USB/Serial Converter "This device cannot start.(Code 10)"

[darkside-sound]

I downloaded drivers from Prolific: PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v10518.zip, installed, uninstalled, plugged, unplugged, and always got this line in Device Manager..

Icon(!) Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM6)

and under Properties..

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

Click to troubleshoot...self eating watermelon.

Nothing has been connected to the RS232 plug. Is this device working? If not, what can I do to get it going?

I want to drive a serial label printer from my laptop while I replace the shop computer. The shipping software is wanky to install, so I need to know if this interface is good or bad while I still have my wits.

It's a cheap and a very retro, cool adapter. I'd hate to have it go to Byte Hill. Please help me get it going!

Cheers,
Buzz.
--
It's only ones and zeros--how bad can it get?

[adafruit]

we're going to check on this. what OS & version are you running?

[Hinermad]

It's sort of a brute force approach, but if you get desperate you might try going into your Hardware Manager and deleting all your COM ports (unless you have dedicated serial ports too - don't try to delete those). When I use USB serial adapters if I'm not careful about plugging them back into the same USB port that I used them in the first time, they get assigned to different COM port numbers. Eventually they'll collide with a number that was assigned to a different device, and not work. (Although I don't recall this particular error message.)

Dave

[darkside-sound]

we're going to check on this. what OS & version are you running?

This ought to do it..



=zz=.
--
perspective: Although the Moon is smaller than the Earth, it is further away.

[darkside-sound]

It's sort of a brute force approach, but if you get desperate you might try going into your Hardware Manager and deleting all your COM ports (unless you have dedicated serial ports too - don't try to delete those). When I use USB serial adapters if I'm not careful about plugging them back into the same USB port that I used them in the first time, they get assigned to different COM port numbers. Eventually they'll collide with a number that was assigned to a different device, and not work. (Although I don't recall this particular error message.)

Here's the comm port assignments..



I found that there was a collision on port 6, so I deleted all the BT ports "on Bluetooth RFCOMM from TOSHIBA". There went my ppc sync. When I plugged in the Zoom Bluetooth USB dongle, all the ports installed again.

I got Active Sync awake and forced it onto port 7 Bluetooth USB (where it was). The ppc synced up again. I changed the Prolific port to port 8. No joy.

Still got the yellow bang in the icon. I don't want to do that again. *whew*

Cheers,
Buzz.
--
..Surfing on the back side of the wave..

[adafruit]

sorry been swamped. we have one here with that issue. i -think- its the driver because it works on another computer. is there a different pl2303 driver you can try?

[darkside-sound]

sorry been swamped. we have one here with that issue. i -think- its the driver because it works on another computer. is there a different pl2303 driver you can try?

Yes, there is..

https://zz.com/zz/PL-2303/PL-2303_Driver_Installer.exe,

and its Virus Total report..

https://zz.com/zz/PL-2303/PL-2303_Driver_Installer.pdf.

This one worked..



I changed the port from 6 to 8 to avoid any future conflicts with my Bluetooth USB dongle when I plug it in. The change was easy via properties.

One would think that the native software would be the right choice, but it was not. The included Prolific disc wouldn't load, and the downloaded Prolific software wouldn't work. It was a good call to try a different driver.

If you want to download your own copy of the driver from another site, search for this..

_IO Cable_PL-2303_Drivers - Generic_Windows_wd_pl2303h-hx-x_v20019v2021.zip

Thanks,
Limor.
--
..It's the end of the day, and all the bullets are in the bad guys..

[adafruit]

awesome!

[richms]

Yeah, the prolific chips are very hit and miss, and they seem to have many revisions that don't work with the same drivers. When they work I find they are fine but getting them working...

They are what are normally used in the cheap nokia data cables which are a good way to get a 3.3v rs232 connection, and I have had those supplied with a mini sized cd that had incorrect drivers..

[3UFN]

I see that this is an older thread but I just stumbled upon it.
I really had to post a THANK YOU for the link to the Prolific driver. I've tried several others for my desktop with no luck, but the one in this tread worked!
The drivers sure are hit & miss, the one on my older Thinkpad works fine. Finding this one was the highlight of my day.

[chazwark]

I fixed the "Device Cannot Start Error Code 10" issue on Win7 64-bit by installing the Windows Vista version of the Prolific USB-to-Serial Adapter Driver from cooldrives.com. First, I uninstalled any previous driver version, and then installed the Vista version. No reboot was required. The Vista version of the driver ran just fine on Win7 64-bit and recognized the Prolific USB-to-Serial Adapter as soon as I plugged it in.

[adafruit]

hey good work there! thanks for posting

[Bass28]

First of all thanks for the link! I got it working now also!

I was using the prolific usb device on a xp vmware I used it a while ago with no problems and this time
it didn't work and I had no idea why, maybe a windows update or something?
I tried restarting, reinstalling the driver etc. etc. but nothing...thank got I came across this forum, jeeeej

Regards,

Bas

[KrautHolg]

When installing the Vista drivers for 64-Bit Win 7, make sure that you DO NOT do a compatibility check. If you do, the installer will stop and you'll get a little note popping up which says "for Vista only". Otherwise the Vista drivers worked, so that I finally can use my HF radio and Pactor III modem again.... : - )

[richms]

The problem is the old drivers will occasionally bluescreen on disconnection.

After losing some work when unplugging a cable once, a FDTI friend was the obvious solution.