I wouldn't say this is definite proof that the chip is identifying as an FTDI brand device. An alternative explanation would be that the author of this "Terminal" app wrote their code to inaccurately refer to any general purpose USB to serial adapter as "FTDI device". This colloquialism is fairly common since, in the past, FTDI was the leader in making this type of chip before other companies such as Silicon Labs and WCH started making competing products in more recent years.
However, this is interesting because there was a previous report of someone who had a cheap Chinese board with an unlabeled USB to serial chip in a SOIC-16 package like yours, and also having inexplicable upload failures. They verified that their chip was identifying as an FTDI device:
Try this:
- Connect the board to your computer with a USB cable.
- Open Windows Device Manager.
- Expand the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section of the device tree.
- Right click on the "USB Serial Port (COM8)" device.
A context menu will open. - Select "Properties" from the menu.
The "USB Serial Port (COM8) Properties" dialog will open.
Now add a reply here on the forum thread to tell us what it says in the "Manufacturer" field of that dialog (e.g., "FTDI", "wch.cn")