USB to UART Mayfly, Serial Ports Not Connecting

Tagged: Mayfly version 1.0, Serial Ports

This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 2021-11-30 at 5:21 PM by neilh20.

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- 2021-11-01 at 11:55 AM #16085
  Zeke Holloman
  Participant
  Hi there! I recently purchased some Mayfly v1.0’s and was working to get them set up. I’m using Atom, alongside PlatformIO.
  
  I’m trying to get some basic Hello world code running on the Mayfly, but I’m having some issues connecting to them, specifically connecting to the serial ports. The –port selection is blank, and highlighted blue (Pictures below). Also, in the upload port of Atom, the COM port doesn’t come it.
  
  I went into my device manager to see if I saw any issues there, and I found a device in Other Devices (EnviroDIY Mayfly USB to UART Controller) that looks like it needs some drivers. I thought maybe I needed to download the D2XX and VCP drivers discussed other places in the forum. I tried installing those into the controller and it didn’t work.
  
  I have some Mayfly version 0.5b’s, and I’ve run programs off of them sucessfully since having this issue. I also looked in the Arduino IDE and the Ports tab under Tools can’t be selected (it’s grayed out).
  
  Have you had any experience with this issue @shicks or @neilh20 ? Is there anything new for version 1.0 that I should download?
  Attachments:
  NewMayfly1.png
  NewMayfly2.png
  NewMayfly3.png
- 2021-11-01 at 12:05 PM #16089
  Shannon Hicks
  Moderator
  The Mayfly v1.0 boards use a new USB interface chip called the CP2102 instead of the old FT232RL that was found on earlier Mayfly boards. When you first connect it to your computer, your operating system should recognize it and install the necessary drivers. I connected each new Mayfly to 3 different computers (2 PCs and one Mac) before shipping them out, so there shouldn’t be any hardware problems with the board. You’ll also want to make sure the small DIP switches next to the main power switch are both in the ON position, otherwise the CP2102 will not be powered if the bottom switch is off.
  
  I haven’t had to manually install any drivers for the CP2102 on any of the dozens of Windows computers I’ve used CP2102 devices on. But if you’re having trouble with it, you could try manually doing it following the instructions from SiliconLabs for the CP210x: https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers
- 2021-11-01 at 5:22 PM #16090
  Zeke Holloman
  Participant
  Hey @shicks. Thanks for the lightning fast response.
  
  That worked! Just had to download it from the link you sent.
  
  Really excited to start working with the v1.0! Thank you all for your great hardware, communication, documentation, and quick responses!
- 2021-11-15 at 3:50 PM #16104
  Matt Barney
  Participant
  When I connected my first v1 Mayfly last week, my laptop (Win10) didn’t recognize it. I manually installed the VCP drivers for CP210x from SiLabs, and then it worked. Uploaded code (using PlatformIO) to the board, and all was well. I set it aside for the weekend, and today I can’t get Windows to recognize the Mayfly. Windows Device Manager’s list of COM ports never updates when I power up the connected Mayfly board. I tried reinstalling the drivers from SiLabs (first their “CP210x Universal Windows Driver”, then tried “CP210x Windows”), and I rebooted. Also tried a different USB port. Still no joy. Any ideas?
  
  Matt
  - 2021-11-15 at 9:10 PM #16108
    Shannon Hicks
    Moderator
    I’ve never experienced this problem with any of the Mayfly boards on any of the various PCs I’ve used them on, but I do have a colleague who has a similar problem with another CP2102-based board. I think his solution was that sometimes it takes plugging and unplugging the device a few times before Windows finally recognizes it and assigns a com port. Various people report similar issues on SiliconLabs support forums, and there’s never been a consensus on what the best solution is. Make sure you’re using the same high-quality USB cable that you first had success with, make sure the USB dip switch is in the ON position. Use Windows Device Manager to look at your USB devices to see if it is even registering that an unknown device is connected. Some users report that using an older version of the drivers from SiLabs is more reliable with Windows 10 and fixes this issue.
- 2021-11-18 at 4:46 PM #16110
  Matt Barney
  Participant
  Got it – thanks! I had the USB DIP switch off. I misinterpreted the specs sheet about the function of the switch, thinking it only disabled the LED, not the port. Is there a power penalty if I leave the USB switch on for a field deployment? The spec suggests that there is, but the USB LED won’t be lit in that case.
  
  Matt
  - 2021-11-18 at 5:02 PM #16111
    Shannon Hicks
    Moderator
    There is no benefit in turning off the USB dipswitch if your board will be deployed with only a Lipo for power. The switch is there solely for the purpose of deactivating the USB interface chip in case you are powering the Mayfly via the USB jack and want to save power, because the CP2102 chip can draw up to 10ma when idle, so turning it off can be useful.
- 2021-11-30 at 5:21 PM #16128
  neilh20
  Participant
  Thanks for the link –
  Just helped two people/students connect their windows machines to the Mayfly USB-C CP210x
  – both required the installation of the “CP210x Windows Drivers”
  from https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers then Downloads
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