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.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) provides an expandable, hot-pluggable Plug and Play serial interface that ensures a standard, low-cost connection for peripheral devices such as keyboards, mice, joysticks, printers, scanners, storage devices, modems, and video conferencing cameras. Migration to USB is recommended for all peripheral devices that use legacy ports such as PS/2, serial, and parallel ports.
The USB-IF is a Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that maintains the Official USB Specification, test specifications and tools.
- The way to tell the installation of the Cisco USB driver is good and the connection is good is as follows: Open the Windows Device Manager, navigate to the Ports (COM & LPT) section and open the section so you can view the indivicual Ports, plug the cable into the PC and the Cisco router and you'll see a new port appear, typically COM4 which is the default as setup by the Cisco USB Console driver.
- Prolific USB to Serial Driver Windows 10. USB to UART RS232 Serial. PL2303 Windows Driver. Plugable USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial. PL2303 USB-to-Serial Driver. Drivers for Operating System(s) Windows 10 64bit. Windows 8.1 64bit. Windows 8.1 32bit. Windows 8 64bit.
- 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.
Windows operating systems include native support for USB host controllers, hubs, and devices and systems that comply with the official USB specification. Windows also provides programming interfaces that you can use to develop device drivers and applications that communicate with a USB device.
| USB in WindowsWindows 10: What's new for USB Overview of new features and improvements in USB in Windows 10. USB FAQFrequently asked questions from driver developers about the USB stack and features that are supported in USB. Microsoft OS Descriptors for USB DevicesWindows defines MS OS descriptors that allows better enumeration when connected to system running Windows operating system Microsoft-provided USB driversUSB device-side drivers in WindowsA set of drivers for handling common function logic for USB devices. USB host-side drivers in WindowsMicrosoft provides a core stack of drivers that interoperate with devices that are connected to EHCI and xHCI controllers. USB-IF device class driversWindows provides in-box device class drivers for many USB-IF approved device classes, audio, mass storage, and so on. USB generic function driver–WinUSBWindows provides Winusb.sys that can be loaded as a function driver for a custom device and a function of a composite device. USB generic parent driver for composite devices–UsbccgpParent driver for USB devices with multiple functions. Usbccgp creates physical device objects (PDOs) for each of those functions. Those individual PDOs are managed by their respective USB function drivers, which could be the Winusb.sys driver or a USB device class driver. WDF extension for developing USB drivers
Get information about the tools that you can use to test your USB hardware or software, capture traces of operations and other system events, and observe how the USB driver stack responds to a request sent by a client driver or an application. Read an overview of tests in the Hardware Certification Kit that enable hardware vendors and device manufacturers to prepare their USB devices and host controllers for Windows Hardware Certification submission. Other Resources for USB Official USB SpecificationProvides complete technical details for the USB protocol. Microsoft Windows USB Core Team BlogCheck out posts written by the Microsoft USB Team. The blog focuses on the Windows USB driver stack that works with various USB Host controllers and USB hubs found in Windows PC. A useful resource for USB client driver developers and USB hardware designers understand the driver stack implementation, resolve common issues, and explain how to use tools for gathering traces and log files. OSR Online Lists - ntdevDiscussion list managed by OSR Online for kernel-mode driver developers. Windows Dev-Center for Hardware DevelopmentMiscellaneous resources based on frequently asked questions from developers who are new to developing USB devices and drivers that work with Windows operating systems. USB-related videos UWP apps for USB devicesUnderstanding USB 3.0 in Windows 8Building great USB 3.0 devicesUSB Debugging Innovations in Windows 8 (Part I, II, & III)USB hardware for learning MUTT devicesMUTT and SuperMUTT devices and the accompanying software package are integrated into the HCK suite of USB tests. They provide automated testing that can be used during the development cycle of USB controllers, devices and systems, especially stress testing. OSR USB FX2 Learning KitIf you are new to USB driver development. The kit is the most suitable to study USB samples included in this documentation set. You can get the learning kit from OSR Online Store. | Write a USB client driver (KMDF, UMDF) Introduces you to USB driver development. Provides information about choosing the most appropriate model for providing a USB driver for your device. This section also includes tutorials about writing your first user-mode and kernel-mode USB drivers by using the USB templates included with Microsoft Visual Studio. Write a USB host controller driverIf you are developing an xHCI host controller that is not compliant with the specification or developing a custom non-xHCI hardware (such as a virtual host controller), you can write a host controller driver that communicates with UCX. For example, consider a wireless dock that supports USB devices. The PC communicates with USB devices through the wireless dock by using USB over TCP as a transport.
You can develop a controller driver that handles all USB data transfers and commands sent by the host to the device. This driver communicates with the Microsoft-provided USB function controller extension (UFX). USB function class extension (UFX) reference Write a USB Type-C connector driverWindows 10 introduces support for the new USB connector: USB Type-C. You can write a driver for the connector that communicates with the Microsoft-provided class extension module: UcmCx to handle scenarios related to Type-C connectors such as, which ports support Type-C, which ports support power delivery. USB connector manager class extension (UcmCx) reference Write a USB dual-role controller driverUSB Dual Role controllers are now supported in Windows 10. Windows includes in-box client drivers for ChipIdea and Synopsys controllers. For other controllers, Microsoft provides a set of programming interfaces that allow the dual-role class extension (UrsCx) and its client driver to communicate with each other to handle the role-switching capability of a dual-role controller. For more information about this feature, see: USB dual-role controller driver programming reference Write a USB driver for emulated devicesWindows 10 introduces support for emulated devices. Now you can develop an emulated Universal Serial Bus (USB) host controller driver and a connected virtual USB device. Both components are combined into a single KMDF driver that communicates with the Microsoft-provided USB device emulation class extension (UdeCx). Emulated USB host controller driver programming reference Write a UWP appProvides step-by-step instructions about implementing USB features in a UWP app. To write such an app for a USB device you need Visual Studio and Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) . Write a Windows desktop appDescribes how an application can call WinUSB Functions to communicate with a USB device. WinUSB functions Common programming scenariosList of common tasks that a driver or an app performs in order to communicate with a USB device. Get quick info about the programming interfaces you need for each task. USB samples Development tools Download kits and tools for Windows |
Versions supported
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
Applies to
- Device manufacturers of CDC Control devices
Microsoft-provided in-box driver (Usbser.sys) for your Communications and CDC Control device.
In Windows 10, the driver has been rewritten by using the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework that improves the overall stability of the driver.
- Improved PnP and power management by the driver (such as, handling surprise removal).
- Added power management features such as USB Selective Suspend.
In addition, UWP applications can now use the APIs provided by the new Windows.Devices.SerialCommunication namespace that allow apps to talk to these devices.
Usbser.sys installation
Load the Microsoft-provided in-box driver (Usbser.sys) for your Communications and CDC Control device.
Note
If you trying to install a USB device class driver included in Windows, you do not need to download the driver. They are installed automatically. If they are not installed automatically, contact the device manufacturer. For the list of USB device class driver included in Windows, see USB device class drivers included in Windows.
Windows 10
In Windows 10, a new INF, Usbser.inf, has been added to %Systemroot%Inf that loads Usbser.sys as the function device object (FDO) in the device stack. If your device belongs to the Communications and CDC Control device class, Usbser.sys is loaded automatically.You do not need to write your own INF to reference the driver. The driver is loaded based on a compatible ID match similar to other USB device class drivers included in Windows.
USBClass_02
USBClass_02&SubClass_02
- If you want to load Usbser.sys automatically, set the class code to 02 and subclass code to 02 in the Device Descriptor. For more information, see USB communications device class. With this approach, you are not required to distribute INF files for your device because the system uses Usbser.inf.
- If your device specifies class code 02 but a subclass code value other than 02, Usbser.sys does not load automatically. Pnp Manager tries to find a driver. If a suitable driver is not found, the device might not have a driver loaded. In this case, you might have to load your own driver or write an INF that references another in-box driver.
- If your device specifies class and subclass codes to 02, and you want to load another driver instead of Usbser.sys, you have to write an INF that specifies the hardware ID of the device and the driver to install. For examples, look through the INF files included with sample drivers and find devices similar to your device. For information about INF sections, see Overview of INF Files.
Note
Microsoft encourages you to use in-box drivers whenever possible. On mobile editions of Windows, such as Windows 10 Mobile, only drivers that are part of the operating system are loaded. Unlike desktop editions, it is not possible to load a driver through an external driver package. With the new in-box INF, Usbser.sys is automatically loaded if a USB-to-serial device is detected on the mobile device.
Windows 8.1 and earlier versions
In Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of the operating system, Usbser.sys is not automatically loaded when a USB-to-serial device is attached to a computer. To load the driver, you need to write an INF that references the modem INF (mdmcpq.inf) by using the Include directive. The directive is required for instantiating the service, copying inbox binaries, and registering a device interface GUID that applications require to find the device and talk to it. That INF specifies 'Usbser' as a lower filter driver in a device stack.
The INF also needs to specify the device setup class as Modem to use mdmcpq.inf. Under the [Version] section of the INF, specify the Modem and the device class GUID. for details, see System-Supplied Device Setup Classes.
For more information, see this KB article.
Configure selective suspend for Usbser.sys
Starting in Windows 10, Usbser.sys supports USB Selective Suspend. It allows the attached USB-to-serial device to enter a low power state when not in use, while the system remains in the S0 state. When communication with the device resumes, the device can leave the Suspend state and resume Working state. The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled and configured by setting the IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy entry under this registry key:
To configure power management features of Usbser.sys, you can set IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy to:
'0x00000001': Enters selective suspend when idle, that is, when there are no active data transfers to or from the device.
'0x00000000': Enters selective suspend only when there are no open handles to the device.
That entry can be added in one of two ways:
Write an INF that references the install INF and add the registry entry in the HW.AddReg section.
Describe the registry entry in an extended properties OS feature descriptor. Add a custom property section that sets the bPropertyName field to a Unicode string, 'IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy' and wPropertyNameLength to 62 bytes. Set the bPropertyData field to '0x00000001' or '0x00000000'. The property values are stored as little-endian 32-bit integers.
For more information, see Microsoft OS Descriptors.
Usb To Serial Adapter Drivers
Develop Windows applications for a USB CDC device
If you install Usbser.sys for the USB CDC device, here are the application programming model options:
Starting in Windows 10, a Windows app can send requests to Usbser.sys by using the Windows.Devices.SerialCommunication namespace. It defines Windows Runtime classes that can use to communicate with a USB CDC device through a serial port or some abstraction of a serial port. The classes provide functionality to discover such serial device, read and write data, and control serial-specific properties for flow control, such as setting baud rate, signal states.
In Windows 8.1 and earlier versions, you can write a Windows desktop application that opens a virtual COM port and communicates with the device. For more information, see:
Win32 programming model:
.NET framework programming model: