USBDriverKit

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Develop drivers for USB-based devices using USBDriverKit.

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HID Device Access / Mode Switch
I might be trying to achieve the impossible here, but if there's another way to go about it any advice would be appreciated. I've got an older Linux application that reflashes firmware on a connected USB HID device that I'm trying to port to macOS. Essentially the device starts as an HID interface (0x03/0x01/0x01) but to update firmware receives a simple control payload and then restarts and connects as a different (non-HID) device. However I can't open the HID device at all, I'm guessing this is some sort of permission error (SIP?). AppleUSBHostUserClient::openGated: failed to open IOUSBHostDevice... provider is already opened for exclusive access by AppleUSB20Hub hid_open_path: failed to open IOHIDDevice from mach entry: (0xE00002E2) not permitted AppleUSBXHCICommandRing::setAddress: completed with result code 4 AppleUSBHostPort::createDevice: failed to create device (0xe00002bc) AppleUSBIORequest ... transaction error ... 0xe00002ed Is there any way at all to do this on macOS? Interestingly if you run a Windows VM in VMWare or similar and connect the device to that VM it works, so there's obviously some way but I'd like to create a simple standalone tool.
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1.7k
Apr ’26
Driverkit driver hangs on macOS
Hello, I have crated a DriverKit driver for macOS and iPad M-series if I ever get the mac driver working. I have the correct entittlements, and matching provisioning profile downloaded manually. The driver loads (no errors!), and is visible in ioreg below the usb device (when plugged). The issue is that I never get any log from the driver, have reduced to minimal working code (below). When I debug with lldb, I load the symbols for my driver and break on init and Start - but lldb never triggers == never calls start or init. This is also why no logs. When I unplug the device, the driver process (ps aux) keeps running, causes a hard crash of the Mac with dext remove/or kill driver.dext process. I have asked Claude - but its just running in circles: check Info.plist=ok, check entitlements=ok, check code (minimal)=ok, check iig=ok, check provisioning profile=ok, check build settings=ok, check ioreg=ok, check code signature=ok, start over I don't get any log from my driver, which is consistent with init() not being called. All logs from kernel & friends (AMFI) do show the driver loading - no errors. Any tips appreciated! // USBDriver.iig #ifndef USBDriver_h #define USBDriver_h #include <USBDriverKit/IOUSBHostInterface.iig> class USBDriver: public IOService { public: virtual bool init() override; virtual void free() override; virtual kern_return_t Start(IOService * provider) override; virtual kern_return_t Stop(IOService * provider) override; }; // USBDriver.cpp #include <os/log.h> #include <DriverKit/DriverKit.h> #include "USBDriver.h" bool USBDriver::init() { if (!super::init()) return false; os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: init()"); return true; } kern_return_t IMPL(USBDriver, Start) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Start()"); kern_return_t ret = super::Start(provider); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: super::Start failed: 0x%08x", ret); return ret; } os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Start() success"); return super::Start(provider); } kern_return_t IMPL(USBDriver, Stop) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Stop()"); return super::Stop(provider); } void USBDriver::free() { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: free()"); super::free(); }
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1.3k
Apr ’26
Can a third-party DriverKit HID dext seize raw HID reports from an external mouse via a top case–related path?
We are trying to determine whether a third-party DriverKit HID dext can seize or intercept raw HID input reports from an external mouse through any top case–related path in the HID stack. Our dext is based on IOUserHIDEventDriver, and the goal is to receive raw input reports before they are translated into higher-level pointer events. Apple’s public HIDDriverKit documentation describes IOUserHIDEventDriver as the driver object responsible for dispatching pointer, digitizer, scrolling, and related HID-originated events, but it is not clear to us whether any “top case” path is actually exposed or supported for third-party matching in DriverKit. What we want to clarify is specifically about external mouse devices, not the built-in trackpad itself. Questions: Is there any officially supported way for a third-party DriverKit HID dext to bind through a top case–related path and receive raw HID input reports from an external mouse? Is “top case” something that third-party DriverKit drivers can meaningfully target for matching/attachment, or is it only an internal Apple implementation detail? If such a path exists, can it be used to seize raw reports before they are converted into higher-level pointer events? If not, what is the officially supported boundary for third-party DriverKit access to raw reports from external mouse-class HID devices? To be clear, we are not asking about synthesizing pointer events. We are asking whether a third-party DriverKit dext can directly observe or seize the original HID input reports from an external mouse by attaching through any top case–related portion of the HID stack. If “top case” is not a public DriverKit concept that third parties can target, confirmation of that would also be very helpful.
2
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821
Mar ’26
How to sign a DEXT
Kevin's Guide to DEXT Signing The question of "How do I sign a DEXT" comes up a lot, so this post is my attempt to describe both what the issues are and the best current solutions are. So... The Problems: When DEXTs were originally introduced, the recommended development signing process required disabling SIP and local signing. There is a newer, much simpler process that's built on Xcode's integrated code-signing support; however, that newer process has not yet been integrated into the documentation library. In addition, while the older flow still works, many of the details it describes are no longer correct due to changes to Xcode and the developer portal. DriverKit's use of individually customized entitlements is different than the other entitlements on our platform, and Xcode's support for it is somewhat incomplete and buggy. The situation has improved considerably over time, particularly from Xcode 15 and Xcode 16, but there are still issues that are not fully resolved. To address #1, we introduced "development" entitlement variants of all DriverKit entitlements. These entitlement variants are ONLY available in development-signed builds, but they're available on all paid developer accounts without any special approval. They also allow a DEXT to match against any hardware, greatly simplifying working with development or prototype hardware which may not match the configuration of a final product. Unfortunately, this also means that DEXT developers will always have at least two entitlement variants (the public development variant and the "private" approved entitlement), which is what then causes the problem I mentioned in #2. The Automatic Solution: If you're using Xcode 16 or above, then Xcode's Automatic code sign support will work all DEXT Families, with the exception of distribution signing the PCI and USB Families. For completeness, here is how that Automatic flow should work: Change the code signing configuration to "Automatic". Add the capability using Xcode. (USB & PCI) Edit your Entitlement.plist to include the correct "Development Only" configuration: USB Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <string>*</string> </dict> </array> PCI Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.pci</key> <array> <dict> <key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key> <string>0xFFFFFFFF&amp;0x00000000</string> </dict> </array> If you've been approved for one of these entitlements, the one oddity you'll see is that adding your approved capability will add both the approved AND the development variant, while deleting either will delete both. This is a visual side effect of #2 above; however, aside from the exception described below, it can be ignored. Similarly, you can sign distribution builds by creating a build archive and then exporting the build using the standard Xcode flow. Debugging Automatic Code-signing In a new project, the flow I describe above should just work; however, if you're converting an existing project, you may get code signing errors, generally complaining about how the provisioning profile configuration doesn't match. In most cases, this happens because Xcode is choosing to reuse a previously downloaded profile with an older configuration instead of generating a new configuration which would then include the configuration changes you made. Currently, you can find these profile files in: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles ...which can make it easier to find and delete the specific profile (if you choose). However, one recommendation I'd have here is to not treat the contents of that folder as "precious" or special. What automatic code signing actually does is generate provisioning profiles "on demand", so if you delete an automatic profile... Xcode will just generate it again at the next build. Manually generating profiles is more cumbersome, but the solution there is to preserve them as a separate resource, probably as part of your project data, NOT to just "lose" them in the folder here. If they get deleted from Xcode's store, then you can just copy them back in from your own store (or using Xcode, which can manually download profiles as well). The advantage of this approach is that when profiles "pile up" over time (which they tend to do), you can just delete[1] all of them then let Xcode regenerate the ones you're actually trying to investigate. In terms of looking at their contents, TN3125: Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles has the details of how to see exactly what's there. [1] Moving them somewhere else works too, but could indicate a fear of commitment. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
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2.5k
Mar ’26
Can't enable an iOS Driverkit driver when using an older app ID
Hi there, We've discovered a problem with our iOS app. We've been attempting to add a Driverkit driver to it, but any time we run the app through Testflight, the driver installs fine, but when we go to enable the driver toggle in the app's settings, the toggle stays on, but in the device logs I can see: could not insert bundle at <private> into manager: <private> As you would expect - this means the driver is not actually enabled and does not respond to a device being connected to the iPad. This does not happen when building & running the app locally, nor does it happen when installing an Ad Hoc build. We also have a different app, not yet shipped. We are able to add the driver to that app without issue. It works after going through Testflight. What we have discovered now is that everything works fine even if we just create an entirely new app with it's own bundle IDs. I should point out that in all cases, we're keeping the capabilities the same for each of these apps/IDs - including the managed capabilities. The bundle IDs that have this problem are older (5 years old or more). It seems like any newer ID will work, but trying to add the driver (and the associated managed capabilities) to an older app/ID results in this vague error message, with no further details. If we inspect the resulting dexts, we can also see that the "Internal requirements code size" is different on the ones that fail. The failing ones have a size of 204 bytes, whereas the working ones all have a size of 220 bytes. Not sure if that's related but it's strikingly consistent. Does this mean there is an issue with older app IDs, and we need Apple to manually refresh them in some way before the driverkit capabilities will work after going through Testflight? We have two apps in this state, both are of the same vintage (~5 years+). We've been battling this issue for months on and off, so would appreciate some help.
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1.5k
Mar ’26
Can't get USBSerialDriverKit driver loaded
I am writing a DriverKit driver for the first that uses the USBSerialDriverKit. The driver its purpose is to expose the device as serial interface (/dev/cu.tetra-pei0 or something like this). My problem: I don't see any logs from that driver in the console and I tried like 40 different approaches and checked everything. The last message I see is that the driver get successfully added to the system it is in the list of active and enabled system driver extensions but when I plug the device in none of my logs appear and it doesn't show up in ioreg. So without my driver the target device looks like this: +-o TETRA PEI interface@02120000 <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x10000297d, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (13 ms), retain 30> | { | "sessionID" = 268696051410 | "USBSpeed" = 3 | "UsbLinkSpeed" = 480000000 | "idProduct" = 36886 | "iManufacturer" = 1 | "bDeviceClass" = 0 | "IOPowerManagement" = {"PowerOverrideOn"=Yes,"DevicePowerState"=2,"CurrentPowerState"=2,"CapabilityFlags"=32768,"MaxPowerState"=2,"DriverPowerState"=0} | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | "bMaxPacketSize0" = 64 | "iProduct" = 2 | "iSerialNumber" = 0 | "bNumConfigurations" = 1 | "UsbDeviceSignature" = <ad0c16901624000000ff0000> | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "locationID" = 34734080 | "bDeviceSubClass" = 0 | "bcdUSB" = 512 | "USB Address" = 6 | "kUSBCurrentConfiguration" = 1 | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"9dc7b780-9ec0-11d4-a54f-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | "UsbPowerSinkAllocation" = 500 | "bDeviceProtocol" = 0 | "USBPortType" = 0 | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | "Device Speed" = 2 | "idVendor" = 3245 | "kUSBProductString" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "kUSBAddress" = 6 | "kUSBVendorString" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | } | +-o AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice <class AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice, id 0x100002982, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 5> | { | "IOProbeScore" = 50000 | "CFBundleIdentifier" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOProviderClass" = "IOUSBHostDevice" | "IOClass" = "AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOPersonalityPublisher" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "bDeviceSubClass" = 0 | "CFBundleIdentifierKernel" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOMatchedAtBoot" = Yes | "IOMatchCategory" = "IODefaultMatchCategory" | "IOPrimaryDriverTerminateOptions" = Yes | "bDeviceClass" = 0 | } | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostDeviceUserClient, id 0x100002983, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 7> | { | "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" | "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes | } | +-o IOUSBHostInterface@0 <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100002986, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (5 ms), retain 9> | | { | | "USBPortType" = 0 | | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"2d9786c6-9ef3-11d4-ad51-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | | "USBSpeed" = 3 | | "idProduct" = 36886 | | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | | "bInterfaceSubClass" = 0 | | "bConfigurationValue" = 1 | | "locationID" = 34734080 | | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | | "bInterfaceProtocol" = 0 | | "iInterface" = 0 | | "bAlternateSetting" = 0 | | "idVendor" = 3245 | | "bInterfaceNumber" = 0 | | "bInterfaceClass" = 255 | | "bNumEndpoints" = 2 | | } | | | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostInterfaceUserClient, id 0x100002988, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 6> | { | "UsbUserClientBufferStatistics" = {"IOMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOBufferMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOSubMemoryDescriptor"=0} | "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" | "UsbUserClientBufferAllocations" = {"Bytes"=0,"Descriptors"=0} | "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes | } | +-o IOUSBHostInterface@1 <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100002987, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (5 ms), retain 9> | { | "USBPortType" = 0 | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"2d9786c6-9ef3-11d4-ad51-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | "USBSpeed" = 3 | "idProduct" = 36886 | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | "bInterfaceSubClass" = 0 | "bConfigurationValue" = 1 | "locationID" = 34734080 | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "bInterfaceProtocol" = 0 | "iInterface" = 0 | "bAlternateSetting" = 0 | "idVendor" = 3245 | "bInterfaceNumber" = 1 | "bInterfaceClass" = 255 | "bNumEndpoints" = 2 | } | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostInterfaceUserClient, id 0x10000298a, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 6> { "UsbUserClientBufferStatistics" = {"IOMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOBufferMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOSubMemoryDescriptor"=0} "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" "UsbUserClientBufferAllocations" = {"Bytes"=0,"Descriptors"=0} "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes } more details in my comment.
6
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1.5k
Mar ’26
DriverKit - IOUSBHostDevice::SetProperties
I am trying to add a few properties to an IOUSBHostDevice but the SetProperties is returning kIOReturnUnsupported. The reason I am trying to modify the IOUSBHostDevice's properties is so we can support a MacBook Air SuperDrive when it is attached to our docking station devices. The MacBook Air SuperDrive needs a high powered port to run and this driver will help the OS realize that our dock can support it. I see that the documentation for SetProperties says: The default implementation of this method returns kIOReturnUnsupported. You can override this method and use it to modify the set of properties and values as needed. The changes you make apply only to the current service. Do I need to override IOUSBHostDevice? This is my current Start implementation (you can also see if in the Xcode project): kern_return_t IMPL(MyUserUSBHostDriver, Start) { kern_return_t ret = kIOReturnSuccess; OSDictionary * prop = NULL; OSDictionary * mergeProperties = NULL; bool success = true; os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "&gt; %s", __FUNCTION__); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = Start(provider, SUPERDISPATCH); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ivars-&gt;host = OSDynamicCast(IOUSBHostDevice, provider); __Require_Action(NULL != ivars-&gt;host, Exit, ret = kIOReturnNoDevice); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;Open(this, 0, 0); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = CopyProperties(&amp;prop); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); __Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); mergeProperties = OSDynamicCast(OSDictionary, prop-&gt;getObject("IOProviderMergeProperties")); mergeProperties-&gt;retain(); __Require_Action(NULL != mergeProperties, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;CopyProperties(&amp;prop); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); __Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Product Name", ((OSString *) prop-&gt;getObject("USB Product Name"))-&gt;getCStringNoCopy()); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Vendor Name", ((OSString *) prop-&gt;getObject("USB Vendor Name"))-&gt;getCStringNoCopy()); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); success = prop-&gt;merge(mergeProperties); __Require_Action(success, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;SetProperties(prop); // this is no working __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); Exit: OSSafeReleaseNULL(mergeProperties); OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "err ref %d", kIOReturnUnsupported); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "&lt; %s %d", __FUNCTION__, ret); return ret; }
2
0
1.9k
Jan ’26
DriverKit Dext fails to load with "Exec format error" (POSIX 8) on macOS 26.2 (Apple Silicon) when SIP is enabled
1. 环境描述 (Environment) OS: macOS 26.2 Hardware: Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) DriverKit SDK: DriverKit 19.0 / 20.0 Arch: Universal (x86_64, arm64, arm64e) SIP Status: Enabled (Works perfectly when Disabled) 2. 问题现象 (Problem Description) 在开启 SIP 的环境下,USB 驱动扩展(Dext)能安装,但插入设备时无法连接设备(驱动的Start方法未被调用)。 驱动状态: MacBook-Pro ~ % systemextensionsctl list 1 extension(s) --- com.apple.system_extension.driver_extension (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Driver Extensions' to modify these system extension(s)) enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state] * * JK9U78YRLU com.ronganchina.usbapp.MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver (1.3/4) com.ronganchina.usbapp.MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver [activated enabled] 关键日志证据 (Key Logs) KernelManagerd: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=8 "Exec format error" Syspolicyd: failed to fetch ... /_CodeSignature/CodeRequirements-1 error=-10 AppleSystemPolicy: ASP: Security policy would not allow process DriverKit Kernel: DK: MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver user server timeout dext的 embedded.provisionprofile 已包含: com.apple.developer.driverkit com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb (idVendor: 11977)
2
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958
Jan ’26
Assistance Needed: Accessing Smartcard Certificates for Document Signing on iOS
We are preparing to implement document signing using USB tokens on iOS and macOS. Several other applications already support this feature. From my testing and development efforts, I've been unable to reliably access or utilize certificates stored on a smartcard through the iOS APIs. Here are the specifics: Environment iOS: 15 and later Xcode: Versions 18 and 26 Smartcard/Token: ePass 2003 (eMudhra), Feitien token (Capricorn) Observed Issue : The token is recognized at the system level, with certificates visible in Keychain Access. However, programmatic access to the private keys on the smartcard from within the app is not working. Signing attempts result in Error 6985 and CACC errors. Approaches Tried: Updated provisioning profiles with the following entitlements: com.apple.developer.smartcard com.apple.security.device.usb TKSmartCard Employed TKSmartCard and TKSmartCardSession for interaction. The token is detected successfully. A session can be established, but there's no straightforward method to leverage it for certificate-based signing. Access to signing functions is unavailable; operations yield Error 6985 or CACC errors. if let smartCard = TKSmartCard(slot: someSlot) { smartCard.openSession { session, error in if let session = session { let command: [UInt8] = [0x00, 0xA4, 0x04, 0x00] session.transmit(Data(command)) { response, error in print("Response: \(String(describing: response))") print("Error: \(String(describing: error))") } } } } TokenKit (macOS/iOS) - Utilized TKTokenWatcher to identify available tokens on macOS (not available on iOS). watcher.setInsertionHandler { tokenID in print("Token detected: \(tokenID)") } CryptoKit / Security Framework - Attempted to retrieve SecCertificate using SecItemCopyMatching queries, which succeeded on macOS but failed on iOS. let query: [CFString: Any] = [ kSecClass: kSecClassCertificate, kSecReturnRef: true, kSecMatchLimit: kSecMatchLimitAll ] var items: CFTypeRef? let status = SecItemCopyMatching(query as CFDictionary, &items) print("Status: \(status)") // macOS succeeds, iOS fails ExternalAccessory Framework (EAAccessory) * Investigated using EAAccessory and EASession for external token communication, but it did not function as expected. This functionality is critical for my project. Has anyone successfully implemented smartcard-based signing on iOS? Any guidance, sample code, or references to relevant Apple documentation would be greatly appreciated.
3
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1k
Nov ’25
FTDI USB-serial driver on iPadOS
Hello, We have developed a hardware product that embeds an FTDI USB-serial converter, and an application on MacOS that communicates with this device. We would like to port our application to iPadOS. I can see that when I plug the device into the iPad, it is recognized as a serial port, based on its console logs. When I attempt to enumerate serial ports on iPadOS using IOKit, I can see matching IOSerialBSDClient services, but the properties are sandboxed, including the IOCalloutDevice property, for example: 0 error 16:36:10.922450-0700 kernel Sandbox: ***(662) deny(1) iokit-get-properties iokit-class:IOUserSerial property:IOTTYSuffix Is there an entitlement that can be applied that allows access to the serial port properties of an attached USB device? Or do I need to implement my own USBDriverKit driver for this device, as seems to be implied in these forum threads: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/795202 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/655527
1
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1.1k
Oct ’25
limitations of UserSendCDB in SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit?
I've made a dext and a user client that overrides IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00, with the object of writing device firmware to the driver. I can gain and relinquish exclusive access to the device, I can call UserReportMediumBlockSize and get back a sensible answer (512). I can build command parameters with the INQUIRY macro from IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceHelper.h and send that command successfully using UserSendCB, and I receive sensible-looking Inquiry data from the device. However, what I really want to do is send a WriteBuffer command (opcode 0x3B), and that doesn't work. I have yet to put a bus analyzer on it, but I don't think the command goes out on the bus - there's no valid sense data, and the error returned is 0xe00002bc, or kIOReturnError, which isn't helpful. This is the code I have which doesn't work. kern_return_t driver::writeChunk(const char * buf, size_t atOffset, size_t length, bool lastOne) { DebugMsg("writeChunk %p at %ld for %ld", buf, atOffset, length); SCSIType00OutParameters outParameters; SCSIType00InParameters response; memset(&outParameters, 0, sizeof(outParameters)); memset(&response, 0, sizeof(response)); SetCommandCDB(&outParameters.fCommandDescriptorBlock, 0x3B, // byte 0, opcode WriteBuffer command lastOne ? 0x0E : 0x0F, // byte 1 mode: E=save deferred, F = download and defer save 0, // byte 2 bufferID (atOffset >> 16), // byte 3 (atOffset >> 8), // byte 4 atOffset, // byte 5 (length >> 16), // byte 6 (length >> 8), // byte 7 length, // byte 8 0, // control, byte 9 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0); // bytes 10..15 outParameters.fLogicalUnitNumber = 0; outParameters.fBufferDirection = kIOMemoryDirectionOut; outParameters.fDataTransferDirection = kSCSIDataTransfer_FromInitiatorToTarget; outParameters.fTimeoutDuration = 1000; // milliseconds outParameters.fRequestedByteCountOfTransfer = length; outParameters.fDataBufferAddr = reinterpret_cast<uint64_t>(buf); uint8_t senseBuffer[255] = {0}; outParameters.fSenseBufferAddr = reinterpret_cast<uint64_t>(senseBuffer); outParameters.fSenseLengthRequested = sizeof(senseBuffer); kern_return_t retVal = UserSendCDB(outParameters, &response); return retVal; }
3
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876
Sep ’25
Blocking USB Devices on macOS – DriverKit or Other Recommended Approach
Hi Apple, We are working on a general USB device management solution on macOS for enterprise security. Our goal is to enforce policy-based restrictions on USB devices, such as: For USB storage devices: block mount, read, or write access. For other peripherals (e.g., USB headsets or microphones, raspberry pi, etc): block usage entirely. We know in past, kernel extension would be the way to go, but as kext has been deprecated. And DriverKit is the new advertised framework. At first, DriverKit looked like the right direction. However, after reviewing the documentation more closely, we noticed that using DriverKit for USB requires specific entitlements: DriverKit USB Transport – VendorID DriverKit USB Transport – VendorID and ProductID This raises a challenge: if our solution is meant to cover all types of USB devices, we would theoretically need entitlements for every VendorID/ProductID in existence. My questions are: Is DriverKit actually the right framework for this kind of general-purpose USB device control? If not, what framework or mechanism should we be looking at for enforcing these kinds of policies? We also developed an Endpoint Security product, but so far we haven’t found a relevant Endpoint Security event type that would allow us to achieve this. Any guidance on the correct technical approach would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.
6
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976
Sep ’25
IOS alternatives to DriverKit
Hi, We were planning on using DriverKit to develop a USB Driver on IOS for iPhone. Within the DriverKit website, it say 'IOS16.0+' which lead us to believe it was compatible with iPhones running IOS16.0+. However, it appears DriverKit is only available for iPads running iPadOS, and computers running macOS. Are there any alternatives that would allow us to create a device specific USB driver for an iPhone running IOS?
1
0
804
Sep ’25
driverkit.transport.usb
I’m creating my first DriverKit extension and I ran into an entitlement issue when trying to load my driver. Error 0x0 8397 7 taskgated-helper: (ConfigurationProfiles) [com.apple.ManagedClient:ProvisioningProfiles] App.Dext: Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb I have already registered the entitlement com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb with my vendor ID in the Apple Developer portal. However, when I download the provisioning profile, it doesn’t include the idVendor value. Screenshot from the developer portal (provisioning profile without idVendor) ? <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <integer>1356</integer> </dict> </array> -Is this error caused by me registering the vendor ID incorrectly? -Or is there an issue with how the entitlement is reflected in the provisioning profile? Any guidance would be appreciated.
1
0
584
Aug ’25
Unable to localize driver name or description
I am trying to localize the CFBundleDisplayName and OSBundleUsageDescription of a driver that is part of an app. I am able to use InfoPlist.strings files to localize the Bundle display name for the app, but when I try to use the same file as part of the driver, the name displayed in settings for the app does not change correctly. In fact, it seems to follow the default language set in the xcode project. If the default language is not included in the suite of InfoPlist.strings files, it seems to take the string from the info.plist file. sometimes it just seems to take the English version regardless of the default language or tablet language. Has anyone had success with this?
4
7
622
Aug ’25
driverkit.transport.usb
I’m creating my first DriverKit extension and I ran into an entitlement issue when trying to load my driver. Error 0x0 8397 7 taskgated-helper: (ConfigurationProfiles) [com.apple.ManagedClient:ProvisioningProfiles] App.Dext: Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb I have already registered the entitlement com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb with my vendor ID in the Apple Developer portal. However, when I download the provisioning profile, it doesn’t include the idVendor value. Screenshot from the developer portal (provisioning profile without idVendor) ? <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <integer>1356</integer> <!-- Sony --> <!-- Có thể bổ sung: <key>idProduct</key> <integer>XXXXX</integer> --> </dict> </array>
1
0
331
Aug ’25
USBSendSetLineCoding failing in DeviceRequest with error code 0xe0005000
Hi, This is the code snippet in my driver for an usb uart device. I am trying to call standard cdc-acm command to set the Line Coding in the device, but fails with this error: "USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed : 0xe0005000, bytes transferred: 0" I guess the USB device is returning this error due to incorrect buffer or format. There is no proper documentation on how to use IOMemoryDescriptor when the data has to be passed down in a buffer to the usb stack. (IOUSBHostInterface->DeviceRequest()) Can anyone please point out what is wrong with this code and suggest a right method? void MyDriver::USBSendSetLineCoding(uint32_t BaudRate, uint8_t StopBits, uint8_t TX_Parity, uint8_t CharLength) { kern_return_t ret = kIOReturnSuccess; LineCoding *lineParms; uint16_t lcLen = sizeof(LineCoding)-1; lineParms = (LineCoding *)IOMalloc(lcLen); if (!lineParms) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - allocate lineParms failed"); return; } bzero(lineParms, lcLen); lineParms->bCharFormat = StopBits - 2; lineParms->bParityType = TX_Parity - 1; lineParms->bDataBits = CharLength; OSSwapBigToHostInt32(BaudRate); lineParms->dwDTERate = BaudRate; IOBufferMemoryDescriptor* bufferDescriptor = nullptr; _controlInterface->CreateIOBuffer(kIOMemoryDirectionOut, lcLen, &bufferDescriptor); IOMemoryMap *map = nullptr; bufferDescriptor->CreateMapping(kIOMemoryMapReadOnly, 0, 0, 0, 0, &map); if(map == nullptr) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed to map memory in CreateMapping\n"); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); bufferDescriptor->release(); return; } uint64_t ptr = map->GetAddress(); if(!ptr) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed to get Memory Address\n"); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); bufferDescriptor->release(); map->release(); return; } memcpy(&ptr, lineParms, lcLen); uint8_t bmRequestType = kIOUSBDeviceRequestDirectionOut | kIOUSBDeviceRequestTypeClass | kIOUSBDeviceRequestRecipientInterface; uint16_t wValue = 0; uint16_t wIndex = _bControlInterfaceNumber; uint16_t bytesTransferred = 0; ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSET_LINE_CODING, wValue, wIndex, lcLen, bufferDescriptor, &bytesTransferred, 1000); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); map->release(); bufferDescriptor->release(); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed : 0x%x, bytes transferred: %d\n", ret, bytesTransferred); return; } return; } I am able to call DeviceRequest() successfully on the same interface for any other setting that requires no data buffer, such as, "ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSEND_BREAK, wValue, wIndex, 0, NULL, &bytesTransferred, 1000);" So I think the "bufferDescriptor" is not properly created or the data is not copied correctly in this function for the failure. "ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSET_LINE_CODING, wValue, wIndex, lcLen, bufferDescriptor, &bytesTransferred, 1000);" Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
3
0
1.6k
Aug ’25
Mouse driver locks up MacOS 13.7.6
Every week or so, mouse driver locks up. The LED laser goes out and none of the buttons operate. It's a generic 7 button USB mouse with my USB keyboard still active. I do not know what precipitates the lockup and a system diagnostic request (Sft-Alt-Ctl-Cmd .) does not seem to yield anything useful. > ps -ef|grep -i mouse 501 579 1 0 Mon01PM ?? 0:04.42 /System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/MouseExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/MouseExtension code-block so the mouse extension was running at the time. With a "sudo kill -HUP 579" it did not restart. Also, switching to a different mouse did no good. The mouse driver was behaving like it was deadlocked and I didn't know the correct incantation for restarting it. I power cycle reset the box. SO: you have a mouse driver problem it cannot be just me It behaves like a deadlock, but not knowing how to get a mouse driver dump, I cannot tell what lock(s) its waiting for.
4
0
535
Aug ’25
Use 3rd party USB drivers in iPadOS?
Hi everyone, I'm working with a third party to integrate their USB driver into our app and I'm wondering if iPadOS supports bundling a prebuilt .systemextension file with the entitlement com.apple.developer.system-extension.redistributable into our app that has the com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers entitlement? If not, is there a way to bundle a third party USB driver into our iPad app?
2
0
913
Jul ’25
HID Device Access / Mode Switch
I might be trying to achieve the impossible here, but if there's another way to go about it any advice would be appreciated. I've got an older Linux application that reflashes firmware on a connected USB HID device that I'm trying to port to macOS. Essentially the device starts as an HID interface (0x03/0x01/0x01) but to update firmware receives a simple control payload and then restarts and connects as a different (non-HID) device. However I can't open the HID device at all, I'm guessing this is some sort of permission error (SIP?). AppleUSBHostUserClient::openGated: failed to open IOUSBHostDevice... provider is already opened for exclusive access by AppleUSB20Hub hid_open_path: failed to open IOHIDDevice from mach entry: (0xE00002E2) not permitted AppleUSBXHCICommandRing::setAddress: completed with result code 4 AppleUSBHostPort::createDevice: failed to create device (0xe00002bc) AppleUSBIORequest ... transaction error ... 0xe00002ed Is there any way at all to do this on macOS? Interestingly if you run a Windows VM in VMWare or similar and connect the device to that VM it works, so there's obviously some way but I'd like to create a simple standalone tool.
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1.7k
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Apr ’26
Driverkit driver hangs on macOS
Hello, I have crated a DriverKit driver for macOS and iPad M-series if I ever get the mac driver working. I have the correct entittlements, and matching provisioning profile downloaded manually. The driver loads (no errors!), and is visible in ioreg below the usb device (when plugged). The issue is that I never get any log from the driver, have reduced to minimal working code (below). When I debug with lldb, I load the symbols for my driver and break on init and Start - but lldb never triggers == never calls start or init. This is also why no logs. When I unplug the device, the driver process (ps aux) keeps running, causes a hard crash of the Mac with dext remove/or kill driver.dext process. I have asked Claude - but its just running in circles: check Info.plist=ok, check entitlements=ok, check code (minimal)=ok, check iig=ok, check provisioning profile=ok, check build settings=ok, check ioreg=ok, check code signature=ok, start over I don't get any log from my driver, which is consistent with init() not being called. All logs from kernel & friends (AMFI) do show the driver loading - no errors. Any tips appreciated! // USBDriver.iig #ifndef USBDriver_h #define USBDriver_h #include <USBDriverKit/IOUSBHostInterface.iig> class USBDriver: public IOService { public: virtual bool init() override; virtual void free() override; virtual kern_return_t Start(IOService * provider) override; virtual kern_return_t Stop(IOService * provider) override; }; // USBDriver.cpp #include <os/log.h> #include <DriverKit/DriverKit.h> #include "USBDriver.h" bool USBDriver::init() { if (!super::init()) return false; os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: init()"); return true; } kern_return_t IMPL(USBDriver, Start) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Start()"); kern_return_t ret = super::Start(provider); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: super::Start failed: 0x%08x", ret); return ret; } os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Start() success"); return super::Start(provider); } kern_return_t IMPL(USBDriver, Stop) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: Stop()"); return super::Stop(provider); } void USBDriver::free() { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "terminal.driver: free()"); super::free(); }
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1.3k
Activity
Apr ’26
Can a third-party DriverKit HID dext seize raw HID reports from an external mouse via a top case–related path?
We are trying to determine whether a third-party DriverKit HID dext can seize or intercept raw HID input reports from an external mouse through any top case–related path in the HID stack. Our dext is based on IOUserHIDEventDriver, and the goal is to receive raw input reports before they are translated into higher-level pointer events. Apple’s public HIDDriverKit documentation describes IOUserHIDEventDriver as the driver object responsible for dispatching pointer, digitizer, scrolling, and related HID-originated events, but it is not clear to us whether any “top case” path is actually exposed or supported for third-party matching in DriverKit. What we want to clarify is specifically about external mouse devices, not the built-in trackpad itself. Questions: Is there any officially supported way for a third-party DriverKit HID dext to bind through a top case–related path and receive raw HID input reports from an external mouse? Is “top case” something that third-party DriverKit drivers can meaningfully target for matching/attachment, or is it only an internal Apple implementation detail? If such a path exists, can it be used to seize raw reports before they are converted into higher-level pointer events? If not, what is the officially supported boundary for third-party DriverKit access to raw reports from external mouse-class HID devices? To be clear, we are not asking about synthesizing pointer events. We are asking whether a third-party DriverKit dext can directly observe or seize the original HID input reports from an external mouse by attaching through any top case–related portion of the HID stack. If “top case” is not a public DriverKit concept that third parties can target, confirmation of that would also be very helpful.
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2
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821
Activity
Mar ’26
How to sign a DEXT
Kevin's Guide to DEXT Signing The question of "How do I sign a DEXT" comes up a lot, so this post is my attempt to describe both what the issues are and the best current solutions are. So... The Problems: When DEXTs were originally introduced, the recommended development signing process required disabling SIP and local signing. There is a newer, much simpler process that's built on Xcode's integrated code-signing support; however, that newer process has not yet been integrated into the documentation library. In addition, while the older flow still works, many of the details it describes are no longer correct due to changes to Xcode and the developer portal. DriverKit's use of individually customized entitlements is different than the other entitlements on our platform, and Xcode's support for it is somewhat incomplete and buggy. The situation has improved considerably over time, particularly from Xcode 15 and Xcode 16, but there are still issues that are not fully resolved. To address #1, we introduced "development" entitlement variants of all DriverKit entitlements. These entitlement variants are ONLY available in development-signed builds, but they're available on all paid developer accounts without any special approval. They also allow a DEXT to match against any hardware, greatly simplifying working with development or prototype hardware which may not match the configuration of a final product. Unfortunately, this also means that DEXT developers will always have at least two entitlement variants (the public development variant and the "private" approved entitlement), which is what then causes the problem I mentioned in #2. The Automatic Solution: If you're using Xcode 16 or above, then Xcode's Automatic code sign support will work all DEXT Families, with the exception of distribution signing the PCI and USB Families. For completeness, here is how that Automatic flow should work: Change the code signing configuration to "Automatic". Add the capability using Xcode. (USB & PCI) Edit your Entitlement.plist to include the correct "Development Only" configuration: USB Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <string>*</string> </dict> </array> PCI Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.pci</key> <array> <dict> <key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key> <string>0xFFFFFFFF&amp;0x00000000</string> </dict> </array> If you've been approved for one of these entitlements, the one oddity you'll see is that adding your approved capability will add both the approved AND the development variant, while deleting either will delete both. This is a visual side effect of #2 above; however, aside from the exception described below, it can be ignored. Similarly, you can sign distribution builds by creating a build archive and then exporting the build using the standard Xcode flow. Debugging Automatic Code-signing In a new project, the flow I describe above should just work; however, if you're converting an existing project, you may get code signing errors, generally complaining about how the provisioning profile configuration doesn't match. In most cases, this happens because Xcode is choosing to reuse a previously downloaded profile with an older configuration instead of generating a new configuration which would then include the configuration changes you made. Currently, you can find these profile files in: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles ...which can make it easier to find and delete the specific profile (if you choose). However, one recommendation I'd have here is to not treat the contents of that folder as "precious" or special. What automatic code signing actually does is generate provisioning profiles "on demand", so if you delete an automatic profile... Xcode will just generate it again at the next build. Manually generating profiles is more cumbersome, but the solution there is to preserve them as a separate resource, probably as part of your project data, NOT to just "lose" them in the folder here. If they get deleted from Xcode's store, then you can just copy them back in from your own store (or using Xcode, which can manually download profiles as well). The advantage of this approach is that when profiles "pile up" over time (which they tend to do), you can just delete[1] all of them then let Xcode regenerate the ones you're actually trying to investigate. In terms of looking at their contents, TN3125: Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles has the details of how to see exactly what's there. [1] Moving them somewhere else works too, but could indicate a fear of commitment. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
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2.5k
Activity
Mar ’26
Can't enable an iOS Driverkit driver when using an older app ID
Hi there, We've discovered a problem with our iOS app. We've been attempting to add a Driverkit driver to it, but any time we run the app through Testflight, the driver installs fine, but when we go to enable the driver toggle in the app's settings, the toggle stays on, but in the device logs I can see: could not insert bundle at <private> into manager: <private> As you would expect - this means the driver is not actually enabled and does not respond to a device being connected to the iPad. This does not happen when building & running the app locally, nor does it happen when installing an Ad Hoc build. We also have a different app, not yet shipped. We are able to add the driver to that app without issue. It works after going through Testflight. What we have discovered now is that everything works fine even if we just create an entirely new app with it's own bundle IDs. I should point out that in all cases, we're keeping the capabilities the same for each of these apps/IDs - including the managed capabilities. The bundle IDs that have this problem are older (5 years old or more). It seems like any newer ID will work, but trying to add the driver (and the associated managed capabilities) to an older app/ID results in this vague error message, with no further details. If we inspect the resulting dexts, we can also see that the "Internal requirements code size" is different on the ones that fail. The failing ones have a size of 204 bytes, whereas the working ones all have a size of 220 bytes. Not sure if that's related but it's strikingly consistent. Does this mean there is an issue with older app IDs, and we need Apple to manually refresh them in some way before the driverkit capabilities will work after going through Testflight? We have two apps in this state, both are of the same vintage (~5 years+). We've been battling this issue for months on and off, so would appreciate some help.
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6
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1.5k
Activity
Mar ’26
Can't get USBSerialDriverKit driver loaded
I am writing a DriverKit driver for the first that uses the USBSerialDriverKit. The driver its purpose is to expose the device as serial interface (/dev/cu.tetra-pei0 or something like this). My problem: I don't see any logs from that driver in the console and I tried like 40 different approaches and checked everything. The last message I see is that the driver get successfully added to the system it is in the list of active and enabled system driver extensions but when I plug the device in none of my logs appear and it doesn't show up in ioreg. So without my driver the target device looks like this: +-o TETRA PEI interface@02120000 <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x10000297d, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (13 ms), retain 30> | { | "sessionID" = 268696051410 | "USBSpeed" = 3 | "UsbLinkSpeed" = 480000000 | "idProduct" = 36886 | "iManufacturer" = 1 | "bDeviceClass" = 0 | "IOPowerManagement" = {"PowerOverrideOn"=Yes,"DevicePowerState"=2,"CurrentPowerState"=2,"CapabilityFlags"=32768,"MaxPowerState"=2,"DriverPowerState"=0} | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | "bMaxPacketSize0" = 64 | "iProduct" = 2 | "iSerialNumber" = 0 | "bNumConfigurations" = 1 | "UsbDeviceSignature" = <ad0c16901624000000ff0000> | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "locationID" = 34734080 | "bDeviceSubClass" = 0 | "bcdUSB" = 512 | "USB Address" = 6 | "kUSBCurrentConfiguration" = 1 | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"9dc7b780-9ec0-11d4-a54f-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | "UsbPowerSinkAllocation" = 500 | "bDeviceProtocol" = 0 | "USBPortType" = 0 | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | "Device Speed" = 2 | "idVendor" = 3245 | "kUSBProductString" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "kUSBAddress" = 6 | "kUSBVendorString" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | } | +-o AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice <class AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice, id 0x100002982, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 5> | { | "IOProbeScore" = 50000 | "CFBundleIdentifier" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOProviderClass" = "IOUSBHostDevice" | "IOClass" = "AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOPersonalityPublisher" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "bDeviceSubClass" = 0 | "CFBundleIdentifierKernel" = "com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice" | "IOMatchedAtBoot" = Yes | "IOMatchCategory" = "IODefaultMatchCategory" | "IOPrimaryDriverTerminateOptions" = Yes | "bDeviceClass" = 0 | } | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostDeviceUserClient, id 0x100002983, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 7> | { | "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" | "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes | } | +-o IOUSBHostInterface@0 <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100002986, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (5 ms), retain 9> | | { | | "USBPortType" = 0 | | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"2d9786c6-9ef3-11d4-ad51-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | | "USBSpeed" = 3 | | "idProduct" = 36886 | | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | | "bInterfaceSubClass" = 0 | | "bConfigurationValue" = 1 | | "locationID" = 34734080 | | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | | "bInterfaceProtocol" = 0 | | "iInterface" = 0 | | "bAlternateSetting" = 0 | | "idVendor" = 3245 | | "bInterfaceNumber" = 0 | | "bInterfaceClass" = 255 | | "bNumEndpoints" = 2 | | } | | | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostInterfaceUserClient, id 0x100002988, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 6> | { | "UsbUserClientBufferStatistics" = {"IOMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOBufferMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOSubMemoryDescriptor"=0} | "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" | "UsbUserClientBufferAllocations" = {"Bytes"=0,"Descriptors"=0} | "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes | } | +-o IOUSBHostInterface@1 <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100002987, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (5 ms), retain 9> | { | "USBPortType" = 0 | "IOCFPlugInTypes" = {"2d9786c6-9ef3-11d4-ad51-000a27052861"="IOUSBHostFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBLib.bundle"} | "USB Vendor Name" = "Motorola Solutions, Inc." | "bcdDevice" = 9238 | "USBSpeed" = 3 | "idProduct" = 36886 | "IOServiceDEXTEntitlements" = (("com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb")) | "bInterfaceSubClass" = 0 | "bConfigurationValue" = 1 | "locationID" = 34734080 | "USB Product Name" = "TETRA PEI interface" | "bInterfaceProtocol" = 0 | "iInterface" = 0 | "bAlternateSetting" = 0 | "idVendor" = 3245 | "bInterfaceNumber" = 1 | "bInterfaceClass" = 255 | "bNumEndpoints" = 2 | } | +-o lghub_agent <class AppleUSBHostInterfaceUserClient, id 0x10000298a, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 6> { "UsbUserClientBufferStatistics" = {"IOMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOBufferMemoryDescriptor"=0,"IOSubMemoryDescriptor"=0} "IOUserClientCreator" = "pid 1438, lghub_agent" "UsbUserClientBufferAllocations" = {"Bytes"=0,"Descriptors"=0} "IOUserClientDefaultLocking" = Yes } more details in my comment.
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1.5k
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Mar ’26
How to get a IOSerialBSDClient attached?
I have a driver extending IOUserUSBSerial and I want the device to show up as /dev/tty.mycustombasename-123 and /dev/cu. respectively. How can I achieve that?
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1.3k
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Feb ’26
DriverKit - IOUSBHostDevice::SetProperties
I am trying to add a few properties to an IOUSBHostDevice but the SetProperties is returning kIOReturnUnsupported. The reason I am trying to modify the IOUSBHostDevice's properties is so we can support a MacBook Air SuperDrive when it is attached to our docking station devices. The MacBook Air SuperDrive needs a high powered port to run and this driver will help the OS realize that our dock can support it. I see that the documentation for SetProperties says: The default implementation of this method returns kIOReturnUnsupported. You can override this method and use it to modify the set of properties and values as needed. The changes you make apply only to the current service. Do I need to override IOUSBHostDevice? This is my current Start implementation (you can also see if in the Xcode project): kern_return_t IMPL(MyUserUSBHostDriver, Start) { kern_return_t ret = kIOReturnSuccess; OSDictionary * prop = NULL; OSDictionary * mergeProperties = NULL; bool success = true; os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "&gt; %s", __FUNCTION__); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = Start(provider, SUPERDISPATCH); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ivars-&gt;host = OSDynamicCast(IOUSBHostDevice, provider); __Require_Action(NULL != ivars-&gt;host, Exit, ret = kIOReturnNoDevice); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;Open(this, 0, 0); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = CopyProperties(&amp;prop); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); __Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); mergeProperties = OSDynamicCast(OSDictionary, prop-&gt;getObject("IOProviderMergeProperties")); mergeProperties-&gt;retain(); __Require_Action(NULL != mergeProperties, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;CopyProperties(&amp;prop); __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); __Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Product Name", ((OSString *) prop-&gt;getObject("USB Product Name"))-&gt;getCStringNoCopy()); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Vendor Name", ((OSString *) prop-&gt;getObject("USB Vendor Name"))-&gt;getCStringNoCopy()); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); success = prop-&gt;merge(mergeProperties); __Require_Action(success, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__); ret = ivars-&gt;host-&gt;SetProperties(prop); // this is no working __Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit); Exit: OSSafeReleaseNULL(mergeProperties); OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "err ref %d", kIOReturnUnsupported); os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "&lt; %s %d", __FUNCTION__, ret); return ret; }
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1.9k
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Jan ’26
DriverKit Dext fails to load with "Exec format error" (POSIX 8) on macOS 26.2 (Apple Silicon) when SIP is enabled
1. 环境描述 (Environment) OS: macOS 26.2 Hardware: Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) DriverKit SDK: DriverKit 19.0 / 20.0 Arch: Universal (x86_64, arm64, arm64e) SIP Status: Enabled (Works perfectly when Disabled) 2. 问题现象 (Problem Description) 在开启 SIP 的环境下,USB 驱动扩展(Dext)能安装,但插入设备时无法连接设备(驱动的Start方法未被调用)。 驱动状态: MacBook-Pro ~ % systemextensionsctl list 1 extension(s) --- com.apple.system_extension.driver_extension (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Driver Extensions' to modify these system extension(s)) enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state] * * JK9U78YRLU com.ronganchina.usbapp.MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver (1.3/4) com.ronganchina.usbapp.MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver [activated enabled] 关键日志证据 (Key Logs) KernelManagerd: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=8 "Exec format error" Syspolicyd: failed to fetch ... /_CodeSignature/CodeRequirements-1 error=-10 AppleSystemPolicy: ASP: Security policy would not allow process DriverKit Kernel: DK: MyUserUSBInterfaceDriver user server timeout dext的 embedded.provisionprofile 已包含: com.apple.developer.driverkit com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb (idVendor: 11977)
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958
Activity
Jan ’26
Assistance Needed: Accessing Smartcard Certificates for Document Signing on iOS
We are preparing to implement document signing using USB tokens on iOS and macOS. Several other applications already support this feature. From my testing and development efforts, I've been unable to reliably access or utilize certificates stored on a smartcard through the iOS APIs. Here are the specifics: Environment iOS: 15 and later Xcode: Versions 18 and 26 Smartcard/Token: ePass 2003 (eMudhra), Feitien token (Capricorn) Observed Issue : The token is recognized at the system level, with certificates visible in Keychain Access. However, programmatic access to the private keys on the smartcard from within the app is not working. Signing attempts result in Error 6985 and CACC errors. Approaches Tried: Updated provisioning profiles with the following entitlements: com.apple.developer.smartcard com.apple.security.device.usb TKSmartCard Employed TKSmartCard and TKSmartCardSession for interaction. The token is detected successfully. A session can be established, but there's no straightforward method to leverage it for certificate-based signing. Access to signing functions is unavailable; operations yield Error 6985 or CACC errors. if let smartCard = TKSmartCard(slot: someSlot) { smartCard.openSession { session, error in if let session = session { let command: [UInt8] = [0x00, 0xA4, 0x04, 0x00] session.transmit(Data(command)) { response, error in print("Response: \(String(describing: response))") print("Error: \(String(describing: error))") } } } } TokenKit (macOS/iOS) - Utilized TKTokenWatcher to identify available tokens on macOS (not available on iOS). watcher.setInsertionHandler { tokenID in print("Token detected: \(tokenID)") } CryptoKit / Security Framework - Attempted to retrieve SecCertificate using SecItemCopyMatching queries, which succeeded on macOS but failed on iOS. let query: [CFString: Any] = [ kSecClass: kSecClassCertificate, kSecReturnRef: true, kSecMatchLimit: kSecMatchLimitAll ] var items: CFTypeRef? let status = SecItemCopyMatching(query as CFDictionary, &items) print("Status: \(status)") // macOS succeeds, iOS fails ExternalAccessory Framework (EAAccessory) * Investigated using EAAccessory and EASession for external token communication, but it did not function as expected. This functionality is critical for my project. Has anyone successfully implemented smartcard-based signing on iOS? Any guidance, sample code, or references to relevant Apple documentation would be greatly appreciated.
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1k
Activity
Nov ’25
FTDI USB-serial driver on iPadOS
Hello, We have developed a hardware product that embeds an FTDI USB-serial converter, and an application on MacOS that communicates with this device. We would like to port our application to iPadOS. I can see that when I plug the device into the iPad, it is recognized as a serial port, based on its console logs. When I attempt to enumerate serial ports on iPadOS using IOKit, I can see matching IOSerialBSDClient services, but the properties are sandboxed, including the IOCalloutDevice property, for example: 0 error 16:36:10.922450-0700 kernel Sandbox: ***(662) deny(1) iokit-get-properties iokit-class:IOUserSerial property:IOTTYSuffix Is there an entitlement that can be applied that allows access to the serial port properties of an attached USB device? Or do I need to implement my own USBDriverKit driver for this device, as seems to be implied in these forum threads: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/795202 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/655527
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1.1k
Activity
Oct ’25
limitations of UserSendCDB in SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit?
I've made a dext and a user client that overrides IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00, with the object of writing device firmware to the driver. I can gain and relinquish exclusive access to the device, I can call UserReportMediumBlockSize and get back a sensible answer (512). I can build command parameters with the INQUIRY macro from IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceHelper.h and send that command successfully using UserSendCB, and I receive sensible-looking Inquiry data from the device. However, what I really want to do is send a WriteBuffer command (opcode 0x3B), and that doesn't work. I have yet to put a bus analyzer on it, but I don't think the command goes out on the bus - there's no valid sense data, and the error returned is 0xe00002bc, or kIOReturnError, which isn't helpful. This is the code I have which doesn't work. kern_return_t driver::writeChunk(const char * buf, size_t atOffset, size_t length, bool lastOne) { DebugMsg("writeChunk %p at %ld for %ld", buf, atOffset, length); SCSIType00OutParameters outParameters; SCSIType00InParameters response; memset(&outParameters, 0, sizeof(outParameters)); memset(&response, 0, sizeof(response)); SetCommandCDB(&outParameters.fCommandDescriptorBlock, 0x3B, // byte 0, opcode WriteBuffer command lastOne ? 0x0E : 0x0F, // byte 1 mode: E=save deferred, F = download and defer save 0, // byte 2 bufferID (atOffset >> 16), // byte 3 (atOffset >> 8), // byte 4 atOffset, // byte 5 (length >> 16), // byte 6 (length >> 8), // byte 7 length, // byte 8 0, // control, byte 9 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0); // bytes 10..15 outParameters.fLogicalUnitNumber = 0; outParameters.fBufferDirection = kIOMemoryDirectionOut; outParameters.fDataTransferDirection = kSCSIDataTransfer_FromInitiatorToTarget; outParameters.fTimeoutDuration = 1000; // milliseconds outParameters.fRequestedByteCountOfTransfer = length; outParameters.fDataBufferAddr = reinterpret_cast<uint64_t>(buf); uint8_t senseBuffer[255] = {0}; outParameters.fSenseBufferAddr = reinterpret_cast<uint64_t>(senseBuffer); outParameters.fSenseLengthRequested = sizeof(senseBuffer); kern_return_t retVal = UserSendCDB(outParameters, &response); return retVal; }
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876
Activity
Sep ’25
Blocking USB Devices on macOS – DriverKit or Other Recommended Approach
Hi Apple, We are working on a general USB device management solution on macOS for enterprise security. Our goal is to enforce policy-based restrictions on USB devices, such as: For USB storage devices: block mount, read, or write access. For other peripherals (e.g., USB headsets or microphones, raspberry pi, etc): block usage entirely. We know in past, kernel extension would be the way to go, but as kext has been deprecated. And DriverKit is the new advertised framework. At first, DriverKit looked like the right direction. However, after reviewing the documentation more closely, we noticed that using DriverKit for USB requires specific entitlements: DriverKit USB Transport – VendorID DriverKit USB Transport – VendorID and ProductID This raises a challenge: if our solution is meant to cover all types of USB devices, we would theoretically need entitlements for every VendorID/ProductID in existence. My questions are: Is DriverKit actually the right framework for this kind of general-purpose USB device control? If not, what framework or mechanism should we be looking at for enforcing these kinds of policies? We also developed an Endpoint Security product, but so far we haven’t found a relevant Endpoint Security event type that would allow us to achieve this. Any guidance on the correct technical approach would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.
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6
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976
Activity
Sep ’25
IOS alternatives to DriverKit
Hi, We were planning on using DriverKit to develop a USB Driver on IOS for iPhone. Within the DriverKit website, it say 'IOS16.0+' which lead us to believe it was compatible with iPhones running IOS16.0+. However, it appears DriverKit is only available for iPads running iPadOS, and computers running macOS. Are there any alternatives that would allow us to create a device specific USB driver for an iPhone running IOS?
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804
Activity
Sep ’25
driverkit.transport.usb
I’m creating my first DriverKit extension and I ran into an entitlement issue when trying to load my driver. Error 0x0 8397 7 taskgated-helper: (ConfigurationProfiles) [com.apple.ManagedClient:ProvisioningProfiles] App.Dext: Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb I have already registered the entitlement com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb with my vendor ID in the Apple Developer portal. However, when I download the provisioning profile, it doesn’t include the idVendor value. Screenshot from the developer portal (provisioning profile without idVendor) ? <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <integer>1356</integer> </dict> </array> -Is this error caused by me registering the vendor ID incorrectly? -Or is there an issue with how the entitlement is reflected in the provisioning profile? Any guidance would be appreciated.
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584
Activity
Aug ’25
Unable to localize driver name or description
I am trying to localize the CFBundleDisplayName and OSBundleUsageDescription of a driver that is part of an app. I am able to use InfoPlist.strings files to localize the Bundle display name for the app, but when I try to use the same file as part of the driver, the name displayed in settings for the app does not change correctly. In fact, it seems to follow the default language set in the xcode project. If the default language is not included in the suite of InfoPlist.strings files, it seems to take the string from the info.plist file. sometimes it just seems to take the English version regardless of the default language or tablet language. Has anyone had success with this?
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7
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622
Activity
Aug ’25
driverkit.transport.usb
I’m creating my first DriverKit extension and I ran into an entitlement issue when trying to load my driver. Error 0x0 8397 7 taskgated-helper: (ConfigurationProfiles) [com.apple.ManagedClient:ProvisioningProfiles] App.Dext: Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb I have already registered the entitlement com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb with my vendor ID in the Apple Developer portal. However, when I download the provisioning profile, it doesn’t include the idVendor value. Screenshot from the developer portal (provisioning profile without idVendor) ? <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <integer>1356</integer> <!-- Sony --> <!-- Có thể bổ sung: <key>idProduct</key> <integer>XXXXX</integer> --> </dict> </array>
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331
Activity
Aug ’25
USBSendSetLineCoding failing in DeviceRequest with error code 0xe0005000
Hi, This is the code snippet in my driver for an usb uart device. I am trying to call standard cdc-acm command to set the Line Coding in the device, but fails with this error: "USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed : 0xe0005000, bytes transferred: 0" I guess the USB device is returning this error due to incorrect buffer or format. There is no proper documentation on how to use IOMemoryDescriptor when the data has to be passed down in a buffer to the usb stack. (IOUSBHostInterface->DeviceRequest()) Can anyone please point out what is wrong with this code and suggest a right method? void MyDriver::USBSendSetLineCoding(uint32_t BaudRate, uint8_t StopBits, uint8_t TX_Parity, uint8_t CharLength) { kern_return_t ret = kIOReturnSuccess; LineCoding *lineParms; uint16_t lcLen = sizeof(LineCoding)-1; lineParms = (LineCoding *)IOMalloc(lcLen); if (!lineParms) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - allocate lineParms failed"); return; } bzero(lineParms, lcLen); lineParms->bCharFormat = StopBits - 2; lineParms->bParityType = TX_Parity - 1; lineParms->bDataBits = CharLength; OSSwapBigToHostInt32(BaudRate); lineParms->dwDTERate = BaudRate; IOBufferMemoryDescriptor* bufferDescriptor = nullptr; _controlInterface->CreateIOBuffer(kIOMemoryDirectionOut, lcLen, &bufferDescriptor); IOMemoryMap *map = nullptr; bufferDescriptor->CreateMapping(kIOMemoryMapReadOnly, 0, 0, 0, 0, &map); if(map == nullptr) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed to map memory in CreateMapping\n"); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); bufferDescriptor->release(); return; } uint64_t ptr = map->GetAddress(); if(!ptr) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed to get Memory Address\n"); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); bufferDescriptor->release(); map->release(); return; } memcpy(&ptr, lineParms, lcLen); uint8_t bmRequestType = kIOUSBDeviceRequestDirectionOut | kIOUSBDeviceRequestTypeClass | kIOUSBDeviceRequestRecipientInterface; uint16_t wValue = 0; uint16_t wIndex = _bControlInterfaceNumber; uint16_t bytesTransferred = 0; ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSET_LINE_CODING, wValue, wIndex, lcLen, bufferDescriptor, &bytesTransferred, 1000); IOFree(lineParms, lcLen); map->release(); bufferDescriptor->release(); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { MyDebugLog("USBSendSetLineCoding - Failed : 0x%x, bytes transferred: %d\n", ret, bytesTransferred); return; } return; } I am able to call DeviceRequest() successfully on the same interface for any other setting that requires no data buffer, such as, "ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSEND_BREAK, wValue, wIndex, 0, NULL, &bytesTransferred, 1000);" So I think the "bufferDescriptor" is not properly created or the data is not copied correctly in this function for the failure. "ret = _controlInterface->DeviceRequest(bmRequestType, kUSBSET_LINE_CODING, wValue, wIndex, lcLen, bufferDescriptor, &bytesTransferred, 1000);" Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Activity
Aug ’25
Mouse driver locks up MacOS 13.7.6
Every week or so, mouse driver locks up. The LED laser goes out and none of the buttons operate. It's a generic 7 button USB mouse with my USB keyboard still active. I do not know what precipitates the lockup and a system diagnostic request (Sft-Alt-Ctl-Cmd .) does not seem to yield anything useful. > ps -ef|grep -i mouse 501 579 1 0 Mon01PM ?? 0:04.42 /System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/MouseExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/MouseExtension code-block so the mouse extension was running at the time. With a "sudo kill -HUP 579" it did not restart. Also, switching to a different mouse did no good. The mouse driver was behaving like it was deadlocked and I didn't know the correct incantation for restarting it. I power cycle reset the box. SO: you have a mouse driver problem it cannot be just me It behaves like a deadlock, but not knowing how to get a mouse driver dump, I cannot tell what lock(s) its waiting for.
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535
Activity
Aug ’25
Use 3rd party USB drivers in iPadOS?
Hi everyone, I'm working with a third party to integrate their USB driver into our app and I'm wondering if iPadOS supports bundling a prebuilt .systemextension file with the entitlement com.apple.developer.system-extension.redistributable into our app that has the com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers entitlement? If not, is there a way to bundle a third party USB driver into our iPad app?
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913
Activity
Jul ’25