MacOS Sierra does not find USB connection to FTDI

[armless]

I have updated my MAC from El Capitan to Sierra. I had Apple signed FTDI drivers (El Capitan needed this) so was not expecting any problem. However now my MAC does not find the USB port in the Arduino IDE so I can no longer program anything! If I do a MAC system report the FTDI device is listed under hardware->USB BUT if I do "ls /dev" in terminal the devices are not listed like they used to be in El Capitan.

I am using the latest Arduino IDE, 1.6.12 which since it says has Sierra support. Am I the only one to find that Sierra does not work?

(I have also found that using a CH34X based USB device crashes Sierra - but that is another known problem).

Thanks for any help.

[armless]

It would be useful to know if anyone is successfully using macOS Sierra to program any board using the Arduino IDE.

If "yes" then can you also answer the following question: "have you ever downloaded FT232 drivers from somewhere or are you using whatever came with the MAC?"

Thanks.

[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.

[rpt007]

Good information. Thanks.
Will be helpful for all Sierra users (who have FTDI chips on board of their Arduinos).

[antaljani]

Hello Guys,

I understand FTDI driver doesn't need any more, so I do not use it.
The only question, what to do now, since my FTDI adapter still does not works.
Apple implemented an FTDI driver into the kernel of MacOS Sierra, but what can I do, when my FTDI - which was working properly previously - is not working now?

Thanks in advance any advice!

[rpt007]

which was working properly previously

What do you mean by "previously" ?
1. Did you have Yosemite or El Capitan previously installed (and an extra FTDI driver) while your Arduino was still working and then you upgraded to Sierra and it did not work anymore?
2. If not - what does "previously" mean in this context?

[antaljani]

Hello,

Thanks for your answer, point 1. is the situtaion.
Previously mean, I had Yosemite and El Captain before and I used extra FTDI driver. It was working properly. I removed all other FTDI driver to avoid conflict from Apple FTDI.
It is still doesn't work, I do not know what to do now...

I tried to find something on Apple's support web page, but there is nothing...

Can anyone help me?

[rpt007]

1. Did you really remove all previous FTDI drivers and
2. did you make sure you have still Sierra's FTDI driver in the system (where is it located)?

If your answer is YES for 1. and 2. my best recommendation is, to contact FTDI directly.

Ah - maybe one more question:
As I suppose that the OP possessed an original Arduino with an original FTDI chip onboard - is your Arduino an original one or a clone?

Maybe the clone chips don't work with Apple's FTDI driver and you might need a clone compatible FTDI driver ?? In that case FTDI won't be willing to support you.

[antaljani]

1. yes. As I know - may could happen I'm wrong - /Library/Extensions/ contains FTDI drivers, one of them is starting with FTDI.....kextt, the other one simply calles usbserial.kext
2. yes. I could find te Apple FTDI kext file in the appropriate library. (I do not remember exactly for this library, but somehwere in /System/Library/...whatever contains, the point is, I found it).
3. I have no idea, this is an original FTDI chip on it or not. I'm going to check it. What is sure, with the 3rd party driver was working properly (FTDI AN-134 driver was, if I remember correctly).

How do you mean "to contact FTDI directly" ?

My main problem is, I do not understand, how FTDI driver is works. Also I do not understand, standard FTDI why doesn't work with ANY chip??? Who cares about chipset, whenver FTDI is FTDI.

In case of Apple FTDI driver doesn't handle my pretty shitty chines clone FTDI card, what a hell I can do? Is there any workaround solution? Do I have to install a Window$ on my MacMini ot handle Arduino???
I'm really upset, because of this problem! Something was working properly and now doesn't, without any warning. I'm satisfied with my computer, but I'm not satisfied with this solution...

Please, somebody help me!

[rpt007]

How do you mean "to contact FTDI directly" ?

see reply #2 of the OP.

Last question to give you a direction if you got a clone or original Arduino:
Compare the prices of the original ones with the price you paid.

As I don't have neither Sierra installed (yet) nor the FTDI problem (all of my clones come with the CH340 comm chip) , I can't help you any further.

[amiliv]

I've similar problem. My Mac (running OS X 10.12) sees Arduino Uno boards just fine. But it doesn't see Arduino Duemilanove boards; I have version with Atmega328 chip. I believe these boards use FTDI. Neither with stock Apple driver, nor with latest driver from FTDI dowloaded and installed.

One thing I noticed just as I started typing this, it seems my Mac has an additional FTDI driver, most likely for Wacom tablet:

Code: [Select]

$ ls -lctr /Library/Extensions/
...
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  102 Nov 24 12:46 Wacom Tablet.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  102 Nov 24 12:46 SiLabsUSBDriver64.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  102 Nov 24 12:46 FTDIKext.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  102 Dec 12 00:28 FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext

Nov 24 timestamps correspond to when I installed Wacom software update last time. Dec 12 timestamps are my today's attempt to get couple of Duemilanove boards I found in the drawer working.

Intuition tells me it could be driver conflict between Apple, Wacom and FTDI supplied drivers. I'll try moving Wacom and FTDI supplied drivers aside and see what happens.

[amiliv]

OK. That was it. After removing FTDI* (Wacom and FTDI supplied), things just work for Duemilanove board. And my Wacom tablet isn't complaining either. If I had to guess, Wacom driver probably suppressed generic Apple provided driver (and FTDI provided one), and caused things to not work.

antaljani: Do you have any additional hardware (and drivers installed) that may cause conflicts; e.g. similar to the problem I had? Wacom tablets? Anything else?

[eggplant]

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

[itsnotsara]

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

[eeduard]

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 
If I'll find solution, I will share here