🟡 Medium   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 20 May 2026
Affected versions: FreeBSD 15

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Automated mount, sync, or security actions do not run when USB devices are connected.

Environment & Reproduction

Appears after rule edits or migration between hardware generations.

sudo service devd status

Root Cause Analysis

Rule match conditions no longer align with emitted event attributes.

Quick Triage

Tail devd logs while inserting test device.

sudo tail -f /var/log/messages | grep devd

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect current devd.conf syntax and vendor/product match clauses.

sudo devd -d -f /etc/devd.conf
Illustrative mockup for freebsd-15 — devd_no_event
Expected devd action does not execute — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Correct rule predicates, reload devd, and retest with known device.

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sudo service devd restart
Illustrative mockup for freebsd-15 — devd_rule_reload
Reloading corrected devd rule set — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Use periodic polling scripts for non-critical workflows as fallback.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Event-driven actions fire consistently for target USB devices.

Rollback Plan

Restore last known-good devd.conf and restart daemon.

Prevention & Hardening

Validate rules in staging with representative hardware before rollout.

May coincide with permission issues in helper scripts launched by devd.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for freebsd-15.

View all freebsd-15 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

devd configuration and event matching documentation.

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