Windows 10 comes with an arsenal of drivers — software that lets Windows communicate with the gadgets you plug in to your PC. Normally, Windows automatically recognizes your new part, and it simply works. Other times, Windows heads to the Internet and fetches some automated instructions before finishing the job. But occasionally, you’ll plug in. From the list of devices, select USB Audio Device. Make sure that the 'Location' field below the list shows the name of the Korg USB MIDI Device, and click the Properties button. The 'USB Audio Device Properties' dialog box will appear. Click the Driver tab, and then click the Update Driver button. All devices operating in MTP mode are supported. Note: The MTPdrive is not a replacement for the device's factory (or Windows default) device driver. You must be able to connect your device to the computer and have it visible in the Windows Explorer, before it can be mapped as a drive letter using the MTPdrive.

This section provides guidance how to establish serial connection between ESP32 and PC.

Connect ESP32 to PC¶

Connect the ESP32 board to the PC using the USB cable. If device driver does not install automatically, identify USB to serial converter chip on your ESP32 board (or external converter dongle), search for drivers in internet and install them.

Below are the links to drivers for ESP32 boards produced by Espressif:

Development Board

USB Driver

Remarks

Programmer board (w/o ESP32)

n/a

Use with ESP-Prog

n/a

Use with ESP-Prog

  • CP210x: CP210x USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers

  • FTDI: FTDI Virtual COM Port Drivers

The drivers above are primarily for reference. Under normal circumstances, the drivers should be bundled with an operating system and automatically installed upon connecting one of the listed boards to the PC.

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Check port on Windows¶

Check the list of identified COM ports in the Windows Device Manager. Disconnect ESP32 and connect it back, to verify which port disappears from the list and then shows back again.

Figures below show serial port for ESP32 DevKitC and ESP32 WROVER KIT

USB to UART bridge of ESP32-DevKitC in Windows Device Manager

Two USB Serial Ports of ESP-WROVER-KIT in Windows Device Manager

Check port on Linux and macOS¶

To check the device name for the serial port of your ESP32 board (or external converter dongle), run this command two times, first with the board / dongle unplugged, then with plugged in. The port which appears the second time is the one you need:

Linux

macOS

Note

macOS users: if you don’t see the serial port then check you have the USB/serial drivers installed as shown in the Getting Started guide for your particular development board. For macOS High Sierra (10.13), you may also have to explicitly allow the drivers to load. Open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General and check if there is a message shown here about “System Software from developer …” where the developer name is Silicon Labs or FTDI.

Adding user to dialout on Linux¶

The currently logged user should have read and write access the serial port over USB. On most Linux distributions, this is done by adding the user to dialout group with the following command:

on Arch Linux this is done by adding the user to uucp group with the following command:

Make sure you re-login to enable read and write permissions for the serial port.

Verify serial connection¶

Now verify that the serial connection is operational. You can do this using a serial terminal program by checking if you get any output on the terminal after reseting ESP32.

Windows and Linux¶

In this example we will use PuTTY SSH Client that is available for both Windows and Linux. You can use other serial program and set communication parameters like below.

Run terminal, set identified serial port, baud rate = 115200, data bits = 8, stop bits = 1, and parity = N. Below are example screen shots of setting the port and such transmission parameters (in short described as 115200-8-1-N) on Windows and Linux. Remember to select exactly the same serial port you have identified in steps above.

Setting Serial Communication in PuTTY on Linux

Then open serial port in terminal and check, if you see any log printed out by ESP32. The log contents will depend on application loaded to ESP32, see Example Output.

Note

Close the serial terminal after verification that communication is working. If you keep the terminal session open, the serial port will be inaccessible for uploading firmware later.

macOS¶

To spare you the trouble of installing a serial terminal program, macOS offers the screen command.

  • As discussed in Check port on Linux and macOS, run:

  • You should see similar output:

  • The output will vary depending on the type and the number of boards connected to your PC. Then pick the device name of your board and run:

    Replace device_name with the name found running ls/dev/cu.*.

  • What you are looking for is some log displayed by the screen. The log contents will depend on application loaded to ESP32, see Example Output. To exit the screen session type Ctrl-A + .

Note

Do not forget to exit the screen session after verifying that the communication is working. If you fail to do it and just close the terminal window, the serial port will be inaccessible for uploading firmware later.

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Example Output¶

An example log by ESP32 is shown below. Reset the board if you do not see anything.

If you can see readable log output, it means serial connection is working and you are ready to proceed with installation and finally upload of application to ESP32.

Note

For some serial port wiring configurations, the serial RTS & DTR pins need to be disabled in the terminal program before the ESP32 will boot and produce serial output. This depends on the hardware itself, most development boards (including all Espressif boards) do not have this issue. The issue is present if RTS & DTR are wired directly to the EN & GPIO0 pins. See the esptool documentation for more details.

If you got here from Step 6. Connect Your Device when installing s/w for ESP32 development, then you can continue with Step 7. Configure.

Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

Have you ever had difficulty connecting your devices to your computer using a Prolific USB to Serial adapter? If yes you are lucky to find this page, it will give you all the information need to fix an unresponsive Serial driver adapter. You may have noticed a yellow exclamation mark hovering over or beside the USB to Serial Driver when searching your Device Manager and if you have we can all agree that it signifies a prevailing problem.

Overview of the Error

If you are not able to connect your device to your PC using a USB to Serial adapter it may be that

  • The USB driver is outdated
  • The USB Driver is missing
  • Or even a corrupted driver

While you can't be so sure what the exact problem is there are solutions you can adopt to fix the issue once and for all. Read on to find quick fixes to resolve the problem.

1# Fix Prolific USB to Serial Driver not Working

Solution: Roll your Prolific USB to Serial Driver back to an older version

Updating your drivers often work wonders for your system because it makes sure that it runs on the latest features that guarantee maximum functionality. Unfortunately updating your drivers can cause this kind of error especially if your latest update does not work too well with your hardware. Once you upgrade your PC to the latest Windows version your Prolific USB to Serial Driver also updates to the latest driver software and if the driver is not compatible with your Hardware issues may arise. To correct the error, you will have to download the driver again by following these steps.

  • Right-click on your PC Start button and open Device Manager
  • Double click LPT and COM ports then locate the Prolific USB to Serial Driver and right-click it so you can select Update Driver
  • For driver software click My computer
  • From My computer select 'Let me pick from a list of drivers available'
  • Choose an older version from the list then click Next
  • The driver you selected will be installed automatically
  • Once it has been downloaded reconnect the driver to see if it works.

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2# Fix Prolific USB to Serial Driver 'Coder 10'

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Driver issues reveal themselves in so many ways or through messages such as

  • This device will not start (Code 10)
  • There is no driver installed in this device
  • The driver was not successfully installed

A code 10 error may arise because the chip you are using is not an original one. If you are using a fake, the manufacturer has a way of disabling it due to copy write infringement and the copy write takes effect once you download a recent update. To protect your PC from getting this code, you will have to make sure that your Windows 10 never updates a driver without approval. Updates come in the form of 64 bit and 32-bit drivers. Below we will show you how to work your way around the problem.

Window 64 bit Fix

To fix Windows 64 bit OS including Prolific USB to Serial Adapter, follow through these steps.

  • Download 'PL2303_64bit_Installer.exe and Save
  • Remove every USB to Serial adapter from your PC and double click the 'PL2303_64bit_installer.exe
  • Follow the prompt by plugging in one USB to Serial adapter the click on Continue
  • Reboot your PC to get Windows up and running

If you have followed these process through and you still see the same error go to your device manager

  • Open the control panel and navigate to Device Manager
  • From your control panel navigate to the System category and click the Hardware tab
  • Scroll to the LPT/COM port and double click Prolific USB to Serial Comm Port
  • Click Drivers in the Properties section
  • The Driver you choose should read '3.3.2.102 with an appropriate date attached
  • If the date is wrong then it means the wrong driver was installed
  • Unplug the Serial adapter and run the steps again to install the correct driver

Window 32-bit

For Windows 32-bit OS systems follow these steps

  • You will have to download the 'PL-2303_Driver_Installer.exe and save from Microsoft download link
  • Run the program and eradicate the driver if you can
  • Run the installer once more to install a correct driver

To Troubleshoot for error if your device still does not work

  • Go to Control panel, enter System to access your Device Manager
  • Scroll down to the LPT/ COM port then double click Prolific USB to Serial Comm Port
  • Click Driver in the Windows Properties section
  • The driver must be numbered as '2.0.2.8' and dates accordingly

If the driver was not installed, remove the Serial adapter then run 'PL2303_Driver_Installer.exe' again. Follow directions in Device Manager to download the correct driver

The three solutions listed in this article have proven to be quite helpful in fixing a Prolific USB to Serial driver not working on Windows 10. They may appear confusing at first but if you follow each step in detail you can resolve the issue.

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