HP's response to driver slowdown issues

We previously reported performance problems with HP printer drivers under Mac OS X 10.3.x. Essentially, the 'HP Communications' daemon constantly grows its CPU usage until it slows down the computer -- in some cases to a point of non-responsiveness.

HP technical support has begun sending messages to users experiencing this problem suggesting the following workarounds:

Workaround 1: Restart the computer from the Apple menu. This will free system resources temporarily.

Workaround 2: To execute an AppleScript that will stop the HP Communications process without accessing any other utilities, go to the following ftp site and select aioscript.sit: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/multifunction/software/. The aioscript.sit icon will be placed on the desktop and can be used as a toggle switch to turn the HP Communications on and off.

Workaround 3: Some customers have reported that replacing the IOUSBFamily.kext file, included with Mac OS X 10.2.2, with a version included in previous Mac OS X alleviates the processor drain issues with HP's Communications component. Version 1.9.2 of IOUSBFamily.kext can be downloaded from the Apple ftp site at ftp://ftp.apple.com/developer/Development_Kits/Mac_OS_USB/IOUSBFamily-1.9.2D DK.dmg.bin

In fact, reverting to an older version of the IOUSBFamily.kext file was a workaround we reported several months ago for a processor drain problem with HP printers under Mac OS X 10.2.x (Jaguar), which was later published by HP's technical support team.

Apple maintains a recent history of IOUSB versions at: ftp://ftp.apple.com/developer/Development_Kits/Mac_OS_USB

However, as we reported earlier, it might not be a good idea to downgrade your IOUSB component - doing so can not only reverse enhancements delivered by Mac OS X 10.3.2, but also cause problems with other USB devices.

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