Usb010 and windows 10

john2051

New Member
Hi some time ago I bought a usb010 which worked perfectly with win 7. Finally gave in to Microsoft upgrade, since then I can get it to recognize the port, but nothing works attached to it.
I looked on the net and found people had similar problems with win 8.1
Has anyone found a successful solution to this, as I've tried so many prolific drivers, some of which come out with error code 10.
Any help would be appreciated.
john
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Welcome to the PICAXE forum.

Our USB010 product only used legitimate Prolific chips so official Prolific drivers might support those -

http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41

As noted on that page, not all PL2303 chip variants are supported by Prolific in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 and I don't know which specific chip would have been in any particular USB010 product. The page does give some instructions on being able to determine chip type.

Prolific drivers also seem to be a bit hit and miss, which is why we recommend the specific driver we have for download, but I don't recall that being suitable for Windows 10.

Upgrading to an AXE027 download cable is probably the easiest option.
 

john2051

New Member
Hi Hippy, thanks for replying. Looking at posts in google, it is a similar problem when fdti tried the same thing. It seems also that when win10 compatibility tester said EVERYTHING on my previously working
win7 pro machine was compatible, it somehow neglected to mention that the usb010 I had connected was not compatible with windows 10.
Some people have got them working with the correct driver, but the latest driver does not allow earlier versions of prolifics chips to work in win 10.
I will persevere, I have to, I have quite a few devices with the affected chip and cant afford to replace them all.
thanks again john
 

john2051

New Member
Hi, thank you for pointing me at this driver, the adapter even looks the same. I will let you know tomorrow when I get to my main pc. The annoying thing for me
was that this worked fine on windows 7. I only upgraded for two reasons, one I was fed up with being badgered by the apparent lack of choice, and two that it assured me
that everything was compatible.
thanks john
 

john2051

New Member
Hi, I did try the ones on rev eds site, again no joy. More worrying though, I have a win xp machine not connected to the net, and my usb010 is recognized ok but no longer functions.
So now I don't know if the new prolific software has disabled this chip, similar to what fdti did some time ago. I am reluctant to try another in case I lose that too.
Crazy, prior to updating win 7 64 bit pro, everything worked.
Interestingly the affected devices are still being sold by maplin for £24.99.
I'm considering buying another from rev ed and use their drivers and hope.
Thanks to everyone that tried to help, much appreciated
john
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Hi, I did try the ones on rev eds site, again no joy. More worrying though, I have a win xp machine not connected to the net, and my usb010 is recognized ok but no longer functions.
So now I don't know if the new prolific software has disabled this chip, similar to what fdti did some time ago. I am reluctant to try another in case I lose that too.
Crazy, prior to updating win 7 64 bit pro, everything worked.
Interestingly the affected devices are still being sold by maplin for £24.99.
I'm considering buying another from rev ed and use their drivers and hope.
Thanks to everyone that tried to help, much appreciated
john
The newest Prolific driver from Windows Update does not brick the adapter permanently if the adapter is used on Windows 10.

FTDI only bricked fake chips though people could have bought these in good faith. Prolific decided a new version of Windows was a good excuse to make people think they need to buy new adapters so implemented this antifeature in their new driver - if the old driver is installed properly the old adapter will work again.

On Windows 10, try this:
  1. Right click on the USB to Serial Comm Port in Device Manager
  2. Update Driver Software > Browse My Computer For Driver Software > Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
  3. Choose Version 3.2.0.0
  4. Press Next, install the driver
 

john2051

New Member
Hi Nick, I tried exactly what you typed and in that order, the yellow check marks gone, but still there is nothing coming out of the adapter. I also notice that if I look in the events section, it
says something like it hasn't installed all the necessary files.
I even tried this on an old winxp machine, and can confirm the adapter no longer functions, even though it is recognised correctly etc.
I don't know Nick, but I'm tempted to ditch them and buy new ftdi converters ( I'm rapidly running out of hair!)
I do appreciated your comments and help.
Thanks john
 
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