Having purchased a number of generic USB to serial adaptors from eBay, I thought I would go over the pros and cons of the types available.
- Use the USB / Serial CH340 / CH341 Driver‘s Download: Windows 32 bit: Download. Windows 64 bit: Download. Linux: Download. USB Serial Driver CH 340 can be used for Windows XP / Win 7 / Wind 8. I try to use Windows 8. If USB Serial Drivers are successful it will be visible in the Devices Manager of Windows.
- Win 10 USB Driver for connecting to CH340 serial to USB chip I am trying to connect to an Arduino with a CH340 serial to USB chip via my USB port but the computer will not recognize it. I am reading up that it requires a USB driver update for it to work.
The least expensive of those found on eBay, apparently these have a counterfeit Prolific chip, which limits them to working only on Windows XP.
From Prolific;
Usb Serial Ch340 Windows 10
USB to Serial converter HL-340: download 32 and 64 bit windows drivers (PID/VID 4348:5523) Due to some reasons I had to run Windows XP on Virtualbox. After connected my classic pretty blue usb/serial cable converter, I found out that, as usual, Windows couldn't recognize it. I wasted lot of time to find the appropriate working driver.
Usb Serial Ch340 Com5
Please be warned that counterfeit (fake) PL-2303HX (Chip Rev A) USB to Serial Controller ICs using Prolific's trademark logo, brandname, and device drivers, were being sold in the China market. Counterfeit IC products show exactly the same outside chip markings but generally are of poor quality and causes Windows driver compatibility issues (Yellow Mark Error Code 10 in Device Manager). We issue this warning to all our customers and consumers to avoid confusion and false purchase.
As you can see on my Windows 7 machine I have the Code 10. I have had this cable working fine on a Windows XP machine though.
With very similar packaging to the counterfeit Prolific above, and slightly more expensive, you can find these on eBay by search for Windows 7 compatible. These use the CH340 USB to serial IC and don't have any problems installing on a Windows 7 machine. I have found that some serial devices do not like this adaptor, which made resulted in the purchase below.
The least expensive of those found on eBay, apparently these have a counterfeit Prolific chip, which limits them to working only on Windows XP.
From Prolific;
Usb Serial Ch340 Windows 10
USB to Serial converter HL-340: download 32 and 64 bit windows drivers (PID/VID 4348:5523) Due to some reasons I had to run Windows XP on Virtualbox. After connected my classic pretty blue usb/serial cable converter, I found out that, as usual, Windows couldn't recognize it. I wasted lot of time to find the appropriate working driver.
Usb Serial Ch340 Com5
Please be warned that counterfeit (fake) PL-2303HX (Chip Rev A) USB to Serial Controller ICs using Prolific's trademark logo, brandname, and device drivers, were being sold in the China market. Counterfeit IC products show exactly the same outside chip markings but generally are of poor quality and causes Windows driver compatibility issues (Yellow Mark Error Code 10 in Device Manager). We issue this warning to all our customers and consumers to avoid confusion and false purchase.
As you can see on my Windows 7 machine I have the Code 10. I have had this cable working fine on a Windows XP machine though.
With very similar packaging to the counterfeit Prolific above, and slightly more expensive, you can find these on eBay by search for Windows 7 compatible. These use the CH340 USB to serial IC and don't have any problems installing on a Windows 7 machine. I have found that some serial devices do not like this adaptor, which made resulted in the purchase below.
Possibly the real deal, and slightly more expensive then above. This Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor has no problems installing on Windows 7, and my Solar Inverter which I was using to test, had no problems communicating unlike the above. If you don't want to waste time, get this adaptor, easily spotting with the black housing.
