CH340 alternatives.

I am after some advice. I have some genuine Arduino.CC boards using the 16U2 chips, and some clone boards which are using the CH340 chips.

I am writing some software in C# which lists all of the COM ports (and therefore arduino boards) connected to the computer, and I am using this code:

ManagementObjectSearcher managementObjectSearcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(new ManagementScope(), (ObjectQuery)new SelectQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_SerialPort"));
                foreach (ManagementObject managementObject in managementObjectSearcher.Get())
                {
                    string str1 = managementObject["Description"].ToString();
                    string str2 = managementObject["DeviceID"].ToString();
                    Console.WriteLine(str1 + "     " + str2);
                }

Sadly, this does not work with the CH340 based boards. Can somebody tell me if there are any other clone boards which would work with this (basically any board not using the CH340 chips).

Changing the code in the software is not an option sadly since this particular piece of code is used in older versions of the software. I have however, fixed this issue in the new versions of the software to work witht CH340 boards.

Thank you :slight_smile:

(deleted)

Changing the source code isnt an option. I need to find a board which will work with the code I posted above so that it supports the older version of software.
:frowning:

763 results for arduino atmega16u2 -case -shell -shield:

I have already looked online but I am asking ehre if anybody can actually recommend any?
The link you sent me does indeed show listings which claim to use the 16u2 chip, but when you actually look at the photos, they are using the CH340G chips.

Even the listings with photos of the 16u2, show in the product description that they are actually using the CH340G

I should have added -ch340g to the search query but even without you just have to scroll through the listings a bit. Here's the first one I saw:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/252885776960

As for a recommendation, I've purchased all my clones from eBay or aliexpress from the seller offering it for the cheapest price and the only problem I've had in years of doing that was an order that had a few bad WeMos D1 Mini clones. So I can't really recommend a specific seller. If you're worried then buy one each from two different sellers. If something's not right you can usually get a refund and they let you keep the board because it's not worth shipping back to China.