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Cundy66's avatar
Cundy66
Copper Contributor
Nov 15, 2021
Solved

PL2303 issues (Prolific USB to Serial Drivers) Win 11

I have come across an issue that I don't if anyone has come across and found a fix?   I have a few handheld radios that I need to update the frequencies and when I connect to the USB, it fails to c...
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  • ejohanson's avatar
    ejohanson
    Nov 16, 2021

    I tried the older driver available here:
    http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=223&pcid=126
    And this seemed to work for Windows 11. Weird that an old driver works better than the latest one.

    I have the PL-2303 TA chipset.

H4bbs's avatar
H4bbs
Copper Contributor
Apr 27, 2022

charlesyeh522 

 

Hi Guys, 

 

I've read through this whole thread (and a few others) and everyone is saying to go get the driver from the prolific site, although I think that's now been taken down, as every link takes me back to the site index. If I search on their site for drivers, I can go to the info page/brochure for the pl2303, but if I even click their own link to the drivers page it takes me back to the site index. I've also tried using a VPN to pretend being in the US, as I'm in the UK, no luck!

 

Does anyone else know of anywhere else the driver resides that I can get it from?

 

 

Cheers!

  • charlesyeh522's avatar
    charlesyeh522
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 01, 2022

    H4bbs 

    There are two methods to install PL2303 driver.
    I sugguest you use WU.

     

    Installer driver setup:

    1. https://www.prolific.com.tw/US/CustomerLogin.aspx
    2. Sign in with your Private Account. Or enter "GUEST" on both Account and Password box and click OK.
    Account: GUEST
    Password: GUEST
    Click: OK.
    3. Select "USB Smart I/O Controllers -->> USB to Serial/Parallel"
    4. Select "PL2303 -- Driver & Software" <<-- for PL2303HXD chip
    Select "PL2303G -- Driver & Software" <<-- for PL2303GC chip
    The newest driver is "PL23XX_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v408.zip" @ Release Date:2022/07/28


    WU (Windows update) setup:
    1. Plug in PL2303HXD or PL2303GC cable(chip)
    2. Click Windows update from you Win10/Win11 OS, It will be install newest PL2303HXD or PL2303GC cable logo driver via Internet

    • rsolo2155's avatar
      rsolo2155
      Copper Contributor
      Aug 08, 2022

      charlesyeh522 
      H4bbs 

      Unfortunately, that didn't work for me. If memory serves, the error code I got was something along the lines of "THIS IS NOT A PROLIFIC DEVICE. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER." When I delete and let WIndows Update try it, I get an error about the driver not being supported on Windows 11.

      I went on the Adafruit website prepared to buy a new cable that's compatible with Windows 11, and found out they have a link to the older driver! Link to the Adafruit page: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-5-using-a-console-cable/software-installation-windows

      After downloading the zip, I installed the driver, and rolled back the software as described somewhere in this thread.

      It's really frustrating that Prolific has a pretty terrible website, and that they purged a bunch of links that have worked in the past. Also, without knowing too much about the difference between win 10/11, it seems like the drivers should work fine from 10 to 11? Like, there's no reason why a driver from 2005 should work, and a driver from 2020 does not. 

      Anyway, hope this helps someone out there!




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