MacOS Sierra does not find USB connection to FTDI

I was using Arduino 1.6.13 and a legit FTDI VCP chip to flash and work with some custom boards. The problem I was having was that the Arduino IDE would 'lose' the port if I unplugged when it was active (ie, had the Serial window open) Also, when I unplugged and plugged in a different FTDI, Arduino couldn't see it.

I uninstalled the FTDI drivers that I installed months ago, and that didn't help. I could still see the FTDI when I looked in my About this mac/system report/ USB.

Then I downloaded the nightly build from 2016/12/19 07:30, and that version does not have the same problem.
I'm using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) running macOS Sierra v10.12.1

Hope that helps

armless:
PROBLEM SOLVED.

After emailing Future Tecnology's support group and getting a reply (wasn't expecting that!) they recommended removing their driver and relying on the built in Apple FTDI driver (AppleUSBFTDI.kext). I did this and all now works. Future Technology's email said:

Since 10.9 (Mavericks), OS X has included built-in partial support for some FTDI devices in VCP mode. Starting with 10.11 (El Capitan), Apple’s own driver seems to be sufficiently comprehensive that many customers will not need to install FTDI’s own VCP unless they wish to use its advanced features such as baud-rate aliasing and configurable latency times.

Hi -

I am running into the same issue as you. I have OS X 10.12 and an Arduino UNO, but I don't see the port I need. I've tried disabling the Apple drivers and nothing changes and I have installed the FTDI drivers and CH34x drivers. Nothing still.

What do you mean by "removing their driver and relying on the built in Apple FTDI driver"? How do you remove their drivers?

Thanks,

Sara

itsnotsara:
Hi -

I am running into the same issue as you. I have OS X 10.12 and an Arduino UNO, but I don't see the port I need. I've tried disabling the Apple drivers and nothing changes and I have installed the FTDI drivers and CH34x drivers. Nothing still.

What do you mean by "removing their driver and relying on the built in Apple FTDI driver"? How do you remove their drivers?

Thanks,

Sara

Hi, itsnotsara!
I have same problem on macOS Sierra - have no serial port :frowning:
If I'll find solution, I will share here

I have a good news for all, who have a problem with USB Serial Port on macOS Sierra :sunglasses:
Here a link which help you solve this issue!

NOTE: It's works on 10.12.3 (16D17a) version. If it's does not help and your version OS less than mine, then necessary use previous driver version, which you can find there: previous ver. If you got an error in terminal for sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1", then boot in recovery/restore mode and use that without sudo - like so nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1". In case you do this things right, then you got no error message, you got nothing except, I don't remember correctly, but something like #bash.

P.S. Do not forget look at a description of video to find a link to driver installer :wink:

Best regards

Crossposting from my reply on the Apple support forum. hope no-one minds.

I had a similar problem after upgrading to Sierra. My FT232s would work after a reboot but if I disconnected and reconnected them they would not reappear. I installed the official FTDI drivers (v2.3), removed Apple's driver and rebooted.

sudo mv /Library/Extensions/FTDIKext.kext ~/

Now I can disconnect/reconnect my FT232 boards again :slight_smile:

I have the same issue. No drivers are working for me...

eeduard, did you solve your problem?

I have the same issue.
It was working fine and all of a sudden the arduino software cannot find the usb ports anymore. It only shows a bluetooth port. My mouse, however, is plugged into a usb port and it works fine. I have also connected my iPhone to one of the usb ports and it also works without an issue.
I've read people talking about going back to built in apple FTDI drivers. How do we do that?

Thanks!

On Sierra, I had to go to:
/library/extensions/

and remove:
usbserial.kext
D2xxHelper.kext

LEAVING:
FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext

Then reboot and it started to work for me...

Hi Guys I'll become crazy with the same issues on my mac os x sierra. I've install the FTDI chip USB drivers but I can't connect my Prusa i3 with my mac.

Hi Guys Help please, I'll become crazy with the same issues on my MacBook pro macOS Sierra 10.12.4, my ARDUINO UNO don't work ... no Serial port... what i can do???
Please help...

eeduard:
Hi, itsnotsara!
I have same problem on macOS Sierra - have no serial port :frowning:
If I'll find solution, I will share here

Did you find any solution to this?

Hi,

I found a solution which worked for me.

I've downloaded the driver from elegoo (ELEGOO 3D Printers, Arduino Kits & Robots Tutorials Download – ELEGOO Official - select Uno Nano) and this one brought up the device /dev/tty.wchusbserial1410

Mac OS X Sierra 10.12.6

Hope this helps.

BR
Falsanu

Thought I'd confirm that deleting all third party FTDI drivers, including wacom tablet and official FTDI, worked for me. ie the native apple drivers will (currently) talk to chinese copy chips.

I'm running MacOS High Sierra v10.13beta

OKAY so I just ran into this problem, using Sierra 10.12.6 with an Arduino Nano. I'd previously got the board working under 10.11 El Capitan by installing the official FTDI VCP driver (v2.4.2).

I had a little trouble getting the advice on the different forums to work so here is what I did. YMMV.

SYMPTOMS:

The FTDI USB device appears in System Information/USB but no virtual com port is not created in /dev.
Using kextstat |grep FTDI shows that when the device is unplugged and reconnected the FTDIUSBSerialDriver loads for 30sec or so then unloads again.

HOW TO FIX:

Remove or rename BOTH of:
(a) /Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext and
(b) /Library/Extensions/FTDIKext.kext
then reboot.

After that the Apple native driver /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBFTDI.kext (note different directory path) correctly loads and the com port shows up in /dev

NOTE:

Initially I had removed just the FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext but this did not work. I had to remove FTDIKext.kext too.

I bought just an Arduino nano. No chance to select a serial port. At last it helped installing this driver:

CH34x_Install_V1.4.pkg.

Now I can select a port named wchusbserial1420. The annoyingly bluetooth thing shows also up. After restart the Mac I could upload and run the Blink-Sketch.

MacOS Sierra does not find USB connection to FTDI. It' may due to Apple drivers like some other friends already discuss about it. If you install drivers properly then it's very easy to get solution of your problem. Direction to install the drivers also mentioned here.

Here is a link that show how to remove installed drivers:

About the device:

https://stak.com/USB_to_TTL_Serial_Adapter__FTDI_FT232RL_chipset__3.3V_and_5V_compatible

Install Guide:

PDF whith command lines in page 16:

wich is:

cd /Library/Extensions
rm -r FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext

reboot

cd /Library/Extensions
sudo rm -r FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext

reboot

I haven't found a solution to this issue. I have High Sierra v10.3.3
I was able to connect my MKR1000 for a few days. It was giving me trouble sometimes as it connected/disconnected intermittently, however I was able to use it. Then last night (feb 11, 2018) it stopped recognizing it completely.

I have followed the instructions described in the threads of this post and the device still doesn't show up.

None of the following suggestions worked:
#28 by thiagoarreguy suggests to remove /Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext
#27 by ahmeramanet leads to a page where there are downloads for different versions of windows so I don't know what to do there.
#26 by g-berlin suggests to install CH34x_Install_V1.4.pkg which I found in github lua-garden/CH34x_Install_V1.4.pkg at master · rm-hull/lua-garden · GitHub
#19 by dethswatch suggests removing /Library/Extensions/usbserial.kext leaving /Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext and then reboot
#15 by eeduard links to a youtube video to install the CH34x driver as stated by the comment #26 but again it does work, particularly because that's a solution for the so called arduino clones.

I also followed the instructions in usb - Arduino Nano not visible in Serial Ports (Mac OS) - Arduino Stack Exchange and it's not working either.

Please let me know if there's some other option that I can try.

Thank you all

Ok. Now I have the arduino being recognized. This is what I did.

I had to remove the foam that comes with the arduino before plugging it. Also after connecting it, I had to double tap the physical button that's in the arduino board.

Read more about it in USB communication failed - #3 by kellyfuller - MKR1000 - Arduino Forum and Arduino MKR1000 board is not in the list of boards in Ubuntu - #2 by AndreaRichetta - MKR1000 - Arduino Forum

I hope it helps. Thank you all