Questions tagged [usbserial]

This tag is used for software related questions about using USB-to-serial Bridges and Adapters. Hardware adapters attach a peripheral with a DB-9 or DB-25 connector to a USB connector on a PC or other host. Software or virtual adapters are drivers in the host which create a COM port interface to a USB connection allowing software to open the virtual COM port to a device attached to the USB connector.

USB-to-serial bridges/adapters were originally developed as a way to connect a USB device to a PC or host without USB ports. These adapters were an alternative to the legacy DB-9, RS-232 COM ports (usually referred to as simply a COM port), which were standard on older PCs when USB was first becoming available.

More recently, the COM port interface is being phased out of the PC industry in favor of USB. These adapters allow a user to connect a device requiring the legacy COM port to a desktop computer or laptop via one of its USB ports.

When connected the adapter appears on the computer as a Communications Device Class (CDC) USB device, more commonly known as a virtual COM port.

Some software applications designed to communicate with devices through a COM port may require a software virtual COM port driver to allow use with a USB connected device. In some cases such drivers must be installed and in some cases the operating system already has the drivers and when the device is connected, a virtual COM port will automatically be created.

An example of such an application is the Arduino IDE which is used to create a sketch for an Arduino or ESP32 microcontroller. The microcontroller is attached to the host with a USB cable which provides power to the device as well as a communications path. The user selects the virtual COM port created when the device is physically connected in order to download a program.

Generally speaking, a USB-to-serial bridge more specifically refers to the embedded technology, or microchip, within the hardware adapter that performs the actual logic and protocol translations between USB and generic asynchronous serial communication (UART or SCI).

475 questions
5
votes
2 answers

Trouble installing custom inf in Windows 10 Professional. Windows overrides it with OEM driver

I have made a signed USB Serial inf file for a custom device and created an installer that successfully installs the driver to Windows 7 (32/64), Windows 8.1 (64) but not Windows 10. This applies to the default installation (right-click, install)…
Luke Allison
  • 3,118
  • 3
  • 24
  • 40
5
votes
2 answers

inf2cat for Win10 driver signing

I am using Microsoft's usbser.sys driver to communicate with custom hardware using a serial interface emulation via USB. Since Win 8.1 I have to sign the driver. I the process, I used this command: Inf2Cat /driver:"c:\path_to_driver"…
cokron
  • 186
  • 1
  • 1
  • 6
5
votes
2 answers

Suppress UsbRequestJNI / ALOGD log messages

I'm developing an Android app which is streaming serial data from some custom hardware. I'm using mik3y's usb-serial-for-android library to get the serial data over USB in OTG mode, which after some tweaks is working fine. However, for every…
davidf2281
  • 1,319
  • 12
  • 20
5
votes
1 answer

Minicom offline when trying to communicate using USB to RS232 cable

I'm using a USB to RS232 cable to communicate between two linux machines. On the machine with the USB side connected, I run: dmesg | grep tty And get the following output: console [tty0] enabled serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a…
jackrabbit
  • 161
  • 1
  • 2
  • 9
5
votes
3 answers

Identifying serial/usb device python

The solution to this problem is probably pretty simple, but I am new to interfacing with a device dynamically. What I'm doing is I am making a python executable code, so the user doesn't have to have Idle on their computer or any kind of python…
user1161439
  • 141
  • 1
  • 4
  • 7
5
votes
1 answer

Duplicate USB virtual serial ports being created - what might cause this?

I've got a strange problem with some code I inherited from another programmer who's left the company, and need some guidance on how to even begin to solve it. The problem is this - on a semi-regular basis, we are finding that duplicate USB virtual…
Tom Bushell
  • 5,865
  • 4
  • 45
  • 60
5
votes
3 answers

Terrible Serial Port / USB code (C++) - suggestions for fixes?

I don't have much experience with Serial I/O, but have recently been tasked with fixing some highly flawed serial code, because the original programmer has left the company. The application is a Windows program that talks to a scientific instrument…
Tom Bushell
  • 5,865
  • 4
  • 45
  • 60
4
votes
2 answers

USB-Serial loses connection immediately in new linux (kernel 4.12.14)

I upgraded my Linux(Opensuse from 42.3 to 15) but encountered new bug. When I connect my USBserial dongle it shows ttyUSB0 in dev folder and immediately disconnected and goes from dev list. It seems all from 'brltty' but I don't know what is this…
Ehsan Davoodi
  • 71
  • 1
  • 7
4
votes
2 answers

USB Modem is echoing back wrong characters

I have a USB modem connected on port ttyACM0. When I open an application like Minicom and try to send it some commands, the echo back is not always what I type. For example, if I type in "A", I get "@". If I type in "T", I do get "T". It seems…
Brent
  • 1,743
  • 3
  • 16
  • 27
4
votes
2 answers

UART over USB for STM32 Micro-controller

I'm trying to implement UART over a USB interface on the STM324x9I-EVAL development board. The purpose is to send commands to a servo controller (or other hardware, for that matter) serially. I've successfully implemented the USB_Device_CDC example…
mban
  • 422
  • 1
  • 6
  • 19
4
votes
1 answer

Reading data from Arduino UNO R3 kit

I'm trying to read the data already stored by me in the Arduino kit, I'm using the physicaloid library to achieve this. I tested the kit (reading data) by connecting it to my PC using the Type B USB cable provided by Arduino itself and using Tera…
DJphy
  • 1,292
  • 1
  • 17
  • 31
4
votes
9 answers

C# serial communication with u-blox gps

I have a GPS from u-blox.com with a USB-connection and driver. The driver installs a virual COM port that pops up when you plug the USB in. Using a hyperterminal I can then watch the flow of data from the GPS. Then I want the data in my program, not…
user36927
  • 41
  • 1
  • 1
  • 4
4
votes
1 answer

Android communication with USB to Serial Device and controlTransfers

I have searched through numerous posts such as this one: Using Android to Communicate with a USB HID Device but i am still not getting how do you determine requestType in controlTransfer calls? public int controlTransfer (int requestType, int…
nexus
  • 41
  • 1
  • 2
4
votes
1 answer

How to find the path of USB which is mounted to android?

I am working on an android application to read data from USB. The usb can be connected to android with serial port and my app can find it. Now, I want to read data files and folder from USB. I have read many articles. I found that they use this…
lvarayut
  • 13,963
  • 17
  • 63
  • 87
4
votes
1 answer

Serial to USB Android application with health device

I am creating an Android application to let communicate my Galaxy Tablet with an health device, via serial to USB connection. The code I implemented does not work! neither the OUT nor IN communication starts Does someone has any idea? public void…
Alberto
  • 41
  • 1
  • 2
1 2
3
31 32