"USB Devices Disabled" notification always showing

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MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

Upgraded to OS X El Capitan (10.11) on 09/30/2015, first login, and every login since.

USB Devices Disabled

Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices.

Nothing is plugged into the USB ports.

Currently, using the "Do Not Disturb" workaround.

This behavior did not exist prior to the El Capitan upgrade.

I have the same problem.

The solution i found is to turn on "Do Not Disturb" from Notification Center

Had the exact same problem with my 2010 Mac Mini. Upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan 10.11.1 and immediately saw the USB error message--even with all my peripherals disconnected including a USB monitor. After reading some forums found that resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) fixed this problem on some Macs. Go here to do this: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support. I added to this by resetting the PRAM (or NVRAM) when my mac was booting up from the SMC reset. How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support.

When my mac booted up, the system preferences was open and I had a notifications error (null error). I then quit system preferences, started it back up, selected notifications and the error was gone with all the notifications options available. I then connected all my peripherals and no more USB errors appeared. Everything seems to be back to normal. Will update this post if things change. Good luck!

On a side note, El Capitan seems to be run a bit snappier than Yosemite. We'll see. 🙂

I hope APPLE read this comments. I'm having the same issue after updateing my software to EL CAPITAN on my IMac. it doesn't matter if I have my keyboard connected or not (i even tried different keyboards). After upgrading to EL CAPITAN i keep getting the same annoying message. USB Devices Disabled: Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB Devices.

How do we fix this? How can apple fix this bug or it created on my iMac?

Any tips would be amazing! And I don't want to pay for something I didn't even brake.

Add me. Only one USB port functions since Yosemite. Just upgraded to El Capitain and still getting USB Devices Disabled message also.

1GuyInWisconsinOct 2, 2015 11:23 AM Re: "USB Devices Disabled" notification always showing
Re: "USB Devices Disabled" notification always showingin response to Leonidas Kalantidis

Add my name to this list.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

Upgraded to OS X El Capitan (10.11) on 09/30/2015, first login, and every login since.

USB Devices Disabled

Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices.

Nothing is plugged into the USB ports.

Currently, using the "Do Not Disturb" workaround.

This behavior did not exist prior to the El Capitan upgrade.

I tried resetting my SMC and even brought my Mac to the Genius Bar. They ran diagnostics and basically one of my USB was fried. The message occurred in both Yosemite and El Capitan, so it wasn't an OS issue.

It's not a complete fix but it is a decent workaround. If you Disable Notifications and set it to start at 4 AM and end at 3:59 AM (how to do here: OS X Yosemite: Turn off notifications), you won't see the message anymore. It's not a fix, but it is a workaround if you don't care about seeing notifications.

Im having this exact same thing ever since updating to EL C. My external hard drive works ok in both my usb ports on my macbook pro 13" 2014 but when i come to plug my PNY Card reader in which i need to do desperately it doesn't work in either ports which it was working fine just before updating, changed cables and still no luck apart from "USB devices disabled"

Any ideas ?

Im having this exact same thing ever since updating to EL C. My external hard drive works ok in both my usb ports on my macbook pro 13" 2014 but when i come to plug my PNY Card reader in which i need to do desperately it doesn't work in either ports which it was working fine just before updating, changed cables and still no luck apart from "USB devices disabled"

Any ideas ?

Leonidas Kalantidis wrote:

I took it to be serviced, they asked for more money than I could spend to change the logic board. Instead I found a Thunderbolt to USB adapter and moved on like this.

One repair option is to ask about their "Flat Rate" repair depot. This is a less expensive option where the Apple Store send the Mac to their repair depot, there are several tiers but any and everything is repaired for the flat rate.

Same here - on a 2012 Mac Pro. I have a few startup drives in this machine. Did an SMC reset - left it unpowered for over 20 minutes - and it worked on one. A ten minute one did NOT work on the other drive - same machine. I'm about to turn it off and try a longer one. An SMC reset is done differently on a Macbook Pro - you'll have to look it up on the web - but you might want to try that first. If I figure out anything else, I'll post here.

Did a longer SMC reset. Did not work. THEN, I unplugged each USB device. I am only use the three rear ports on this Mac Pro. Two of them did not set off the warning. The third one - my Mattias keyboard - DID invoke this notification. I then tried it with an Apple keyboard and another Mattias one. Neither one set it off. I guess I'll live with this for now.

Same thing happening to me. SMC reset, unplugging all USB devices, nothing got rid of the message.

Interestingly, like the OP, for a few years I've been having problems with USB on my iMac. the two middle USB ports of the four haven't worked for years, only the two outer ones do. But I only need two, I've made do. So I wonder if the message has something to do with a change in El Cap, it's detecting an error that it never previously did?

I tried so many solutions what works for me is:

shut down the computer, and then turn the computer back on.

Hold the "Command-Option-P-R" keys together before the gray screen appears until you hear the startup sound for the second time. Release the keys.

let me know if it works for you.

Doesn't work in my case either 😟

Using MBP mid-2011, with El Capitan my USB port are disabled (can't get any USB device connected) and I had to switch the Notification center to DND to avoid the permanent popup...

Anyone heard of any other solution?

I decided to make a Genius Bar appointment in a large Apple Store believing that one of their techs might be able to come up with a fix. None of their techs could solve the problem. They ended up advising I should stick with turning off notifications and hope that a future El Capitan version fixes the problem.