libserialport issue under macOS 14.3 with CH340

[mcuee]

Just upgraded my Mac Mini M1 2020 to latest macOS 14.3 and it seems to me avrdude can not recognize -P ch340 now.

mcuee@mcuees-Mac-mini avrdude_bin % avrdude -c urclock -P ch340 -p m328pb -xshowall 
avrdude warning: -P ch340 is not connected; consider
  -P /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-22420
  -P /dev/cu.wchusbserial22420
  -P /dev/cu.wlan-debug
avrdude OS error: cannot open port ch340: No such file or directory
avrdude error: unable to open port ch340 for programmer urclock

avrdude done.  Thank you.

mcuee@mcuees-Mac-mini avrdude_bin % avrdude -c urclock -P /dev/cu.usbserial-22420 -p m328pb -xshowall 
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
ffffffffffff 0000-00-00 00.00  application 0 store 0 meta 1 boot 384 u7.7 weu-jPrac vector 25 (SPM_Ready) ATmega328PB

mcuee@mcuees-Mac-mini avrdude_bin % avrdude -c urclock -P /dev/cu.wchusbserial22420 -p m328pb -xshowall 
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
ffffffffffff 0000-00-00 00.00  application 0 store 0 meta 1 boot 384 u7.7 weu-jPrac vector 25 (SPM_Ready) ATmega328PB

mcuee@mcuees-Mac-mini avrdude_bin % otool -L /opt/homebrew/bin/avrdude 
/opt/homebrew/bin/avrdude:
	@rpath/libavrdude.1.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1336.61.1)
	/opt/homebrew/opt/libusb-compat/lib/libusb-0.1.4.dylib (compatibility version 9.0.0, current version 9.4.0)
	/opt/homebrew/opt/libusb/lib/libusb-1.0.0.dylib (compatibility version 4.0.0, current version 4.0.0)
	/opt/homebrew/opt/hidapi/lib/libhidapi.0.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.14.0)
	/opt/homebrew/opt/libftdi/lib/libftdi1.2.dylib (compatibility version 2.0.0, current version 2.5.0)
	/usr/lib/libedit.3.dylib (compatibility version 2.0.0, current version 3.0.0)
	/opt/homebrew/opt/libserialport/lib/libserialport.0.dylib (compatibility version 2.0.0, current version 2.0.0)
	/usr/lib/libncurses.5.4.dylib (compatibility version 5.4.0, current version 5.4.0)

[mcuee]

@MCUdude and @askn37

Please help to check if you encounter similar issue with CH340 under your Mac Thanks.

[mcuee]

libserialport example output.
https://github.com/sigrokproject/libserialport/tree/master/examples

cuee@mcuees-Mac-mini examples % ./list_ports 
Getting port list.
Found port: /dev/cu.wlan-debug
Found port: /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
Found port: /dev/cu.usbserial-22420
Found port: /dev/cu.wchusbserial22420
Found 4 ports.
Freeing port list.

[askn37]

ch340 cannot be recognized by name.
This is a macos genuine driver.

% uname -a
Darwin alicia.local 23.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.2.0: Wed Nov 15 21:53:34 PST 2023; root:xnu-10002.61.3~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

% otool -L build_darwin/src/avrdude                                       
build_darwin/src/avrdude:
	/usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1336.61.1)
	/opt/local/lib/libusb-0.1.4.dylib (compatibility version 9.0.0, current version 9.4.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libusb-1.0.0.dylib (compatibility version 4.0.0, current version 4.0.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libhidapi.0.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libftdi.1.dylib (compatibility version 22.0.0, current version 22.0.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libftdi1.2.dylib (compatibility version 2.0.0, current version 2.5.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libreadline.8.dylib (compatibility version 8.2.0, current version 8.2.0)
	/usr/local/lib/libserialport.0.dylib (compatibility version 2.0.0, current version 2.0.0)
	/opt/local/lib/libncurses.6.dylib (compatibility version 6.0.0, current version 6.0.0)

% ./build_darwin/src/avrdude -curclock -pavr128db32 -P ch340
avrdude warning: -P ch340 is not connected; consider
  -P /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-110
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-230
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-1320
  -P /dev/cu.wlan-debug
avrdude OS error: cannot open port ch340: No such file or directory
avrdude error: unable to open port ch340 for programmer urclock

avrdude done.  Thank you.

% ./build_darwin/src/avrdude -curclock -pavr128db32 -P usb     
avrdude OS error: cannot open port usb: No such file or directory
avrdude error: unable to open port usb for programmer urclock
Possible candidate serial ports are:
  -P /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-110
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-230
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-1320
  -P /dev/cu.wlan-debug
Note that above ports might not be connected to a target board or an AVR programmer.
Also note there may be other direct serial ports not listed above.

avrdude done.  Thank you.

% system_profiler SPUSBDataType | grep -A6 "USB Serial"     
                USB Serial:

                  Product ID: 0x7523
                  Vendor ID: 0x1a86
                  Version: 2.64
                  Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s
                  Location ID: 0x00132000 / 8
--
            USB Serial:

              Product ID: 0x7523
              Vendor ID: 0x1a86
              Version: c2.33
              Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s
              Location ID: 0x00110000 / 9
--
        USB Serial:

          Product ID: 0x7523
          Vendor ID: 0x1a86
          Version: 2.64
          Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s
          Location ID: 0x02300000 / 1

ft231x is similarly not recognized by name.
This is a macos genuine driver.

% ./build_darwin/src/avrdude -curclock -pavr128db32 -P ft231x
avrdude warning: -P ft231x is not connected; consider
  -P /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-D306JCWB
  -P /dev/cu.wlan-debug
avrdude OS error: cannot open port ft231x: No such file or directory
avrdude error: unable to open port ft231x for programmer urclock

avrdude done.  Thank you.

% ./build_darwin/src/avrdude -curclock -pavr128db32 -P usb   
avrdude OS error: cannot open port usb: No such file or directory
avrdude error: unable to open port usb for programmer urclock
Possible candidate serial ports are:
  -P /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
  -P /dev/cu.usbserial-D306JCWB
  -P /dev/cu.wlan-debug
Note that above ports might not be connected to a target board or an AVR programmer.
Also note there may be other direct serial ports not listed above.

avrdude done.  Thank you.

% system_profiler SPUSBDataType | grep -A6 "USB UART"  
        FT231X USB UART:

          Product ID: 0x6015
          Vendor ID: 0x0403  (Future Technology Devices International Limited)
          Version: 10.00
          Serial Number: D306JCWB
          Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s

[mcuee]

@MCUdude

Please take a look if we can improve on the current behavior. If it is not easy, then I will still close this issue but update the Wiki.

This is just a nice-to-have feature and not a must.

[MCUdude]

Does it work if you use a different serial chip?Also, it looks like you're using the WCH driver, and not the default one that Macos provides, hence the name cu.wchusbserial

[mcuee]

Does it work if you use a different serial chip?Also, it looks like you're using the WCH driver, and not the default one that Macos provides, hence the name cu.wchusbserial

No, it is the default driver from Apple now. I have not installed any driver from WCH in the Mac Mini.

[MCUdude]

Ok. And what was the previous macos version that it worked with?

[mcuee]

Ok. Ans what was the previous macos version that it worked with?

@MCUdude
I do not know. I only have one Mac Mini M1 and I always upgrade to the latest version.

But at least it works on your Mac. What is the macOS version you are using?

• Add serial port discovery #1498

[MCUdude]

@mcuee I'm not at home right now, so can't look into it. But try other libserialport examples as well, and see if you can get it to print the USB vid/pid and SN. This is what Avrdude use to identify a port

[mcuee]

@mcuee I'm not at home right now, so can't look into it. But try other libserialport examples as well, and see if you can get it to print the USB vid/pid and SN. This is what Avrdude use to identify a port

I will carry out tests tomorrow.

[mcuee]

In any case, this is not a big issue and we may not want to do anything.
-P ch340 is just an abbreation which is nice to have but not really essential.

[MCUdude]

Ok. And what was the previous macos version that it worked with?

I do not know. I only have one Mac Mini M1 and I always upgrade to the latest version.

So you don't have the slightest idea what ran before you upgraded? Was it a major update, or just a minor/patch?
I haven't updated the macOS version on my mac in ages, but I'm planning a clean install sometime this spring.
I'm still on 10.14, which is ancient.

In any case, this is not a big issue and we may not want to do anything.

Well, that means that -Pusb:vid:pid wouldn't work either, which mean that all features that libserialport provides are now broken. I'd consider this a big deal, as this may break -r as well.

@mcuee can you try to run the port_info libserialport example? That should print relevant information about the port attached.

This should be the output when reading a CH340 chip:

$ ./port_info /dev/cu.usbserial-1410 
Looking for port /dev/cu.usbserial-1410.
Port name: /dev/cu.usbserial-1410
Description: USB Serial
Type: USB
Manufacturer: (null)
Product: USB Serial
Serial: (null)
VID: 1A86 PID: 7523
Bus: 0 Address: 0
Freeing port.