All of a sudden New Growl Notifications?
 

Alright....don't know what caused this but:

Bottom line up front: Yesterday I started receiving new hardware growl notifications as follows:

USB Bus connected (multiple ones), Bluetooth USB connected, i-Sight connected, firewire, etc.....

Nothing was connected to the laptop (2.2 Core2Duo MBP)

This happened after waking the computer up from sleep on battery power. I have never gotten these messages before.

I restarted it and got the same notifications. I then shut it off and connected the power and turned it on and did not get the USB notifications. After that I tried it on battery power again and did not get the USB notifications.

I am running the latest version of Growl

...just wondering if it is a Growl bug..or possibly something wrong with the computer? It hasn't happened since.

Thanks

probably just a minor bug (growl picking up some new leopard feature as new hardware...). Growl is due for a major leopard overhaul, regardless - growlMail and growlSafari, at least, are fritzed - so I'm sure whatever this was will get fixed in the process.

I am using Tiger....sorry I should have said that in my post.

It only happened that one time..hasn't happened since

HardwareGrowler, one of the extras that comes with Growl, has options to notify you of such events. Do you have that installed?

Nothing was connected to the computer....so any USB notification should only come when I plug something in.

I didn't change anything in my settings. I have been using this for several months and these notifications came out of the blue under the conditions I described above for that one instance only...it hasn't happened since. The only "extra" that I installed after downloading Growl was using Hardware Growler. I don't use any of the "other" extras.

well, remember, this is software. the dividing line between something actually being connected to your computer and your computer thinking something is connected is vanishingly small (go DesCartes...). if, say, some application or system daemon (or strange file system glitch) accidentally populated the Volumes directory with garbage, the system would do its best to interpret that garbage as the presence of actual physical devices before cleaning them out, and that might trigger the growl alerts.

not something I would worry about unless it happens repeatedly.

Do you have any other machines with Growl installed on your network, and have you turned on the network notification forwarding and listening? If so, it is possible that when you woke the Mac, it received a set of Growl notifications from another Mac entirely.

tw... thanks, how would I go about making sure there is no garbage left? I'm not really concerned about a software glitch...what bothers me more is the possibility my motherboard is going on the fritz. My computer is acting fine though and it stopped doing it as soon as I connected external power.

styrafome...I do have an iMac that is also in the network, but it does not have growl, and it was a sleep with nothing plugged into it except a printer which was off.

really, you don't need to. the system takes care of that area, and it generally does a pretty good job of it. if you want to look, it's an invisible folder called Volumes on the root level - everything the system thinks is an external device will show up as a folder there. if they're not real devices you can just delete them (though I don't know what will happen if you try to delete an actual device...)

Thanks I just went to my system profiler and looked under USB and I find it odd that it gave me notifications of everything listed below which is internal to the computer:

USB Bus (three times)
Bluetooth USB
Apple Keyboard/Trackpad
IR Receiver
High Spped Bus
iSight

after that was done it proceded to tell me the normal stuff

Volume mounted
ip address assigned
Network hardrive
airport

Given that...still think I shouldn't be concerned? I'm just afraid that Hardware Growler may have picked up on a potential problem (that has not repeated itself).

I also find it odd that connecting to an external power source fixed the problem?

Just checked the hidden volume folder...the only thing in there is this:

1. Unix Executable (Network Hardrive)
2. Macintosh Hardrive alias
3. Network Hardrive alias

I only have one network hardrive but as stated above there is the Unix exe for the same drive.

well, I'm going to have to defer to real unix pros if they have any comments, but I still think you shouldn't be concerned. all the things listed in system profiler are normal - the machine keeps track of the ports even when there's nothing connected to them. the unix executable (I suspect) is a virtual drive that helps the mac negotiate with the actual network drive.

as to the power connection - remember that the mac has different configurations for different power arrangements, which may involve powering down external devices on battery. I honestly don't know, but if it's not repeating itself then personally I would just put it in the 'weird crap happens' category and forget about it

Maybe the "weird crap" was that one of the background daemons managing your peripherals crashed and restarted itself, and checked all the ports, resulting in notifications. I seriously don't have any knowledge that this is how it really works, but it's just an idea maybe someone else can expand on.

Thanks for helping guys... it just happened again about 1.5 hours ago. Except this time it just gave me multiple USB connection alerts and I was connected to external power.

I ran a full hardware test using the install CD and there were no issues found.

Think I'm good?

I just tested the usb port by connecting my camera...and everything is good...got the alert that is was connected and disconnected when I pulled it out.

This is weird..... is there any plist I can trash with growler?

Happened again....got the full gamet of notifications to include keyboard etc...

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but whenever I restart my computer I always have a "recovered files" folder in the trash that contains growl stuff....I have just been deleting them by emptying the trash. This was just "recovered" and in the trash

Growl-7F4ABE07-A2F3-4434-BA5D-8A46EB349CF8.growlRegDict

any thoughts?

Are you seeing any interesting Growl or peripheral related messages in your console.log or system.log? If you haven't looked at them before, they are easy to open from your Console utility right on the File menu.

just this under "system":

===== Display starts at offset 19553 within file of length 150625. ====
===== Use File->Reload (Cmd-R) to display more. ====
Nov 1 20:20:35 MacBookPro /Applications/Kevin/Growl/Extras/HardwareGrowler/HardwareGrowler.app/Contents/MacOS/


and this for USB under "system":

===== Display starts at offset 19553 within file of length 150625. ====
===== Use File->Reload (Cmd-R) to display more. ====
Oct 31 23:43:37 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Oct 31 23:43:37 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 00:05:10 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 00:05:10 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 00:06:36 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 00:06:36 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 08:59:44 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 08:59:44 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 12:55:23 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 12:55:23 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 13:07:13 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 13:07:13 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 13:13:03 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 13:13:03 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 15:29:27 MacBookPro kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offEnabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Nov 1 16:37:44 MacBookPro kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offEnabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Nov 1 20:20:19 MacBookPro kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offEnabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Nov 1 21:14:01 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 21:14:01 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 21:19:46 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 21:19:46 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 21:29:46 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 21:29:46 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:39:16 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:39:16 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:53:53 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:53:53 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:59:19 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 22:59:19 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 23:07:52 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Nov 1 23:07:52 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)


I have no idea what any of that means

I just trashed the growl plist..to see what happens

I'm concerned now....because I just checked the console on my iMac (different computer that does not have growl installed) and there is no USB traffic at all under "system"

As mentioned above, is there any mention of "HardwareGrowler" in the Growl prefpane, a plugin/app that alerts you to any new devices added? Perhaps it is malfunctioning in Leopard.

OK, well again I'm not an engineer but I do know it isn't normal for those messages to repeat that many times. Until someone smarter comes along, my read of it is that the OS X kernel is reporting that the USB controller got a signal to activate. And it's happening a lot, abnormally so. It's acting like a USB device is getting plugged in constantly, which is obviously not true. Growl is probably not causing this, it is just the messenger. The question is, what is kicking the USB controller?

If it was my machine, I would plug and unplug something from every USB port to try and reset them, in case there is a short circuit across a pin or something. I would also become suspicious of the drivers of my USB devices in case one wasn't working right.

Hope that gets you somewhere.

Thanks man... I got off the phone with Apple not too long ago. They are having their engineers look at my log and system info.

Follow Up?
 

I have a MBP 2.2 also and have noticed similar entries in my system.log and was wondering what the out come of your situation was. I took my computer into apple (the keyboard and mouse would randomly freeze up) and they replaced the keyboard and uppercase on the 19th on jan... an excerpt from my system.log is below. I think the wake events are normal, however I don't know for sure, the null and false returns are weird though and sometimes seemed to follow when my trackpad and mouse would malfunction.
Jan 19 15:37:22 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 15:37:22 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 11:27:49 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 11:27:49 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 11:27:49 localhost kernel[0]: Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard" has no kernel dependency.
Jan 19 11:27:49 localhost kernel[0]: Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver" has no kernel dependency.
Jan 19 18:57:53 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 18:57:53 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 19:20:29 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1371.707 IOUSBCompositeDriver[0x3e27c00](IOUSBDevice) GetFullConfigDescriptor(0) returned NULL
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1858.994 IOUSBCompositeDriver[0x59afa00](IOUSBDevice) GetFullConfigDescriptor(0) returned NULL
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.157 AppleUSBTCKeyboard[0x484ac00]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.157 AppleUSBTCKeyboard[0x484ac00]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.160 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x404a100]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.160 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x404a100]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.163 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x402f400]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.163 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x402f400]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.184 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x5050500]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.184 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x5050500]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.187 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x402f200]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.187 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x402f200]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.205 AppleUSBTCKeyboard[0x484ac00]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.205 AppleUSBTCKeyboard[0x484ac00]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.208 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x5050500]::start - super::start returned false!
Jan 19 19:28:36 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: USBF: 1859.208 IOUSBHIDDriver[0x5050500]::start - aborting startup
Jan 19 20:30:42 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 20:30:42 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 20:39:15 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offUSB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 19 20:42:53 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offEnabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Jan 23 10:15:48 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 10:15:48 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 12:24:19 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 12:24:19 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 12:28:11 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offEnabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Jan 23 12:30:31 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 12:30:31 localhost kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (EHCI)
Jan 23 12:51:48 aaron-cantrells-computer kernel[0]: IOUSBWorkLoop::closeGate - interrupt Thread being held offIOBluetoothHCIController::terminateWL .. done