Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

PortDetect.log in Users folder

L

lopoz

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2005
134
9
Hello,

I have a strange file in my Users folder, named PortDetect.log
I have no idea which app created it and it reappears when I delete it.

Has anyone got the same file? Or know where it may originate from?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Here's a small part of the log:
Code: 
Thu Oct 16 14:55:58 2008
 --  PortDetect started...

Thu Oct 16 14:57:38 2008
 --  PortDetect started...

Thu Oct 16 20:59:19 2008
 --  PortDetect started...

Thu Oct 16 21:00:20 2008
 --  PortDetect started...

Thu Oct 16 21:03:29 2008
 --  PortDetect started...

Thu Oct 16 21:04:57 2008
 --  PortDetect started...
 
rychencop

rychencop

macrumors 65816
Aug 17, 2007
1,107
10
Georgia
have you searched your system for portdetect? i did a google search and it did not come up with anything specific to that file, but all other references pointed to intrusion software. you might want to hunt around to see if you have something weird installed or hiding. keep us informed.
 
L

lopoz

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2005
134
9
rychencop said:
have you searched your system for portdetect? i did a google search and it did not come up with anything specific to that file, but all other references pointed to intrusion software. you might want to hunt around to see if you have something weird installed or hiding. keep us informed.
Click to expand...
Well, I did a quick Spotlight search, but that didn't give any unusual hits..
But why would intrusion software leave behind a log in a folder thats basically in plain sight?

Also, I use Little Snitch, so I should've noticed a weird app trying to use my connection...

[edit]
Would it be possible to create a script that alerts me when the file is modified?
That way I could see what programs are active at the time and narrow it down a bit..

Or is there a log somewhere in MacOS that shows when and which program is started?
 
M

MConley

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2009
1
0
Explanation found

I recently found the same file ( PortDetect.log ) on my mac, and was similarly worried about it, so I did a search on the matter. Not finding any useful info on english speaking sites, I checked out an italian forum and found the answer.

It turns out the file is used by telecom products like 3g portable wireless devices. The dates in the file correspond perfectly with when I used my portable internet the first time.

Here is a google translation of the Italian posting:


Mystery solved.

By opening one of the three files in the folder read this:
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 807x195.


Web N Walk seems to be a mechanism of T-Mobile like USB pens provided by the various Tim, Vodafone, Wind and 3.

I actually checked the date of creation of folders HWPortDetect and HWPortCfg and dates back to 8 February, when, from the report of CleanApp, I uninstalled the software for navigation through the key of the 3 I was trying.

Elementary, Watson!​

Thanks to Xero and google translations :)
 
L

lopoz

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2005
134
9
MConley said:
It turns out the file is used by telecom products like 3g portable wireless devices. The dates in the file correspond perfectly with when I used my portable internet the first time.
Click to expand...

YES! Excellent thanks!
 
N

nukeluke

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2011
1
0
Some more detail

Hey all. I found some more info on what creates this annoying log.
(applies only to Mac OS X users)
Despite having uninstalled this clumsily put together app the PortDetect.log file was still being created.
So I re-installed it and had a look at the installer log to see where this PortDetect log was being created.
It turns out that the installer creates a couple of directories in your Library/StartupItems directory. In there you'll find some directories starting with "HW" (no quotes).
You'll need administrator privileges to nuke them, but when you find tem just delete them and you'll get rid of the annoying app creating the log file.

I detest having these kind of one-use apps leaving loose ends everywhere so that over time who knows what installed what or where. It's poor development rushed to "support mac", but really it's more like "let's use Java so we don't really need to understand what it will do to the Mac and still look like we know what we're doing". Ugh!

So in summary, go to:
/Library/StartupItems/

And delete any folder that starts with "HW". From memory there will be two, a "HWNetMgr" and a "HWConfig" or it might even read "HWPortDetect", can't remember.

Enjoy!
 
Otaviano

Otaviano

macrumors 6502a
Nov 22, 2007
621
295
I recently discovered the same file, thanks for the explanation. I've not removed it from my system.
 
W

W2u7Yw4HaD

macrumors regular
Jul 26, 2005
163
299
Thanks for the tip! These things were installed by the "soap on rope" 3G dongle i used in europe last year..

nukeluke said:
Hey all. I found some more info on what creates this annoying log.
(applies only to Mac OS X users)
Despite having uninstalled this clumsily put together app the PortDetect.log file was still being created.
So I re-installed it and had a look at the installer log to see where this PortDetect log was being created.
It turns out that the installer creates a couple of directories in your Library/StartupItems directory. In there you'll find some directories starting with "HW" (no quotes).
You'll need administrator privileges to nuke them, but when you find tem just delete them and you'll get rid of the annoying app creating the log file.

I detest having these kind of one-use apps leaving loose ends everywhere so that over time who knows what installed what or where. It's poor development rushed to "support mac", but really it's more like "let's use Java so we don't really need to understand what it will do to the Mac and still look like we know what we're doing". Ugh!

So in summary, go to:
/Library/StartupItems/

And delete any folder that starts with "HW". From memory there will be two, a "HWNetMgr" and a "HWConfig" or it might even read "HWPortDetect", can't remember.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
 
L

Luds

macrumors newbie
Aug 6, 2010
1
0
THANK YOU, had the same problem, and for some reason I found out that my Time machine was buggy (the excluded files were still backed up), probably had to do with those two programs in /Library/StartupItems/ reseting my home folder. Anyway followed your procedure and problemS went. So thank you for posting in the first place! :)

nukeluke said:
Hey all. I found some more info on what creates this annoying log.
(applies only to Mac OS X users)
Despite having uninstalled this clumsily put together app the PortDetect.log file was still being created.
So I re-installed it and had a look at the installer log to see where this PortDetect log was being created.
It turns out that the installer creates a couple of directories in your Library/StartupItems directory. In there you'll find some directories starting with "HW" (no quotes).
You'll need administrator privileges to nuke them, but when you find tem just delete them and you'll get rid of the annoying app creating the log file.

I detest having these kind of one-use apps leaving loose ends everywhere so that over time who knows what installed what or where. It's poor development rushed to "support mac", but really it's more like "let's use Java so we don't really need to understand what it will do to the Mac and still look like we know what we're doing". Ugh!

So in summary, go to:
/Library/StartupItems/

And delete any folder that starts with "HW". From memory there will be two, a "HWNetMgr" and a "HWConfig" or it might even read "HWPortDetect", can't remember.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
 
jent

jent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2010
893
568
Thanks for this. I wish those 3G USB dongles came with uninstallation software for when you're done using them.
 
dandanapple

dandanapple

macrumors newbie
Jun 14, 2012
16
0
nukeluke said:
Hey all. I found some more info on what creates this annoying log.
(applies only to Mac OS X users)
Despite having uninstalled this clumsily put together app the PortDetect.log file was still being created.
So I re-installed it and had a look at the installer log to see where this PortDetect log was being created.
It turns out that the installer creates a couple of directories in your Library/StartupItems directory. In there you'll find some directories starting with "HW" (no quotes).
You'll need administrator privileges to nuke them, but when you find tem just delete them and you'll get rid of the annoying app creating the log file.

I detest having these kind of one-use apps leaving loose ends everywhere so that over time who knows what installed what or where. It's poor development rushed to "support mac", but really it's more like "let's use Java so we don't really need to understand what it will do to the Mac and still look like we know what we're doing". Ugh!

So in summary, go to:
/Library/StartupItems/

And delete any folder that starts with "HW". From memory there will be two, a "HWNetMgr" and a "HWConfig" or it might even read "HWPortDetect", can't remember.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom