Arduino doesn't detect FTDI serial on Mac Catalina 10.15.4

Question

I can see FTDI module in system report

But in arduino it doesn't show up

I read that iOS comes with USBSerial.kext which can handle this but I don't see it working for me.

I have tried installing FTDI driver and I can see .kext in /system/library/extensions and still doesn't work.

ERROR while installing manually

/Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext failed to load - (libkern/kext) not loadable (reason unspecified); check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8)

sudo dmesg

Notice - new kext com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostPlatformProperties, v1.2 matches prelinked kext but can't determine if executables are the same (no UUIDs).

Note: Arduino board shows up in IDE but FTDI doens't.

UPDATE Module works with iOS High sierra 10.13.6

Clamshell

Did you make sure that the VCP driver is loaded instead of the D2XX driver? Not sure if this is a thing for the newer macOS but under many *nix one has to ensure that the correct driver is loaded. Just search for rmmod ftdi_sio for further details. – Cutlery

@ChristianB. Newer MAC comes with usb to serial driver, no need for 3rd party driver. I can see /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBSerial.kext and /Library/Extensions/FTDIKext.kext – Clamshell

I’m voting to close this question because it's about a problem with drivers, not programming. – Rocketry

@Rocketry Then where should I post my question? – Clamshell

There's an Apple specific SE – Rocketry

Genuine Arduino or knock-off? – Karyotype

It is genuine but it is not about Arduino. This is a driver issue from iOS. – Clamshell

Answer 1

Response from FTDI regarding signed drivers

Apple are moving from what are called Kernel Extentions (.kexts) to what are called Driver Extensions (.dexts) for the implementation of drivers starting in macOS Catalina (10.15). Currently .kexts are still supported in macOS Catalina, however after the beta release they issued an update which stopped our driver from loading. This update required our driver (FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext) to be re-signed and notarized, we completed this process with an updated Apple Developer ID (as they lapse every two years). Unfortunately when Apple issued our new Developer ID to re-sign and notarize the driver package they did so without the .kext support option enabled (as .kexts are being deprecated it is no longer automatically included). This is why there is a code signature issue with our driver, currently we are waiting on Apple issuing us with the correct Developer ID to be able to sign .kexts for macOS Catalina.

As such our current VCP driver available on the website has a signature issue and wont load. However if the device you are using implements a default FTDI VID/PID combination it should be picked up by the inbuilt AppleUSBFTDI.dext driver and present accordingly in the ‘/dev’ folder on your system in the following form:

/dev/cu.usbserial-xxxxxxxx

/dev/tty.usbserial-xxxxxxxx

UPDATE

Got answer back from FTDI and they provided signed FTDI driver 2.4.4 which works fine now on my iOS catalina 10.15.4 (Will be available soon here: https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm)

Note

1. It worked only when I had hardware connected via USB while booting up. I had wacom tablet driver installed which prevented FTDI driver to detect FTDItoUSB hardware if I remove it and connect it again.

2. To solve such issue just run following command in terminal

   sudo dmesg | grep -i "usb\|uart"

3. if you see something like not attached, or used by something else

4. Just uninstall that driver

Clamshell

Answer 2

FTDI driver 2.4.4 available to download by direct link:

https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP/MacOSX/FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_4_4.dmg

The manufacturer send me that version.

They will update website soon.

Concur