Installing the CP2102 Driver

Installing the CP2102 driver is easy enough as can be seen below. You can download the CP2102 driver on this website. See what is needed when it comes to the UART driver and how to install the driver as well. Once you download the driver you will need to open the file and then click on the .exe file which would be either a 64bit program for the 32-bit program.

Installing the CP2102 Driver

First see what your operating system is. This can be 32bit as well as 64bit. Most Windows operating systems are 64bit and you can click on the x64 file in the zip which you can find here and then the file will install the driver for you. There is also the 32bit version as you can see in the graphic. This will show in the device manager later as can be seen.

Once you click on the install file as seen above you can now click on next and then click on finished.

Now that it installed you will need to check if it is working. See the Device Manager on Windows for this.

You can now see the driver in the correct place. There it shows you the Silicon Labs CP210x USD to UART Bridge driver. This is also on this website and you can download the driver there.

Updated Drivers

Note that driver is now fully installed and you have now finished installing the CP2102 driver on your computer. Likewise the default drivers are for the VID and PID which has been programmed onto CP210x devices which is done by default. These defaults have now been listed below:

Likewise on a very important note. When you are attaching a CP210x device. In addition it is best to install drivers the associated with the device’s VID/PID combination. This well before the device will be properly recognized. If you are going to use the Windows Update then the PIDS needs to be changed on the device.  The different set of PIDs to be programmed onto the CP210x  will look those those listed below.

Troubleshoot:

Likewise if you cannot get the drivers to install correctly as its always shows as other device not as a port. Then you should install the drivers, remove the device and reboot the machine. Install the drivers again without the device attached and reboot again. Additionally try another USB port on machine and while it boots insert the CP210x into a different USB port and waits until it recognises the device on a different port. This works most times. Troubleshoot USB port.

Installing the CP2102 on Linux

If you’re a teen trying to install the CP2102 driver on Linux, here’s what you need to do:

1. Make Your Driver: First, create something called the cp210x driver.
2. Copy It to the Right Place: Move this driver you just made (cp210x.ko) to a folder called /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/kernel/drivers/usb/serial. You’ll need to replace <kernel-version> with the actual version of your computer’s brain (the kernel).
3. Run Some Commands: Open a terminal and type in ‘insmod /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/kernel/drivers/usb/serial/usbserial.ko’. After that, type ‘insmod cp210x.ko’. These commands help the computer understand and use the driver you made.
4. Check Your System: It’s possible that the driver is already on your computer because it comes with the Linux system from a certain version. You can check by typing ‘lsmod’ in the terminal and looking for something called cp210x.

How do I check my kernel version?

To find out which version of the Linux kernel you have, you can use these simple commands:

1. Check Kernel Version:
   • Type uname -r in the terminal. This will show you the kernel version.
2. Detailed Kernel Information:
   • If you want more details, use uname -a. This command provides additional information about your kernel.
3. Contents of /proc/version:
   • To see the kernel information in a different way, use cat /proc/version. It displays the contents of the /proc/version file.
4. Systemd-based Systems:
   • For systems using systemd, you can use hostnamectl | grep Kernel. This command specifically shows the Linux kernel version.

Remember to replace <kernel-version> with the actual version that you find using these commands.

How to make the CP210x driver on Linux

To create the CP210x driver on Linux, follow these steps:

1. Install Necessary Packages:
   • Open the terminal and type sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential to install the required packages.
2. Set Up Work Area:
   • Create a folder for the driver files using mkdir -p $HOME/cp210x && cd $HOME/cp210x.
3. Download VCP Driver Source:
   • Obtain the VCP Driver Source. Follow the provided instructions to download it.
4. Compile and Install the Driver:
   • Go through the instructions for making and installing the driver.
5. Verify Installation:
   • Confirm that the driver is installed by typing dpkg -L linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-33-generic | grep cp210x in the terminal.
6. Check Existing Installation:
   • Likewise keep in mind that the CP210x driver is part of the Linux kernel from version 2.6.122. You can check if it’s already installed by running lsmod | grep cp210x in the terminal. If it’s installed, you’ll see “cp210x” listed in the output.