Change VID, PID, and Produt Name on Arduino Uno R4 Minima

Official Hardware UNO Family UNO R4 Minima
1

Hi! I'm looking forward to making my own name for my arduino uno r4 minima setup as a mouse for my project. The only problem is that I don't know anything about the internals and workarounds of this R4 Minima. I have also have worries on this particular scenario R4 Minima IN DFU error cannot upload after changing VID and PID in pins_arduino.h. I had no success in modifying it in boards.txt. Although I know because the case is different and it is not arduino leonardo and that there is a USB Bridge that needs to be modified. I was planning to make it appear and look like Razer Viper Mini with the same name to appear and with no CDC or comport to show or appear. But again I don't know on how to go on about this. This setup also has USB Host Shield.

I also found something about the firmware although there was only the R4 WIFI version in this forum as well but flashing and firmware editing are words that are unfamiliar with me in the realm of Arduino Uno R4 Minima (But I'm interested in learning on how to flash and create my own firmware for my project).

Since the Uno R4 Minima is new I am looking forward to master this as Arduino. Thank you in advance :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Edit: I would also ask if this guide can be made for R4 MINIMA

2

Hi @0zohencx.

There is not. You are probably thinking of the UNO R4 WiFi. Despite the similar names, there is a significant relevant technical difference between the two.

The UNO R4 WiFi has a "bridge" module through which the board's primary Renesas RA4M1 microcontroller communicates with the computer by default.

The UNO R4 Minima board's RA4M1 communicates directly with the computer through the USB cable.

When we talk about a "firmware" in the context of the UNO R4 WiFi, we are referring to the program that runs on that board's "bridge" module. Since the UNO R4 Minima doesn't have a "bridge" module, any information you find about the UNO R4 WiFi "firmware" is not relevant to the UNO R4 Minima.

The firmware that runs on the UNO R4 Minima is the Arduino sketch program. You flash it by uploading the sketch to the board using Arduino IDE.

If you provide details, the forum helpers might be able to assist you with that.

  • What did you do?
  • What were the results you expected from doing that thing?
  • What were the results you observed that did not match your expectations?

Make sure to include the full and exact text of any error or warning messages you might have encountered.

3

Hello! @ptillisch
I am learning a lot with the difference of the R4 WIFI and R4 Minima!

And to answer your questions :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

  • What did you do?
    I tried editing the boards.txt to change the VID and PID along with the name just like with Arduino Leonardo R3.

  • What were the results you expected from doing that thing?
    I expected to see the Board name change with the VID and PID when I click the Get Board info on the Arduino IDE 2.3.6

  • What were the results you observed that did not match your expectations?
    The results were, everytime I tried to change the VID and PID it would revert back to the original VID, PID, and Board name.

File directory of what I tried to change.

C:\Users\zohen\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\hardware\renesas_uno\1.4.1\boards.txt

4

Don't you think it would be helpful for you to make the effort to tell us exactly what change you made to the file?

The "Board Info" dialog shows the value of the name property of the board definition that is associated with the VID/PID pair of the port you select from Arduino IDE's Tools > Port menu:

That name is only relevant to Arduino IDE (and other Arduino development software). I assume that your goal is to trick some other application into thinking that the UNO R4 Minima is actually a Razer Viper Mini (maybe to try to cheat in a videogame?). If so, then the name shown in the "Board Info" dialog is completely irrelevant to your project so you should not waste time on that.

The VID and PID are set by the sketch program running on the UNO R4 Minima. So changing platform configuration files like boards.txt file is not enough by itself. You would also need to upload a sketch to the board after you made the changes to the platform.

You should also be aware that Arduino IDE will only recognize changes you make to the platform configuration files like boards.txt after you restart Arduino IDE (or select Tools > Reload Board Data, but this is less reliable). So make sure to select File > Quit from the Arduino IDE menus to close all IDE windows, then start Arduino IDE again after each time you make a change to the platform configuration.

5

Here is a video of what I tried so far with my old knowledge:

GOOGLE DRIVE SCREEN RECORD

In this video I tried to change the lines of vid and pid in the boards.txt file.
I also quited and restarted the IDE after making changes, and as for the project goal I could maybe check the cheat part as a hobby but currently the project is aiming for a Mouse sketch bot and for the mouse name I showed it in the video as an example to have a VID and PID reference.

This project could also go on the have mouse like controls on robotic arms in the near future if I can build a prototype of somewhat.

Also @ptillisch may I ask if we could edit lines here to maybe change the VID and PID?

image_2025-05-05_035506474
image_2025-05-05_0355064741213×363 13.6 KB

I searched the files directory of avr, having the arduino USBCore files with it.

To go with it the post Issue with DFU-RT Port after modifying PID/VID on UNO R4 Minima, can I change the VID and PID in the pins_arduino.h?

But focusing on the problem what can we do to change the VID and PID on R4 Minima?

6

Hello! I spent a couple of hours last week doing the exact thing you've mentionned.

Let me first say that using a VID/PID that is not yours is pretty much illegal.

In order to change the USB DFU information, changing the board.txt is only for the Arduino IDE.

To change your actual board name and VID/PID, you need to download the arduino bootloader source code, modify the usb_descriptors.c and then recompile it.

7

Thanks for sharing these informations @ lyly110795, now my doubt is ho to recopile Arduino bootloader?
I don't need it, it's just to improve my "know how" with this board ...

8

The necessary commands are provided in the readme at the link provided by @lyly110795:

Unfortunately the developers were not kind enough to enumerate the list of tool dependencies so you'll need to do some fumbling around to get everything installed unless you happen to have it all on your machine already.

The compile.sh script that is executed at the final line will build bootloader binaries for all target boards. If you only want to build the binary for the UNO R4 Minima, you can run the command that is provided in the equivalent instructions in the repository of its "Arduino UNO R4 Boards" platform:

You might also be interested in these instructions for flashing the bootloader binary to the board:

https://github.com/arduino/ArduinoCore-renesas/blob/1.4.1/bootloaders/UNO_R4/README.md#rocket-how-to-load-bootloader-uno-r4-minima