How can I force Mac OS X 10.9 to see the ethernet port of my hub (Asix AX88179)? I already downloaded (and installed !) the latest file from ASIX.com, which is the latest to this day, but System Information does not list the port as being available when I connect the USB 3 Hub directly to the USB 3 port of my MBP.

Mike Ohlsen wrote here that when plugging the hub into another USB Hub, and not directly into his Mac, then OS X does detect the ethernet interface and displays the device in the System Information.

I can confirm this. But this is not useful in the long run since this defeats the whole idea of having a SuperSpeed Hub in the first place !

Leif's solution doesn't work in 10.9. That is :

sudo kextunload -b com.asix.driver.ax88179_178a
sudo kextload -b com.asix.driver.ax88179_178a


as I get this reply in Terminal :

com.asix.driver.ax88179_178a failed to load - (libkern/kext) not found; check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).


And anyway it would be a terrible hassle to have to do this each and every time.

But when my "USB 3 Hub with Ethernet" is connected through a USB 2 Hub, then the kext is loaded (inexplicably for me) :

MBP-computer:~ username$ kextstat -l | grep asix
  137    0 0xffffff7f82879000 0x8000     0x8000     com.asix.driver.ax88179-178a (1.0.0) &lt;36 34 7 5 4 3 1&gt;


In case you wonder : 

Hence my question :

How can I force Mac OS X 10.9 to see the ethernet port of my hub (Asix AX88179) ?


Since we see that Mac OS X 10.9 can see the port when the hub is connected through another hub
Since that port indeed works in this configuration, showing that the port is functional (the hardware is effectively working, so is the driver)
After I posted my comment, I contacted support of my product (ianker.com) and after few email exchange they sent me a replacement dongle claiming that I had a defective unit.

I was skeptical but the replacement actually worked!  MacOSX immediately recognised it when I plugged it in directly into the Mac.