Sep 10, 2014 11:51 AM

Top-ranking reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Posted on Sep 10, 2014 11:59 AM

Your rm command never succeeded. You have an extra "$" when you copy/pasted it from the link you mention. It needs to be run without the "$" from the website. Sudo prompts you for your password.

The kextload also failed similarly.

View in context

59 replies

Sep 29, 2014 2:44 PM in response to svinvest

I just got off the phone with Apple Support and they gave me this link and told me to share it if I wanted to.

This fixed my grayed out sync issue with 32bit OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes 11.4

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1614?viewlocale=en_US

antdude

Level 2

159 points

Sep 29, 2014 2:49 PM in response to sagehealth

sagehealth wrote:

I just got off the phone with Apple Support and they gave me this link and told me to share it if I wanted to.

This fixed my grayed out sync issue with 32bit OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes 11.4

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1614?viewlocale=en_US

Eh, isn't that the same exact version we got earlier?

Sep 29, 2014 6:37 PM in response to antdude

Guess not because this one fixed my grayed out sync problem.

zenluiz

Level 1

0 points

Oct 1, 2014 9:30 AM in response to Twitchin Kitten

Well, after I did what most here had told us to do (delete the original kext and install iTunes 11.4 on top of the current one) I must say the "cant use the extension" message appears to be gone. However, there is still one thing that bugs me: there are tons of messages from iTunes saying something like "Failed to create replacement string" in the console.

Does anyone have the same problem and know how to fix?

nugj

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2014 10:23 PM in response to zenluiz

Hopefully I can provide some hope for folks if only because the two MacBooks I have are so disparate.

One is an original Snow Leopard machine now running Maverick. The other is an original Tiger machine recently updated to Snow Leapard which is as far as you can take an original Tiger machine I believe. Everything was becoming unsupported for the Tiger machine and it is in great shape. So I did not want the functionality to totally die on that machine although it is slow compared to the newer Macbook. But Safari is really not very practical any longer for that machine. Fortunately, Mozilla/Firefox is still updating for 10.6.8. So that will just use that browser on the older machine.

So as you can imagine, in updating the OS for both (done within a couple of weeks of each other, all sorts up updates come tumbling over the transom. The older machine immediately gave the error message on restart based on iTunes updating to 11.4. Same happened to the newer machine.

I did disconnect my external hard drives just in case, dumped the offending extension.kext and reinstalled iTunes. Error messages gone on both machines. My library is there in both cases. Have not synced my iPhone yet but they see the iPhone OK. Although as others have said, the machines could see other Apple devices. I did not even try to sync earlier for obvious reasons. External hard drives are back on line and fine.

I also think that Apple must have done something that at least allows us to reinstall iTunes and be back in business. But they must not have come up with a downloadable fix yet that is just that....a fix. If you reinstall iTunes you end up with the July, 2014 dated .kext file.

golarash

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2014 11:53 PM in response to Twitchin Kitten

very simple fix

open a terminal

type:

sudo rm -Rf /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext

then press enter

then put your password

then press enter

it is done

IAGOMD

Level 1

0 points

Oct 13, 2014 1:19 PM in response to sagehealth

I did what Sagehealth recommended and just re-downloaded iTunes from the link that AppleCare gave him. Then I just re-ran that installer and my problems seem fixed. Everything connects and syncs properly. As you can see from the attached pics, doing this definitely changed the offending file - it is now newer and smaller. Hope this helps!

Oct 27, 2014 12:50 PM in response to Greg Earle

Thanks for the simple solution. I was able to find it with no problems. Hope it works

antdude

Level 2

159 points

Oct 27, 2014 12:54 PM in response to Twitchin Kitten

Does ITunes v12.0.1 have this problem too or is it fixed? 😉

Nov 20, 2014 7:32 PM in response to antdude

The answer was to upgrade to 12.0.1 instead of 11.4? That's where the link in sageheath's post takes you. Is this a machine running Snow Leopard?

IAGOMD

Level 1

0 points

Nov 20, 2014 8:56 PM in response to imamacnewbie

iTunes 12.0.1 requires 10.7.5 or greater. Use iTunes 11.4 if you're running Snow Leopard. Hope this helps.

IAGOMD

Nov 20, 2014 9:01 PM in response to IAGOMD

IAGOMD wrote:

iTunes 12.0.1 requires 10.7.5 or greater. Use iTunes 11.4 if you're running Snow Leopard. Hope this helps. IAGOMD

Thank you kind sir. You saved me a bunch of pain, especially after I found a "good" copy of 11.4 and I'm running error free for the first time in 2 months. Appreciate the reply.

Dec 10, 2014 7:33 PM in response to Greg Earle

i couldn't find this error item at all when searching in the finder.

however i simply ran disk utility - verify disk permissions and repair disk permissions, and at the end of the usual long list, there was the culprit - fixed. will see what happens.

i've been getting that error message for several days now, and i am not sure what precipitated it on my imac - perhaps the latest itunes update. of course.

best of luck. personally, i am relieved, for now.

Sep 7, 2017 4:48 PM in response to Greg Earle

Thank wooooooooork!

AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext error on installing iTunes update