Many of the USB to Serial cables on the market use Prolific chipset, these chipsets do require drivers to be installed for reliability and compatibility. As this device converts a serial connection usually in the form of a RS-232 based com connector to a more modern high speed USB type serial the drivers are going to need to be installed correctly. Even though the latest drivers are recommended some users report better stability and compatibility using older versions of drivers on older systems running Windows 7 and lower. The best thing to do is install the latest unless a told to install an older version.
Installing the Prolific USB to Serial Driver
- Download the Driver: The driver files are available in a zip format below.
- Extract the Files:
- Using Windows explorer, right-click the dowloaded zip file and select "Extract All..." to choose a location where the files will be placed.
- Alternatively, you can use a free third party tool like 7-Zip to extract the files.
- Run the Setup File:
- Navigate to the extracted folder and locate the setup file, typically named something like
PL23XX-M_LogoDriver_Setup_xxx_xxxxxxxxxx.exe. - Right click and run the file as an Administrator. To install drivers and applications it is typical for the need for administration rights.
- Navigate to the extracted folder and locate the setup file, typically named something like
- Connect the Device:
- Plug in your device containing the Prolific USB to Serial device. If the drivers do not install automatically, you may need to manually point the system to the extracted drivers.
Prolific Drivers
File: Prolific Drivers - Windows Drivers.zip
0070f125c5ee58449150011c1b51f49e82609cf9d91eb41cd4ff39035b56414b
Prolific Drivers
File: Prolific Drivers - Mac Drivers.zip
4f245ed459287d161792124514c29da4227b0c82d8fbd62344c142616bc5e8e0
Prolific Drivers
File: Prolific Drivers - Linux Drivers.zip
a649590704900d93ef7a86111137aaa46ed8c22cd2ce6bddf1e56f36ae6746fe
(Old Version) PL2303 Prolific Windows v1.20.0 Driver
File: PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v1200.zip
5c69a3a56c637456eb7107c1c766c24f3df71d4bc856354ce88db6c142ea0392
(Old Version) PL2303 Prolific MacOS v1.20.0 Driver
File: PL2303HXD_G_Driver_v2_0_0_20191204.zip
e9fdc23d34df7da62e27819906de7d5cf6f0b78d81b3ffe91f9e8c7baf650897
(Old Version) PL2303 Prolific MacOS v1.5.1 Driver
File: PL2303_MacOSX_10_6_and_newer_v1_5_1.zip
2f5ad5c88228820b05cb7fe264b50aee63d5bf47e5228c25c870641b774efe5e
Prolific PL2303 Driver Install Guide
File: um_pl2303_DriverInstaller_v1.4.17.pdf
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