Windows 11 and Arduino DFU Driver do not become friends

Official Hardware Nano Family Nano ESP32
1

Hi Community,

I’m on Windows 11, Arduino IDE 2.6.3 and trying to load sketch (the simplest one “blink” of course) onto an Arduino Nano ESP32.

I’m ending with the error:
Cannot open DFU device 2341:0070 found on devnum 1 (LIBUSB_ERROR_NOT_FOUND)
No DFU capable USB device available. Exit status 74.

I’ve installed the correct board. I’m on the correct port and the USB Cable works fine.
The Windows device manager shows the alert Flag on “Arduino DFU” when the Arduino is plugged in.

The installation log of the board shows, that the DFU util “is not required anymore” and it looks like it’s uninstalled by default now.

But I have no chance to update, download or install this driver on W11.

Yes, I’ve deinstalled and installed the correct board (multiple times). I’m running everything as admin. I’ve accepted the popup during installation to “modify the system”.

”Upload using programmer” works but this is not the solution - this is a workaround. As soon I’ll have installed the Nano in my project the reset button is not reachable at all.

I have no idea anymore how to overcome this issue. Any help is welcome.

P.S: I’ve searched the forum to my best but didn’t find a hint or approach which worked.

2

Have you tried force loading WinUSB drivers to your Arduino Nano ESP32 (at the right interface) using https://zadig.akeo.ie/?

3

With what message? "Device could not be started"? Please provide a screenshot with the exact message in the details view.

4

Just to prevent this from acting as a "red herring", I will note that this message was printed when you uninstalled the platform. Boards Manager does not print such a message during an installation. dfu-util is certainly installed when you install the platform. We know it is installed on your system because it is dfu-util that produced the error message you shared:

5

You need to get out of DFU mode. Here is the doc page but I think the quick answer is double tap the reset button.
https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/nano-esp32/cheat-sheet/

6

Thank you for your reply.

It’s in German:

Die Treiber für dieses Gerät wurden nicht installiert. (Code 28)

Es sind keine kompatiblen Treiber für dieses Gerät vorhanden.

The drivers where not installed (code 28)
No compatible drivers found.

It suggest to push the button to update the drivers. Doing so end with “no driver found” online. Trying to install the driver from the Arduino folder does not work because there is none.

7

Thank you for your reply.

The button you refer to is for Bootloader-Mode. I’m not in Bootloader-Mode when I try to upload the sketch.
In fact in Bootloader-Mode with “Upload using programmer” (ESPTool) the upload works. But this is a workaround path which requires at the end to push the reset button.

8

Thank you for correcting me. In fact I’ve recalled it wrong.

9

Thank you.
I’m wondering what you mean with “load …. TO your Arduino”.
I think I’m loading nothing to the Arduino here. Furthermore could you give me a hing on how I can determine which is the “right interface”.

10

First make sure your Preferences Additional Boards has NO esp32 entries, you want the esp32 that Arduino supplies just like AVR.
Now make sure you select the right NANO ESP32 because there re TWO of them and the right port.

Screenshot 2025-10-12 at 13.46.22
Screenshot 2025-10-12 at 13.46.221312×286 41.5 KB

11

Thank you. As stated in my post I’m on a Windows 11 system.
Your Portview look like on a Mac (I have a Mac also and on the Mac there is no issue).

On the Windows 11 there is no entries at all. And I’ve selected the correct board.

12

Then you have a windows problem. Have you installed the correct drivers?

13

Dear Sonofcy
that’s exactly my question, issue, problem, investigation.

Which drivers do I need and most importantly where do I get them.
Arduino DFU (driver) is the culprit but ….. it’s said it’s part of the nano esp32 board package. I’ve installed this package (and I installed the correct one) and no error message. A manual install of the driver is not possible because Arduino does not provide it.

14

NOT DFU, that is a special mode that if I uderstnd it allows loading a specia image to the USB. If you look at the chip next to the USB connector (you wil need a lit magnifier) you can determine the chip. From memory things like 1220 and 340 both with other letters before and/or after is what you will see. Google that and looj for a hit where the site appears mainline and legit. Things like Intel, Silicon Labs etc as opposed to www.SomeJackedUpKidWhoAlsoPlantedAVirus.com
Here are some leads
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/installing-arduino-ide/all

ALSO CHECK OUT

https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/generic/DriverInstallation/

15

Thank you. Luckily I have a strong magnifier - its very small and tiny.

The Device is labeled with:
GigaDevice
PJ2140
25B128EWIG
C008784

But whatever I search or find (e.g. instructions) all assume that the correct stuff is installed automatically.
I have been in IT / Software engineering for over 40 years - but such a stupid thing ….

16

No idea what that chip is, it will be one of
Silicon Labs CP2102 or CP2104
WCH CH340C or CH9102F
FTDI FT232R rare these days.

17

First try the following

  1. Unplug it.
  2. Hold the BOOT button (it might be marked “BOOTSEL” or “BOOT0”).
  3. Plug the USB back in while still holding BOOT.
  4. Release BOOT after about 2 seconds.
  5. Then press RESET once.

If all goes well, it’ll re-enumerate as a serial port again (/dev/tty.usbmodem… or COMx).

18

The ESP32-S3 microcontroller on the Nano ESP32 has native USB capabilities. So, unlike boards that has a microcontroller without native USB capabilities, there is no need for a separate USB to serial bridge chip. The ESP32-S3 chip is connected directly to the USB socket on the board, and communicates directly with the computer via the USB interface.

1 Like
19

This error indicates you have not installed the Windows drivers for the Nano ESP32 board.

Normally, Arduino IDE automatically installs the drivers for you. However, the drivers will not be installed under either of the following scenarios:

  • You installed the "esp32" boards platform instead of the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" platform.
    ⓘ Although both platforms provide support for the Nano ESP32, only the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" platform installs the board's drivers.
  • You installed the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" platform, but then dismissed the Windows User Account Control (UAC) dialog for the driver installation:

    Do you want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device?

    dpinst-amd64.exe

The solution will be to install/reinstall the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" platform, making sure to approve the driver installation offer:

  1. Select Tools > Board > Boards Manager... from the Arduino IDE menus to open the "Boards Manager" view in the left side panel.
  2. Find the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" entry in the list of boards platforms.
  3. If you see a label like "<version number> installed" (where <version number> is some version number like 2.0.13), hover the mouse pointer over the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" entry, click the ●●● icon that appears at the top right corner of the entry, select "Remove" from the menu that opens, and then wait for the uninstallation process to finish.
  4. Click the "INSTALL" button at the bottom of the "Arduino ESP32 Boards" entry.
  5. You should now see a "User Account Control" dialog about dpinst-amd64.exe asking whether you "want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device". Click the "Yes" button in the dialog:
    image
    image464×411 11.5 KB
  6. Wait for the installation process to finish, as indicated by a notification at the bottom right corner of the Arduino IDE window:

    Successfully installed platform ...

After you have done that, try uploading the sketch to your Nano ESP32 board again, just as you did before. Hopefully it will be successful this time. If not, please let us know and we'll provide further assistance.