Support PL-2303-Based USB-to-Serial Adapters

Originator:tternes
Number:rdar://19933462 Date Originated:23-Feb-2015
Status:Open Resolved:
Product:OS X Product Version:10.10.1
Classification:Enhancement Reproducible:Always
 
Summary:
The PL2303 chipset is commonly used for usb-to-serial applications in the hobbyist/maker community. This chipset has never been supported by OS X out of the box, requiring third-party drivers to be installed.

Traditionally, the "official" drivers (most of which are questionable, at best) have been terrible, so open source alternatives cropped up. However, the kext signing requirements of Mavericks and Yosemite have eliminated the open source drivers as an option, as developers are not able to install self-signed kexts without enabling kext-dev-mode. Disabling kext signature checking is not a viable solution for developer workstations intended for normal usage.

I've applied to the kext signing program, but have been rejected, as I'm not a hardware manufacturer.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Connect a PL-2303 based USB-to-serial adapter
2. Observe the device is not listed in /dev/tty.*



Expected Results:
OS X should include official support for PL-2303-based adapters. It recently added FTDI support, which is another common chipset for these types of applications (the most common of which is the Arduino boards).

Actual Results:
PL-2303-based devices never appear in /dev.

Version:
10.10.1

Comments


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